Friday featured my good friend Sleep. My cat concurred (and conquered):
Then it was time for some P-I-Z-Z-A:
And some Cold Warps, who were perfect. Paul Hammond was all like "Whatever", they played some Ramones and there was lots of "ooohs" inserted craftily in the right places. Those songs lodge in your brain like weevils. I don't even think that makes any sense, but it sounds right. Especially "Who Cares, I Guess"—-CONSISTENT FAVORITE. But anyway..
Sank two beers and returned for North of America. I actually don't think I've ever seen NOA live before (my companion insists that we did, at the Khyber, a long time ago) and I enjoyed their set immensely. It might have been the beer (in fact, I'm sure it WAS the beer) but to me they seemed like knights, resplendent, playing these huge, noble songs while people sat on the floor or stood on the side screaming along reverently. I wish I grew up with this music instead of what I did grow up with (Korn) but you can't re-write the past.
God, where did we go afterwards? I think we saw The White Wires at Tribeca. They are from Ottawa and were also cute as hell, doing that sweet summer punk thing. The lead singer was a tall, rangy chap with a great voice. I could have listened to a lot more of them. In fact my one complaint this year is that I ran around way too much trying to catch so and so there and stupid face here. By the end I really relished standing still and listening to bands play entire sets. It felt like such a treat. Some year I suppose I'll figure it out.
We hit Coconut Grove for Tupperware Remix Party next. The last time I saw these guys was at a house party over a year and a half ago and since then their costumes and sound have only gotten more elaborate. The crowd was really really into them and as the bar began to surge and expand at the seams we escaped over to the Seahorse next door, which was also nearing capacity.
It was Jagermeister rock night. These are among my favorite nights every year - I really love them - and this year was no exception. The bar was nearly at capacity when we arrived, although the crowd had made a healthy space for the total fracas that was Burning Love. Holy God.
Now, imagine that band you just heard covering Nick Cave and the Bad Seed's Jack the Ripper. Oh GOD. This was beyond weak in the knees or blinded by awe—-the experience made me feel sated and gutted all at the same time. This is how you should feel when you hear noisy music. Reminds me of seeing Trigger Effect two years ago. Piercing, gnarly, ugly as sin. ROCK SWOON. Needless to say, t-shirts were bought.
The Pack AD were up next. Lead singer/ ripping good guitarist Becky Black seems to inspire the carnal attentions of men and women in equal measure. Her new haircut is rather fetching, not that you can tell from this photo, but you should take my word for it:
Aesthetics aside, I've bitched before that I find the drumming/guitars a little off in this band - drummer Maya is really fun to watch, high energy and seems like someone you would actually want to be friends with in real life, but at the beginning of the set I found things plodded a bit. Once they launched into "Blackout" from 2008's Funeral Mixtape, though, shit got real. Very heartening to see a packed Seahorse for these two. Please get famous now, okay?
The photo above is what happens when you shove your shitty cameraphone into Jason Vautour's face while the crowd in front of Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees turns into a giant mosh pit. He looks delighted and quite baffled. Overall the night at Coconut Grove - and particularly the latter bit with Tupperware, Windom Earle and Ruby Jean - was insanely high-energy, with a young dynamic crowd up for dancing and pushing me into the mirror-wall as I elbowed this other guy in the face. Good for the bands; annoying for slightly tipsy and ill-advisedly aggressive Coast writers, perhaps.
We took our drunkergy to an after-party kindly provided by the Coast's favorite host and I fuzzily remember someone playing in the living room while I advised two college girls to stay in school forever "because reality bites." That's real talk right there. You're welcome, girls.
