Last summer at the Siren festival that I was DJing with my DJ partner KarenPlusOne, I met a wee boy dressed like he came to Coney Island straight from his home in the Hamptons. He was wearing khaki shorts, a white collared shirt, and probably an ascot. He may have been wearing a sailors cap, and he may have sailed over on his yacht. When I asked Karen who her cute Hamptons buddy was and she told me the singer of the White Rabbits.

See who was in the crowd and more after the jump.

You mean the hyped up band that everyone’s talking about that is playing David Letterman before they even have a record out or even a record deal? Yes.

Get outta here!

About 8 months later the band joined the Walkmen on a Camel cigarettes sponsored tour, and the band played to a packed house opening up for the Walkmen. The two bands seemed cut from the same prep school cloth and complimented each other amazingly.

This was, embarrassingly, my first time seeing the White Rabbits and I spent the show mesmerized by their dual singers and… dual and dueling drummers. Just the most adorable group of boys on stage, I wanted to take them home and make sure they finished their American History homework or something.

Playing like they learned how to be a band from covering the Walkmen (and i mean that in the nicest way a person can mean it since the Walkmen are one of my all time favorite bands), the Rabbits would’ve stolen the show had they been playing with anyone other than the Walkmen. Perhaps to some people they did… they’re THE hype band of the moment.

I fell in love with the Walkmen back in 2000 when I saw them open up for Interpol at the Mercury Lounge. As a huge fan of Neil Diamond, lead singer Hamilton Leithauser became my new dream troubadour. Eight years older, wiser, and better dressed, he took the stage towering in the spotlight and belted out some of the most powerful vocals I’ve heard in ages. Struggling to find air for his lungs, he sounded real and pained… it was all very honest. An uncalculated sincerity that I’ve been missing from my life.

Guitarist Paul Maroon’s frantic guitar work was matched by by Matt Barrick’s drumming. Matt Barrick, is, in my opinion, the greatest modern rock drummer. He’s incredibly underrated and it’s a crime. I’ve never seen a drummer more creative in his rhythm and beats as he is. He’s a machine! I’ve been such a huge fan of his drumming since the moment I saw them, and sometimes, he’s all I want to watch. If ever there were crimes in the music industry, it is that Matt doesn’t get to be on the cover of Drummers magazine every month and that his technique isn’t studied in colleges.

Spotted in the VIP was Sam from the Bravery, who, as a fellow NYC indie rocker and fellow extremely tall frontman, was probably there taking some notes from his peer on some stage moves.

Tags: camel, nyc, the walkmen, Webster Hall, white rabbits

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 5th, 2008 at 9:22 am and is filed under Live Shows, Webster Hall. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.