Concert review/photos: Ex Hex @ the Ottobar (Baltimore)
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
A sneak peek at Mary Timony's latest band, due in Philly March 22.
[ 3/6 ] One band people are sure to be excited to hear at SXSW this week is the Mary Timony-led three-piece Ex Hex. They will play Boot & Saddle on March 22, but this critic got an early immersion in their 1980s pop-rock earworm-laden sound Thursday at The Ottobar in Baltimore. (It was actually my second concert experience with the D.C. trio, as I saw them in December, as reviewed here.)
For 13 songs, they dazzled with lyrical hooks and guitar wizardry. Timony and bassist Betsy Wright hopped from their mics to stage center, where they playfully dueled while drummer Laura Harris kept the percussive beat behind a kit emblazoned with a realistic spider. Wright, complete with semi-ironic bass face, and Timony (whose legs were as likely to kick as they were to be outstretched on an amp) harmonized, with Timony singing lead on all but two tracks. Even tighter musically and looser performancewise than in December, Ex Hex sounds ready to contribute to the soundtrack of 2014 with “Hot and Cold” and “Roxy Roller,” among many others sure to be repeated on your turntable.
Natural Velvet and Bobby Donnie opened.
SETLIST (as written out by band)
- Don’t Wanna
- Everywhere
- (New Song)
- Waterfall
- New Kid
- I Know How You
- Warpaint
- 80s
- Hot and Cold
- Velvets
- Roxy Roller
ENCORE
- You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory (Johnny Thunder cover)
- What Kind of Monster (Slant 6 cover)
