Since I was already scheduled to be in Boston for the second-to-last date of the Nylon Magazine Winter Music Tour, finding out that the xx would be doing an in-store performance earlier on the same day was just icing on the cake. I had gone to pick up my wristband for the event early Friday morning. When I asked the clerk on duty how many wristbands were left, she gave me this “are you out of your mind?” look, saying, “we just started giving wristbands out half an hour ago. We have plenty.” This gave me what turned out to be a false sense of security (figuring that maybe, just maybe not too many people in Boston knew who the xx were), so my friend and I would have plenty of time to get to the in-store at 5 and wouldn’t have any trouble having a good vantage point to take photos from.
When we arrived to line up outside the Newbury Street store at 4:30, there were at least 50 people in front of me. As quickly as the sun set and disappeared, the line on the sidewalk outside the store grew and grew until it went all the way down the block. I started chatting with other people in line, finding out that I was in the minority (being the owner of a coveted ticket to the sold-out Friendly Fires / the xx gig later on) and that many of them had shown up for the free in-store simply for a chance to see the xx. They appreciated finding out from me that the xx would return to Boston to play the Paradise again on April 2.
Five o’clock came and went, and I started to lose feeling in my feet and arms despite it being unseasonably warm for a winter evening in Boston. Someone asked staff who was monitoring the front door why we weren’t allowed in, and we were told that the band’s equipment hadn’t arrived yet. At about 5:50, the main door finally opened and fans trooped into the store. People and their winter coats were crammed into the store between the CD racks and unusual merchandise. A bit stifling.
A short while later, the xx appeared and the crowd that assembled for them cheered. They launched into the instrumental “Intro.” Unfortunately, I couldn’t see much with many taller people in front of me, but I could occasionally make out bassist Oliver Sim and electronic percussion / synth player Jamie Smith as heads bobbed up and down to the music in front of me. I was skeptical about how the band would sound in small record store, but as soon as the band started into “VCR,” I knew this was going to be one great performance.
The sparseness of the xx sound sounded gorgeous in the cramped, enclosed space. Several in the crowd shouted for “Islands,” which began beautifully with Romy Madley-Croft’s tender voice that was later joined with Sim’s. “Crystalised,” the first song by this band that I’d ever heard, was spectacular. Interestingly, this song was left off their set list at the Paradise three hours later, so if any of my new “friends” I met at Newbury Comics that night are reading this: you got a special treat!
My impression of the crowd was that it was a mixture of fans and others who looked upon the xx as a curiosity. Either way, there was little doubt in my mind that each person left that night thinking, “Wow, I need to make sure I get a ticket when the band comes back here in April.” You can catch the band on a short headlining tour of America in March and April (touring with mysterious Swedish electronic group jj), followed by a turn as the opener for Hot Chip in late April.
Set List:
Intro
VCR
Basic Space
Islands
Crystalised
Nighttime
Infinity
Tour dates:
Mar 22 – Spanish Moon / Baton Rouge*
Mar 24 – Earl / Atlanta*
Mar 25 – Cat’s Cradle / Carrboro, NC*
Mar 28 – Sixth & I Synagogue / Washington, DC*
Mar 29 – First Unitarian Church / Philadelphia*
Apr 02 – Paradise / Boston*
Apr 05 – Wexner Center / Columbus*
Apr 06 – Buskirk Chumley Theater / Bloomington, IN*
Apr 19 – Riviera Theatre / Chicago%
Apr 20 – Koolhaus / Toronto%
Apr 22 – Terminal 5 / New York City%
Apr 24 – 9:30 Club / Washington, DC%
* with jj
% supporting Hot Chip
The xx: website | myspace | @ Music Hall of Williamsburg | @ DC9 | @ Paradise
Performance photos: Julie Stoller
