Back on October 24, WHY? brought their indie-folk/hip hop hybrid sound to The Canal Club, and RVA Magazine photographer Todd Raviotta was on the scene. WHY? were on tour in support of two recent releases: the Sod In The Seed EP, which dropped back in August, and Mumps, Etc., their fourth full-length album, which was released by Anticon on October 9. Leader Yoni Wolf took the stage backed by a five-piece band, which included two percussionists and a variety of multi-instrumental performers who bounced back and forth between guitar, bass, and keyboards over the course of the set. They were greeted by a rapturous crowd, as can be heard on Todd's video of "Crushed Bones," a fan favorite from WHY?'s first album, Elephant Eyelash:
"The fans really knew their lyrics," Todd said. "WHY?'s poetic hip hop lyrics made for a really intimate back and forth. Yoni Wolf remarked at one point how awesome it was to be rapped back at by the crowd." The response WHY? received at the Canal Club demonstrated that RVA loves their music, and with their performance, WHY? in turn demonstrated exactly, um, why that is. Check out a gallery of Todd's photos from the show below,as well as his great photoanimation video of the entire evening, soundtracked by WHY?'s live performance of "Waterlines," from their Mumps, Etc., and featuring a pretty great midsong video snippet.
Photos and Video by Todd Raviotta
Words by Andrew Necci