Shows and More Shows Reviewed

09-16 Man Man @ Speigeltent
I love the Man Man. Seeing them in what amounts to a circus tent should have been insane, and at times it was, but never more so than the typical Man Man circus they bring. The stage at Speigeltent is too low which makes the sitting lovebirds Pow Pow and Honus Honus invisible when they dont rocket out of their seats. With a start time at 12:40 and beers at a prohibitive $6/10 oz, I became so drowsy by 2:00 AM that I don't remember the last 10 minutes. I gotta toughen up for CMJ or else I'll be narcoleptic all week.

09-19 Sparklehorse @ Bowery
Sparklehorse was amazing. Linkous can strum a D-chord and you could sense the charge in the crowd. I'm quite affectionate towards the new album and even though he played very little off of it, I was entranced the entire time. Not much happens on stage, but not much needs to.

09-20 Sono Oto @ Mercury
Not a live band and it showed. They were strongest with Mark Phillips [Phillips is to Sono Oto as Linkous is to Sparklehorse] on keyboard rather than guitar. The highlight of the night was the five Apple songs they played back-to-back. The string section was unneccessary and I'd rather see fewer on stage with little to do; especially if you're not a live band. Still, Phillips has those five Apple songs that promise good things to come.

09-21 Ra Ra Riot @ Annex
Pretty good. I need to familiarize myself more to see if the songs I'm don't know stack up to those of which I do. Plus, I was stuck in the back of "The Tunnel" so any visual connection was minimal.

09-21 Klaxons @ Studio B
I had one of the unluckiest nights in recent memory this night, culminating in tripping on stairs and gashing my leg. With a throbbing pain in my leg, not a penny to my name [I used my last 6 bones and the last cent that DJ Neverforget had to get in], I tried to enjoy the Klaxons. And I did. But I can't specifically recall anything about them. Next time: shin guards.

09-22 Favourite Sons, Snowden @ Mercury
Missed all but the last two songs of the Head Set. Favourite Sons were alright, and Snowden... hmm... I still don't understand the appeal of that band. The F'Sons have an interesting back story and while that shouldn't make their music better, it sorta did. Or at least it made me appreciate what they were all about more.

09-23 V-Fest: The Who, Killers @ Pimilco Racetrack, Baltimore
The biggest names in corporate rock [Gnarls, Raconteurs, Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc.] and I only really saw two acts. The Killers were actually, I readily admit, pretty good. The teenage crowd was fanatical and the abundant crowdsurfers produced many falls and bloody noses. The Who were awe-inspiring and I felt priviledged to finally witness such a influential rock band. The press of the crowd was nearly unbearable and so I evacuated before the RHCP could show me their sock puppets.

09-23 LTJ Bukem & MC Conrad @ Sonar, Baltimore
One of the best things I've seen this year. At the V-fest afterparty, we ditched the official party room [room temperature: 65 F] for this freakathon in the room across the hall [room temperature: 90 F]. It was sweaty, dark, hot, and the entire room was dancing like a bunch of insane motherfuckers. I was floored. They're finishing up their US Tour, so catch them if you can. [NYC date has passed] :(

09-24 Sunset Rubdown @ Bowery Ballroom
Spencer Krug has a mustache. Sunset Rubdown are the Polaris winners in my book. I've met more Rubdown uber-fans than I know for Wolf Parade. I don't doubt why. Krug is the man.