XX Merge Night 2 at Cat's Cradle: Guv'ner and Versus

The third band to take the stage (after an extremely long set change) on night two of XX Merge was Guv'ner. I give them tons of credit for getting up there after not playing for a decade, but they win the least prepared band of XX Merge award. The band's set was filled with mistakes and seeming confusion, especially from Pumpkin Wentzel.

The songs that landed were quite fun, quirky little pop songs. "Break a Promise" and "Love the Lamp" were two highlights from the set. The band also played a cover of "Looking For the Magic" by Dwight Tilley.

Guv'ner set list:
Lucky Ladybug
Welcome
Break a Promise
Bridge Under Water
Cameo
Baby's Way Cruel
Motorcycle Man
Love the Lamp
Looking For the Magic (Dwight Tilley cover)
Coozwax

After the swiftest set change I've seen in a while, another New York band, Versus, took the stage. The band's spacey pop filled the Cradle and got the crowd excited. The big hit of the night was easily "Blade of Grass" which received cheers from the opening notes. The band even played a new song which they said they have or are recording and hope to release in the future (we hope on Merge). During the set, frontman Richard Baluyut joked that his brother and drummer James had to be convinced to play the Merge-era songs, since he was in the band prior to signing with Merge and rejoined the group later.

Check out photos of Guv'ner and Versus below. Our next post about night two will be up shortly.

[all photos by Kevin Norris]

Guv'ner







Versus