Lightspeed Champion / Hey Hey My My - Mercury Lounge 03.05.08

This show tonight...a sold out show by Lightspeed Champion at the Mercury Lounge...could be one of my most favorite shows in the city in a long time.  Maybe it is because Falling Off The Lavender Bridge is already gunning for top spot on my "best of 2008" list and as such has made me look forward to this show with great anticipation.  Maybe it is because "Midnight Surprise" can't be played enough recently by me; it is definitely one of the best 8 minute tracks of recent memory.  Could be both.  I don't know.  But I do know I will do my best to try to relive this experience next week at SXSW like 12 times.

Set list photo below.   Two covers, the Strokes "Heart In A Cage" and Olivia Newton John's (yes, really) "Xanadu." 

French band Hey Hey My My opened the show with their first ever set in the US (the first of three this week in NYC). 

Hey Hey My My is a superbly instinctive blend of enthusiasm and melancholy. Above all, it’s an explosion of energy and the deceptive lightness of simple folk, as if to give more space to the words, which go right to the heart… In all cases, their love of catchy ballads always has the same devastating effect. We leave Julien Garnier and Julien Gaulier with a smile on our lips and a tune in our heads. With the hope of savouring this tantalizing, irresistible folk pop once more and heading back to Merryland, the intimate and enchanting world of Hey Hey My My…

Their set was quite enjoyable; peep this track called "Celia" - which is actually about Kirsten Dunst (apparently "Kirsten" didn't flow very well).   

"Celia" - Hey Hey My My.mp3