Tuesday, April 06, 2004
Concert weekend recap
Man - what a weekend. And it's not really over yet. After I see the Darkness tonight, I will have seen 7 shows in 7 nights. That even includes a day off, since I did 2 different shows on Friday.
A quick recap:
3/31 - Ratdog@9:30: Very crowded. Too crowded to dance, even a little. Fun show, but nothing spectacular. Weir can't really win. If he plays too much new stuff, people complain that they wanna hear more Dead tunes. If he plays too many Dead tunes, people complain that he's just living off his past and needs to move on. This night he played a few too many new songs. Good show, as always, but nothing mind-blowing. Scarlet and an acoustic BT Wind were the highlights.
4/1: off
4/2: Dylan@9:30. Dylan is always amazing. The club was over-crowded again. BF had to work late, so we barely made it in time for the show. We got there at 8:10. Dylan came on at 8:15. We were way in the back, which isn't really so bad, considering how small the club is. How is it that I'm 6'1" and still manage to have the only 6'5" guy in the place blocking my view? Dylan was terrific. Just the right mix of old and new. Positively 4th Street, Love Sick, Not Dark Yet, It's Alright Ma.... Sweet.
4/2: Dylan was done at exactly 10:15. We jumped in the car and headed over to the Black Cat to catch Washington Social Club. Goddamn, they're a great band. Nice folks too. They had people videotaping them that night. Not sure why. I love it when the crowd gets into it and starts dancing. Their new record comes out on 5/25. Go buy it.
4/3: Death Cab For Cutie/Ben Kweller@9:30. I had heard some not-so-great stories about DCFC live. However, I was pretty impressed. Lots of energy and they sounded great. I'd definitely recommend checking them out. What sucked was that they were the opening act. They only got to play for an hour. About 1/3 of the club left before Ben Kweller came on. The ones that stayed were really into it though. He was ok. He kind of sounded like a really loud version of Pete Yorn to me. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I was familiar with his material. I left about 6-7 songs into his set. Shortly after the acoustic "Ice Ice Baby".
I went downstairs to Blowoff to sober up a bit before heading home. Only been to that twice, but it's a lot of fun. The only place in town without the typical "DC Attitude". It's nice to be able to talk to people without feeling like you're being hit on, or like they're sizing you up as being worthy enough to talk to them. Kind of a small crowd, but fun nonetheless. As I was getting ready to leave, I spotted Bob Mould and went over to say hi. Very nice guy. Hope I didn't come off like a babbling drunk.
4/4: Dylan@The Warner Theater. I bought these tickets before we got the 9:30 tickets. I toyed with the idea of selling them (at $75/ticket, I could use the money), but decided to hang onto them and go to the show. We definitely made the right decision. I thought this show was better than the 9:30 show. The band was tight as hell and they f*cking rocked. Fantastic.
4/5: The Psychedelic Furs@9:30. I was going back and forth on this one at first. I didn't want to spend $25 to see them, then the club announced a 2-for-1 deal. I bought 2 tickets and sold one for $10, so it really only cost me $15. Short show, but very good. Much better than the last time I saw them. Richard Butler still has all the same moves as the first time I saw him (20 years ago - ugh). He just moves a little slower though - lol. Short show. Main set was exactly one hour + a 2-song encore. They skipped my favorite song (Sister Europe), but that's just a minor complaint. Lots of dancing room, which was a nice change from all the sold out shows I've been to this week. Had a great time.
4/6: Tonight, it's gonna be The Darkness@9:30. This one's gonna be jam-packed crowded. According to the Washington Post, this show sold out in 34 seconds. I know these guys by reputation only, plus a quick listen at one of the Tower listening stations. I haven't even heard an entire song. It's either going to be amazing, or it's going to completely suck. If nothing else, I'll get to see lots of guys in spandex - lol.
A quick recap:
3/31 - Ratdog@9:30: Very crowded. Too crowded to dance, even a little. Fun show, but nothing spectacular. Weir can't really win. If he plays too much new stuff, people complain that they wanna hear more Dead tunes. If he plays too many Dead tunes, people complain that he's just living off his past and needs to move on. This night he played a few too many new songs. Good show, as always, but nothing mind-blowing. Scarlet and an acoustic BT Wind were the highlights.
4/1: off
4/2: Dylan@9:30. Dylan is always amazing. The club was over-crowded again. BF had to work late, so we barely made it in time for the show. We got there at 8:10. Dylan came on at 8:15. We were way in the back, which isn't really so bad, considering how small the club is. How is it that I'm 6'1" and still manage to have the only 6'5" guy in the place blocking my view? Dylan was terrific. Just the right mix of old and new. Positively 4th Street, Love Sick, Not Dark Yet, It's Alright Ma.... Sweet.
4/2: Dylan was done at exactly 10:15. We jumped in the car and headed over to the Black Cat to catch Washington Social Club. Goddamn, they're a great band. Nice folks too. They had people videotaping them that night. Not sure why. I love it when the crowd gets into it and starts dancing. Their new record comes out on 5/25. Go buy it.
4/3: Death Cab For Cutie/Ben Kweller@9:30. I had heard some not-so-great stories about DCFC live. However, I was pretty impressed. Lots of energy and they sounded great. I'd definitely recommend checking them out. What sucked was that they were the opening act. They only got to play for an hour. About 1/3 of the club left before Ben Kweller came on. The ones that stayed were really into it though. He was ok. He kind of sounded like a really loud version of Pete Yorn to me. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I was familiar with his material. I left about 6-7 songs into his set. Shortly after the acoustic "Ice Ice Baby".
I went downstairs to Blowoff to sober up a bit before heading home. Only been to that twice, but it's a lot of fun. The only place in town without the typical "DC Attitude". It's nice to be able to talk to people without feeling like you're being hit on, or like they're sizing you up as being worthy enough to talk to them. Kind of a small crowd, but fun nonetheless. As I was getting ready to leave, I spotted Bob Mould and went over to say hi. Very nice guy. Hope I didn't come off like a babbling drunk.
4/4: Dylan@The Warner Theater. I bought these tickets before we got the 9:30 tickets. I toyed with the idea of selling them (at $75/ticket, I could use the money), but decided to hang onto them and go to the show. We definitely made the right decision. I thought this show was better than the 9:30 show. The band was tight as hell and they f*cking rocked. Fantastic.
4/5: The Psychedelic Furs@9:30. I was going back and forth on this one at first. I didn't want to spend $25 to see them, then the club announced a 2-for-1 deal. I bought 2 tickets and sold one for $10, so it really only cost me $15. Short show, but very good. Much better than the last time I saw them. Richard Butler still has all the same moves as the first time I saw him (20 years ago - ugh). He just moves a little slower though - lol. Short show. Main set was exactly one hour + a 2-song encore. They skipped my favorite song (Sister Europe), but that's just a minor complaint. Lots of dancing room, which was a nice change from all the sold out shows I've been to this week. Had a great time.
4/6: Tonight, it's gonna be The Darkness@9:30. This one's gonna be jam-packed crowded. According to the Washington Post, this show sold out in 34 seconds. I know these guys by reputation only, plus a quick listen at one of the Tower listening stations. I haven't even heard an entire song. It's either going to be amazing, or it's going to completely suck. If nothing else, I'll get to see lots of guys in spandex - lol.
