All she wants to do is, all she wants to do is dance
Okay, for future reference, the delicious, spicy calamari at the House of Blues restaurant is 45 cents short of qualifying your for a Pass The Line privelege for the night's show.
Wasn't a large line, but thanks to the reciept from my parents' order, I qualified for Pass the Line and saved a couple of minutes otherwise. I got a table by the stage-left stairs and did a whole lot of sitting. I txt'd Yurani to check if she was randomly working this show, too, like the last time I was at HoB. Nope.
Action Action never really grabbed me, and it was no different seeing them live. I found it crazy that everyone but the drummer had either a keyboard (lead guitar) or synth (singer and bassist) in front of them as well.
During the break a woman approaches me and asks if someone could use the other stool next to me. I didn't really pay much mind to her or the girl who took the seat. However, during Morningwood's set, the aforementioned woman pretty much saddled up right next to me at the table.
Morningwood is an odd band. They're great fun, but when you're left alone with the music and not in a partying mood, you can hear just how terrible lyrically it is. Fortunately, this was a party place. These guys and gal rock it hard and make the most of being rock stars. There's great crowd/bouncer interaction outside of the usual clap-your-hands or scream-really-loud-when-I-tell-you-to schtick. Oh, the antics. During the song about why girls love horses, she whipped out a hobby horse and made kissy-faces with it, ground up on it, and swung it around. There was also a point where she rode piggyback on a security guy for about a third of a song. Oh yeah, she's also notorious for kind wildly flailing around in general, arms, hair, hips, and boobs flying every-which-way. Their long-haired guitarist is a show-boating guitar god, just the way we likes 'em. And the rest of the band (err, I guess that just leaves the bassist and drummer) are great showmen and musicians, too. During New York Girls (my front-runner for weakest song, though having good instrumentals), she pulled up a girl to dance on stage with her.
Y'know, I was kinda worried seeing all these kids at the show. There was this one family with like 3 or 4 kids, none of them looking like they'd become teens yet. I didn't see the dad, but the mom looked rather young. Like too young to have this many kids. I was wondering why the whole family had come. I don't think these kids would have heard of any of these bands. Did the parents come to see the second coming of Blondie? (Read: The Sounds.) Did one of the possibly MTV-watching kids hear Morningwood somewhere? Maybe in that American Eagle commercial?
This is all leading up somewhere. At the 30 minute mark--the usual point where bands end their set--I was worried that I wouldn't be able to hear one of my faves of theirs. I don't know if it's the actual title, but it probably is. "I Want to Take Off Your Clothes." Fortunately, that was the next song. They announced they had some friends in the audience celebrating their 5th anniversary. The wood anniversary, she said (which may actually be true and thus a convenient coincidence). They were brought up on stage and prompted to strip along with the song. They were shy of course, but decently game. The girl stripped the guy of his overshirt and undershirt, but the girl wasn't wearing a bra, so her top stayed on. I think they were considering ditching some pants, but were feeling too shy. Obviously sensing that we wouldn't be getting the show she wanted, the singer yells to the crowd, "who's 18?" Shortly she leads a girl by the hand to the other side of the stage, relieves her of her shirt and chews a hole through one of her leggings. Seemed like the legging/skirt combination was being wanted to come off, but the girl didn't look like she wanted that to happen. So, uh...molestation proceeds. Groping, lesbian kisses and whatnot. At the end of the song: "Okay, tell us how old you are. You're at least 18, right?" "Uh, actually I'm only 16." As she's motioned offstage by the roadie, the singer tells us, "Oh, no! I guess I might as well arrest myself." And like magic a pair of handcuffs seems to appear out of nowhere, just like the hobby horse. (That's not the end of props randomly appearing; a pair of pom-poms show up at the end.)
So, remember I mentioned kids? Oh wait, for that matter, I saw a group of old people. They had stickers on them indicating they were with a band, but who? The one saying some variation of "fuck" every three words? You must be proud of your boys. Oh wait (again), I forgot to mention that the girl who approached me seemed to be with this older looking woman who had a very young but possibly teenage girl and a younger boy. I don't know how this other girl related to that woman and the kids. The boy disappeared sometime during the Morningwood set, possibly before this most blatant sexual exhibition. The young woman said something to me about the display and I said that the band played pretty much straight-up sex-rock, and people (I particularly meant the parents of children) should realize a band with the name "morning wood" would maybe have sexuality play a big role. She herself hadn't done that math. Didn't even really know the band, I think she said.
But she did buy their "cute" tank top. I didn't buy a Sounds tee. Because it was $20. I mean, Hot Topic already overcharges at $18 a shirt. I probably should have been a good band-supporter and just bought it. Y'know, like that album I didn't like. The free t-shirt I got with that is straight up promotional. It has the tiny Sounds icon, the name of the album, and an announcement of its release date. It's something a store clerk would wear only at the store. Or some crazy fan (like me when I wanted to hand out copies of i12's Get Rad at the Virgin Megastore). "That's just cheesy," she called it.
After the set, the younger woman and I chat it up. They're from Tampa and came just for the show. I asked who they came to see, and though I think she might have said The Sounds, she was also motioning to the other woman, making me think that maybe she'd come to visit that family. She asked me if I lived in Orlando. I told her I was a student at UCF; she attended USF. Yadda yadda, lobster bisque. At some point there I let her use my stool after instances of "is it alright if I rest my feet on your chair?" and "it's sharp sitting on this" (the kind of trough-like railing).
The Sounds did not disappoint, but they just couldn't match the stage antics of the previous act, energetic as they were. The guitarist is a fucking mad-man on the instrument, and Maja is no lady, if you know what I mean. The live versions of songs were generally faster and louder and slightly varied from the melodies on the album. Though I always say one of the greatest sins a band came perform is to sound just like the recording when playing live, I think the instrumental work on their first album is just masterful. You know I'm no fan of the new work. I think they ironically found their "sound" and tried to apply that formula to each of the new songs, resulting in an album full of songs that all sound the same, my other great band sin. I always use Less Than Jake or Reel Big Fish in this example. I like their songs individually, but hearing them back-to-back makes me bored and/or sick.
Were the young woman and her companions here to see The Sounds as I'd interpretted? Hopefully not, because they left halfway through the set. The older woman told my chatting buddy something; possibly something about one of the kids. As we gave each other our good-byes, I got the impression that the young woman didn't want to leave.
The Sounds came back for an encore, and I was surprised how quickly the scent of one (which then became two) cigarettes can travel across a large, otherwise smoke free concert hall.
Great show tonight. I highly recommend catching Morningwood live, whether or not you find their songs to be creatively-lacking.
Wasn't a large line, but thanks to the reciept from my parents' order, I qualified for Pass the Line and saved a couple of minutes otherwise. I got a table by the stage-left stairs and did a whole lot of sitting. I txt'd Yurani to check if she was randomly working this show, too, like the last time I was at HoB. Nope.
Action Action never really grabbed me, and it was no different seeing them live. I found it crazy that everyone but the drummer had either a keyboard (lead guitar) or synth (singer and bassist) in front of them as well.
During the break a woman approaches me and asks if someone could use the other stool next to me. I didn't really pay much mind to her or the girl who took the seat. However, during Morningwood's set, the aforementioned woman pretty much saddled up right next to me at the table.
Morningwood is an odd band. They're great fun, but when you're left alone with the music and not in a partying mood, you can hear just how terrible lyrically it is. Fortunately, this was a party place. These guys and gal rock it hard and make the most of being rock stars. There's great crowd/bouncer interaction outside of the usual clap-your-hands or scream-really-loud-when-I-tell-you-to schtick. Oh, the antics. During the song about why girls love horses, she whipped out a hobby horse and made kissy-faces with it, ground up on it, and swung it around. There was also a point where she rode piggyback on a security guy for about a third of a song. Oh yeah, she's also notorious for kind wildly flailing around in general, arms, hair, hips, and boobs flying every-which-way. Their long-haired guitarist is a show-boating guitar god, just the way we likes 'em. And the rest of the band (err, I guess that just leaves the bassist and drummer) are great showmen and musicians, too. During New York Girls (my front-runner for weakest song, though having good instrumentals), she pulled up a girl to dance on stage with her.
Y'know, I was kinda worried seeing all these kids at the show. There was this one family with like 3 or 4 kids, none of them looking like they'd become teens yet. I didn't see the dad, but the mom looked rather young. Like too young to have this many kids. I was wondering why the whole family had come. I don't think these kids would have heard of any of these bands. Did the parents come to see the second coming of Blondie? (Read: The Sounds.) Did one of the possibly MTV-watching kids hear Morningwood somewhere? Maybe in that American Eagle commercial?
This is all leading up somewhere. At the 30 minute mark--the usual point where bands end their set--I was worried that I wouldn't be able to hear one of my faves of theirs. I don't know if it's the actual title, but it probably is. "I Want to Take Off Your Clothes." Fortunately, that was the next song. They announced they had some friends in the audience celebrating their 5th anniversary. The wood anniversary, she said (which may actually be true and thus a convenient coincidence). They were brought up on stage and prompted to strip along with the song. They were shy of course, but decently game. The girl stripped the guy of his overshirt and undershirt, but the girl wasn't wearing a bra, so her top stayed on. I think they were considering ditching some pants, but were feeling too shy. Obviously sensing that we wouldn't be getting the show she wanted, the singer yells to the crowd, "who's 18?" Shortly she leads a girl by the hand to the other side of the stage, relieves her of her shirt and chews a hole through one of her leggings. Seemed like the legging/skirt combination was being wanted to come off, but the girl didn't look like she wanted that to happen. So, uh...molestation proceeds. Groping, lesbian kisses and whatnot. At the end of the song: "Okay, tell us how old you are. You're at least 18, right?" "Uh, actually I'm only 16." As she's motioned offstage by the roadie, the singer tells us, "Oh, no! I guess I might as well arrest myself." And like magic a pair of handcuffs seems to appear out of nowhere, just like the hobby horse. (That's not the end of props randomly appearing; a pair of pom-poms show up at the end.)
So, remember I mentioned kids? Oh wait, for that matter, I saw a group of old people. They had stickers on them indicating they were with a band, but who? The one saying some variation of "fuck" every three words? You must be proud of your boys. Oh wait (again), I forgot to mention that the girl who approached me seemed to be with this older looking woman who had a very young but possibly teenage girl and a younger boy. I don't know how this other girl related to that woman and the kids. The boy disappeared sometime during the Morningwood set, possibly before this most blatant sexual exhibition. The young woman said something to me about the display and I said that the band played pretty much straight-up sex-rock, and people (I particularly meant the parents of children) should realize a band with the name "morning wood" would maybe have sexuality play a big role. She herself hadn't done that math. Didn't even really know the band, I think she said.
But she did buy their "cute" tank top. I didn't buy a Sounds tee. Because it was $20. I mean, Hot Topic already overcharges at $18 a shirt. I probably should have been a good band-supporter and just bought it. Y'know, like that album I didn't like. The free t-shirt I got with that is straight up promotional. It has the tiny Sounds icon, the name of the album, and an announcement of its release date. It's something a store clerk would wear only at the store. Or some crazy fan (like me when I wanted to hand out copies of i12's Get Rad at the Virgin Megastore). "That's just cheesy," she called it.
After the set, the younger woman and I chat it up. They're from Tampa and came just for the show. I asked who they came to see, and though I think she might have said The Sounds, she was also motioning to the other woman, making me think that maybe she'd come to visit that family. She asked me if I lived in Orlando. I told her I was a student at UCF; she attended USF. Yadda yadda, lobster bisque. At some point there I let her use my stool after instances of "is it alright if I rest my feet on your chair?" and "it's sharp sitting on this" (the kind of trough-like railing).
The Sounds did not disappoint, but they just couldn't match the stage antics of the previous act, energetic as they were. The guitarist is a fucking mad-man on the instrument, and Maja is no lady, if you know what I mean. The live versions of songs were generally faster and louder and slightly varied from the melodies on the album. Though I always say one of the greatest sins a band came perform is to sound just like the recording when playing live, I think the instrumental work on their first album is just masterful. You know I'm no fan of the new work. I think they ironically found their "sound" and tried to apply that formula to each of the new songs, resulting in an album full of songs that all sound the same, my other great band sin. I always use Less Than Jake or Reel Big Fish in this example. I like their songs individually, but hearing them back-to-back makes me bored and/or sick.
Were the young woman and her companions here to see The Sounds as I'd interpretted? Hopefully not, because they left halfway through the set. The older woman told my chatting buddy something; possibly something about one of the kids. As we gave each other our good-byes, I got the impression that the young woman didn't want to leave.
The Sounds came back for an encore, and I was surprised how quickly the scent of one (which then became two) cigarettes can travel across a large, otherwise smoke free concert hall.
Great show tonight. I highly recommend catching Morningwood live, whether or not you find their songs to be creatively-lacking.