Florence and the Machine at the SPIN Year in Music Party

SPIN magazine threw it’s annual Year in Music party in New York this week, headlined by Artist of the Year Florence and the Machine with guests Surfer Blood and DJ Yeasayer. Florida’s Surfer Blood brought their power-pop to an enthusiastic audience, with frontman John Paul Ritts frequently running out into the crowd and strutting and posing across the stage. But the night belonged to Florence Welch and one-half of the Machine, who killed with an acoustic set. Joined by harpist Tom Monger and guitarist Robert Ackroyd, Welch worked her way through a handful of songs from her hit debut album Lungs, including “Drumming Song,” despite lacking an actual drummer. Welch was warm and chatty with the audience — even giving one ecstatic fan a hug upon request — before slipping away under the cover of great applause, and leaving the evening to DJ Yeasayer, who kept the party going strong.