REVIEW: Kurt Vile @ Kung Fu Necktie, 10/3

POSTED: Monday, October 5, 2009, 7:27 PM

Filed Under: Music | Philly Bands Show

Andrew Thompson

You don't often see a musician frolic outside of the green room before a show as much as Kurt Vile did at Kung Fu Necktie on Saturday night, but, of course, this is his hometown. And Kung Fu ' located in his home 'hood Fishtown ' may just be his bar. He seemed to know virtually every person who came through, saying hello to freak-folk sartorialists and working-class Port Richmond lifers alike. (Then again, maybe the latter were his parents?) All the while, he was wearing a disheveled, comfy-looking green hoodie, a piece of clothing that mirrored his slightly disheveled, yet comfy-looking demeanor.

After a set by Birds of Maya, a local death psych rock band that never seems to get the love it deserves, Vile and his Violators ' three men with hair as curly, long and in need of a ponytail as their frontman's ' aggressively took off. A bit too aggressively, in fact, though the young man clutching the amp and rocking back and forth next to me clearly disagreed. I kept waiting for the show's falling action, but it was permanently set to climax: Vile's two backup guitarists violently charged through each and every song, simmering down only to play a much-needed sax or harmonica.

Which was really too bad. Childish Prodigy thrives off the sweet, soft nuances tucked into its gruffier lo-fi sound, and most of that was lost on Saturday night. It's hard to tell if this was mostly the venue's fault (Kung Fu is awfully small, which can be either a good or a bad thing for acoustics, depending on the act), or an unfortunate side effect of the band's obvious, day-before-Christmas excitement. Something tells me it may have been more of the former ' I could see Vile, his Cousin It-hair swinging to and fro, shredding the guitar. But, layered below heavy drums and the other guitarists' basic chord changes, I just couldn't hear it.

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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