NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2025
If you haven’t heard of Princess Goes to the Butterfly Museum, you’re not alone. For a couple of years after they formed, they were primarily only known by a rabid group of fans in the NYC area, even though the band is fronted by award winning actor Michael C. Hall (Dexter, Six Feet Under on TV; Hedwig and the Angry Itch, Lazarus on Broadway). Hall, Matt Katz-Bohen (guitarist/keyboardist who currently also plays keys for Blondie), and Peter Yanowitz (the original drummer in the Wallflowers) met on the set of Hedwig and found commonality in musical tastes and, after “accidentally” forming a band, played their first show in September 2018 at Berlin on Avenue A.
After playing releasing a couple of singles and continuing to play small clubs in NYC, most notably one show where Blondie frontwoman Deborah Harry sang “Happy Birthday” to Hall, they played what I called the “last concert ever” at Mercury Lounge (check out my coverage here), the day before lockdown began in NYC. Somehow, the band continued to make music from their respective locations and released their first studio album “Thanks for Coming” in February 2021. They finally embarked on a UK tour towards the end of 2021 and a US tour this spring. Those of us lucky enough to be in NYC got to see them play a one-off show at the Bowery Ballroom on Thursday, September 15th. Eager fans started lining up almost 12 hours before doors opened. A few fans I spoke to had even been following them and across the country on their US tour!!
Opening for Princess was Man on Man, a gay couple (Roddy Bottum on keyboards/guitar and Joey Holman on guitar) that turned their experiences with homophobia and various other discrimination into a really fun set of dance and love songs. This group was a lot of fun and had the crowd bouncing through their time on stage.
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I’m not sure how the Bowery Ballroom could be louder than it became when Princess Goes to the Butterfly Museum hit the stage. I’m pretty sure this was no one’s first time seeing the band since everyone was singing along to almost every song! It was wonderful to finally see Princess Goes after the release of their debut studio album. It gave me the chance to hear some of those songs live for the first time. Michael C. Hall’s voice was on point, especially the in higher registers. As usual, being the consummate actor that he is, the facial expressions and body movements made the show much more than just auditory. Bassist/keyboardist Matt Katz-Bohen played wonderfully, hardly breaking into a smile even once! One fan noted how large his hands were. Does that make a difference? Lol. Drummer Peter Yanowitz was on a platform and hidden behind his drum kit, at least go those in the front row. You could tell that the members of the band really enjoy playing with each other, which is very nice to see these days. The show ended much too quickly but what do you expect from a band that only has one studio record? Looking forward to the next time I can see these guys on stage again!
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