Sunday, July 06, 2008
Farewell Metropolitan
Another good DC band bites the dust. Metropolitan is calling it quits. It looks like Shyam is heading for Chicago and the band is breaking up. Rats.
So last night was their big farewell show at the Black Cat. And when I say "big" I really mean "nobody seemed to care." Don't get me wrong. Dinger and I love us some Metropolitan. Sometimes I think we're the only ones though. They can't draw a crowd for anything. Somehow they always manage to get Saturday night headlining spots on the mainstage at The Cat, yet they consistently do a terrible job of filling it. I actually counted people in the crowd last night. There couldn't have been more than 75-80 people there. The club holds 500-700, depending on your source. They should have stuck to smaller rooms. Playing to an empty club gives the impression you've got nothing going on and drives the vibe into the toilet. It's a shame, because they're a great band. They deserve to be heard by more people.
Then there was the show itself. For some reason they were back to their original 3-piece lineup last night. The second guitarist/keyboard guy was absent. Someone in the crowd actually asked "Where's the other guy?". The band sounded ok, but looked pretty damn bored. They barely looked at each other all night. The bass player looked like he was mentally packing his suitcase on stage. There were moments of greatness, but overall it was just kind of dull. Dinger got a setlist, but I don't think it's completely accurate.
Still - I was happy to get one last chance to see them. They were one of my favorite local bands. Their last 2 records are hook-laden indie rock gems. There's really no reason that they shouldn't have been more popular. It's a shame they went out with such a whimper. They're better than what they gave us last night. Oh well.
So last night was their big farewell show at the Black Cat. And when I say "big" I really mean "nobody seemed to care." Don't get me wrong. Dinger and I love us some Metropolitan. Sometimes I think we're the only ones though. They can't draw a crowd for anything. Somehow they always manage to get Saturday night headlining spots on the mainstage at The Cat, yet they consistently do a terrible job of filling it. I actually counted people in the crowd last night. There couldn't have been more than 75-80 people there. The club holds 500-700, depending on your source. They should have stuck to smaller rooms. Playing to an empty club gives the impression you've got nothing going on and drives the vibe into the toilet. It's a shame, because they're a great band. They deserve to be heard by more people.
Then there was the show itself. For some reason they were back to their original 3-piece lineup last night. The second guitarist/keyboard guy was absent. Someone in the crowd actually asked "Where's the other guy?". The band sounded ok, but looked pretty damn bored. They barely looked at each other all night. The bass player looked like he was mentally packing his suitcase on stage. There were moments of greatness, but overall it was just kind of dull. Dinger got a setlist, but I don't think it's completely accurate.
Still - I was happy to get one last chance to see them. They were one of my favorite local bands. Their last 2 records are hook-laden indie rock gems. There's really no reason that they shouldn't have been more popular. It's a shame they went out with such a whimper. They're better than what they gave us last night. Oh well.
