“Somehow we forgot to come to New York for 22 years,” Scott McCaughey joked to the crowd at Bowery Electric on Thursday night. It was actually 23 years since Seattle cult legends The Young Fresh Fellows‘ last visit to NYC when they opened for The Soft Boys in 2001. The band, who formed in 1981 and quickly earned a reputation as a supreme party rock combo, are a real IYKYK group, and everyone in attendance was ready to have some fun.
McCaughey, who spent much of the ’90s and ’00s playing as a live member of R.E.M., was a genial, funny host, telling stories like one from their first-ever NYC show (1985 at Folk City) where they and the Ben Vaughn Combo whipped the crowd into a frenzy before Pere Ubu’s David Thomas killed the mood with his experimental solo set. Mainly they kicked out the college rock jams, including a bunch of songs from their classic 1984 debut, The Fabulous Sounds of the Pacific Northwest, which just got a remastered reissue.
Alongside original bassist Jim Sangster, longtime YFF guitarist Kurt Bloch (also of Seattle legends Fastbacks), and current drummer John Perrin, the band were in the “we’re having fun but we can really play” zone and were on fire all night. Original drummer Tad Hutchinson, whose signature kit setup including a swinging crash cymbal (wok?) on a golf flagpole, was missed (he’s retired) but was there in spirit as his face adorned the kick drum. Their set also included This One’s For the Ladies‘ one-two-punch of “Taco Wagon” and Kinks cover “Picture Book,” rave-up “99 Girls” (“99 was also the number of girls who came to see us play in the ’90s,” McCaughey quipped), “The Young Fresh Fellows Theme,” “My Friend Ringo” and an encore cover of The Sonics’ “Strychnine.”
The Figgs opened the night, though they were down a man as bassist Pete Donnelly couldn’t make it (covid), so Mike Gent and drummer Pete Hayes played a stripped down set heavy on requests which turned into a covers singalong with The Jam’s “That’s Entertainment,” Kinks’ “Victoria” and more. Gent also guested with YFF, controversially using a capo, for a song as well. A very fun night all around.
Young Fresh Fellows are also a musicians’ musician band, and in the crowd were Patti Smith Group guitarist (and Nuggets curator) Lenny Kaye, Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley, Scott McCaughey’s Baseball Project bandmate Steve Wynn (also of The Dream Syndicate), and Mikey Erg.
Photos by P Squared, including one of Young Fresh Fellows’ setlist are below.
Young Fresh Fellows play Wilco’s Solid Sound festival this weekend, the reason for the East Coast tour.
