Gettin' All Fabulous With Living Things @ Angel Orensanz

Last night I caught a short but fierce set by Living Things as part of Jerry Tam's Form Fall/Winter 06 fashion show at the amazingly beautiful Angel Orensanz Foundation deconsecrated synagogue on Norfolk Street.

I've always loved that hall (which hosted Jenny Lewis last week, and also where I saw The Verve play their first and best NYC show about a zillion years ago), and the combination of a full blown runway-style fashion show (complete with goodie-bags and uppity door-people)and a straight-up rock show immediately following, all in an insanely cool gothic-styled building with great sound, was too hard to pass up.

As far as the fashions were concerned, I thought they were pretty hot...though my haute-couture knowledge is pretty much limited to whatever is in the comp subscription to W that shows up at my house, and rooting against whatever scary Santino comes up with every week on Project Runway.

Living Things scorched their way through seven or eight songs from the alter-end of the church, and frontman Lillian used the runway to great effect, at one point remarking "I feel like f*cking Bono walking out here...".

For all the tags put on styles and scenes in music these days, it's good to hear a band that really just fits squarely in the category of "ROCK". No nonsense, no gimmicks, just good catchy rock'n'roll. If NYC actually had a radio station that played new rock music, Living Things would/should be played once an hour.

Here's what it looked like from the floor amongst the buyers, models, fashion press, and poseurs like myself:













Upcoming Living Things tour dates:

Fri 02/10/06 Baltimore, MD Ottobar
Sun 02/12/06 Washington, DC Black Cat
Mon 02/13/06 Asbury Park, NJ The Saint
Wed 02/15/06 Philadelphia, PA The Khyber
Thu 02/16/06 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club / Lounge
Sat 02/18/06 Toronto, ON Lee's Palace
Mon 02/20/06 Waterloo, ON Starlight Social Club
Tue 02/21/06 Cleveland, OH Agora Theatre
Thu 02/23/06 Columbus, OH The Basement
Fri 02/24/06 Detroit, MI St. Andrews Hall
Sat 02/25/06 Montreal, QC Le Medley
Mon 02/27/06 Madison, WI The Annex
Tue 02/28/06 Minneapolis, MN Ascot Room @ Quest Club
Wed 03/01/06 Chicago, IL Schubas
Fri 03/03/06 Lawrence, KS The Bottleneck
Sat 03/04/06 Saint Louis, MO Mississippi Nights
Mon 03/06/06 Louisville, KY Uncle Pleasants
Tue 03/07/06 Nashville, TN Exit / In
Thu 03/09/06 Richmond, VA Alley Katz
Fri 03/10/06 Charlotte, NC The Casbah
Sat 03/11/06 Atlanta, GA Vinyl @ Earthlink Live
Mon 03/13/06 Birmingham, AL The Nick
Tue 03/14/06 Birmingham, AL The Nick
Tue 03/21/06 Dallas, TX Double Wide
Wed 03/22/06 Houston, TX Walter's On Washington
Sat 03/25/06 Tallahassee, FL Floyd's Music Store
Mon 03/27/06 Orlando, FL The Social
Tue 03/28/06 Saint Petersburg, FL State Theatre
Wed 03/29/06 Fort Lauderdale, FL Culture Room
Sat 04/29/06 Indio, CA Empire Polo Field (Coachella)

Download Living Things "Bombs Below" for free at FUSE's Daily Download.