Maintain the Focus

Saw Test Icicles last night. My full review is up on Gothamist now.

But, no review of a Cake Shop show would be complete without a critique of the space. It is atrocious. The coffee house/record store/music venue means well and you want to root for it to succeed, especially after their off-hours coup of many of the best bands at CMJ (Les Savvy Fav, Two Gallants, The Joggers, etc). But the reality is that it is perhaps the worst place to see a show in New York City. The sound is fine, the staff is friendly and the bar is reasonably priced, but the club slopes down towards the stage so that the band is below 'see' level. Unless you're standing in the very front row, there is little hope you'll be able to see anything but the top of the band members heads. No good.

That being said, I got up to the front. More pictures after the jump...

Comments

[j]

oh god please hurry. i cant wait to hear how the show was

[jerry]

I was up front for the first song, but nearly lost my hearing, so I retreated back ten feet or so. The sound is actually good once you get out of the blast zone...except, yeah, you can't see a thing.

[Chris]

I was towards the back, and surrounded by people giving each other quizzical looks to the effect of 'is this place for real?'. I agree that this is the worst place to 'see' a show in the city. Not only can you not see at the back, but up front is unbearably hot when full.

That said, I also agree that everything else is great, so I feel bad about giving them shit. It's a lovely place (with lovely people)to hang out on a Sunday afternoon, and probably isn't so bad when there are less people present.

But the layout.....crikey.

[lewislfowler]

coming from the guy who called webster hall the best venue in the city, i cant take your opinion on the cake shop seriously. dont let blinding lights fool you.

i'm not saying the cake shop is wonderful. it is what it is. a small venue for small bands. ever seen a show at lit? its what small venues do best - cram you into small spaces. you just have to deal.

[Jeff]

I've certainly never said Webster Hall is the best venue in the city! I think it's far better than people wanna give it credit for, but thats all.

I can deal with small spaces just fine. With this place tho, you simply cant see the stage from anywhere in the room unless you're literally standing on the stage in the front row. Fun for the few up there, but that's a serious problem for the other 100 or so behind them.

[Joey]

You may not have seen a lot of the band, but you apparently saw a lot of Bresnitz.

[Jeff]

Seriously. I think I got all the Bresnitz I needed for a lifetime on Saturday night.

[lewislfowler]

i guess i see your point. but seriously, what can the cake shop do? i mean, any sort of stage down there will seriously inhibit the band. right? if i remember correctly, the ceiling is already pretty low. and i just have to applaud the combination of coffee, music store, bar and venue. its pretty cool, even if the concept is sort of WB'ish...

as for webster hall, all i can give them credit for is a great light show. otherwise, forget it. give me bowery or the knitting factory or northsix or southpaw anyday. i still cant decide if webster is worse than irving though. irving is death for short people.

[dk]

calling the test icicles hardcore though is sort of like saying any song with a shriek and some loud guitar is hardcore. while i agree the test icicles are less your typical rock style (and therefore more aggressive) when put up against bloc party or franz ferdinand or whatever, but it's still of the nu-wave ilk in that you dance to it rather than mosh. compare the TI to say The Locust or Refused or Floorpunch or whatever and the TI sound like merengue. not to say i didn't enjoy their set at Northsix, but it ain't hard.