The Lisps: Band Profile

The second of the bands that paid us an unannounced visit last night was The Lisps, a band from New York city, bound for South by Southwest ("SXSW"). Here's how their website describes the band:

The Lisps are a New York-based assemblage of 21st century indie-rock vaudevillians. They write songs about science and love, space and pain, babies and documents. Their performances have been known to involve bloody tambourines, wrestling, lipstick smeared melodicas, tap shoes, old kitchen cabinets and dinosaurs. The Lisps are the public/performative version of all the relationships you're struggling with.

That's a pretty fair description, but I'd like to add "high energy" and "a hell of a lot of fun to watch."

Vocalist Samantha "Sammy" Tunis also plays a rather unusual percussion instrument: an old battered red metal kitchen cabinet. It sounds like a big, metallic bass drum, and gives certain of their songs a little extra "oomph!"

You've got to give props to a band willing to dress up as a selection of broiled seafood.

If you are looking for a poppy, up tempo band that's lots of fun to watch, we recommend The Lisps.

Some unexpected fun at The Amsterdam Bar!

Laura Palmer performing at The Amsterdam Bar, March 11, 2008

Last night saw some unexpected fun at The Amsterdam Bar. When one of our neighbor clubs was unable to open last night and asked us to host the three bands they had booked for the night. As a result, The Amsterdam Bar was treated to an impromptu show with Laura Palmer, The Lisps, and The Physics of Meaning.

We quickly set up our PA system, hustled the bands in through the back door, and fired up a couple of heaters. The result was one of the more memorable nights of live music on our back patio in years. I'm going to review each of the bands separately later today, but I just wanted to thank all the bands for providing great entertainment after having to suddenly shift gears on short notice. We had a blast!