The Boy Least Likely To - R&R (New York) - Friday, March 10, 2006

by Rachel Pesin
13 March 2006

THE BOY LEAST LIKELY TO’s album is called The Best Party Ever, and after this show, I understand why. I’m not sure words can express the childlike joy I felt during this gig, but I’ll give it a try.

Core members JOF OWEN (lyrics and vocals) and PETER HOBS (music and instruments) team up with ADAM (guitar, banjo), ALISTAIR (drums), AMANDA (keyboard, recorder), BAHAR (glockenspiel, fiddle), and BISH (bass) to make their bouncy, dreamy twee-pop come alive.

The band came onstage for their first ever New York gig one hour later than scheduled, but when they began playing the first song, “Hugging My Grudge,” which, like many of their songs, has humorously sad lyrics (“I’ll never be happy unless I’m unhappy and hugging my grudge”) set to upbeat music, the audience forgot about the extended wait and began dancing, singing, and smiling along with band.

The audience was incredibly receptive, with concertgoers who brought along blowouts (often used on New Years Eve) and blew bubbles during “The Battle of the Boy Least Likely To,” which has lyrics about doing the same. The band, in turn, was quite enthused and throughout the show drummer Alistair took photos of the crowd (as well as the band) with his camera and keyboardist Amanda threw cupcakes to those who asked. Furthermore, the band members bantered back and forth with each other and the crowd between songs, increasing the party-like atmosphere of the gig.

Before the encore, Alistair informed us that Jof wasn’t sure if he wanted to come out to play any more songs. Immediately after this comment, Jof came out and told us he was only coming out again because he had forgotten to tell us that they had merchandise for sale. But I think we all knew that he, like the rest of the band and all of the audience, wasn’t ready for the party to end just yet.

Filed under concerts indie-pop