I tend to get excited for concerts. Small concerts, large
concerts, basement shows, whatever. This show is not an exception.
Four days before this concert I got a killer sinus infection. It
wasn't just any sinus infection, it was one of those sinus infections
that latch on to you and go away when they want to. I was pretty
unhappy with that, so I went on meds to make sure that I would be
myself when the concert started. So I decided to take six ounces of
cough syrup throughout the day to make my coughing go away. One hour
before the show, and I was two coughs away from making my lungs fall
out. But I did go to the show, and it now has a spot on my "favorite
shows" list.
It just so happened that this show fell on the night of my Mom's
birthday. When I was buying tickets, my mom was almost begging me to
let her go with me. I didn't want to say no, but at the same time, I
remembered that she liked the Sonic Youth concert that we went to a
year ago. So I let her go with me. I thought that it would be a good
birthday present. Who is lucky enough to see CSS on their birthday?
(I got reeealy close to seeing Wild Flag and Sonic Youth on my
birthday, but of course, I didn't go)
Nothing really stood out to me when I went in the door. I seen
merch, stuff that I wanted to buy with my limited cash that I had
left over from saving, and just other various odds and ends that were
inside the theater. For a while, I started to look at my hands, and
the big black X’s on them
(I'm starting to show my
age...Hint Hint...). I really wasn’t paying attention to the
opening act, but it did make me laugh. I looked at my phone to make
sure that my camera settings were correct, and I had to make sure
that my awesome followers on twitter knew about the awesomeness that
was about to go down at our small venue. I put my pocket and looked
up right on time. The opening act was throwing some type of alcohol
on the 25 or so people that were there. I didn't get entirely
drenched. Even though I wasn't entirely drenched
(unlike the people
right in front of the stage) I started to get excited for the music
to come.
The gig was pretty much empty. It was still kind of early, but at
the same time, I was kind of worried. "What if people didn't
know about this concert?". Yes, I do get worried when people
skip out on amazing things, and at the same time, I do feel bad when
people don't go to amazing concerts with me (I'm looking at you
target audience!).But who really cares about that stuff. Less is more
when it comes to shows like these. The less people you have, the more
awesome the show is. I didn't know it then, but my hypothesis slowly
started to take shape.
My coughing slowly started to slow down, but at the same time I
started to slow down.
Guaifenesin does that to people. So I actively
tried my best to stay awake. But instead of trying I decided to go
buy a Coke. I didn't want to loose our prime standing position near
the front, so I sent a text message to my mom.
"Can you get me a coke? I'll share with you?"
"Ok sure!"
"I just don't want to move and loose our good standing
position"
To counter this, I then adopted the widest stance that I could. I
don't mind it when people stand next to me at concerts, but I was
kind of "loopy" that day. Anyway, my Mom came back with a
coke in the typical red plastic cup. Normally, alcohol is served in
the typical red plastic cup, but at this venue, alcohol is served in
typical clear plastic cups. A group of semi-angry people behind me
were not aware of the cup rule.
"Hey see that kid over there?"
"With the cup?"
"Yeah! I think they are drinking Jack and Coke."
"How? They have X's on their hands?"
"Their friend bought it for them."
The ironic thing is that I have extremely good hearing
(even when
I have ear plugs in. I have those musicians earplugs that somehow
"boost" your hearing.) and I heard every word that they
said.
"This really isn't an alcoholic drink. Alcoholic drinks are
in clear glasses. And plus, who would drink an alcoholic drink from a
straw?"
There was a slight pause, and then I heard a response.
"Oh, I guess that is true."
Men
Let me just say this now. I've been listening to Men for a while,
but I never got around to writing an adequate review for their album.
(To be even more honest, I have a whole electronica
section in my music library that I haven't told anyone about).
So when I seen them on the line up for this show, I got pretty
excited.
I was looking at the ice in my drink. Right when I decided to look
up An almost blinding yellow light went right into my eyes and into
the eyes of everyone in front of me. A couple of anguished screams
later, and the lights were dimmed. After gaining my sight back, I
realized that the crowd size didn't really grow. I thought "No
one wants to see the 2nd opening act? They don't know what they are
missing!"
I was impressed. I wasn't expecting a bad set from Men, but at the
same time, I wasn't expecting them to run through most of the album I
just love when bands do that. They even threw in a new song which I
wasn't expecting. It might have to do with
this
article, but then again it might not (I don't want to give away
any new album details!). Anyway, it was a fantastic set, and I forgot
about the next band for a while. That is a true mark of epicness. I
would have taken pictures of their set, but I focused my energy on
pogoing and trying not to spill my drink.
After their set was over, I looked to my right and then I seen a
blond yuppie and her equally yuppie boyfriend. They were having quite
an interesting chat about the concert:
"So who is is this
band again?"
"I'm not too sure. I think they are from
Brazil or some place."
"Oh! I'm glad we went! This looks
fun!
I couldn't say it then, but I started to get slightly
annoyed. In reality, there is nothing wrong with yuppies. Absolutely
nothing. However, yuppies get on my nerves when they stand extremely
close to me at concerts. I don't think that they understand the
concept of personal space. I thought "Well, I can always spill
my drink on them, or even better, I could cough on one of them, and
then they might leave". I don't always think that way, but I
really was about to spill my drink on them.
After mindlessly looking at the crowd for about 5 minutes, the
outstandingly yellow strobe light shone its obnoxious rays on my
face, so I squinted through the madness to see the amazingness of
CSS.
CSS
I always say this when I go to concerts, but I really didn't know
what to expect from CSS. I've watched various live clips from
youtube, I seen their live stream from Coachella, and I've listened
to most of their songs. Before I went into this concert, I knew that
CSS would be totally amazing, and I couldn't wait for them to get set
up. I looked around again, and more people slowly started to trickle
in. I was expecting for the place to be packed to the brim, just the
Sonic Youth concert that I went to a year ago, but just my luck, the
concert wasn't packed. This is a good thing, because it made the
concert better for me and everyone else that decided to show up on
that Thursday. You don't really get to see 2 bands
(for the
Ticketmaster price of one) at a small venue, with not a lot of
people. So that was a added plus for me.
Literally 30 seconds after my thought, CSS was on the stage
greeting us. After the swift entrance, a myriad of lights fell onto
the stage and the band rushed into "Off the Hook". This was
a surprise for me. I thought that that they would start with
something more recent, but they did pick a good song to open. Then I
noticed Lovefoxxx's costume which was made up of Batman like pointed
tips
(oh wait, were those fox ears?), a sparkly punk jacket, and
stretch pants. By the next song, those were swiftly changed for jean
shorts and a shirt
(it went really well with pink hair by the way).
The set list was pretty balanced, and I enjoyed that. I thought
that they would only play songs from the new album, but the mixed set
list exposed me to the songs from the new album, and songs from the
old album. I honestly didn't care about the set list when I was there
because I was so focused on dancing
(and my drink). But they did play
some of my favorites, and that just made the experience even better
for me.
I started taking more pictures halfway though the concert. And again, I must give CSS even more
props for having a pretty spectacular light show. Everything about
this concert screamed "party" to me. I enjoyed every minute
of it, and I'm sure that most of the other people did too. I also
feel like the yuppies
(although shocked at first) had a good time
(I
seen them move. Trust me). It was really nice to see the crowd
getting into it
(it took the attention off of me for a while), and
plus, the band started to pick up on our energy.
I must give
CSS props. They put on the most exciting live show that I've been to
and it was just amazing. I talked to both bands after the show and
they were all really nice! I would have said more and videotaped the
conversation, but I was really under the influence of that cough
syrup. So if any band members are reading this, I'm not usually on
cough syrup. Thanks for signing my shirt and my ticket!
And thank you for reading all of this! Here is the
set list if you want to look at it. I'll post more pictures on my
tumblr page. If you want to be up to date on all of my blog postings follow me on
twitter.
