CMJ Sub Pop / Hardly Art Showcase: Obits, Mercury Lounge, NY

It might be nothing more than coincidence, but perhaps it’s a bad idea for quintessential rock band Obits to follow Pissed Jeans as part of the Sub Pop / Hardly Art Showcase. The crowd is just too rowdy, with the hecklers decidedly amped up after the previous set. Despite their best efforts and driving rhythms, it isn’t surprising when the more mature looking Orbits are taunted by the crowd. However, what is surprising is when singer and guitarist Rick Froberg doesn’t ignore the insults, but rather throws off his guitar and launches himself at the heckler, ready to fight until security escorts the belligerent audience member out of the Mercury Lounge for the evening.

The entire scene fits Obits’ musical oeuvre rather well. Their shrill, sometimes too nasal vocals are balanced by a guitar that falls somewhere between Tom Petty, as in their first song of the night, ‘I Cant Lose You’ (they open with a cover), and the hard rocking of Bon Jovi on songs like ‘Lilies in the Street’. While the guitar lines occasionally come off as derivative, the driving beats keep the party going and heads bobbing.

Still, by the end of the night, after the first altercation, which seems to have possibly damaged Froberg’s guitar, the band start to look stressed and fatigued and the set finishes memorably, but tensely, with a number of other people being taken out of the audience. For those who exhibit a bit of decorum, however, Obits prove a worthy sequel to their more raucous predecessor.