Washed Out + Small Black - Mercury Lounge (New York, NY; Mar. 7, 2010)

Despite billing themselves as the Chillwave 2010 tour, Washed Out and Small Black energized the Mercury Lounge on Sunday night, getting the sold-out crowd to dance about as much as you’ll ever see at a glo-fi show. It was the perfect show for a day that felt like spring – a celebratory dance party wrapped in the gauze of flashing lights and fuzzy instrumental loops. The venue was packed and buzzing with a tangible vibrancy. Dare I say it, you could feel it all around.

After opener Pictureplane, Small Black set the tone for the evening, playing cuts from their eponymous debut EP. Despite being largely unfamiliar with the tunes, the crowd grooved attentively as the band members wove together basslines, keyboards, and reverberating vocals to form tight, interesting songs. “Despicable Dogs,” the band’s best known song, was met with cheers from the pit, suggesting that many had made the trip specifically for the opener.

“Isn’t Sunday night the best night to drink in New York City?” asked frontman Josh Kolenik. “You know it’s a bad decision, but you do it anyway. Sunday!” That acknowledgement aside, the night resembled a sweaty Saturday night – the crowd was in no hurry to be anywhere else. When Kolenik announced that they were going to play “Kings of Animals,” someone in the crowd responded gleefully, “That’s my favorite!” True to form, it was one of the highlights in a solid set. Small Black left the stage to give way to Washed Out, having converted some new fans.

When Washed Out – Georgia’s Ernest Greene – took the stage, the crowd tensed up noticeably, with a tangible feeling of excited apprehension spreading through the cozy room. After fiddling with some of the gear on stage and turning off the columnar fluorescent lights that had been pulsing all evening, Greene threw a thumbs up to the soundman. He gave a quick look at packed crowd and, as the house music faded away, launched into his set full force.

Behind him, a circle of lights that had thus far into the evening simply served as dim ambience sprung to life, patterns and colors popping brightly. Silhouetted against the glowing orb, Greene was similarly dazzling, choosing to take his music toward the dancey side of the spectrum. The tempos were upbeat, the bass was loud, and the breaks between songs were negligible. The lights behind Greene provided enough visual stimulus to make the one-man show riveting.

After half an hour of Greene’s solo performance, mostly drawing from his spacier High Times, the members of Small Black climbed back on stage, taking the show’s energy level to a completely new level. Between ripping through cuts from Washed Out’s Life of Leisure EP, Greene addressed the crowd – “It’s much better with the live band, isn’t it?”

It was. The speakers pumped with drums and bass, and Greene’s tunes became living, breathing things rather than precise sound collages. Although Greene’s solo performance was stellar, it would be impossible not to prefer his collaboration with Small Black. “We’ve got one more song for you,” Greene announced at the end of the set, with little doubt in the mind of the crowd as to what song that would be. The four musicians stepped into the heady haze of “Feel It All Around,” bringing the evening to a sublime close. As the bright lights faded and the house lights came back up, I found myself equal parts adrenalized and sedated, the perfect mix of impressed and satisfied. I left seeing spots.

DOWNLOAD: Washed Out - Feel It All Around (MP3) or Follow us for more Washed Out MP3s (Twitter)

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