Excuse me while I put my hipster beanie on to talk about Vampire Weekend
You guys, a long, long, long time ago I had an icon that said something like "musically inclined, talent deprived" and I always wish I had it (I mean, how did I lose it?) when I talk about music.
Really that's an aside so that I can talk about Beth and I going to see VAMPIRE WEEKEND LAST NIGHT.
So anyway, Beth and I weren't so into the opening act (and I feel like I can speak on her behalf since she said so on facebook--LEST I CLAIM AN OPINION SOMEONE DOESN'T HOLD) and SPEAKING FOR MYSELF they were only marginally more entertaining than the obnoxious couple making out in front of Beth and I.
Using our stealthy manuevering (ie, me shoving people and urging Beth to do the same) we did eventually get away from the making out couple, which improved life greatly. I also saw one of my former students, which made me feel a little awkward, because I'm so formal in class that I feel like it must be weird for them to see me, and I feel weird seeing them, and so I just avoid...I don't know.
HOWEVER, eventually we were 10-15 people deep from center stage, kind of at the point where you can be part of the crush if you want to, or not, versus in my younger days (really, I felt so old at this show) where I preferred to be in that part of the crowd where you are shoved and jostled simply because you're in a dense, packed, sweaty mess.
Enough about me, more about the band. My first impression was that I was kind of expecting them to have that dirty hipster look going, but really only the drummer could have passed, everyone else was actually pretty clean cut, and the main singer was actually completely adorable. Speaking of him (his name is Ezra), maybe I'm just noticing people's voice more, and maybe that means that one day I will be able to tell when I'm off-key, but it was really different listening to him sing on the CD and seeing him live. His voice is more perfect on the recording I guess, but listening to it makes me picture him crooning into a microphone with headphones on, whereas live it was like "holy shit, that little guy is jumping around, playing his guitar, and can hit some insane high notes and sing and make weird-primal-scream-noises all right next to each other". It was just more impressive than just hearing some nice singing coming out of my ipod. Like, listening to my ipod I guess I just assume it makes good music, and then I see people in real life and am like "oh yeah, THEY make the music". I mean, it helped that when the crowd did the alternative-yodelling parts that they sounded SO TERRIBLE that it suddenly seemed amazing that Ezra sounds good.
Several people had said Vampire Weekend was good live, and despite being super excited to go, I wasn't sure I bought it, I mean, I think of rock concerts as being good live shows, or singer-songwriters who are good story-tellers or something, but I was really impressed, because they really were high energy, and fun, with just enough stage banter to keep it interesting and not so much that I felt like they could have played a couple more songs.
I bought the newer album "Contra" before driving to Florida, so I would have the chance to give it a few good, uninterrupted listens (might I note that my passengers were captives to my taste in music for a total of 24 hours) and at first I kind of felt like it was like 'Vampire Weekend' light, or like the lyrics/music didn't match as much, and then I decided I loved it, and now I've decided it's not the music, it's the production. The first album just had a little quirkier sound, like they got some cool echos or acoustics where they recorded, and the second album sounds too clean, Ezra is too precise, and it lacks the messy-spontaneous-fun of the first album.
But if you have the chance, go see them! It was fun!
...but be prepared to feel old. Actually, I'll take that back, I bet in a non-college city where there were more twenty-something fans, I wouldn't have felt so old.
And lastly, Ezra's birthday is April 8, 1984 and mine is April 9, 1984
Really that's an aside so that I can talk about Beth and I going to see VAMPIRE WEEKEND LAST NIGHT.
So anyway, Beth and I weren't so into the opening act (and I feel like I can speak on her behalf since she said so on facebook--LEST I CLAIM AN OPINION SOMEONE DOESN'T HOLD) and SPEAKING FOR MYSELF they were only marginally more entertaining than the obnoxious couple making out in front of Beth and I.
Using our stealthy manuevering (ie, me shoving people and urging Beth to do the same) we did eventually get away from the making out couple, which improved life greatly. I also saw one of my former students, which made me feel a little awkward, because I'm so formal in class that I feel like it must be weird for them to see me, and I feel weird seeing them, and so I just avoid...I don't know.
HOWEVER, eventually we were 10-15 people deep from center stage, kind of at the point where you can be part of the crush if you want to, or not, versus in my younger days (really, I felt so old at this show) where I preferred to be in that part of the crowd where you are shoved and jostled simply because you're in a dense, packed, sweaty mess.
Enough about me, more about the band. My first impression was that I was kind of expecting them to have that dirty hipster look going, but really only the drummer could have passed, everyone else was actually pretty clean cut, and the main singer was actually completely adorable. Speaking of him (his name is Ezra), maybe I'm just noticing people's voice more, and maybe that means that one day I will be able to tell when I'm off-key, but it was really different listening to him sing on the CD and seeing him live. His voice is more perfect on the recording I guess, but listening to it makes me picture him crooning into a microphone with headphones on, whereas live it was like "holy shit, that little guy is jumping around, playing his guitar, and can hit some insane high notes and sing and make weird-primal-scream-noises all right next to each other". It was just more impressive than just hearing some nice singing coming out of my ipod. Like, listening to my ipod I guess I just assume it makes good music, and then I see people in real life and am like "oh yeah, THEY make the music". I mean, it helped that when the crowd did the alternative-yodelling parts that they sounded SO TERRIBLE that it suddenly seemed amazing that Ezra sounds good.
Several people had said Vampire Weekend was good live, and despite being super excited to go, I wasn't sure I bought it, I mean, I think of rock concerts as being good live shows, or singer-songwriters who are good story-tellers or something, but I was really impressed, because they really were high energy, and fun, with just enough stage banter to keep it interesting and not so much that I felt like they could have played a couple more songs.
I bought the newer album "Contra" before driving to Florida, so I would have the chance to give it a few good, uninterrupted listens (might I note that my passengers were captives to my taste in music for a total of 24 hours) and at first I kind of felt like it was like 'Vampire Weekend' light, or like the lyrics/music didn't match as much, and then I decided I loved it, and now I've decided it's not the music, it's the production. The first album just had a little quirkier sound, like they got some cool echos or acoustics where they recorded, and the second album sounds too clean, Ezra is too precise, and it lacks the messy-spontaneous-fun of the first album.
But if you have the chance, go see them! It was fun!
...but be prepared to feel old. Actually, I'll take that back, I bet in a non-college city where there were more twenty-something fans, I wouldn't have felt so old.
And lastly, Ezra's birthday is April 8, 1984 and mine is April 9, 1984