Live! Say Hi at the Black Cat, Washington DC

Review by Tina Corinteli

As I stood outside of the Black Cat on one of the coldest nights DC has had in months, I couldn’t help but wonder which version of Say Hi I would see perform: Eric Elbogen with his trusty “robots” or Eric Elbogen accompanied by living & breathing band mates. That question was answered thirty minutes later when a trio of musicians took the stage, followed by a quick introduction of “Hi, we’re Say Hi from Seattle, Washington.”

Within a few seconds, I found myself in the middle of a growing audience, just in time to hear the beginning chords of the band’s opening song “Pop Music of the Future.” A quick “Hi,” from Elbogen, and the band got straight into the second song of the night “These Fangs” off of the album Impeccable Blahs. I took a quick glance at the audience; it was obvious it didn’t take long for the mellow-intensity of Eric’s voice to captivate the crowd. By the next song, “Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh,” bodies were swaying in every direction.

There was some sort of adrenaline-like feel going through the crowd. The kid next to me whipped out a lighter and started swinging it over his head; people were shouting out requests. I was interested to see how Eric would react to this, since the only words out of his mouth up to that point had basically been “hi” and “thanks”. His response?  A witty “No requests; we will not be taking any requests at this time,” followed by a little grin, which led us into the next song (one of my favorites) off the new album Oohs & Aahs, “November Was White, December Was Grey”.

A few songs later, the music stopped and I came to the realization that Mr. Eric Elgoben & his band were funny guys- really funny guys. “Want to hear a joke?” he said, “Why can’t white people tell jokes timing?” (If the joke doesn’t make sense to you, try reading it aloud). Eric admitted to us that his guitar needed some tuning and turned things over to Alex, the bassist, whose hilarious and obscene jokes turned the audience’s chuckles into full-blown laughter. Tuned and ready, Eric proceeded to tell us that “this band gets progressively dirtier every night,” and introduced his song “Blah Blah Blah”, “a song about vampires which inspired Twilight.”

Say Hi finished off their set with the fan favorite “Northwestern Girls” while the audience crooned along during the chorus “It must be in the air, here.” A sincere “thank you” and the band made their way off stage while several members of the crowd chanted, “One more song! One more song!”. I must admit, I was surprised by the band’s choice not to include “Let’s Talk about Spaceships”, which is undoubtedly one of Say Hi’s most popular songs, on the set list. Encore or not, Say Hi ensured that it was a great night for music in DC.

Say Hi are currently touring with Dave Bazan, track them on Bandsintown for upcoming tour dates and similar show recommendations.