I signed up for Wednesday night yoga a while back. When I did, this show was my one outstanding obligation, so I knew hard choices would have to be made. I was looking forward to this show, but really only knew a few Said The Whale songs, and I wanted to get my yoga money's worth. Then I went on strike and wound up walking about 15 kilometres a day while picketing, and I figured that gave me licence to skip yoga and go to the show.
We got to the Artesian right before the show was going to start and for the first time I'd seen there, there was no floor seating. It made sense, given the style of music, but my legs were tired and I was dismayed. Fortunately, they'd set up the stuff table in front of the stairs, so few people had ventured up. We squeezed past the rack of shirts and headed up, where I promptly cracked my head on the ceiling. Tight quarters up there. We moved over to the other side, more suitable for tall folks.
The opener was Dave Monks, the lead singer of Tokyo Police Club, touring his new solo album, On A Wave. It wasn't actually out yet, but it was available for sale at the show, though it's since been released, so your chance to hear it early and feel special has come and gone. He played acoustic guitar with accompaniment from an electric guitarist (by which I mean she was playing an electric guitar, not that she was some sort of robot) (not that I can prove otherwise) and honestly, this didn't really click with me. I think I might have enjoyed this more if it had been just acoustic. Though it's worth noting (also "worth nothing" as I'd originally typed) that I'd had a long day and was feeling out of sorts so it could have been 100% on me.
Said The Whale, on the other hand, turned out to be just what I was in the mood for. I can't shake the feeling that "playing in front of a giant View-Master reel" sounds like such a promising start to a Stefon routine, so I understand if you're let down when I just describe them as high-energy power-pop with a good sense of humour. But for real, this was a blast. I went in largely unfamiliar, but it didn't matter; they shook me out of my funk and won me over. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing, but the show ended on a high note with the one-two punch of UnAmerican and I Love You, the two songs of theirs I know best. UnAmerican, in particular, was a big improvement over the already-fun studio version - louder and rockier and would have made a fine closer on its own.
This is one of those times where going to random shows pays off; I went in ignorant and half-interested, mostly just for something to do, but left a convert. These folks are great fun and you should go see them.
Bob Dylan "Like A Rolling Stone" - the official interactive video Channel 135 is my favorite, but the cutaways on Bachelor's Rose are great. I was shocked to find out that #GirlCode on the fashion channel was real and not a parody.
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