Speedy Ortiz and Hop Along Played Warsaw

Having played Webster Hall together for Ground Control Touring’s 10th Anniversary, Speedy Ortiz and Hop Along brought their tour to Greenpoint venue Warsaw with Silver Spring trio Two Inch Astronaut.

Two Inch Astronaut began the show as a tight, cohesive unit, with their performance seeing vocalist/guitarist Sam Rosenberg command the stage effortlessly. Along with him is the deep harmonies of Andy Chevernak on bass and the exceptionally technically crisp drumming of Matt Gatwood. Signed to Exploding in Sound records, I couldn’t avoid the comparisons to another Speedy supporting trio, Krill whose approach to noise, punk, and DIY sensibilities call for apt parallels. With Rosenberg’s highly emotional lyrics and cathartic stage presence, the singer was visibly irritated when a crowd member in the front row scrolled through instagram with his headphones in during the whole set. Making for an entirely awkward confrontation, the vocalist dedicated the title track of their latest release “Personal Life” to the man glued to his phone with lyrics like “that’s gonna whitewash every day, i guess all that i can say is, ‘it’s personal’
my life, it’s personal.”

Hop Along tore through a stacked set, starting off with tracks off their latest LP “Painted Shut”, released on Omaha alternative label Saddle Creek. Frances Quinlan’s unmistakable voice was somewhat obscured at points by the layers of instrumentation, but inevitably her rasp cut through. With heartbreaking lyricism, the band then launched into material off of “Get Disowned” with the exceptionally cathartic “Tibetan Pop Stars.” As a surprise mentioned throughout the show, the band showed off their range and switched instruments for a cover of Nirvana’s “Sappy”, a feat worthy of a vocalist like Quinlan.

“Hi we’re Speedy Ortiz, the messy band that lives for drama.” Leading with a Joanne Prada quote, the band were anything but messy on stage. As the band switches sets with Hop Along every night on the tour, they dived into their early single “Taylor Swift”, to which vocalist Sadie Dupuis triumphantly changes the lyric “boyfriend” to “I got too many girlfriends to see you tonight.” After discussing Wednesday night TV (particularly how much Hannibal and Ilana’s breakup on Broad City “fucking sucks”) during bassist Darl Ferm’s instrument change, Dupuis launched into two “Foil Deer” cuts before diving into material off of their debut LP “Major Arcana” and the “Sports EP.” While also, performing two new tracks “Screen Gem” and “Saint Fret” off their upcoming third record. Noticeably however, the band didn’t play their latest release “Death Note” or any songs off their “Real Hair EP”, the last with their former guitarist. Dupuis has never had any qualms about who they do business with; removing all copies of their records from Urban Outfitters as the chain supports Rick Santorum, leaving Life or Death PR after their scandal, and especially the removal of their previous guitar player, the Massachusetts vocalist commands in all facets of her career, all while serving up cosmic mermaid vibes in a seashell mini-skirt.

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