Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Short And Sweet

For an all-too-brief 30 minutes Tuesday night at Daniel Street, Stratford's Mates of State quickly showed why its upcoming tour will be something to see.

The husband-and-wife duo were joined by two-thirds of Judgement Day on stage, and the addition of strings, guitars and horns really added an extra dimension to the organ-and-drum assault that is a typical MoS performance.

At the band's CD-release party at Toad's Place last May, the duo also had a backing string section, but this was a completely different experience. Tuesday featured more instrumentation and the result was a fuller sound, but one that did not get in the way of what makes MoS great: harmonies and hooks.

MoS was playing a secret show under the name Team Boo, which is the name of the band's third full-length. An audience of about 300 caught the show, but most cleared out before the end of headliner Asobi Seksu's set. Clearly, most in attendance were there to see MoS. They were not disappointed.

The band's co-headlining tour with The Black Kids comes to New York Sunday and Monday. The first of those shows is in Brooklyn and sold out. However, tickets remain for Monday's Webster Hall gig. Buy some.

Here's a setlist; I don't think I missed anything:

1. My Only Offer
2. Get Better
3. Like U Crazy
4. Open Book
5. Think Long
6. You Are Free
7. Long Way Home (Tom Waits cover)
8. The Re-Arranger

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