*i should mention that at this show, i was feeling pretty lousy. a cold that had been brewing in my body for days, and showed up in full force at the show last night. if things sound like im being negative, like i dont really sound like i was even at the show, well in a way i wasnt… but in a way, i was…;)
to sum up what follows… basically, the venue stunk, the audience was no better or worse than usual, the bands were all good, and sleater-kinney was the best ive ever heard them.
THE VENUE: the first thing i encountered in this show. the roxy…. stunk. compared to seeing sk at the middle east. waiting outside for some guy to stamp yr hand as to whether yr over 21, and the guy who is doing the stamping stands in front of you, NOT stamping yr hand, sort of talking to some guys near him about seemingly nothing, making you wait 5 minutes without explaining WHY… it was just odd. he kept going to take my ticket and stamp my hand, and then would turn away… i almost made a move to go inside without getting my hand stamped, just to get his attention more focused…
anyway, once inside, the place looked really cool. they had lots of neat lights, and a balcony area. overall, the roxy looks more “posh” then the middle east. but that’s not something i really care too much about, one way or the other.
what i really didnt like about this place was that the floor is raised up about 8 inches (give or take a few inches) right in front of the stage. it is the width of the stage, i think, and the length of it was (im bad at estimating these things) 40 feet, is my guess. anyway, there was room all around it for other people to stand, but if you werent on that platform, you had no chance of seeing the show over the people who WERE on the platform. as it was, being on the platform didnt help me. im short, i admit it. i would have had to be in the front row, not to have been stuck behind someone taller than me. most people are taller than me. contrast this to the middle east (downstairs) that has the middle of the audience area lower than the sides. this way, people who arent “in front” have a very good chance of actually seeing the band, by going to the sides. this is what ive always done in the past, and always was able to see sk very well. at the roxy, i saw corins face, maybe 40% of the time, carrie only when i stood in my tip toes at the right times, and janet… was she on stage? i only know she was cuz no one else plays like she does!
THE AUDIENCE: 2nd thing i encountered at the show. not too bad. no better or worse than other shows ive been to. i always end up near the ones who dont dance, dont sing. i guess thats yr choice, but when corin says “i want everyone to sing on this part!” then she tells you what words to sing, even, and you dont sing… sigh. i guess i can understand that you dont always want to participate in “audience participation activities”, but i wasnt expecting such a *lack* of it… corin even said in the show that she really appreciated those who were singing and dancing - “thats what we like to see!” she said, or something very close to that. but like i said, this audience was no better or worse than other shows ive seen. (the best audience i ever saw was in ‘96 in worcester. everyone was dancing and singing).
THE QUAILS: were good. i liked them. i missed part of their set… which i regret. i dont remember much, other than liking them. i want to hear them again, that much i know. those who have no idea what they are like: well, it is guitar, bass, drums. the drummer sings, really well, and amazes me by being just as good a drummer. the guitarist and bassist sing as well. that’s the best i can do for you, as far as what they sound like, aside from saying they were good.
THE YEAH YEAH YEAHS: also pretty good. ive heard some of their songs, only once, and to me, the songs i recognized sounded pretty similar to how they sounded on the cd. nothing added, nothing lost. i could not see the stage well, but i think it was just a drummer, guitarist and singer. they had some sample keyboard things, which i actually liked. the songs were very interesting to me. seeing them live made me think more about their structure than when i had heard the songs on cd. i thought the singer was really good, very much aware that she was singing to an audience. a friend pointed out to me that she seemed drunk, but i would never have thought that was it.. she just seemed real into “putting on a performance”. which was cool.
SLEATER-KINNEY: what can i say? they were amazing. they played better than i have ever heard them before. ive seen them 6 times before this, and all of those times were great as well, so it is saying something to say this was the best of them all.
they had the drum solo, which was cool, no matter what anyone says about it only belonging at a heavy metal show (some guy made that comment after the show. ugh.) they had an improv section, right after “call the doctor” which led right into a song from “dig me out”, but i dont recall which song it was. it might even have been dig me out, they did play that song. i did notice that they did not play “funeral song” and i dont believe they did a cover song at all. they had samples in prisstina, but i didnt hear the sax on step aside. if it *was* there as a sample, i dont recall it at all. none of the samples bothered me a bit. i guess hearing keyboard samples is less odd than hearing saxaphone samples..
whoever said corin’s faces are great when she sings prisstina wasnt kidding, she was hilarious! she was awesome! and she really put a lot of, hmmm? i dont know? into the lyrics. like she was trying to parody herself, is the best way i can say it. and carrie really impressed me with her singing. she did so on 1 beat, but to see her do those songs live… just quadrupled how impressed i am with her singing.
songs they played…
(not in order. im going by what they played from each album):
oxygen
oh!
the remainder
sympathy
prisstina
hollywood ending (complete with drum solo)
step aside
combat rock
far away
one beat
light rail coyote (this is the song corin wanted people to sing on)
youth decay
#1 must have
yr no rock n roll fun
burn, dont freeze
dig me out
words & guitar
little babies
turn it on (my personal favorite)
call the doctor
joey ramone
stay where you are (my other personal favorite)
were there others?