Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Erasure
Last night the BF and I fought the monsoon and made our way to the 9:30 Club to catch Erasure. It was a fairly miserable drive downtown, but just as we were arriving the rain pretty much stopped, which allowed us to get inside relatively dry. The same can't be said for many of the others there, who appeared to be soaked to the bone. Ugh.
As we were walking in, I thought I heard Bloc Party in the background. Nope. Turns out it was the opening band Elkland. We caught their last 2 songs. Not too bad at all. Another of those too-dancey-to-be-a-rock-band-but-too-rockin-to-be-called-dance-music kind of bands - a la The Killers, Bloc Party, etc. I liked them. I wish we had gotten there a little earlier. Must investigate further.
I'm not the world's biggest Erasure fan, but as a gay man coming out in the 80's they were inescapable at the time. I probably couldn't name a single Erasure song, but I recognized at least half of what they played last night. Close my eyes and I can easily picture being back at JR's circa 1989. Talk about a mixed-blessing - haha.
As expected, they put on a helluva show. Hit after hit after hit. The stage and lighting were nothing short of stunning at times. Beautifully done. Costume changes, angel wings, an Elvis-type jumpsuit, backup singers in Marilyn Monroe-esque dresses...never a dull moment. We even got an interesting cover of Blondie's "Rapture".
One of the most fun crowds I've seen at a show in quite a while. Most of the shows I go to are loaded with jaded too-cool-to-have-fun types. Not last night. The whole crowd was singing, dancing, cheering and clapping along through every tune. It was impossible not to get all caught up in it. Everyone around me - gay, straight, male and female was having a blast. Even the BF was dancing around - and that's a definite rarity.
This was also probably the most comfortable sold-out show I've seen at the club in a long time. There seemed to be plenty of room. I didn't feel like a sardine. Nobody was forced to watch the show from the hallway. Very pleasantly crowded. I wish more sold-out shows were like that. I wonder if that had anything to do with the date-change?
Great show. I had my doubts going in, but they were terrific.
Snagged a Pixies/Bloc Party poster on the way out. Stopped by JR's on the way home. We thought it might be jumpin' with folks coming from the show. Instead it was packed for Showtune Night. Ugh. We didn't stay long.
The sky opened up again on the way home. The right lane of 16th St. was basically a river. The west side of the street was pitch black. No power. The east side of the street was fine. That was kind of eerie.
Tried to check on the bunnies when we got home. No sign of them, but we can't see in their hole. Hopefully, they've burrowed down deep and are ok.
As we were walking in, I thought I heard Bloc Party in the background. Nope. Turns out it was the opening band Elkland. We caught their last 2 songs. Not too bad at all. Another of those too-dancey-to-be-a-rock-band-but-too-rockin-to-be-called-dance-music kind of bands - a la The Killers, Bloc Party, etc. I liked them. I wish we had gotten there a little earlier. Must investigate further.
I'm not the world's biggest Erasure fan, but as a gay man coming out in the 80's they were inescapable at the time. I probably couldn't name a single Erasure song, but I recognized at least half of what they played last night. Close my eyes and I can easily picture being back at JR's circa 1989. Talk about a mixed-blessing - haha.
As expected, they put on a helluva show. Hit after hit after hit. The stage and lighting were nothing short of stunning at times. Beautifully done. Costume changes, angel wings, an Elvis-type jumpsuit, backup singers in Marilyn Monroe-esque dresses...never a dull moment. We even got an interesting cover of Blondie's "Rapture".
One of the most fun crowds I've seen at a show in quite a while. Most of the shows I go to are loaded with jaded too-cool-to-have-fun types. Not last night. The whole crowd was singing, dancing, cheering and clapping along through every tune. It was impossible not to get all caught up in it. Everyone around me - gay, straight, male and female was having a blast. Even the BF was dancing around - and that's a definite rarity.
This was also probably the most comfortable sold-out show I've seen at the club in a long time. There seemed to be plenty of room. I didn't feel like a sardine. Nobody was forced to watch the show from the hallway. Very pleasantly crowded. I wish more sold-out shows were like that. I wonder if that had anything to do with the date-change?
Great show. I had my doubts going in, but they were terrific.
Snagged a Pixies/Bloc Party poster on the way out. Stopped by JR's on the way home. We thought it might be jumpin' with folks coming from the show. Instead it was packed for Showtune Night. Ugh. We didn't stay long.
The sky opened up again on the way home. The right lane of 16th St. was basically a river. The west side of the street was pitch black. No power. The east side of the street was fine. That was kind of eerie.
Tried to check on the bunnies when we got home. No sign of them, but we can't see in their hole. Hopefully, they've burrowed down deep and are ok.
