Whitney Live: Bear Hands and Darlings

Lower Gallery and Sculpture Court

Whitney Live rocks this July and August with upstarts in experimental pop, tropicalia, chill-wave, beach music, garage rock, post-punk, and globe-trotting bass-inflected DJ beats.

Bear Hands:
In August 2006, Dylan Rau (vocals/guitar) brought together Wesleyan schoolmates Ted Feldman (guitar), Val Loper (bass) and TJ Orscher (drums) to form Bear Hands. They find ways to use driving beats, contemplative lyrics, and inventive guitar lines to create danceable indie rock. After SXSW this year they embarked on an exhaustive touring schedule and are finally home in NYC this summer. During their many gigs on the East Coast, Bear Hands have shared the stage with bands like MGMT, Vampire Weekend, and Ra Ra Riot.

Darlings:
Darlings has a rather typical-sounding story: a band started by four friends in the front room of a fifth-floor walkup on Bleecker Street in New York City. With singer/guitarist Peter Rynsky, drummer Matt Solomon, bassist Joe Tirabassi, and guitarist/singer Maura Lynch, the group has perfected a cross-pollination of the past five decades of rock while still managing to conjure a sound that is very current and very much their own.

Free with Museum admission, which is pay-what-you-wish on Fridays from 6–9 pm; there are no special tickets or reservations.