Neither rain nor excessively long beer lines nor garden-variety hipster posturing could keep the crowd from rocking out at Saturday night’s Silver Jews show at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Front man David Berman, dressed in his typical seventies-style televangelist-wear, took the stage a full twenty seconds after the rest of his band, descending from the wings for a tight rendition of “Smith & Jones.” There was love all around. “Show us your penis!” cried one randy (male) fan. And Berman mused nostalgically while glad-handing those next to the stage: “I used to live in New York, but I was never as nice as you all.” Aw … Monotonix, a whirling dervishlike Israeli punk band, opened with the antics of a front man who dropped trou and gave the crowd a full-ass salute, complete with the spreading of butt cheek. The memory of that visual did little to deter the longing gazes directed at Cassie, Berman’s foxy wife and bassist. While competent on backup singing, she and her hubby made for a sweaty Sonny and rather tone-deaf Cher on duets like “We Could Be Looking for the Same Thing.” (Cassie’s mike was mysteriously off during her solo on the last song, “Punks in the Beerlight,” but no one seemed to mind.) The audience was quick to come to her aid, shouting and fist-pumping every last lyric: “Aintcha heard the news? / Adam and Eve were Jews / And I always loved you to the max / I love you to the max / I love you to the max / I love you to the max.”
