Sarahindie

We wandered up and Young Veins frontman? Ryan Ross was standing outside, trying to get in. The Studio smelled strongly of Lysol, which I’m taking as a good sign. This late in the year, coat check is closed, but there’s a coat rack. We hide the nice coats under the cheap coats. I actually quite like this venue. It’s small, reception is decent and drinks are reasonably priced!

I also like that the basement at Webster is a little warren of lounges and powder rooms and cafe tables, which makes it a haven for parents! Downside: it warms up when it gets full, which is bad when you are wearing an acrylic sweater, like me.

We stake out a spot in the back by a bench! I like benches! Within moments, we are surrounded by Jon Walker, of The Young Veins, Tom Conrad, of Empires, and Alex Suarez, of Cobra Starship, all separately having conversations with people. It’s distracting as hell.

Bad Rabbits: Like Foxy Shazam, the headliner, this band is seriously entertaining. Think Gym Class Heroes in the 1970s. This band has a sincere appreciation of their funk roots, and they’re having fun up there, which is more than I can say about most bands. That alone makes them fun to watch. Bonus: their frontman is a FRONTMAN. For all he dresses like Mos Def, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone came out with a cape to drape on him.

Bad Rabbits are done and the first band’s frontman? is still at the bar. This doesn’t bode super well.

But I have a moment to talk to you about the crowd! It is random. There are several pompadours, a couple of guys in skinny hipster suits, a couple of guys in proper banking business suits, a lot of guys that would look right at a funk revival show in Brooklyn, white dudes with shaggy jewfros and track jackets in intentionally dated colors.

The Young Veins: The soundcheck does not fill me with hope. The teenaged fans shriek when Ryan appears and when he soundchecks his mic, it sounds like pre-pubescent Bob Dylan being punched in the gut.

I would like to describe their asthetic as This Is Ivy League with a drinking problem, but that makes no sense. Did you ever read Harriet the Spy, where her best friend’s dad is an alcoholic sportswriter in the 1960s? This is probably how he looked at work. A little too thin for his suits, hair a little straggly, just enough to start whispers around the office. Also, it looks like Jon Walker bought his suit before his wasting disease sets in.

They are better than I expected! The harmonies need a little tightening up, but it helps that they got a lot of really confident musicians (ex-Bright Eyes, ex-Tilly and the Wall, unless that’s the same guy. I can’t remember) to fill it out. Also, my grandma would yell because Ryan is chewing gum while he sings. The songs are pleasant and diverting, like the background of a film set in the 60s. But, tucked between the funk stylings and high energy of Bad Rabbits and Foxy Shazam? Ryan is currently asking us to slow dance. For. Reals. They would be an excellent opener for Rilo Kiley or Feist, perhaps. The trouble with what’s left of the emo scene (i.e. Crush Management, the thing these bands have in common), is that they aim everything at their established emo/pop-punk fanbase, built on the backs of Fall Out Boy and Panic! at the Disco. But when bands come along that are good in different ways, they make no effort to market them out in those spaces. They just shove them at the teenagers until it sticks, or doesn’t, and then move on. By which I mean that it is likelier that they will open for Gym Class Heroes than Feist.

Anyway, the net net here is that I would kill for a seat right about now. This is sitting music. And after Bad Rabbits, it’s jarring.

Jake Shears is dressed like the motorcyclist from the current incarnation of The Village People. (Ana says he looks like he’s in the musical version of Cruisin’.) They look gracefully older. I like it. It matches how the audience has aged. I think I expected gay club kids, the Goldfrapp audience, but what I got is a hugely pregnant lady and some muscle men cruising past 50 and a lot of really square people reliving their dorm dance parties of five or six years ago. I don’t think I’ve been in a crowd this inclusive since … ever.

The second song is “Laura” and we lost it. Their moms in the balcony lose it.

“Sometimes in New York, you just want to sit and fan yourself with your sunglasses and make people prove themselves worthy, but tonight isn’t about that. Tonight is about dancing like nobody’s watching.” -Ana

The third song is the first of many promised new ones. It’s dirty, but super fun.

Fashion highlight is obviously Del. I do love a man in a sharp jacket. And even though he obvy grew the facial hair to stop getting carded, no one else would be able to pull off that faux primitive look. Fashion lowlight? One of the two backup dancers is wearing a leather dress with a v neck to her navel, filled in with black illusion netting. Just no.

Fashion update: During “Tits on the Radio,” Ana ripped off the front panel of her dress. A+ look. (Also, honey has lost a ton of weight. It looks like she and Jake have been muscle building.)

We’ve never had so many drinks spilled on us, including one from the balcony! New. Exciting. Strangely unangrifing, because I know they’re spilled out of love from dancing too hard.

I cannot tell who I love more, the slightly rhythm challenged Trey Anastasio clone or the tall, awkward, in love math major boys grinding during “I Don’t Feel Like Dancing.” I’m not poking fun. I honestly love them, because they are dancing like no one’s watching. We’re all a little older, a lot squarer, but we have this in common and you can’t mock love.

New songs verdict: Like the later works of the Pet Shop Boys, the songs are getting a little darker, maybe club life isn’t so fun, but rather than attempt to make the same album they made seven years ago, to recapture lightning in a bottle, they’re making music that reflects their own maturity and changing situation, and that’s bound to work.

Why? Because I actually agree with the inductees. Why does my opinion matter? For the same reason the voters’ opinions matter. BECAUSE I SAY SO.

Anyway, this year’s performing inductees are:

ABBA! They are amazing, and you know it. You deny it in front of your cool friends, but what you don’t know is that the really cool kids admit loving ABBA too. They had amazing songs, amazing harmonies, full freaking package.

Genesis: Phil Collins’ gradual descent into lameness (or at least being known as lame) sort of tarnished the work of Genesis. They were actually a pretty good band! Well, “Invisible Touch” was good. And also “Land of Confusion,” I think. Can’t remember now. But my mom liked them! She has good taste.

The Hollies: I know one song by them, but it’s really good. “Bus Stop” is one of the top five songs that I wake up to. It’s super hard to have a bad morning when you wake up to the cheerful harmonies and mild psychedelia of that song. Oh, hey! They also sang “Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress” and “The Air That I Breathe.” Those are excellent. They deserve it.

Jimmy Cliff: He’s the man when it comes to reggae. Pretty much the man. Marley gets the credit, Cliff did as much work. Next! (Full disclosure: I hate reggae.)

The Stooges: Billie Joe Armstrong gave them this award by saying, “They symbolize the destruction of Flower Power and the creation of raw power.” Then they played the following song, creating the musical highlight of the evening. Listen to it and try not to rock out.

It has come to my attention that I totally forgot to post my best of 2009, even after I promised I would. So, without further ado, everything you hopefully didn’t miss in ’09 (I have even embedded the albums and songs so you can at least click the button and listen. I am SPOON-FEEDING YOU GREATNESS):

Continue reading

I promise that festivals aren’t the only thing I talk, but here’s a couple more things I want to say.

After my first festival experience last year, and my enjoyment of such, I started thinking about what it would take to get me to go to another one and how to make that call. So, here are my items for consideration.

The Bands: This, of course, is the most critical part. I am devising a points system for the Lollapalooza lineup. The lineup needs to amass 20 points for me to make the trip. Rumored headliner Green Day, who I think will do amazing things with the big space as well as putting on a truly remarkable show? 8 points. Chicago locals Company of Thieves, who are phenomenal live? 1. When the big lineup comes out, I tally up the points and figure out if it’s worth the trouble.

The Location: I like beds and the indoors. After a long day of standing outside, I want a shower and maybe a coffee in the AM. This rules out Bonnaroo, Coachella, and most English festivals, as these all require camping. (I would love to do the Bonnaroo VIP package where you get to stay in a tour bus.) In the points system, being near a hotel is +3. Requiring camping is -10. Minimum.

The Douche Factor: And now we get to the crux. I dislike when people are mean to other people, and I get enraged at things that are exclusive to be exclusive. This is why I will never, ever go to SXSW. The way the festival is organized, two hundred shows in teensy venues, the people who paid up to $800 for a badge or a wristband are not guaranteed entry. Hole is playing in a sports bar that seats 500. This plays into the festival’s “exclusivity for exclusivity’s sake.” People with badges get in first. Then locals with wristbands. Then anyone else who wants to pay. But supposing 700 people with badges show up? 200 people who paid for badges still won’t get to see Hole. And the wristbands can go eff themselves. What’s the point of that system other than being a dick? Let people who paid go to shows. Let people who won’t get in make other plans. Lots of bands are going to play to ten people while everyone tries to get into the Hole show. On the point system, let’s call this a -20. Me spending all of that money and then not getting to see the bands I want to see drops the whole concept way down.

Summary: I’m resigned to not going to any festivals other than Lollapalooza and maybe All Points West (which is a hassle to get to, but technically possible from my apartment) in my lifetime. Maybe someday, when I’m a rich and famous blogger, I’ll rent a house near Coachella or a tour bus at Bonnaroo. But it seems unlikely.