I go to concerts.
So yeah, it's been a busy few days.
-- Wednesday night was the M.I.A. concert at the 9:30 Club. One weird part about being into so many different kinds/genres of music is the crowd at the different shows. This crowd was made of a lot of southeast asian people (not shocking - M.I.A. is Sri Lankan via London), a lot of couples, and a not insignificant gay/lesbian populatuion. And don't look at me like that - it was *very* obvious which people in the crowd were like that. Some of them were there more so for the opener, though.
The opening act was this weird amalgamation - it seemed like it was two separate DJs and a band that were all meshed together into one big act. The first two DJs (Devlin and Donnie Darko, I want to say their names were) played a lot of old-school Hip-Hop and R&B, and the second played a mix of old-school and 90s stuff. Fine by me so far. Then this Baltimore band Spank Riot came on. They were pretty good. They seemed like a mix of Hip Hop and rock with an drummer and dancers who were performing some very nice African-style dances (I don't know what the dances were actually called.). Woke the crowd up quite a bit.
And M.I.A. I'll get this out of the way now - she's smoking hot and has legs that go all the to the ground. The actual show? Pretty fun. She's only got one CD, so it was always going to be a somewhat short set, but she put a lot into it and was very energetic. It was one of those shows where it was very beneficial to have listened to the CD beforehand, as her accent's takes a bit of getting used to. That said, I had a good time and would go see her again.
-- Thursday, Q and Not U at the 9:30 Club. I like this band a lot and am glad I got see them play one of their break-up shows. A great time as always, a ton of energy. Very long set - they played a lot of stuff that they never really played at shows. I've become a big fan of these guys in the past year or so and am glad I got to see them the few times that I did. Now I've gotta find another DC punk band to get into...
-- Friday, The College Roommate and I went out to Adams Morgan with an ex-girlfriend of his. I know, I know. But they broke up amicably and are apparently friends again. So, she wanted to see what we do when we go out. Whatever, she was cool the one time I met her. Ended up having a great time at our normal dive bar, The Common Share. One of the other guys that we hang out with came with his girlfriend as well. One funny thing was that while The Roommate's ex was sitting down at the bar, she bumped into this girl sitting next to her and this girl started to get an attitude over a small accident. Well, she then looked at the guys she was with and decided to calm down. The guy she was with kept quiet the whole time. The Roommate talked to her a bit after to make sure there were no problems (he's like that, I really don't care all that much), and she said that nothing was going to be started with him (a fairly big guy, knows how to defend himself) or with me, who she admitted scared her.
Damn - I know I don't look like a 98-pound weakling or anything, but do random people get that idea about me?
-- Saturday, I bailed on the big concert on the Mall that was connected to the protest for a couple of different reasons. One, I had gotten a call from a friend that was there basically saying that it was madhouse and that I would get all kinds of aggravated if I tried to navigate around all the people that were there. Also, a couple of friends tried to organize a small Octoberfest party at my favorite taphouse, who were tapping a bourbon keg full of their own Octoberfest beer. Not many folks showed up, so I decided to stick around there. Watched college football and MLS after that, didn't do a whole lot.
-- Last night, back to the Black Cat to see Little Brother. Now, I'm a late convert to this band, as I wasn't all that fond of their first CD, "The Listening." But their ever-increasing amounts of positive praise persuaded me to try the CD out again and to grab a mixtape that they did, "The Chitlin Circuit." This got me into them pretty well, and the CD that just came out, "The Minstrel Show" is one of the best Hip Hop releases this year. Blistering satire, great production, and a great concept.
So, the show. The opener was Kev Brown, a local rapper/producer who's in the same vein, very soulful music and earnest, down-to-earth songs. I'm curious to see more from the guy, and I got his CD at the end of the night. Little Brother was preceded by everyone in their crew, the Justus League. I wanted to like all these guys more than I did, but for the most part it was obvious why Little Brother is blowing up and they're along for the ride. Though I did think that this R7B singer that was part of the crew (Darian Brockington) was pretty good and I have no time for mot contemporary R&B. Little Brother themselves were VERY energetic and fast-paced and had the crowd in the palm of their hands the entire time. The only problem is that the sound was too loud for the whole night. I'm all about the sound being up so I can really hear the music, but this was too much, and it acutally distracted from the performance slightly. But then again, I was up near the front, if I were back a few rows, I proabably wouldn't have noticed. But yeah, great show. Fun performance, great freestyles mixed in, absolutely go see them if you get the chance.
-- The White Stripes and The Shins tomorrow night. I hope my eardrums can hold out for one more show.
-- Wednesday night was the M.I.A. concert at the 9:30 Club. One weird part about being into so many different kinds/genres of music is the crowd at the different shows. This crowd was made of a lot of southeast asian people (not shocking - M.I.A. is Sri Lankan via London), a lot of couples, and a not insignificant gay/lesbian populatuion. And don't look at me like that - it was *very* obvious which people in the crowd were like that. Some of them were there more so for the opener, though.
The opening act was this weird amalgamation - it seemed like it was two separate DJs and a band that were all meshed together into one big act. The first two DJs (Devlin and Donnie Darko, I want to say their names were) played a lot of old-school Hip-Hop and R&B, and the second played a mix of old-school and 90s stuff. Fine by me so far. Then this Baltimore band Spank Riot came on. They were pretty good. They seemed like a mix of Hip Hop and rock with an drummer and dancers who were performing some very nice African-style dances (I don't know what the dances were actually called.). Woke the crowd up quite a bit.
And M.I.A. I'll get this out of the way now - she's smoking hot and has legs that go all the to the ground. The actual show? Pretty fun. She's only got one CD, so it was always going to be a somewhat short set, but she put a lot into it and was very energetic. It was one of those shows where it was very beneficial to have listened to the CD beforehand, as her accent's takes a bit of getting used to. That said, I had a good time and would go see her again.
-- Thursday, Q and Not U at the 9:30 Club. I like this band a lot and am glad I got see them play one of their break-up shows. A great time as always, a ton of energy. Very long set - they played a lot of stuff that they never really played at shows. I've become a big fan of these guys in the past year or so and am glad I got to see them the few times that I did. Now I've gotta find another DC punk band to get into...
-- Friday, The College Roommate and I went out to Adams Morgan with an ex-girlfriend of his. I know, I know. But they broke up amicably and are apparently friends again. So, she wanted to see what we do when we go out. Whatever, she was cool the one time I met her. Ended up having a great time at our normal dive bar, The Common Share. One of the other guys that we hang out with came with his girlfriend as well. One funny thing was that while The Roommate's ex was sitting down at the bar, she bumped into this girl sitting next to her and this girl started to get an attitude over a small accident. Well, she then looked at the guys she was with and decided to calm down. The guy she was with kept quiet the whole time. The Roommate talked to her a bit after to make sure there were no problems (he's like that, I really don't care all that much), and she said that nothing was going to be started with him (a fairly big guy, knows how to defend himself) or with me, who she admitted scared her.
Damn - I know I don't look like a 98-pound weakling or anything, but do random people get that idea about me?
-- Saturday, I bailed on the big concert on the Mall that was connected to the protest for a couple of different reasons. One, I had gotten a call from a friend that was there basically saying that it was madhouse and that I would get all kinds of aggravated if I tried to navigate around all the people that were there. Also, a couple of friends tried to organize a small Octoberfest party at my favorite taphouse, who were tapping a bourbon keg full of their own Octoberfest beer. Not many folks showed up, so I decided to stick around there. Watched college football and MLS after that, didn't do a whole lot.
-- Last night, back to the Black Cat to see Little Brother. Now, I'm a late convert to this band, as I wasn't all that fond of their first CD, "The Listening." But their ever-increasing amounts of positive praise persuaded me to try the CD out again and to grab a mixtape that they did, "The Chitlin Circuit." This got me into them pretty well, and the CD that just came out, "The Minstrel Show" is one of the best Hip Hop releases this year. Blistering satire, great production, and a great concept.
So, the show. The opener was Kev Brown, a local rapper/producer who's in the same vein, very soulful music and earnest, down-to-earth songs. I'm curious to see more from the guy, and I got his CD at the end of the night. Little Brother was preceded by everyone in their crew, the Justus League. I wanted to like all these guys more than I did, but for the most part it was obvious why Little Brother is blowing up and they're along for the ride. Though I did think that this R7B singer that was part of the crew (Darian Brockington) was pretty good and I have no time for mot contemporary R&B. Little Brother themselves were VERY energetic and fast-paced and had the crowd in the palm of their hands the entire time. The only problem is that the sound was too loud for the whole night. I'm all about the sound being up so I can really hear the music, but this was too much, and it acutally distracted from the performance slightly. But then again, I was up near the front, if I were back a few rows, I proabably wouldn't have noticed. But yeah, great show. Fun performance, great freestyles mixed in, absolutely go see them if you get the chance.
-- The White Stripes and The Shins tomorrow night. I hope my eardrums can hold out for one more show.