Islands | Webster Hall, NYC | 5/24/2008

Islands played their biggest NYC gig yet on Saturday at Webster Hall. The set list consisted mostly of songs off their new record Arms Way (Anti), including stand out tracks like “Creeper,” “J’aime Vous Voir Quitter” and “Pieces of You.” In fact the only song before the encore that came from Return to the Sea was “Don’t Call Me Whitney, Bobby,” which Diamonds prefaced by saying “this is what we used to sound like.” When the crowd cheered he exclaimed “No, boo! Out with the old in with the new!”

While Return to the Sea was a very logical step from their previous band, The Unicorns, Arms Way is the band’s boldest statement to date. The difference in the sound between the two records is astounding and that was even more apparent at the show. Despite Diamonds’ distaste for the old songs, the encore consisted of two Return to the Sea songs; “Swans” and “Rough Gem.”

Also of note, Man Man’s biggest fan Darren Mabee was in the crowd trying to perform some show stealing antics. Has he moved on to Islands?

Check out some more pictures after the jump.
The Magic