Photos: Inside Fischerspooner’s Sweaty, Debauched and Outrageously Fun Comeback Concert
Warren Fischer and Casey Spooner got a hero’s welcome Friday night in New York City. For their first headlining concert in years, this time to promote upcoming album Sir, the electroclash duo known as Fischerspooner, downtown New York fixtures now for—gasp—nearly two decades, pulled out all the stops at Brooklyn Steel for an unapologetically queer and uplifting show that recalled the carefree exuberance of the early aughts. Spooner, with his He-Man meets Peter Berlin hair and rapidly disappearing wardrobe, shimmied and turbocharged through new and old crowd-pleasers while flanked by the best back-up and go go dancers this side of a wild night in the East Village. Along the way, friends and collaborators—Michael Stipe, who produced the new album; Chairlift’s Caroline Polachek; choreographer Ryan McNamara; ballet dancer James Whiteside—came out to turn up the volume. “New York took care of me, New York brought me back. I’ve Stockholm syndrome, I can’t go anywhere else, so you better be nice to me,” Spooner said to cheers. “I’ll see you on the L train in a look.” The room lapped it all up. This was no nostalgia act, but a fresh reminder of Fischerspooner’s vitally needed presence on the scene, never more so than when they closed the show with the immortal “Emerge.” As dancers and performers filled the stage holding up signs by the direct action group Rise and Resist that read “Ivanka Trump—Queer Basher” and “Racism is an LGBTQ Issue,” an electronic music anthem never sounded more like a rallying cry.
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Casey Spooner of Fischerspooner performing the band’s first live show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York City on October 27. Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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Casey Spooner of Fischerspooner and dancer at the band’s first headlining show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York on October 27 . Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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A dancer at Fischerspooner’s first headlining show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York on October 27. Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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Casey Spooner of Fischerspooner at the band’s first headlining show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York on October 27. Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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A dancer at Fischerspooner’s first headlining show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York on October 27. Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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A dancer backstage at Fischerspooner’s first headlining show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York on October 27. Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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Backup dancers at Fischerspooner’s first headlining show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York on October 27. Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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A performer at Fischerspooner’s first headlining show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York on October 27. Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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Ryan McNamara at Fischerspooner’s first headlining show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York on October 27. Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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A dancer during a Ryan McNamara performance at Fischerspooner’s first headlining show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York on October 27. Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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Casey Spooner of Fischerspooner at the band’s first headlining show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York on October 27. Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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The scene at Fischerspooner’s first headlining show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York on October 27.. Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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Dancer Thomas Gibbons at Fischerspooner’s first headlining show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York on October 27.. Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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The scene at Fischerspooner’s first headlining show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York on October 27. Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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Casey Spooner at Fischerspooner’s first headlining show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York on October 27. Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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Fischerspooner’s first headlining show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York on October 27. Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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Fischerspooner’s first headlining show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York on October 27. Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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A dancer at Fischerspooner’s first headlining show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York on October 27. Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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The scene at Fischerspooner’s first headlining show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York on October 27. Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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Dancer Thomas Gibbons at Fischerspooner’s first headlining show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York on October 27.. Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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Fischerspooner’s first headlining show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York on October 27. Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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Fischerspooner’s first headlining show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York on October 27. Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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A dancer at Fischerspooner’s first headlining show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York on October 27. Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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The scene at Fischerspooner’s first headlining show in nearly a decade at Brooklyn Steel in New York on October 27. Photo by Tayte Hanson.
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