Here Comes the Summer

I saw two phenomenal concerts this weekend.  Bloc Party on Friday night and The Fiery Furnaces Saturday.  I was a bit skeptical since the reviews coming back from their shows earlier in the week where a bit dodgy, but I wasn't gonna pass these two up. 

I had heard Bloc Party failed to really get the crowd going on Thursday, resorting to stage gimmicks such as playing popular song teases and whatnot to get a reaction.  Well, whatever the problem was (weekday perhaps?) it was fixed for Friday night.  I can't remember seeing a Bowery crowd more amped and ready to go.  The band was loud and tight and excited to be playing and the kids were eating it up.  It took about two songs for the band to acknowledge that we were better than the night before.  I suppose they may always say that, but everyone I talked to who was there both nights agreed.  It was close to the level of excitement that Franz Ferdinand got at Volume last Summer.  Very good times.

I was even more surprised to hear all the negative buzz about the Fiery Furnaces at Northsix Thursday night.  Especially from One Louder, who certainly know the band well enough as not to be scared off by their unique live show.  I was left jaw-dropped after previously seeing them at Bowery and I consider EP to be one of my favorite albums of the year so far, so I had to imagine a combination of those two things could not be a bad thing. 

I don't know what went wrong in Williamsburg the other night, but they were ON POINT at Webster Hall Saturday.  First off, just like every time I go there, I remembered that Webster Hall IS NOT SO BAD!  Yea it's not as good as Bowery, but what is?  The bouncers are awful pricks and the beer isn't cheap, but the stage is big and the sound is nice.  As far as just watching a band play music for an hour, it's a good space.  You can do much much worse. 

Anyway, they played an absolutely stunning set.  Maybe I just know more of the songs now, but it was better than Bowery last year.  They blew through their main set in about 45 minutes, going one song into the other with no breaks straight through.  Then the rest of the band left Matt and Eleanor on stage alone to play a few new songs together.  They were the same ones they played at KEXP and I love them all.  After that the band came back on to play a few more before calling it a night.

There are a very small handful of groups out there that really make seeing them live worth your while.  Not that I don't have fun at most of the shows I see, but there are some bands that, live, create a completely unique experience that you could not even begin to touch on when listening to a CD.  The Arcade Fire are one of these bands.  The Fiery Furnaces are another.  Even if you're not a big fan of their records, I think everybody owes it to themselves to check them out live. They are as creative and unique and we have in popular music today.

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I was even more surprised to hear all the negative buzz about the Fiery Furnaces at Northsix Thursday night.