Liam Finn @ DC9
So after all my fretting I had a great time last night. DC9 is like a block from the metro (thank you turbogrrl for explaining what they should on their website!) so that was cake. I walked in and of course there was the immediate "ugh, frowny hipsters" and it was PACKED because they hadn't let anyone upstairs yet so I ended up standing outside the bathroom with some other loiterers. And in a first in my DC showgoing experience, commenced to converse with them, friendly-like. Long story short, they turned out to be from my hometown and were funny and mocked me for going to NA and were all shocked that I'm as old as I am and good times were had.
The show itself was exciting. Liam Finn is very... compact. I ended up being able to stand about 4 feet away from him the whole time. They played a very informal and comfortable set; my favorite parts were, of course, when he got behind the drum kit and worked that magic. The crowd was a typical young DC crowd plus a few Crowded House fans who looked exactly like the kind of people I see wearing Genesis t-shirts at Genesis shows. I mean apart from me. BUT ANYWAYS. My point about the typicalness of this crowd is that they almost unanimously showed their appreciation for the music by standing very still and frowning. I danced awkwardly and grinned because damnit - the music is good.
I thought I was going to go right home after his set but instead found my loitering friends and hung out with them for another hour. Turns out she played the drums for 2 years so we had a great chat about that, and he also shares the dubious title of "Systems Analyst" so had a mutual chuckle. There were lots of NZ expats in the audience and I gently grilled one of them on why she would ever leave - and she certainly didn't sound overly amorous of the US. Finally came time to go so I wandered over to Mr. Finn and thanked him for coming and asked him to please come back.
Definitely one of the best showgoing experiences I've ever had in this city.
You know what's amusing and tempting? PaganFest at Jaxx. If any other one person says they might go it might tip the scales...
The show itself was exciting. Liam Finn is very... compact. I ended up being able to stand about 4 feet away from him the whole time. They played a very informal and comfortable set; my favorite parts were, of course, when he got behind the drum kit and worked that magic. The crowd was a typical young DC crowd plus a few Crowded House fans who looked exactly like the kind of people I see wearing Genesis t-shirts at Genesis shows. I mean apart from me. BUT ANYWAYS. My point about the typicalness of this crowd is that they almost unanimously showed their appreciation for the music by standing very still and frowning. I danced awkwardly and grinned because damnit - the music is good.
I thought I was going to go right home after his set but instead found my loitering friends and hung out with them for another hour. Turns out she played the drums for 2 years so we had a great chat about that, and he also shares the dubious title of "Systems Analyst" so had a mutual chuckle. There were lots of NZ expats in the audience and I gently grilled one of them on why she would ever leave - and she certainly didn't sound overly amorous of the US. Finally came time to go so I wandered over to Mr. Finn and thanked him for coming and asked him to please come back.
Definitely one of the best showgoing experiences I've ever had in this city.
You know what's amusing and tempting? PaganFest at Jaxx. If any other one person says they might go it might tip the scales...