Islands rank among my favorite active bands right now, not only for their fantastic record, Return to the Sea (zeitgeisty!), but also for their outstanding live shows. Last night’s set at the Crocodile was even better than their previous Neumos show. Here are some highlights:

-Opening MC Blueprint telling the story of his Dj being held at the airport, due to “something in his pocket”, only to have his Dj appear triumphant and free of charges in time for his second song.

-An orange plastic net dividing the show room in half between the all-ages and 21+ crowd, recalling both beach volleyball and the Brady Bunch episode where they divide the room in half (wasn’t there also a Wonder Years where they did that?).

-Islands’ lead fiddle player (yes, they have two), who rocks incredibly hard for having to hold on to his instrument with his chin.

-Nick Diamonds’ smart, smart mouth which was actually used to taunt Stranger contributor and Frites fryer Ari Spool about the supposed low-quality of her french fries. Nick Diamonds is, of course, very wrong about Ari’s fries. Sadly, Ari and Nick weren’t able to settle things after the show…

-Several new Islands songs, and a sweet “Def Leopard” cover.

Their set:

Swans (Life After Death)
Volcanoes
The Hand (new song)
Jogging Gorgeous Summer
Waterloo Sunset (Kinks cover)
Tsuxiit
Where There’s a Will There’s a Whalebone
Pieces of You (new song)
? (new song)
? (new song)
Don’t Call Me Whitney, Bobby

Encore:

Rough Gem
? (new song)
(untitled track from Return to the Sea)