Mister Heavenly Banter About Cheese in Chicago

Last month, super group Mister Heavenly--comprised of Nick Diamonds (Islands, Unicorns), Ryan Kattner (Man Man), Joe Plummer (Modest Mouse) and actor Michael Cera--opened for Passion Pit on several West Coast dates, but Friday night (Jan. 14), the band finally made its Midwest debut at Lincoln Hall in Chicago as part of the annual Tomorrow Never Knows Festival. Their headlining show gave fans a sneak peek of their debut album that's due out sometime this year on Sub Pop.

The packed house eagerly awaited to see what doom-wop would sound like, but they'd have to brave through Screaming Females' brand of aggressive psychedelic punk rock first. Led by the monotonic wail of lone screaming female Marissa Poternoster, the three-piece shredded through a few songs including 'Starve the Beat,' 'Lights Out' and 'Starving Dog,' from 2009's 'Power Move,' before ending their smokey set on 'Boss' from last year's 'Castle Talk.'

With Kattner seated at the keys, Diamonds front and center and Cera on the sidelines with his bass, the band opened with 'Mister Heavenly,' one of the two new songs they recently released. After playing a song steeped in b-flat intonations, Diamonds randomly asked Cera what his favorite cheese was and Cera responded with Havarti. "Who else likes Havarti?" Cera asked the crowd, trying to get them to cheer for cheese.

Later, Diamonds recycled the cheese bit and once again asked Cera what cheese he liked, but Cera feigned annoyance this time and replied with, "I Havarti told you once." The band continued with their songs about a hologram, a sniper attack, a song that may or not be about Cera's supposed ex-girlfriend Charlyne Yi and a slower tune with rhyming lyrics redolent of a doo-wop song. Kattner's deep vocals and Diamonds' lilting voice harmonized well on songs like the bluesy 'Reggae Pie' and the catchy 'Pineapple Girl,' which incited dancing amongst the crowd.

Near the end of their 45-minute set, Heavenly performed 'Diddy Eyes,' a song the band said was inspired by basketball player Rolando Blackman because his eyes reminded them of P. Diddy. Before the band had a chance to play the song, Diamonds tried to quiet the crowd, but ended up insulting them. "I'm not playing 'till you shut up just because I think it's funny not to play music," he joked. When the crowd still didn't quiet down Diamonds continued, saying, "I want to see 10 people leave before we start the next song." But instead the band just played anyway. The guys came back for an encore where Diamonds wished Kattner a happy birthday then helped perform a rockin' cover of the Misfits' 'Hybrid Moments.' If the night's display of idiosyncratic love songs and behavior was any indication, Mister Heavenly's record should be something to look forward to this year.