AXIS|OF|LIVE

My decision to see The Fiery Furnaces at Northsix this past Friday evening was last-minute. I’d been waiting to see if any of my friends were going to show interest in attending with me and then suddenly it was sold out! And then I desperately wanted to go. Pam drove all the way up from Delaware to “ride the Blueberry Boat” with me and thanks to a lawyer-type Brooklynite with an extra pair of tickets, we were in the door and among the likes of famous indie rock types to see Eleanor and her brother Matt kick out the jams to a psyched and supportive hometown crowd.

We missed the opening bands for the chance to mix with the hipsters on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg and check out a Polish-American diner. Good chicken soup. At Northsix, the front entrance was jammed with people trying to fight their way onto the guestlist, but we eventually found our way through the crowd and even managed to snag a pair of beers on our way to the front. We got fairly close, though we ended up right in front of the speakers. I’d seen a sign by the bar advertising earplugs with an illustration of a bleeding ear, and eventually came to understand the deeper meaning of said message. Ouch. But it wasn’t loud beyond belief, which was a welcome change from most shows these days; just pretty loud. And noisy and raucous and fun and schizophrenic, as The Fiery Furnaces always are.

Eleanor and Matt made their way onto the stage and apologized immediately for their lateness before launching into a long set without breaks. “We’re going to play our record for you,” Eleanor said. “It’s called Bitter Tea.” They started off with “In My Little Thatched Hut” and I thought for a while that the entire show would just be a complete run-through of their latest album. But this mix only went for a half-hour or so, including other songs from the LP, such as “I’m in No Mood,” “The Vietnamese Telephone Ministry,” “Bitter Tea,” and the gorgeous “Teach Me Sweetheart.” There was never a pause in the excitement and it almost felt like a letdown when they finally stopped to do individual songs. I could have watched them go on for another half-hour, but I suppose the Friedbergers deserve their small breaks.

Matt was excellent on keyboard, but it’s no secret that Eleanor is the star of the pair, the one everyone is there to see. Even so, I was genuinely surprised at the amount of stage presence she possessed and the hints of star quality that broke through the singer’s often sallow and staid demeanor. Her hair was still hanging in her face as always, her clothes still old-fashioned and mismatched; but she was working the crowd and definitely in her element. I can see how The Fiery Furnaces might fall flat at a bigger event or festival, likely to shy away from the hordes of eyes studying their every uncrafted move. But they shine in a small venue, especially among neighbors and friends who showed them lots of love before their move back to the studio for the follow-up to Bitter Tea. Closing song “Police Sweater Blood Vow” not only felt like a love song to Eleanor’s beau Alex Kapranos (in attendance, of course, as a good boyfriend would be), but also a love song to the audience, sharing the moment with the Friedbergers at one of Northsix’s final shows, during an oddly warm, magical-feeling weekend in early January. Matt told us after the show that he would “always remember this weekend for its unseasonable weather.” Then he agreed to a photo of himself with a beer bottle perched on his shoulder. What a strange, charming fellow.