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The Men & Widowspeak played a Sandy Benefit at Saint Vitus with Lust for Youth & Waxahatchee (pics)

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

The Men @ Saint Vitus
The Men

The Men headlined a Pitchfork-produced Sandy-benefit at Saint Vitus on Friday (12/14) with Widowspeak (who play Brooklyn Bowl and Mercury Lounge soon), Sweden’s Lust For Youth (who also played WIERD two nights prior) and Don Giovanni-signed Waxahatchee. The show was a one-off, hometown show for the Men who will tour down under in the new year. Pictures are in this post.

I was most excited to catch The Men and Lust for Youth. The latter’s synth-propelled darkwave sounded excellent in the room at Vitus, though watching the pair play was far from a live spectacle. A band like this does extremely well in a setting like WIERD at Home Sweet Home, where lights, strobes and fog are all very common-place. Made me wish I caught them there.

The Men have changed quite a bit in the past few years, so while it wasn’t shocking that the band came out with four acoustic guitars in hand given some of the softer-side of Open Your Heart, it was nonetheless a side I hadn’t seen before. Gone is the bubbling undercurrent of hardcore (probably my favorite era- the Immaculada/Leave Home records), with most of the tracks slanted in a Replacements-y direction but with a bit of a twang due to the addition of accordion and Rhodes. The band has definitely gone in different directions from the days of sweaty, packed-out 538 Johnson shows (pics), and I gotta say I miss those good ‘ole days.

More pictures of all four bands at Saint Vitus are below.

Waxahatchee

Waxahatchee

Waxahatchee

Waxahatchee

Waxahatchee

Waxahatchee

Waxahatchee

Waxahatchee

Waxahatchee

Waxahatchee

Waxahatchee

Waxahatchee

Waxahatchee

Caleb Sacred Bones and DJ Jen Pelly of Pitchfork
Waxahatchee

Lust for Youth

Lust for Youth

Lust for Youth

Lust for Youth

Lust for Youth

Lust for Youth

Lust for Youth

Lust for Youth

Lust for Youth

Lust for Youth

Widowspeak

Widowspeak

Widowspeak

Widowspeak

Widowspeak

Widowspeak

Widowspeak

Widowspeak

Widowspeak

Widowspeak

Widowspeak

Widowspeak

Widowspeak

Widowspeak

Widowspeak

Widowspeak

Widowspeak

Widowspeak

Widowspeak

Widowspeak

Widowspeak

The Men

The Men

The Men

The Men

The Men

The Men

The Men

The Men

The Men

The Men

The Men

The Men

The Men

The Men

The Men

The Men

The Men