The New York City infiltration by Finland’s Glam Rock journeyman Naked was continuing with a stop at the Otto’s Shrunken Head bar down on the Lower East Side. I’ve been to this quirky little space a few times over the years and if you have never been there before it is worth a visit. There is a decent sized bar up in the front that makes some super powered Tiki drinks in addition to serving up the proper beers of the day. The Tiki drinks even come in cool glasses that you can purchase as souvenirs if you are sober enough to get them home safely. The read of the bar has a cool performance space which I will venture to guess can fit about 50-60 people back there if you position them good. This would be the second time that the band had visited the States in the year and for their “Double Down” Tour were hoping to clock in at maximum venue numbers before they returned home. Last week they played at the Bowery Electric which we reviewed on the site and since then had done a number of other shows that I sadly could not attend. With a city and scene like NYC around you, it is difficult to be everywhere. Here is how the show went down for those who might have missed it.

Before I get started let me explain how Otto’s is similar to venues like Arlene’s Grocery, Piano’s and some others where a number of groups are playing for their own set of fans. With that in mind there is really no headlining act but just band after band after band. People often arrive for who they are there to see and rarely remain for anyone else. The difference is that this particular show was free admission so arriving and saying that you were there for “Naked” would have gotten you some very strange looks. Before they played there was an interesting act whose name escapes and that just goes to show you that if you like something jot their name down or hit the website link immediately on your phone (provided you have Internet access of course). The band hit the stage a little later than I had planned to be around but life in New York often makes one shift their schedules and that’s fine by me at the end. I expected quite a few of the same songs to be played as the other night and I was correct in the assumption for the most part. They would open and continue with the same tunes as a couple of nights ago but switch it up for the third song with one of my personal favorites “Sonic High”. Their song “Combo” morphed several of their old songs together and I had to say that I wished some of these would have been played in full since they are so good. There was a lot of playfulness with the band in terms of their interaction with each other and sadly there was not a whole lot of people in the club outside of the dozen or so friends and curious who came out. This is to be expected on a Sunday night anywhere especially when the band is something new to people’s ears. Despite that, we who attended had a blast and a half.

As the band headed into their last couple of numbers, promoter Frank Wood came out and told us that there was a fifth member of the band who was from France. His name was “Philipe” and he was holding a bucket in his hands at the time. The clever play on words was for the assembled to help out the band by filling up the bucket. As it passed around people tossed in whatever they felt like offering up and depending on how many people you end up at a show and what they think of your performance, you could do very well. The band also had their CD “Double Down” with them and sold a bunch to those new to their sound. That is always nice to see. They played eight songs this evening which was one less than the last gig I caught but I was still satisfied until the very last note was played. Tonight was another shot in the arm for Rock and Roll and another notch in the belt of Finland’s Naked.

Sadly this would be the last show of their return tour that I would be able to attend as I would have the Black Veil Brides tomorrow while they were going to be playing somewhere else. I will keep my fingers crossed for a third go round and let you all know about it when they make their way to these parts again.

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Official Web Site: www.nakedonline.net