okay, totally out of order reviews...
shows that will not be reviewed in full:
10/20/06, moe. starland ballroom, sayreville, nj: meh. okay. i think i need al in the equation, otherwise it's just an extended guest jam. don't get me wrong, i can appreciate that they still went out and did this with al's injury and all, but i wasn't feeling it. also, maybe i wasn't drunk enough, and i witnessed a full on actual brawl in the parking lot on my walk into the venue, the security guards were assholes, and i really wasn't in the mood. just meh. it would not be fair to give huzzahs at such a late date. in an odd twist of fate, i didn't go the 2nd night when apparently one of my favorite people in the world, mr. lo faber showed up... oh well. the 1 fucking moe. show i skip in like 12 fucking years and there ya go.
12/30/06, moe. irving plaza, nyc: great show, small, intimate, old school, great energy, rock n' roll, download the show!!! i was able to swap poster #212 for poster #211 at the merch table with some guy that had bought it right before me. he thought i was nuts but, "I MUST HAVE THAT POSTER!!!" :) 8.5-9 HUZZAHS! what a great show!!!
and NOW... 5/19/07, the secret machines, the highline ballroom, nyc.
a brand new venue (i can get into that in my next review for moe., since that was my first time there) which i really dig, the highline ballroom is frickin' nice- a great new venue that will hopefully do really well and make an impact in the nyc rock scene. with the steady decline of so many great clubs in the past decade, you know we need it!
i was really looking forward to this show. i saw the secret machines for the first time in the fall (see blog for previous review) at irving plaza and they rocked my fucking balls (proverbial) off! they played "in the round" and i was thoroughly impressed. i expected nothing less than this from them. BOY WAS I DISAPPOINTED!
they played an hour long set on the stage at the highline. i don't know if they've abandoned the "in the round" format, but the chemistry wasn't there at ALL. in addition, they have either added a 4th band member or someone was sitting in, and it was just NOT working out. the lead singer/bass player was trying to lead him and give this new guitar player dude instruction and he was just not getting it. he wasn't following along and seemed completely oblivious and continued to do his own fucking thing. i don't know who's brilliant idea it was to add a 4th member, but when a band is doing great as a trio for so long, and their power comes from the energy that they have bouncing off each other, why on earth would you fuck with that?
also, the songs they chose to play for the entire set were all new really long mellow spacey jams. there were maybe 1 or two moments when you thought they'd bust out into a rockin' beat or two (why would you waste a drummer who pounds the skins like josh garza?), but they DIDN'T. that's the point, they fucking didn't. the crowd wasn't into it at all- as such, they weren't feeding off of said nonexistent energy. and you've got a guitar player on the other side of the stage standing there who might as well have been wearing a fucking helmet.
the set ended and it was like, is that it? should i be happy that's it? it could be worse- they could have done that for LONGER and perhaps i would have never paid to see them again- a possible permanent trauma. they came back for an encore after a few minutes and did a couple of old songs which were fairly rocking, which was COOL, except that they did them pretty half-assedly, and the crowd tried to get into them except that it's the fucking ENCORE and it's a little too late at that point boys... you've lost everyone by now. so they walk off the stage, no one knows what's going on, the pa system isn't playing music, the house lights aren't going on, are they coming back to play more? who knows? and i do NOT blame the venue at all, because after being there for 3 previous shows, they ran that place like a tight ship- i place the blame on the band because they didn't seem to know their ass from their elbow when it came to playing a decent show that night. totally fucking lame.
did i mention david bowie was up in the balcony watching? he "curated" the night's festivities, so if i were the secret machines, not only would i be ashamed that i played a shitty show for my fans, but i'd be embarassed i played such a shitty show in front of the one and only legendary mr. DAVID BOWIE.
secret machines, 5/19/07 highline ballroom, nyc: 2.5 HUZZAHS. 1 HUZZAH is for kochman and the .5 is for the bathroom attendant.
shows TBR (to be reviewed): dana monteith at wicked willy's, 5/2/07, moe. at the highline ballroom, 5/3, 5/4, 5/5...
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
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