vip in the city

Prefuse 73 @ Bowery Ballroom

I missed the first of this season’s Town Hall film seminars tonight to attend the Prefuse 73 concert with B at the Bowery Ballroom. We were last here in April 2006 to catch fellow Warp artist, Jamie Lidell — an appearance which predated his breakout feature on Season 2 of Grey’s Anatomy.

After drinks in the lounge, we headed upstairs to stake out our strategic spots near the stage. First up: California-based duo Blank Blue. The band is a collaboration between producer Elvin Estela (a.k.a. Nobody) and vocalist Niki Randa, who first met in 2001 while working together at independent Long Beach record store Fingerprints Music. The adorably pigtailed Randa – over whom the guy next to me swooned, “Oh, I’m in lo-o-o-ove!” — celebrated her 28th birthday that night, with a Whole Foods cake presented to her by her bandmates.

Brooklyn troupe School of Seven Bells was up next. The members met in 2004 when their respective bands opened for Interpol on tour. Benjamin Curtis (then-guitarist of Secret Machines) joined with identical twins Alejandra & Claudia Dehezia (then of On!Air!Library!), who lend a bit exoticism, and considerable sex appeal, to the proceedings with their ethereal vocals. James Elliott (a.k.a. Ateleia) and drummer Joe Stickney round out the rest of the crew.

School of Seven Bells collaborated with Prefuse 73 on “The Class Of 73 Bells“ single.

Finally, the main event: [Guillermo] Scott Herren (a.k.a. Prefuse 73) – dubbed the “king of glitch-hop” (yet another of those genres I know hardly anything about) — was touring in support of his fifth full-length album, Preparations. The Brooklyn- and Atlanta-based producer (currently residing in Barcelona) has released music on several labels under various aliases, including Delarosa & Asora, Savath & Savalas, and Piano Overlord.

For this performance, a knit-capped Herren incorporated a live drummer to accompany his laptop renderings. B keyed me into the points in the set when Herren reached back into his old catalog, though I probably could have surmised as much from the crowd’s wild reactions.

The night ran late, which set the stage for what was to be a very, very long week.

Tags: Blank Blue, Bowery Ballroom, Prefuse 73, School of Seven Bells