Plushgun @ Harper’s Ferry, Allston, MA
October 27th, 2008 - by Eddie
Last month I got an email introducing me to a Brooklyn band called Plushgun and I have been obsessed ever since. It first started with a music video that featured “Dwight” from NBC’s “The Office” for the song “Just Impolite.”
It’s very hipster pop, the kind of sound you like immediately and worry that you’ll get sick of in a week. Only that didn’t happen and when I saw that the band was in town, I jumped at the chance.
Harper’s Ferry is always a fun place to see a group to the wide open dance space, the sprawling bar and the broken pool tables in the back. There’s also a massive television behind the bar to stare at if you get bored.
And usually the television is my savior as I struggle through the opening band of the night, hoping the wailing and musical confusion will soon die down. Except this time. No one can be bored with there are two women dressed in bikinis with strange wigs on gyrating on stage. I also believe there was singing happening too, but I don’t remember (and sadder still, don’t remember the name of the opening band).
It was a bigger crowd than I was expecting, especially since the ad for the show had the phrase “Dance Party” on it. However, as soon as Plushgun came on, it was clear why that was.
With the audience armed with light sticks of all sizes, Plushgun erupted onto the stage, inspiring everyone to do some form of dancing on the stage that inevitably morphed into twirling the light stick in the air with a grand “Woo!!!” being screamed into the air.
I was actually surprised to see a full band on stage with Dan Ingala (dude who “found” the band), especially since I assumed the music was just a guy on a keyboard and a computer.
Through the spaz-like dancing, hands flailing in the air and singing excitedly, it was clear that there was something special in the room (and all of that was just happening on stage).
There’s a strange sense of joy that revolves around a Plushgun show, to the sugary beats, occassinoal audience participation, and communial dancing (there was seriously a lot of movement, both good and questionable, at the show).
It reached a high point with the final song “Without a Light,” which slowly builds to an all-out, dance-riffic beat by the chorus. And yet, it wasn’t cheesy nor was it forced. There’s something infectious about really well crafted pop music and, when done right, infects everyone with the same uncontrollable need to bounce of the walls, drunk or sober.
That’s what Plushgun is. The aural version of pop rocks and a can of Coke on a warm summer afternoon.
Plushgun – Just Impolite (Live at Harper’s Ferry)
