Let’s put it this way. If you ever want to get into someone’s pants, there’s no need for red roses or pick-up-lines. Totally unnecessary. All you really need to woo your love-to-be are the sweet, melodic verses of The xx.

At first, taking the A train all the way up to Washington Heights sounded like a less than ideal situation, but one must sacrifice distance for the love of music. Church by day and music venue by night, United Palace is a beautifully bipolar theater with acoustics that could put Carnegie Hall to shame. This venue was a perfect match for a band that has meticulously mastered the art of producing huge sounds from whispers. Going from the Mercury Lounge to United Palace, The xx have had quite the year, and this show was a testament to this.

The first act of the evening, Zola Jesus, used the massive space to their advantage. Their live sound was superb and front woman Nika Danilova’s voice sounded perfect in the “Cambodian neo-classical” palace. This particular venue, though, might have been a bit bigger than Zola Jesus could handle. At times, Danilova’s stage presence would appear slightly awkward, and her crouching, along with some spot light fleeing, suggested that she might not actually want to be seen by the audience. Despite this, Zola Jesus had a fantastic live sound and certainly warmed up the crowd more than the 7 (!!) dollar beers did. Hip flasks anyone?

Next up for The xx throw down was LA-based experimental rock group, Warpaint. Sporting kilts, Warpaint had a crystal clear sound and the vocals were out of this world. There was an overwhelming sense of girl power in the room, probably due to the fact that this band has turned heads just about everywhere since performing for 240,000 strong at Lollapalooza.

The xx entered the stage to a frenzied but well-behaved audience. Much to my surprise, the crowd somehow managed to limit their excitement to applause instead of the expected flinging of underwear. The London band opened with “VCR”, making it apparent from the very beginning that this was going to be one of the best live shows of the year. Everything that the trio exudes on their album (dark, angsty, sexy), manifests into something even more spectacular on stage. At times, the performance became so personal that it felt as though Oliver Sim were standing right next to me, whispering sweet nothings into my ear. Making use of the beautiful theater, they performed classics like “Islands” and “Crystallized”. This was the ultimate marriage of genuine talent and glorious surroundings. While Romy Croft sounded just as strong, Sim managed to outdo the band’s recordings and filled the venue with his hauntingly sexy whisper. In a 3,400 capacity theater, I somehow felt like the only one there.

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