As I said last week, it would have taken a natural disaster to prevent me from making it to the Constellations/Postelles show at Spaceland Monday night. Thankfully, no such catastrophe struck (although a by-the-book doorman almost prevented us from bringing a camera into the venue), and now I can bring you my recap of a show worth infinitely more than the ticket price (free!).

The Constellations

The Constellations hit the stage first, and as I was luckily enough to secure a copy of their upcoming CD, Southern Gothic, a couple of months ago, I was prepped to sing along with frontman Elijah Jones as he led the band through their oh-too-short set (sorry to anyone within hearing range of me). At any point in time, at least 4 of the 8 band members would be providing some sort of percussion, be it hand claps, tambourine rattles, cowbell, or drum hits. Thus my unspoken question as to how they would recreate their heavily layered recorded sound in a live setting was answered: with lots of people! The percussionist for the Postelles even jumped on stage to provide some extra drum work on the last song of the set, the manic “Step Right Up,” which left me wishing I had brought a pair of maracas or something to the show just to be a part of the fun on stage. I wonder if they would have played “Love is a Murder” if I had offered to provide the Cee-Lo part myself? Hmm…things to think about for the next time this ridiculously talented group of Atlantans rolls into town.

The Postelles

The Postelles may have had half the number of bodies on stage as the Constellations, but they brought just as much energy during their set. Utilizing the same line-up of two guitarists, a bassist, and a drummer that has worked for innumerable bands throughout music history, this four piece from New York seamlessly melded the sounds of the past with the present, rocking Spaceland with their Elvis-Costello-meets-the-Strokes style. In addition to playing songs from their White Night EP, they tackled a cover of the Ramones “Beat on the Brat” that got everyone in the audience moving and ended the set with a new song, giving everyone a little glimpse of what to expect from their July 27th Capitol/Astralwerks full-length debut.