Throwback Weekend

I thought my hectic multi-concert days were behind me. This weekend was a throwback. I saw 7 bands, most of which I genuinely enjoyed. How about that.

First stop was the Oh My Rockness Party for free Sparks (not a band, a beverage) and Goes Cube. The party seemed awesome and I wish I could stick around longer. Goes Cube was pretty solid, tho it was a bit hard to judge cause the sound inside the otherwise awesome Brooklyn Lyceum was below par. I enjoyed watching them tho.

My evening plan hit an early roadblock when I discovered the M doesn't actually stop in front of the Brooklyn Lyceum. It just says it does on the map and on every sign in the station. So my R from CV to Brooklyn, M from Brooklyn to the LES plan was foiled. I took a cab. and got to Merc in plenty of time to catch Land of talk.

They were very good, but slightly flawed. She's got a voice that kills and some great songs. A little too lax with getting on with the set...lots (lots!) of time in between songs to tune and banter. It was cute banter, don't get me wrong, but they could have easily fit another song or two in had they not spent so much time dawdling. That would have been nice. All that aside, they were pretty good. Still seemed new and they've got some pieces to polish, but they'll only get better from here.

Next were The Noisettes. I wasn't particularly impressed. They had their moments and left it all out there, but overall I wasn't blown away. In the right (party) atmosphere, they might be fun, but not really knowing their stuff going in, it fell a little short of my expectations.

Mystery Jets were fun, however. I don't know how I first got on their mailing list, but it was a long time ago and been getting emails about them long before I knew what they were. It was nice to finally meet face-to-face. I've only heard great things about their live show, so I was excited. They are different. Sometimes sounded like they were struggling between some woozy out-there psych rock and trying to make a brit-rock hit. The end result of the combination worked, however, so no complaints. I also liked how the head Jet (who played trashcan lids, keys, and something that looked like a resuscitation machine) still had about a dozen SXSW wristbands on. Keep the party going, brah!

Wow, this is getting long. From there I hopped in a cab and went to the Knitting Factory for Love is All. I didn't really like them at Southby, but had nothing better to do so I tagged along with some friends making the crosstown trek. SO glad I did. I think these late-nite Knit sets are my favorite. The band went on around 1:30am and absolutely slayed. The crowd was in a tizzy. (tizzy?) 45 minutes of jumping around, croudsurfing (!) and pure, unadulterated fun. I couldn't have enjoyed myself more. I love this band. I love how they love hearing the crowd react. I love how the crowd loves seeing their reaction and cheers even louder. I listened to the CD all weekend on repeat.

The next day I went out to Webster Hall earlyish to see The Arctic Monkeys. It was a very good show. They are a very good band. Not the best band ever, nor the best show ever...but I enjoyed myself. Was it worth the $200 I could have gotten for my ticket had I chosen to scalp outside? Absolutely not. The profits alone would have paid for my flight to Chicago for The Pitchfork Festival.

Anyway, after that I went to the brilliantly flawed Joggers show. I don't think they should be seen any other way. Read all about it on Gothamist. That was, effectively, the end of my weekend.

This week's another trooper. Stellastarr* tonight, Destroyer tomorrow, Demetri Martin Wednesday, Editors Thursday, Saves the Day or Bishop Allen or Nine Black Alps Friday. There's a million other shows this week, so this is obviously probably going to change.

Comments

[information leafblower]

I take it you missed seeing DC's very own Georgie James at the Joggers show?

[Jeff]

I did miss them...tho people who were there said they were pretty good. Never heard of them till I saw the comments on ILB. I'll try to catch them the next time around.

[Cameron]

Love the 'Jets. Blaine's red 'fro is the best. Glad you noticed the SXSW wristbands as well...

[Anthony]

Ouch $200?

A few fine british blokes sold me a ticket for $20. :)