Ponytail @ DC9

The DC9 audience ate it up. The riffing of guitarists Ken Seeno and Dustin Wong and the drumming of Jeremy Hyman aren’t nearly as abstract as the vocals, but have the same sort of joy and energy. There’s a catchiness to the guitar melodies that recalls a less proggy and more immediate Boris or Deerhoof. While this combination received a fair share of head nods on previous visits to the District, they noted, two songs in, that this was the best crowd they’d seen (complete with jumping, moshing and crowd surfing) and they came back for an encore that, judging by the questioning looks they shot each other after finishing strong with the 7-minute “Celebrate the Body Electric (It Came from an Angel),” they clearly had not planned on doing.

Actually, the show would have been better without it. Playing a cover required singing of honest to goodness words from Siegel and Wong. Coupled with a drop in tempo, the spell in which Ponytail had trapped the audience was slightly broken. It almost seemed like the precursor to the imminent crash that happens after an unadulterated adrenaline rush. But that was a slight misstep in a show that by sheer willpower may have pushed a few undecided listeners onto the pro-Ponytail side of the fence.