My evening began about a half hour after doors opened, due to a slight miscalculation on my part...I went to the wrong venue. I stood outside the Williamsburg Hall of Music for about twenty minutes before I actually looked at my ticket and discovered, "Lo and behold! I'm supposed to be at Webster Hall!"
Luckily, it was only about twenty minutes from where I was to Webster Hall and I got to walk through my favorite part of Williamsburg while I was at it. I also prevented someones house from going up in flames. True story.
I arrived at Webster Hall in particularly New York fashion, thirty five minutes late, when I discovered that everyone else was way more New York than I was...even the bands. There was barely anyone there and not a chance in hell that any band was going up for at least an hour. So, I killed some time by texting and writing my first blog post from my phone.
People started to arrive and the energy level rose noticeably. A brief look around gleaned a typical indie crowd. Lots of age groups represented, but the majority of the crowd was twenty somethings in button ups (boys) and strappy halter top things of various sizes and colors (girls...probably some boys too). It was a fashionable, hip crowd. About what I expected for my first New York show. It got me excited for some reason.
Allow me to explain. I don't want this blog to turn into a Boston bashing soapbox, or for me to give the prototypical "here's why I came to the BIG CITY...blah blah, bull shit bull shit". But, I will say this.
Boston's music scene sucks worse than any other that I've experienced, save Naples, Florida. It's horrendous. The bands that come through are great, but the people who show up to watch them are terrible. They don't know how to loosen up when they should and they don't know how be respectful either.
They just suck. I also never felt like anyone at those shows was there for the band. Don't ask me why I felt that way, I just never did. Boston is so much about status and being in the "right places" that I never felt like there was a care in the world for them as to who was on stage.
Not so with my first New York rock experience. I was reminded so much of Los Angeles music crowds, that it kind of weirded me out actually. Yes, there is status here too. And yes, people care very much at how they look in this town. But, there is a love for music here. A love for the arts that cannot be imitated. And I felt that from the moment Freelance Whales stepped on stage.
I've been waiting to see these guys for some time. I got into their record last year and missed two different dates they came through Boston before I finally got to see them here.
They were worth the wait.
Lead singer Judah Dadone really got it going with his rousing "Hannah" tune right off the bat. The hits kept coming as the show progressed.
Freelance Whales translate brilliantly from their record to their onstage performance, though with any live show it is not easy to pick out every lyrical or vocal nuance. It is enough, however, to see the band complete the difficult task of translating the very complicated "Weathervanes" record to an onstage performance.
Particularly fun to watch is the adorable (I'm sorry, she really is) Doris Cellar play her heart out. Doris Cellar works her magic on the bass and various other instruments. At one point she played bass with one hand (this is done by really thumping the bass note with your playing hand, not your strumming hand) while she played xylophone in offbeat rhythm with her other hand! That was something to see.
Freelance whales accomplishes a fantastic feat. I'll put it plainly.
There is no way to look "cool" at a Freelance Whales show. They aren't "cool" or "hot" or any of the kinds of things that rock n roll typically tries to sell. They are quite the opposite. They are fun. They are really, really fun. They are literally brought to smiling on stage as they perform. I caught each and every band member in the middle of a guilty smile as they sang their songs.
Talk about honesty for an audience. These are musicians who like what they're doing so much that they literally smile while they do it! That is something to gravitate towards.
And guess what? The audience was smiling too.
And now, on to the headliners.
The Shout Out Louds have had a brilliant career thus far and have been on a bit of a break lately.
Well...they're back. With an eighties rhythm laced vengeance!
These tall swedes brought the heat last night. There were fog machines, flashing lights, dancing, and lots of white clothing. Their usual bassist is not on this tour as he is apparently at home trying to have a baby. The other band members were present. Very present.
They're huge, frankly. I found myself fascinated by this for the first ten minutes or so, despite how much I was enjoying the music. I couldn't believe how tall they were!
I'm no slight person, due to my own European heritage, but these purebred Swedes are giants! Each one of them towers on stage.
Drummer Eric Edman played with remarkable precision last night. Each song the Shout Out Louds play counts heavily on rythm and he never let up.
Lead singer Adam Olenius was so much fun to watch. He is a bit of a jokester, but always very focused. At one point he was playing the wrong guitar and attempted to switch during the song. He walked over, microphone in hand while the song was still playing, grabbed the correct guitar and while continuing to sing the song solo switched guitars (with a little help from the guest bassist) and brought the band back in with gusto, strumming with all he had to bring them back in on the chorus.
Bebban Stenborg cuts a statuesque figure at the keyboards. She leers at the crowd and occasionally sneaks in a smile when Olenius does something humorous, which is often. She reminds me of the seventies for some reason. Perhaps it was the billowing, white sundress she was wearing.
Carl Van Arbin was brilliant on guitar, playing sweeping, sparkling tones that fill out the sound so beautifully that I was occasionally taken aback. Guitar players like him make me glad that I don't have one any more (though briefly). They always make me think, "Well fuck me. I could never even think that sound on guitar!"
They stuck mainly to newer songs off of their February release, which I unfortunately had not heard yet. But holy hell. The songs were great. I am definitely going to give the album a listen soon.
They played some oldies as well, towards the end of the show. (Including "Normandy", which I was dying to hear live and apparently they don't play very often any more)
Their encore was as disingenuous as anyone else, but it was still great to get a few more tunes out of them.
Listening to the Shout Out Louds live, is like being put in a time machine and sent back to 1984. They could open for the Talking Heads if they wanted to.
Frankly, they should. Would someone invent a time machine please? And take me with them! I don't want to miss what my 80's brethren would think of them. I think they'd love 'em.
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