November 14, 2004

Freak was seen dreaming out loud at the Fine Line Music Cafe catching long time faves Luna (on their last tour) & openers Brooklyn’s Palomar. Palomar was a dreamy, fast at times & a good fit for this expressive double bill. I was impressed by these young New Yorkers & their lush sexy soundscape. With 3 women on guitar up front & a guy drumming & singing behind is a winning combo here. Luna’s one of the most underrated bands of our time & now they’ve decided to stop touring & essentially hang it up (there’s a bunch of reasons listed on their website: fuzzywuzzy.com). They have truly forged out a unique identity over the years. I feel blessed & fortunate to have seen them all the times I have. So now that they’ve announced their retirement after this tour, the vibe in the room was one of the many local fans thinking this would be their last chance to hear them play. Ouch. That will hurt any music lover. The show was a deeply steeped in their dream pop haze of lilting guitars & soothing voices endowing surreal scenes & some involuntary visuallization. This Luna show blossomed nicely finding them playing playfully many of my faves with the likes of “1995”, “Malibu Lovenest”, “California (all the way)”, “Broken Chair”, “Tiger Lily Girls” (freak personal fave), “Going home”, “Anasthesia”, “Moon Palace”, “Black Postcards”, encores “Tugboat Captain” (a Galaxie 500 song), “23 minutes over Brussels”, “Friendly Advice” [lyric: Say a prayer... Tell me do you miss me?]. The freak too easily gives this high spirited live show 4 **** smoking bongs our absolute highest rating & rantingest recommendation. This is music for full moons just as it is for new moons. You can tune a piano but you cannot Luna wish... Dream on.