Viagra Boys made a triumphant return to New York City on February 15 with the first of three straight sold-out shows at Elsewhere. Sebastian Murphy, irreverent as always, led the six-piece band through a pulsating set that included eight songs from 2022 release Cave World.
The six-piece Viagra Boys hail from Sweden, with Murphy having grown up in California before making the move to Europe and forming the band. And after the set of three shows in Brooklyn, the band is taking this particular leg of their tour to Boston, Montréal, and making a quick rip across the continent to finish the tour in Seattle on March 4.
Having just played a show at Brooklyn Steel in October, Murphy immediately embraced the feel of the significantly smaller venue that is the Hall at Elsewhere. Between the band’s tight musical performance and Murphy’s self-aware and often hilarious stage banter, the crowd was fully engaged with the performance from the outset.
While Murphy is certainly the center of attention in the universe that is the Viagra Boys, saxophone Oscar Carls is a very close second, mixing it up with both the crowd and the rest of the band throughout the set, rocking very short shorts and making outstanding contributions to the performance with his instrument along the way.
By the time the set was over, the crowd was thoroughly satisfied, and Murphy assured everyone that this show would be the best of the three in Brooklyn, predicting a massive hangover ahead of the rest of the stint in the city.
The Steens, a band from Orange County, California, opened the show with a quick burst set of fast garage rock tunes—one of which was a cover of the Brian Jonestown Massacre’s “Oh Lord”—and plenty of energy.
Setlist: Ain’t No Thief, Ain’t Nice, Punk Rock Loser, Baby Criminal, Slow Learner, Big Boy, It Ain’t Enough, Cold Play, Creepy Crawlers, Liquids, Troglodyte, Sports, Shrimp Shack
Encore: Worms, Research Chemicals
Viagra Boys
The Steens
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