Went to two concerts in the past week at the Bowery Ballroom. What a nice venue. It's not in the best area of the city, but it's "intimate" and it still attracts some significant acts. We were told that the capacity is 600 and it seems like they could squeeze in several hundred more. But I am very glad that they don't because I actually have some personal space which lets me enjoy the music more. I can't stand being packed in like sardines, so I really appreciate that they stick to 600 (even though it is most likely the fire department I should be thanking for assigning that number).
The first concert was The Hold Steady, a lively rock band originally from Minnesota and currently based in Brooklyn. Although I haven't encountered too many friends that are familiar with them, they have received a fair bit of national attention, especially in Rolling Stone. I really enjoyed their show. Their music is pretty raw to begin with, lending itself to being played live very well. Whether you hated him or loved him, the lead singer was definitely the main attraction. I have never seen anyone else in concert who seems to love what he is doing as much as this guy. The perpetual smile that he wears on-stage is infectious. I can understand how his voice and speech-like delivery might turn off some listeners, but I think it's what makes the band unique.
The best live songs were "Lord, I'm Discouraged", "Chips Ahoy" and "Most People Are DJs". These songs gave the talented guitarist the opportunity to shred a little. I only wish they let him solo a little more because he can really tear it up. He also needs to develop more of a personality, because that is something he sorely lacks, especially in comparison to the singer and keyboardist who have personality to spare.
The second show was Jonathan Richman. He is a cult hero from the 70's who, at times, has been credited for writing the first "proto-punk" song, "Roadrunner". The best word I can use to describe his show is enigmatic. He started off on fire, mixing humors and song in a few tunes he seemed to be improvising on the spot. Including one about the "air-conditioning man" who needed to turn off the AC in the ballroom. He did.
After the first thirty minutes, I thought the show was on track to be one of the best I have ever seen, despite the fact that I hadn't yet recognized a single song, assuming he was saving his classics for later. But then songthing odd happened. He played several songs in a row in other languages. One in French, on in Spanish and one in Italian. I was willing to let Jonathan indulge himself a bit, but then it started dragging on. The fans were noticeably growing restless and began yelling out in between songs, requesting their favorites (and the awesome songs that I know). But Richman steadfastly refused to accomodate his fans. Meanwhile it had started getting HOT without the AC running. At first, Richman laughed off the audiences requests for him to sing a sequel to his AC song, asking for it to be put back on. But then the next time it came up, he announced that he is "picky about sound and atmosphere and air conditioning screws up both".
So by the time he reached his final song, he still had yet to play any of his classics and the crowd was rather dismayed at the temperature. Song requests from the crowd once again went unanswered and he took his leave. They show ended anticlimactically, after he did not respond to the crowd's applause while waiting for an encore. A stage hand appeared and signaled the lighting guy to turn the lights on, and that was it. Thankfully the concert only cost $15, so I cannot consider it a waste. But I was extremely disappointed with his song choices and with the way he treated his supposedly cult following. What a shame. Perhaps he played all the songs I wanted him to play the following night, but I couldn't be bothered to find out.
With television season coming to an end in May, the recording being done by my DVR has ground to almost a complete halt. The only show that has kept going into June is a little series called "Harper's Island." It's ratings started strong, but have fallen off a cliff. However, since it was more of a minseries than an open-ended show, with its entire run filmed already, CBS has thankfully decided to keep going til the end (albeit on Saturday night), which I am very thankful for because I LOVE THIS SHOW.
Called it guilty pleasure I guess, but the show takes place on a small island in the pacific northwest. Years earlier, there was a series of grizzly murders on the island, but the memory of these event has slowly faded into history. That is, until many of the island's former residents return for a wedding. On this isolated island, the murders begin again, and the viewers are left trying to put together the clues in order to figure out the killer's identity before he (or she) is the only one left. It is equal parts Agatha Christie whodunit and cheesy teen slasher flick (think Final Destination or Scream). The characters are cliches and shallow, but that's how these types of things work. The production quality is top notch, and the lack of recognizable faces is a good thing because it feels like anyone could be offed in any given episode and anyone could be the killer.
Week after week the sets are creepy (and awesome) and the tension is high. They gave us enough characters of equal importance, so that we are never sure when someone is about to eat it and when the producers are just messing with us. The length of the series allows them to really take their time killing people off, and now that we are 9 episodes in, I have developed at least some connection with all of the remaining characters. Some might complain that they have failed to drop any solid clues about who the killer is, and that all they have given us is red herring after red herring, but I don't mind. I believe that it is a fact that one of the significant characters is going to be the killer and I have changed my opinion of who that might be on a weekly basis. Just like they want me to. I just hope the ending is decent and doesn't come completely out of left field, so that I can rewatch the entire series consecutively and see how clever they actually were, or if they cheated at all.
Oh and a network of spooky maze-like underground tunnels is ALWAYS a good thing if you ask me.
And finally here comes my rant of the week: Increasingly, I have taken note of annoying tourists in New York City wearing these incredibly ugly neon-colored sweatshirts that look like they traveled through time straight out of 1990.
Although that one is purple, most of them are really obnoxious colors like hot pink. Could someone please explain to me the appeal of these? Are neon colors back in style? If so, will it take more than 2 months for them to once again look horribly dated? I guess it's nice to give the classic (and also overexposed) I-heart-NY shirts a rest, but for these pieces of junk? All these tourists cannot possibly be independently making the decision to buy these shirts, so what am I missing? Did Oprah promote them? Did a Jonas Brother wear one? Are they to promote the fight against cancer. Someone please explain cuz this one has left me feeling rather out of touch with society.
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