The concert whirlwind continues with a trip to see the ever nerdy Vampire Weekend. The evening started with us being picked up by my good buddy Matty O. (and wife) in the Silver Bullet. After a failed attempt to visit the Thirsty Ear (they’re closed on Mondays), we hit up Harrison’s on Third. Can’t beat $2 Magic (read “stinky”) Hat #9 draughts! Their appetizers that served as an early dinner were just marginal though… they brought the heat with jalapeños though to make up for the average taste. We continued our pre-show preparation down at the A&R Music Bar adjacent to the LC Pavilion where the show was at. A&R was ok. You pay full concert price for beer in plastic cups. They definitely figured out how to start gouging you early.
There was a long line of kids wrapped around the LC waiting to get in for what was probably hours upon hours. I, in my elder wisdom, signed up for Decibel Club the night before which put us right at the front of the line (As much as I can take credit for that move, I have to slap myself for not doing it long ago). With no desire to get stuck in the front without access to the bar or bathroom, my plus one and I headed to the top and nabbed four seats right on the corner… (my shitty IPhone camera makes it appear much further away. C’mon Apple! Give me some zoom capabilities!)(PS – I know the pics on these blogs suck because of that. Deal with it.)
After an elongated wait, the opener (named “Abe Vigoda” after the old ass actor) took the stage. Their genre is described as “tropical punk rock” on Wikipedia. I would describe it as “unlistenable”. And thanks to their skinny jeans, they were “unwatchable” too. Seriously people… cut it out with the skinny jeans fad. They look horrible on EVERYONE. It makes nice bodies look bad and bad bodies look worse. Just stop it!
Sorry. Back on track… Where were we? Oh yeah – Abe Vigoda sucked. The vocals were low and mumbled. The mix was bad. The only saving grace was Matt impersonating the Jamaican sound engineer behind the board while they were on – “Ja like how I gots da slidaz all lined up in a row ‘mon? Flat mix is where it’s at ‘mon!”
Mercy was provided when they finished their rather short set. Only to be followed by another lengthy pause in the proceedings before Vampire Weekend came on. They however made the wait well worth it! Not a lot of specifics stick out from the show. They just flat out performed. Giving the crowd everything they wanted. I can’t recall a song off the self-titled album they didn’t play while working in the best tracks off of the new “Contra” CD (sans them playing the very annoyingly T-Pain-ish “California English”). The unblemished sounds they provided served as a engaging soundtrack to the visual entertainment of stupid drunken frat-boys dancing and high-fiving (and spilling drinks on patrons below) in the reserved seats in front of us. The encore ended with a elevating recital of “Walcott” to effectively close the evening, at least as far as the concert was concerned.
It was extended in the kitchen by the best damn grilled cheese and jalapeño (“jes”, more jalapeños) in the history of the world on the afore mentioned Cuban bread. A delicious way to end the evening followed by a firey anus to greet me in the morning. A trade-off I’m far to familiar with.
I was impressed by the amount of fist pumping going on during the show. Also, suprised that Manny from Modern Family was right next to us.
ReplyDeleteI previewed a couple Abe Vigoda songs on iTunes and they sound equally bad live as pre-recorded.