CHAI @ Warsaw - Brooklyn
October 6th, 2023: CHAI, Font @ Warsaw - Brooklyn, NY
CHAI - Photos Courtesy of: Edwina Hay
On Friday, October 6th, CHAI’s, “We the CHAI” tour came to Brooklyn, NY for an evening at Warsaw.
The openers for this tour are Austin, TX’s Font, and the five-member act which only formed in 2022 went on promptly at 8 PM. Before the show, I tried to check out their music but could only find one single available on their Bandcamp page, so I was very curious what their full set would be like. The post-punk quintet put on an energetic and fun performance, and the audience seemed to enjoy it.
Chai came on stage at 9:15 PM, dressed in matching pink costumes. Their infectious songs, high energy, and synchronized dance moves had the Brooklyn crowd screaming and dancing along all throughout their extremely enjoyable set. Predictably, their setlist included their single (“PARA PARA”) from their Sub Pop Records debut, CHAI, released last month. They also performed older material such as “E.N.D.,” “N.E.O.,” plus a few moments of a song from one of their influences, Basement Jaxx (“Where’s Your Head At?”). Their joyful set is truly what I needed at the end of a busy week and I felt a small wave of sadness when I realized it was over as most people filed out of Warsaw, while others remained behind to meet the band at the merchandise table.
Font
Viagra Boys with Provoker @ Warsaw- Brooklyn, NY
Photos & words courtesy of Edwina Hay | April 4th 2022
Stockholm post-punk band Viagra Boys tour came to Brooklyn, NY for a sold-out show at Warsaw on Monday, April 4, 2022. They’re currently on their first North American tour after the release of their 2021 record, Welfare Jazz, and will wrap up their jaunt in the US by performing at Coachella at the end of the month.
Viagra Boys are joined on this tour by Los Angeles’ Provoker, their YEAR0001 record labelmates. Provoker kicked off the night at 8PM with their moody songs that were further enhanced by the dramatic stage lights. Their debut album, Body Jumper, was also released last year and their setlist consisted of those songs. Before they began “Blue Sheen,” vocalist Christian Petty requested blue lights to compliment the track.
Taking the stage at 9PM were the Viagra Boys. After the band appeared on stage, singer Sebastian Murphy immediately took off his shirt before they began their first song, “Research Chemicals,” from their 2016 EP Consistency of Energy. He spent much of their set drinking and spewing beer, crawling around on stage, and announcing that it was his birthday in between songs. At one point, many people in the audience began to sing “Happy Birthday” to him before the band started another song. The five members of Viagra Boys blazed through their dozen song setlist plus two song encore (“Sports” and “Down in the Basement”).
This was my first time seeing Viagra Boys live due to me missing their prior NYC shows at Bowery Ballroom and Rough Trade NYC (which subsequently closed with only the record store relocating to 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan) in 2019. I arrived at the venue expecting a rowdy and fun show and the band, along with the audience, lived up to those expectations.
Liars, YVETTE, and Idgy Dean // Warsaw // Brooklyn, NY
Franz Ferdinand // Brooklyn, NY
Franz Ferdinand, Omni, WANNA -- Warsaw (Gov Ball Afterparty) | Brooklyn, NY | 5 June 2017
Photos Courtesy of: Edwina Hay
For the third year, Governors Ball offered additional concerts in conjunction with their seventh annual festival called “Governors Ball After Dark.” This year’s series of After Dark shows began on Thursday, June 1st and concluded on Wednesday, June 8th. On Monday, June 5th, Glasgow’s Franz Ferdinand headlined a sold out show at Warsaw in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
I first saw Franz Ferdinand live in 2004 after the release of their self-titled record. Back then, they played a free show at Virgin Megastore in Union Square that’s now a bank branch 13 years later. The quintet kicked off their set with “Jacqueline” from that record and the crowd sang along in unison. The band saw support from WANNA, a Brooklyn band with seven members on stage, with drummer Josh Mac also singing main vocals. WANNA was followed by Atlanta’s Omni, who are touring with FF.
Franz Ferdinand performed a nearly 20 song set list, with a three song encore. Frontman Alex Kapranos was all over the stage; kicking and jumping, singing and playing guitar, and leaving the stage to interact with fans. After singing along and dancing as much as I could near the soundbooth (I am recovering from a broken foot afterall), I left the venue wondering why on earth it took me so long to experience them live again.
