that's the way it's been since protozoa
I have ridiculous amounts of work to do, so I will keep this relatively short. But I feel the need to write it up now, anyway.
First thing to note is that I should perhaps be more wary about wearing things out that I wouldn't wear to class -- for some reason, tonight two different UCSD undergrads recognized me from my TAing! I think I've only been recognized off-campus once before, at the Trader Joe's. One of tonight's was at Friday's afterward, so that was pretty normal given how close the Friday's is to school. But the other one tapped me on the the shoulder as marinarusalka and I were chatting about Iron Man while waiting for the opener to start. It was kind of bizarre (especially as she hadn't even been in my section), but in a mostly awesome way. I am not sure if it is a good or a bad thing that I didn't alter my reactions at all despite knowing she was still standing behind me. I own being a huge dork and into counterculture, okay? Even in public, which may or may not contain students.
I quite liked the first opener, Maystar. The vocals might get on my nerves with their sort of ingenue-cutsey-Dru-like quality, or maybe they'll grow on me in their Bjorkness. I thought the instrumentals were really pretty, though. I feel like there's a better description at the tip of my brain, but right now the best I can do is "stripped down Arcade Fire." A sparse wall of sound sort of pretty, despite the oxymoron. More like a dome of sound, or something. Anyway, pretty. Cool (if not exactly unique at this point) aesthetic. And local, so I might check them out again.
Smoosh is a Seattle band that appeared to consist of three 12-year-old girls. [Ah-ha. Wikipedia tells me that they're sisters, aged approximately 12, 14, and 16.] They were adorable, and kind of awesome, especially for their age, but also kinda way too perky and poppy for me. And so so so so young-sounding. God, so young.
*grin* The PA system managed to play Led Zeppelin ("Black Dog") right before the Dresden Dolls were set to start, which was fun. Got the crowd going a bit.
Amanda and Brian came out dressed in police/military gear -- long jackets and hats, plus masks. And proceeded to play the first of the night's 4 completely fucking awesome covers. Here is the set list, as best as I can reconstruct:
1. In the Flesh, original by Pink Floyd ["Are there any queers in the theatre tonight?" (lots of cheering) "Get 'em up against the wall." (more cheering) :D]
2. Girl Anachronism
3. Missed Me [One of marinarusalka's favorites! I miss the stage shows that sometimes go w/ it.]
4. Night Reconnaissance [The first of the 5 songs they play off the new album, No, Virigina.]
5. Mrs O [Dovetails nicely w/ all that study of WWII I've been doing.]
6. Ultima Esperanza
7. Coin-Operated Boy [Another one of marinarusalka's favorites! It was adorable, as usual]
8. Sorry Bunch [Written for Brian, awwwwwww.]
9. Gardener [So far, one of my favorites from the new album.]
10. Astronaut [Off of Amanda's solo album.]
11. Fight for Your Right (to Party), original by the Beastie Boys [The whole crowd was fucking raucous for this one. They brought out Maia (the youngest member of Smoosh) to play bass, Brian played guitar and did vocals, and Amanda played drums, which I had no idea she could do. It was fabulous.]
12. Mandy Goes to Med School
13. Boston [Sad and beautiful, also off the new album.]
And then. Then! The best encore ever. My 2 very most favorites of the covers that they do, back to back:
14. Pierre, original by Carole King [And the cartoon that went with it was by Maurice Sendak. For that 70s children's thingy. Called... something. I forget. Anyway, I love this one for so many reasons, but also in part because I just love it whenever Brian sings. There was a lot of that tonight, which was delightful. *grin* Amanda spent awhile introducing this one, talking about playing a song with a moral about caring. I think that was the point at which I started bouncing up and down and chanting "Pierre" over and over under my breath.]
15. War Pigs, original by Black Sabbath [Lots of singing along and clapping and general mayhem and joy. God, I love Black Sabbath so much. So much!]
And then they very distinctly left the stage and closed the show, reaching out to the crowd as they went (clasped Brian's arm briefly, was too slow for Amanda).
And then we all had ice cream. Or, well, we met up with liberateanimum and zero_the_fool, who had driven down from LA to catch the show, I hit the merch table, and then we all went to Friday's. All three of them (plus the hostess and waitress) were very nice about me being completely hyper.
Now I must do work/go to sleep, desperately, so I will stop here. But man oh man, was that an incredible show. I think the time Amanda and Brian have spent working on separate projects recently has been good for them. They seemed to be having a blast being on stage together. I think the House of Blues was somehow less annoying than Soma, and their crowd was much less obnoxious than the Cake crowd, while still being wonderfully buoyant and enthusiastic.
So yeah. Kickass concert. Fantastic night.
*happy*
First thing to note is that I should perhaps be more wary about wearing things out that I wouldn't wear to class -- for some reason, tonight two different UCSD undergrads recognized me from my TAing! I think I've only been recognized off-campus once before, at the Trader Joe's. One of tonight's was at Friday's afterward, so that was pretty normal given how close the Friday's is to school. But the other one tapped me on the the shoulder as marinarusalka and I were chatting about Iron Man while waiting for the opener to start. It was kind of bizarre (especially as she hadn't even been in my section), but in a mostly awesome way. I am not sure if it is a good or a bad thing that I didn't alter my reactions at all despite knowing she was still standing behind me. I own being a huge dork and into counterculture, okay? Even in public, which may or may not contain students.
I quite liked the first opener, Maystar. The vocals might get on my nerves with their sort of ingenue-cutsey-Dru-like quality, or maybe they'll grow on me in their Bjorkness. I thought the instrumentals were really pretty, though. I feel like there's a better description at the tip of my brain, but right now the best I can do is "stripped down Arcade Fire." A sparse wall of sound sort of pretty, despite the oxymoron. More like a dome of sound, or something. Anyway, pretty. Cool (if not exactly unique at this point) aesthetic. And local, so I might check them out again.
Smoosh is a Seattle band that appeared to consist of three 12-year-old girls. [Ah-ha. Wikipedia tells me that they're sisters, aged approximately 12, 14, and 16.] They were adorable, and kind of awesome, especially for their age, but also kinda way too perky and poppy for me. And so so so so young-sounding. God, so young.
*grin* The PA system managed to play Led Zeppelin ("Black Dog") right before the Dresden Dolls were set to start, which was fun. Got the crowd going a bit.
Amanda and Brian came out dressed in police/military gear -- long jackets and hats, plus masks. And proceeded to play the first of the night's 4 completely fucking awesome covers. Here is the set list, as best as I can reconstruct:
1. In the Flesh, original by Pink Floyd ["Are there any queers in the theatre tonight?" (lots of cheering) "Get 'em up against the wall." (more cheering) :D]
2. Girl Anachronism
3. Missed Me [One of marinarusalka's favorites! I miss the stage shows that sometimes go w/ it.]
4. Night Reconnaissance [The first of the 5 songs they play off the new album, No, Virigina.]
5. Mrs O [Dovetails nicely w/ all that study of WWII I've been doing.]
6. Ultima Esperanza
7. Coin-Operated Boy [Another one of marinarusalka's favorites! It was adorable, as usual]
8. Sorry Bunch [Written for Brian, awwwwwww.]
9. Gardener [So far, one of my favorites from the new album.]
10. Astronaut [Off of Amanda's solo album.]
11. Fight for Your Right (to Party), original by the Beastie Boys [The whole crowd was fucking raucous for this one. They brought out Maia (the youngest member of Smoosh) to play bass, Brian played guitar and did vocals, and Amanda played drums, which I had no idea she could do. It was fabulous.]
12. Mandy Goes to Med School
13. Boston [Sad and beautiful, also off the new album.]
And then. Then! The best encore ever. My 2 very most favorites of the covers that they do, back to back:
14. Pierre, original by Carole King [And the cartoon that went with it was by Maurice Sendak. For that 70s children's thingy. Called... something. I forget. Anyway, I love this one for so many reasons, but also in part because I just love it whenever Brian sings. There was a lot of that tonight, which was delightful. *grin* Amanda spent awhile introducing this one, talking about playing a song with a moral about caring. I think that was the point at which I started bouncing up and down and chanting "Pierre" over and over under my breath.]
15. War Pigs, original by Black Sabbath [Lots of singing along and clapping and general mayhem and joy. God, I love Black Sabbath so much. So much!]
And then they very distinctly left the stage and closed the show, reaching out to the crowd as they went (clasped Brian's arm briefly, was too slow for Amanda).
And then we all had ice cream. Or, well, we met up with liberateanimum and zero_the_fool, who had driven down from LA to catch the show, I hit the merch table, and then we all went to Friday's. All three of them (plus the hostess and waitress) were very nice about me being completely hyper.
Now I must do work/go to sleep, desperately, so I will stop here. But man oh man, was that an incredible show. I think the time Amanda and Brian have spent working on separate projects recently has been good for them. They seemed to be having a blast being on stage together. I think the House of Blues was somehow less annoying than Soma, and their crowd was much less obnoxious than the Cake crowd, while still being wonderfully buoyant and enthusiastic.
So yeah. Kickass concert. Fantastic night.
*happy*