NYC Meets Villagers

Eric Holland — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 02:59:37 +0000

There’s no escaping the Irishness of Villagers. As I waited around a very crowded Mercury Lounge on Wednesday night, (November 3, 2010) I heard the word grand and the expression fair play more than is usual for that part of the Lower East Side.

Half the title of the opening song on the debut record is the title of the definitive James Joyce short story. Front-man, sometimes solo performer, sometimes piano player, leader, songwriter and sometimes a capella singing Conor O’Brien sings softly and knowingly:

Let me show you the backroom where I Saw The Dead.

Villagers chose not to open the show Wednesday the way they did the album. Instead, O’Brien hit the crowd with the startling lyric of The Meaning of the Ritual:

My Love is Selfish
And it cares not who it hurts
Will cut you out to satisfy its thirst

Their default mode is quiet but they swelled and soared as the night continued.
How many of you are from Ireland?

O’Brien judged the noise and said that explains the sell-out. It was only their second show in NYC ever with the first one being the previous day. It had the feeling of seeing a big thing at the beginning. Villagers have already played quite a few big gigs in Europe and have become a buzz band. Becoming a Jackal was nominated for the Mercury Prize this year. Mr. O’Brien looks young but he commands the stage while seeming completely unaffected and focused on expressing himself with zero self-awareness. He plays a four string acoustic with tape over the hole and is backed by electric guitar, bass, keys, and drums. I caught the drummer playing with one stick and one mallet which might suggest something about Villagers’ sensibility.

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NYC Meets Villagers