Photo by Julia Olson
When walking up to the line for Why? and Florist at Neumos last Saturday I was left wondering if the pairing was perhaps the best idea. The divide between Florist and Why? fans was in fact, quite stark. When asking around “who are you here to see?” the results were predictably one-sided; “I’m here to see Florist but don’t know anything about Why?,” or vice versa.
During Florist’s set the divide was also apparent, as those in the bar were notably overpowering the soft-spoken lyricist and their bandmate. During the last song of their set, Florist member Emily Sprague tried to quiet the bar with subtle little hints that this last song is “the quietest one yet” to no avail. Vocal distractions aside however, Florist proved as lovely in concert as I could have hoped with the very highest of my expectations. After falling in love with the band via NPR Tiny Desk I had built up high expectations for Florist’s live performance, as many of the songs resonated with me both on a sonic and personal-emotional level. Emily Sprague sang all of their songs so beautifully, and somehow also delivered each of them in a way true to their self-reflective and contemplative nature, allowing the audience full reign to drift and assign meaning to the songs relative to their own internalized emotions and memories. My favorite song of Florist’s discography, “Vacation”, was played in addition to more of the hits, and a new song was thrown in there too. It’s rare that an artist can connect with audience’s emotions in such a powerful and personal way as Florist did last Saturday, making for a wonderful start to the night.
There was quite a noticeable shift in the audience following Florist’s set, as the dedicated Why? fans pushed their way to the front and some of the Florist fans decided they were good to go. The beginning of Why?’s set boasted a hearty energy as some of the band’s most excited audience members danced and sang along to songs off the band’s most popular older album Alopecia. After some initial euphoria there was a minor *hitch* in the set, as two perhaps overly-excited fans began moshing a little more aggressively than was appropriate or appreciated by those around them. After being confronted by numerous disturbed and annoyed fans the two dudes became defensive to the point of shouting obscenities over the music and pushing and grinding on anyone who dared to ask that they calm down. Well, this wasn’t appreciated by the fans who came to actually pay attention to the band, and one of the dudes in question got socked in the noggin quite a few times. Fighting ensued and eventually security came to take out the disruptors, taking a few punches themselves as the two dudes had the audacity to fight security (sigh).
Once the commotion had been successfully handled, lead vocalist and band personality Yoni Wolf relayed to the audience not to worry because he had “taken care of it”, with a sarcastic chuckle. The rest of Why?’s set went smoothly, and the band’s long history of live performances was apparent in the smoothness of the set and sound. Why? ended the night with a truly lovely “everyone sing around the same mic” acoustic rendition of their popular “Fatalist Palmistry,” and a genuine thank you and goodnight.
Photo by Julia Olson
Although the night highlighted some of the obvious troubles associated with touring two very different bands on the same bill, there were also some upsides to their pairing. Why? is certainly not the type of concert I would traditionally be interested in, but I ended up having a great time at the show. During his set Yoni Wolf mentioned how big of a Florist fan he is, and although their music is quite different sonically, lyrically I can certainly see how each band might influence the other. So yeah, I couldn’t hear Florist during their set because the Why? fans were there for Why?, but thanks to Yoni Wolf’s admiration for the band I did get to experience new music I totally wouldn’t have given a second glance at otherwise, and hopefully Why? fans felt the same about Florist too.
Florist: Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp
JULIA OLSON | MPATTI lead cowbell | KXSU Head Music Reporter