Mellow was the vibe for the AAM CMJ day party at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday, when free veggie dogs were set out in the cool basement of the venue and Radiohead and Beatles vinyls were up for raffle. Music fans mingled, escaping the overcast weather for a day of Beatles Rock Band on the downstairs TVs, free food and good tunes. The music started at 1:00pm with four-piece Holiday Shores, who made the most of the hall’s great acoustics, sounding clear in a perfect balance between vocals and instruments, and a lot like The Libertines, minus the accents. Next was Headlights, gearing up for a long Fall tour of the US, whose dreamy-pop tunes awed the still sparse but growing crowd.
After a short break came Seattle’s The Dutchess and the Duke, the duo known to their friends and parents as Kimberly Morrison and Jesse Lortz, who played their dark, twangy ballads as they coolly sipped beer on the stage. Lortz explained to the crowd, “We’re not talkative, but it doesn’t mean we’re standoffish.” The music spoke for itself and by the time the Dum Dum Girls came on, the place filled up with people eager to see the new indie girl band in town.
The Dum Dum Girls wore tiny vintage dresses with heels as they played their retro-rock songs, including “Don’t Talk to Me,” a catchy crowd pleaser, with force. “It was great,” said Dee Dee, the band’s frontwoman. “Everyone was very nice. We played nicely. It was fun.”
Then, the moment everyone was waiting for arrived and Lightspeed Champion came onstage; well, all of the band but Devonte Hynes himself. Everyone waited and waited, and then suddenly, a tall wizard jumped out from the side and it was the main man, dressed early for Halloween in a pointy hat, long cloak and white beard. Immediately diving into a tight selection of some of his best songs, including “Heavy Purple” and four other songs, a few of which will be heard on his upcoming album. A true showman, Hynes railed on his guitar and managed to make the campiest of costumes look cool, while fans clamored near the stage to gaze up at him as the rainbow lights blinked wildly. The set was short but satisfying and by the time the party had ended, the rain had started, but no one could have cared less. –Words and photos by Michele Koury
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