Les Savy Fav destroyed Music Hall of Williamsburg (again): video, setlist, review

“We got banned at the last release show here,” Les Savy Fav‘s Tim Harrington told the packed house at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Thursday night. “They finally let us back.” If anybody thought that getting back in the Brooklyn venue’s good graces, or the wisdom of age for that matter, would mean Tim Harrington would be any less an agent of chaos in 2024 doesn’t know him or Les Savy Fav.

From the jump, Harrington was going full tilt on Thursday, the record release show for Les Savy Fav’s OUI, LSF which is their first album in 14 years. He came out in the same white suit he revealed on Late Night With Seth Meyers the night before, with his beard died dayglo yellow and jewels glued all over his head. Those jewels lasted for about one song — “I’ve got a Barry Styles thing going on” — and his suit didn’t last much longer. After his first of many trips into the audience, impossibly long mic cord trailing him around the room, Tim ripped off his tie and declared he was thirsty. When he picked up a full bottle of red wine I saw at least five people scurry to the back of the room before he could spray it, spit-take-style, over the first few rows. After pouring a third of it on his head, he emptied the rest of it into his jacket pocket and proceeded to squeeze it into the willing open mouths of people against the stage.

Later in the evening, when he’d lost the jacket, ripped off the sleeves of his shirt and tied it, a la Britney Spears, above his belly, he told the crowd how he’d bought the suit in Spain a couple years ago, and how it figured into the new album. “I looked at myself and thought, ‘I look fucking cool, we should write a new record… the suit is destroyed now but it had to happen.”

The band played four songs from OUI, LSF and all sounded great and fit in nicely next to ’00-era classics like “What Would Wolves Do?,” “Patty Lee,” “Who Rocks a Party?” and “The Sweat Descends,” which closed out the main set…by which time Harrington was down to his tighty whities, which were stained with wine. “It’s so exciting to say ‘Here’s a new song,’” Tim said, intruding “Barbs.”

Tim did show a modicum restraint a couple times. During “Hold Onto Your Genre,” while balanced on the railing of the side mezzanine he briefly considered trying to climb up to the balcony before reassessing and saying “fuck that,” Later he made it up to the balcony via the stairs and convinced some people in the VIP section to hold his legs while flipped his upper body over the balcony to sing upside down, but pulled himself up after just a second. The high point of his crowd-work, though, was during “Dirty Knails,” where he laid down in the middle of the floor and got the audience to do so as well before whipping everyone back up into a frenzy.

The night ended with an encore of “Who Rocks the Party?” where they both invited friends and family onstage to play their instruments — Syd Butler brought up his daughter, teaching her the bass part before hoisting her onto his shoulders — or, in the case of Seth Jabour, sent his still plugged-in guitar out into the audience for some interactive soloing. It was a very fun show, of course. It was Les Savy Fav.

Check out a few videos, a couple more iPhone pics and the MHOW setlist below.

Les Savy Fav are on tour through the fall. If you go, don’t wear white.

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SETLIST: Les Savy Fav @ Music Hall of Williamsburg 5/17/2024
Legendary Tippers
Barbs
The Equestrian
Rage In The Plague Age
Patty Lee
What Would Wolves Do?
Hold Onto Your Genre
Limo Scene
World Got Great
Somebody Needs A Hug
Let’s Get Out Of Here
Dirty Knails
The Sweat Decends
Rome
Who Rocks The Party?