Music Existence Because of Music, We Exist
When House of Vans initially announced their lineup for their final summer at their location at 25 Franklin Street in Brooklyn, there was one show that was listed as TBA. On Tuesday, July 10th, that mystery was finally revealed to be a concert taking place ten days later on Friday, July 20th featuring the legendary NYC band Blondie, Liz Phair (who is currently celebrating the 25th anniversary of her landmark debut album, Exile in Guyville), and SASAMI, the solo effort by Sasami Ashworth (formerly of Cherry Glazerr). Ashworth was joined by her brother for a few of her songs.
Liz Phair, donning a Blondie shirt and sequin skirt, kicked off her set with two songs from Guyville, “6’1″” and “Fuck and Run.” She included other songs spanning her lengthy career in music such as “Never Said,” “Supernova,” “Polyester Bride,” and ending her performance with “Why Can’t I?” from her 2003 self-titled record.
Blondie co-founder, Chris Stein, had a photography installation on view with photo prints on view in one area of the venue and on screen before the band took the stage. Blondie’s set consisted of songs both new and old such as “Call Me,” “Hanging on the Telephone,” “Rapture,” “Atomic,” and “Gravity” (written by Charli XCX) and “Long Time” (written by Dev Hynes) from last year’s record, Pollinator. Blondie sprinkled covers by other artists among their hits, such as “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)” by the Beastie Boys, “Groove Is in the Heart” by Deee-Lite, and “I Feel Love” by Donna Summer. Blondie concluded their set with a two song encore, a cover of the Matt Monro 1963, “From Russia With Love,” (with Debbie Harry wearing a reflective construction vest) from the James Bond film of the same name, and “Dreaming” from their 1979 album Eat to the Beat.
