Los Campesinos! thrill the New York kids

February 15, 2009, at Bowery Ballroom

By Eleanor Whitney
Published: February 18th, 2009 | 10:00am

On the last night of their month-long U.S. tour, Los Campesinos! packed the Bowery Ballroom with legions of excited teenage fans for a intensely energetic set. Opener Titus Andronicus, who had been on tour with Los Campesinos! for the past month, set the tone for the evening when, during a song that was dedicated to the members’ New Jersey university alma mater, singer Patrick Stickles let out a yell of “Fuck you!” and incited a veritable teenage mosh pit from the previously demure audience. The energy remained high when Stickles performed an arcing stage dive as he repeated, “Your life is over, your life is over.” To conclude the set, Titus invited Los Campesinos! violinist Harriet Campesinos! on stage to perform a rendition of Green Day's “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” as a tribute to the two bands’ month together on the road.

After 45 minutes, Los Campesinos! took the stage looking stylish, fresh faced, and very Welsh. As they soon as they took the stage to begin “Ways to Make It Through the Wall” it was clear they were putting their all into the performance. That had must have been the case for all their sets, as lead singer Gareth Campesinos! explained that they had broken most of their equipment the previous night. Despite their still-busted “B” keys, the musicians still managed to wrest pitch-perfect power-pop songs from their instruments without seeming too concerned. Their live sound highlighted the band’s tendency for writing erudite lyrics that capture life's bitter moments and fitting them into super-effective pop-song structures.

Each song encapsulated a narrative arc of heartbreak and despair, but the hooks were so catchy that the audience's reaction was ecstatic instead of despairing. Nowhere was this more evident than on crowd favorite “My Year in Lists,” where the mosh pit returned and younger audience members screamed along to the lines “I cherish with fondness the day before I met you” with such high-pitched intensity they nearly drowned out the band.

The crowd's energy remained high throughout the set as the band cruised through material from their two albums, Hold On, Youngster and We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed (Arts & Crafts) released at the beginning and end of 2008, respectively. The songs, despite their bleak outlook, featured nicely executed vocal harmonies and punk-rock glockenspiel playing by Gareth and Aleksandra Campesinos!

As they deal in the currency of heartbreak, the band couldn't help but take a jab at the previous day's holiday. Gareth asked, “Yesterday was Valentine’s Day — did anyone get dumped?” which provided a perfect segue into “Miserabilia.” He also paused briefly to explain that he had lost his passport and that it had lead him to an infuriating encounter with New York Police Department red tape. “So boycott your local police department!” he exclaimed, while a fan tried to offer Gareth his own passport as a replacement.

The end of the set descended into a crowd-induced frenzy during the songs “You! Me! Dancing!” and “We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed.” At times there seemed to be more energy coming from the band's teenage fans than from the musicians themselves. The youthful energy of Los Campesinos!’s songs and performance had struck a note with this crowd and the band was grateful to all who came out to support them. Gareth gave a short speech about how playing in the US was far better than playing in the UK, which drew cheers from the crowd. “We have got to go back to the UK though,” he added, “so I can't say too much.” They concluded with “Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks,” which featured all of the members coming to the front of the stage and shouting the song’s refrain along with the crowd. While the audience’s young exuberance buoyed the set, even the older showgoers got caught up in the infectious performance and hope that, once Gareth replaces his passport, Los Campesinos! will find their way back to the U.S. soon.

For more photos from this show visit Venus Zine’s Flickr page.
--
Ellen Campesinos!’s tour diary: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Review of Los Campesinos!’s Hold On Now, Youngster
Review of Los Campesinos!’s Sticking Fingers into Sockets