Why? @ The Brudenell, Leeds 17/3/10

by Rob Evans

Photos by Rob Evans, see more at the Rather Hip Flickr.

Why? and the Brudenell may well be among the greatest band/venue combinations I’ve ever seen. Since coming up North, the Brudenell has quickly become one of my favourite venues despite its usually fuzzy sound and backstreet maze locations, probably due to the awesomely cheap bar and absolutely huge amount of amazing bands they manage to get to play in a place that eerily resembles a working men’s club. Why?, too, is one of my favourites: I’ve been following Yoni Wolf for years, ever since I discovered cLOUDDEAD and looked in to just about every single project that every member had ever been involved in.

I always hate going to see a band I love and having to sit and wait through dull opening bands. Fortunately though, we were in for a couple of treats, with the first being a solo set from Yoni’s older brother, Josiah Wolf. Although playing the part of the drummer for the Why? band for the past few years, Josiah has recently released his debut solo album Jet Lag. I’d been putting off listening to any of the preview tracks that were available online, and I had absolutely no idea what to expect as he sat down behind a drum kit with a guitar in hand.

After a few charming pleasantries, Josiah played a far too short set of the softest acoustic folk, with a backing provided by the light pound of the bass drum at his feet and the rustling bells resting on a hi-hat stand. With a surprisingly deep and smooth voice compared to his brother’s nasal twang, he was absolutely enchanting to those who bothered to pay attention – I don’t think a lot of people realised who he was – as he mixed up solo material with old blues covers in a set that was over much too quickly.

Berlin’s I Might Be Wrong were next, and it took absolutely no time at all to dispel any fears that they’d be a typically uninteresting indie pop band. Their quiet, minimalist pop sound was led by organically whirring synths and keys, with the jangling guitars firmly pushed in to a supporting role. The layout of the stage certainly reinforced this dynamic, with the drummer off to the side and the bassist and guitarist standing behind the breathy singer, perfectly in sync and constantly riffing off each other at the back of the stage. Wonderfully mellow and dreamy, I Might Be Wrong probably came away with a lot of new fans, us among them.

At the end of the day, though, we were all only there for one thing. The Brudenell full to bursting, the excited crowd swarmed around the stage, eager for Why? to come out and blow us all away. After an agonising wait the band were finally done setting up, and Yoni wandered out on stage to lead the band through a track from last years’ Eskimo Snow and Sanddollars from Elephant Eyelash. After so many years performing, he is an amazing presence on stage, and a commanding frontman, dancing around the stage (his moves were incredible!) and looming above the crowd as he spat out rhymes and lyrics. The crowd’s response was best to 2008’s masterpiece album Alopecia, and the show’s most perfect moment was during ‘These Few Presidents’, as he swung the microphone around to the crowd for the final line and we all sang together: ‘even though I haven’t seen you for years/yours is the funeral I’d fly to from anywhere’.

Yoni was by far the star of the show, which was, in many ways, a bit of a shame: his long-time collaborator Andrew Broder a.k.a. Fog was left stood at the back on guitar, not contributing nearly as much to the set as I would have liked – it would have been absolutely amazing to hear some tracks from their pre-Why?-being-a-full-band collaboration, Hymie’s Basement, but unfortunately the set was mostly made up from Eskimo Snow tracks, with the token big numbers from Alopecia and a couple from Elephant Eyelash thrown in for good measure, though it’s probably impossible to not come away disappointed with the setlist when you see one of your favourite bands.

Still, every song we were treated to in the hour long set was amazing. Why? are a band that are definitely not to be missed.

Second Opinion: by Matt Waring

Not being as much of an avid fan of Why? as Rob, there seems to be little more I can add to this. The whole night was very enjoyable, and Rob is dead on to say that both supports were excellent and well worth looking into further. While Rob mentioned a slight disappointment at them not playing much stuff from earlier albums, instead mainly focussing on Alopecia and Eskimo Snow, I liked this. It meant that those of us perhaps not quite as well versed in the bands history didn’t feel excluded by not knowing the earlier material. It was a really great night, with all three acts leaving a lasting impression. The only downer for me was that they didn’t play ‘Fatalist Palmistry’, my favourite track from Alopecia. But I can have few quibbles with what was otherwise an excellent gig.