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.

2/7/07

Its cold at night, and I don’t want to go out. Yes, I know Midnight Movies is playing, its also sold-out. Its also utterly freezing. But I did get my lazy arse up and headed out to Lit Lounge to meet up with a friend and grab a drink. After the drink headed over to the Mercury to a packed house. Luckily for me (and Luke), it wasnt too bad when we got there. And besides, I got to talk to one of the drummers and one of the guys in the band. All very friendly.

So Midnight Movies was perfect for a cold night out. Sweet, haunting vocals, and droning new wave pop is a perfect way to describe the band. The darkness of Joy Division, with the gothic sounds of Siouxsie and mix it all together, add a touch of shoegaze, and long drawn out songs at times, and you get Midnight Movies. Nights in White Satin was a beautiful cover with a drag-em/drop-em/knock you out punch on the drums at the end of the song.  And what a way to end the show. Nearing about 45 mins. and clearly should have gone on for an hour. I’m sure some of those songs could have been dragged out just a bit.

Gena Oliver, singer and sometime drummer, is the woman with that sultry voice that often gets compared to Nico. Besides – she’s pure eye-candy, and not that its important, it never hurt a band. And before the talk about Phil Collins gets mentioned, in Uncut magazine, when comparing her to Meg White and Karen Carpenter her first comment is “I’m glad you didn’t mention Phil Collins”. She clearly has a sense of humour!

And their name, they owe their name to a book about 70’s underground cinema of Andy Warhol.

They are playing all over with Alexi Murdoch (whom I didn’t stay for), but are so worth the $10-$12 to see them. And they have very cool shirts. I really really recommend checking them out if you can.

11/7/06 – Placebo and She Wants Revenge – Nokia Theater

Election Day in the City! First off, am I ever glad that the country got its ass on the right page and managed to get the democrats control of the house. lets see if we can get that senate control of the house. I’d like to think my former state of Virginia really did elect Webb. I was so hoping to be able to vote in the Virginia election, because unfortunately they need my vote a lot more than New York.

On to the music now friends.

Arrived at Nokia Theater. I’d like to start out by saying what a gorgeous venue this is. You go down an escalator and the rooms are spread out and huge. To the right is merch and a large bar. As you circle around to the left, theres lots more of coat check doors, a place to buy food (not too expensive, sandwiches, drinks, etc). and lots of display cases of Nokia phones. In general its just a really nice venue. The theater inside has seating all in the back part of the room, the front is a big stage with lots of open spaces, and 2 side areas for handicapped.

She Wants Revenge was the first band. Much like the first time I saw them, it was a similar set. Lots of dancing on stage. The music sounded great and the band was clearly enjoying themselves. Their singles definitely had the crowd dancing and singing along. With the finishing lyrics of “I want to fucking tear you apart”, as a great way to end their set.

Next up – Placebo. This was my first time seeing Placebo so I was beyond excited. Brian Molko is adorable and is an excellent guitar player. They immediately started out by playing some of the singles off of the new album. It was a great way to start the set. And then played other stuff from the album, as well as prior stuff. While they werent that close to the crowd, they made an effort to work the stage and jump down towards where the crowd was, which of course everyone loved.  Stefan Olsdal is an amazing bass player and he was so energized. Brian’s voice is hauntingly beautiful on stage and he really sang his heart out. Their cover of Kate Bush’s “Running up that hill” is amazingly good. I am not sure what is up with all the Kate Bush covers, but it must be the time.

My only disappointment was no “pure morning”. I have always loved that song, and figured as one of their biggest songs in the states, it would get played. Oh well. Another time. Placebo is definitely a band worth seeing once. Brian’s voice is so amazing that just to sit there and listen to him sing is definitely a treat.

10/28/06 – Bishop Allen, Forget Cassettes and Pela – DC 9

For the first year ever, DC has a music festival called the DAM Fest. There were a lot of good bands that were playing the festival, but unfortunately I could only make one night. But it turned out to be a great night. Hannah and I ventured on down to DC 9, and luckily got a great parking spot. Always a great way to start the night. Granted it was still early, 8:30, and we thought doors were at 8pm. But alas, we got there and doors were at 9. Saw Megan who I had not seen in awhile. Of course the 9pm thing didnt happen either. So around 9:45 we shuffled upstairs.

 The first band was Pela. A small band from Brooklyn, NY. They put on an awesome set that was about 30-45 mins long. The crowd was really into them with lots of dancing going on the front. Billy, the lead singer, worked the small stage and everywhere in front of the stage. He has a great voice with very catchy songs. Smoking a cigarette as the band played, he appeared to be very thrilled with the show. The band was clearly enjoying themselves and it was evident by the crowd response who were just as into the show. Needless to say, a great way to start the night. Once their set ended (and I really wish they could have played longer), I happened to meet Billy. He was standing right next to me, putting his stuff away, and I tapped him on his shoulder (he is damn tall), and asked if he’d be playing CMJ. I also went on to tell him how awesome his set was. He was such a nice guy, it added to the image of this great band. He came back over to me after a moment, and asked me my name. Thanked me for coming out and introduced himself. Definitely a class-act. Ok – so I read he’s from Santa Cruz. It must be the California thing going on 🙂

Next up, Forget Cassettes. Forget Cassettes is from Nashville, TN. They consist of 3 people. The female lead singer/guitarist, a drummer who is incredible and a keyboard/bassist. Well I will say the drummer was incredible but clearly didn’t belong in this band. They were pretty heavy at moments, and then would change the sound completely based on the singer. Unfortunately, she could not sing at all and just in general was irritating. She made a comment to the crowd asking “is that all you got?”, to which I really wanted to respond, “is that all youve got?”. She was just insulting, and the fact that she could not sing nor play made it equally awful. They seemed a bit chaotic on the stage, never knowing what song to play. Luckily the set was roughly 20 mins. which seemed incredibly short, but when youre not digging a band, it was plenty of time. Definitely would not recommend seeing them. Unless you dig music that goes somewhere between heavy one moment, then really slow the next. Definitely not my thing!

And the final band of the night (more did play, but we left) was Bishop Allen. Bishop Allen is another band from Brooklyn, NY. I was really excited to see them again, as I had not seen them since June. I must say, continuing on with the awfulness, a girl decides to stand right in front of Hannah and I. We were just a tad away from the stage as Bishop Allen had put all their instruments there. So she finally turns around and asks us, “Oh, Did I take your spot, and are you here to see Bishop Allen?”. To which I wanted to respond, well I’ve been here all f’ing night, and what difference does it make who I am here to see. We both said yes, and her response was “REALLY?”. Like total utter shock. Some people just irritate me, she went beyond. Luckily the band didn’t seem to happy with her.

Justin, who is an amazing front-man and even better story-teller, seemed very excited to be in DC. This was the beginning of their tour. The September EP has just come out. And for those that arent following, Bishop Allen is releasing an EP every month of the year. They started the set out with “The Monitor”, and by far its more amazing, energetic in concert than hearing it on the EP. The band gels so well together, and they just have a really great time playing together, and it shows while they play. Justin had a story to tell about the song “Same Fire”. “Click Click Click Click” is beyond catchy with the chorus, “take another picture with your click click click click camera”. And yeah, as you’d imagine lots of flashes were going off at that point. The set was entertaining, fun, quirky pop/indie music. Good stuff and they are definitely not to be missed.