[gallery murder_by_death_and_man_man_gallery]
Photos by Sean O’Connor
Murder By Death, Man Man, and Damion Suomi at Highdive, February 19, 2013
It was a chilly weeknight, but the lure of a double headliner from Bloomington, Indiana’s, Murder By Death and Philadelphia’s Man Man brought out a healthy crowd of 300-plus to the Highdive.
Damion Suomi kicked off the evening with a set of acoustic songs, some covers and some originals. To be honest, I got to the show midway through his set and didn’t make it past the bar before he finished up, but it sounded quite pleasant.
Man Man took the stage next, and the main room quickly filled. Frontman Honus Honus mixed things up, singing into a microphone attached to a mask, wearing some sort of Roman helmet, and climbing atop his keyboard, depending on the song, and sometimes a combination of those elements. Both band and crowd thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Their second keyboardist (Man Man name undetermined) looked like a curly-haired version of Walter Sobchak.
Closing out the night in style was Murder By Death. They mixed songs off their 2012 album Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon with a generous helping of their back catalog. Frontman Adam Turla kept the crowd engaged, and the band (featuring trumpet, cello, and sometimes keyboards) was tight, especially considering their normal multi-instrumentalist had fallen ill before the beginning of the tour and was replaced on short notice.