Ramblings of a Redhead Music Snob

2/9/07

What a great night to go to a show. It had been a long week, and I’m telling you, my weeks are getting longer especially going out every single night. Suddenly I’m feeling like Im not 23 years old anymore. Oh wait, I’m not 23 🙂 I only act like I still am 23.  It was a cold night, and New York is getting colder by the minute. I’m hearing freezing rain in the forecast, and snow coming up. Ugg!

Met up with Luke at The Bowery. Luckily I know my around that area, because one confused Luke, well it took him longer than normal to get there. Ah well. I have made that same mistake one too many times, not knowing Kenmare turns into Delancey. The Bowery was nice and toasty tho, which is always a great thing!

So I was front and center for the bands. First up – The Czars? – Im not even sure if thats the correct spelling of their name, but since the band failed to introduce themselves, its a good thing Midlake told us who they were. Yup, had no clue who they were. And they were not memorable. Im not sure I can dig the 2 musician thing anymore. Im just not feeling it. I will say it was much more entertaining when the singer wasn’t behind the keyboard and was singing. I could almost get into those songs (all 2 of them maybe?). Overall, forgettable music.

Next up – St. Vincent – now if you have no clue, this is not a band, but a very perky, cute chick (now thats so UN PC of me). She has this really great voice and was strong on guitar. She was entertaining and made some jokes about the great state of Texas along with some Bush jokes. Definitely has a good sense of humour. Her music was a touch folky, but nothing too over the top, that would make anyone’s head spin.

My only disappointment with the openers is that they really did nothing to get me energized for the show. As I had mentioned I’m going to lots of shows, and I typically get there for the opener. Sometimes you find a hidden gem. But I was nearly comatose before Midlake came on.

But what can I say… Midlake came on and blew me away. The stage was an amazement of keyboards all over the place – 3 sets from what I remember, a tripod on the stage so they could do their picture show, from what I could tell it was cool at moments, a bunch of guitars, and the drummer all by his lonesome in back. I think 5 guys in total.

So I have just noticed they were nominated for Indie Rock album at the Plug Awards, along with their song “Roscoe”. They played the single Roscoe early on in the evening. Their 2nd song to be exact. And its beautiful. Their music is so great to listen to and its so easy to get into the band. The lead singer has a Chris Martin vibe to him with vocals reminiscent of Fran Healy of Travis. I would say easily that they sound like the American version of Travis. Great vocals, catchy songs, great choruses that just bring you into the music. At times it sounded like they had a 70’s sound going on, reminding me of The Eagles, but a friend commented that they were the late 70’s Fleetwood Mac. Im not a huge Fleetwood Mac fan, so I really cant comment on that.

Regardless, hands down, these guys can play music. All of them are so talented, and they have great energy and stage presence on stage. They talked up the crowd, mentioning Denton, Texas quite a bit. They made fun of a New York paper that mentioned a sold-out show by Midlake. Hmmm, why the surprise. New Yorkers can do more than the hottest indie band, and actually listen to a song with meaning? Yeah, crazy! I guess the newspapers forget that New York is not just filled with New Yorkers, but plenty of us come from other states and can appreciate great insightful lyrics that do make us think and feel.

So yes, I fell in love with Midlake and I guarantee if you like Coldplay/Travis, you will too! Now its time to go buy some of their music and start supporting the boys of Denton, Texas.