How much better was this than the Irving show??? Like a million times better?! It was what I expected their show to be like. They were goofy and playful and impromptu on stage. They got the entire crowd to sit down at one point on the floor and be quiet, only to have them shoot back up and dance around like monkeys when the music got going again. They dressed in traditional venue-appropriate Polish garb, opened with a blaring Shofar, and finished with an amazing amazing encore of Shiny solo, followed by their 20 minute epic, "The Tain". Wow.
I also warmed up to Warsaw a bit. It's still in the middle of nowhere, and the sound is pretty crummy, but a sold out show is surprisingly comfortable. There's lots of space to chill out and watch from the back of the room, and the stage is high enough (or the crowd happened to be short enough) to see really well from anywhere. It's a very comfortable place to see a show. I feel like i could have dragged a chair in from the bar, sat down, and nobody would have cared. maybe I'll try that next time...
Dave took lots of pics (including the one used above), and Jen is happy because she got to write about the Grateful Dead. Go look.
Oh my-- Shiny as first encore--how great is that? (and rare I think) I think they did Eli in that slot for the Irving show...as you say, Warsaw is a great venue and impossible to get to...but dude, you should have been at Webster Hall: best RK show EVER--they were on fire from the first note, they threw the floor open to requests, and the crowd (somewhat annoyingly) sang along to every f-ing song! The floor was literally shaking from the foot-stomping...
Posted by: david z | May 27, 2005 at 10:22 AM
I'm seeing RK tonight. Hope they can come close to matching that!
Posted by: Jeff | May 27, 2005 at 10:25 AM
real RAWK fans were getting their brains melted at Lightning Bolt in Red Hook last night, fyi...
Posted by: Joey | May 27, 2005 at 11:17 AM