Roctoberfest: Weeks 3 and 4

Matt and Kim @ 9:30 Club

I've had the privilege of seeing Matt and Kim a few times by this point. I have a good time every time they play. We (two friends and I) arrived early for a listening party for their new album, Sidewalks. This, it turns out, was not such a great idea. The venue was too loud and filled with underage shrieks and giggles to clearly hear anything and the listening party was more of background music. Frankly, I wish I had spent the time drinking over at Duffy's with my other friends.

Some rapper opened for the band. I don't remember his name, nor do I really remember his act except for 2 things: His DJ was really good (he spun a few songs on his own to get the crowd going and he did well) and he and his cohorts were whipping water into the crowd to get them rowdy. All it served to do was annoy me to get splashed in the face with water every seven minutes. I should have called them Ol' Faithful with that kind of regularity.

My poor friend, Helen, was crushed amongst a writhing throng of underage kids as soon as the Brooklyn Duo took the stage, and wasted almost no time retreating to a less smush-happy part of the floor. I managed to stick it out until they played Grand. The second song of the set was Good Old Fashioned Nightmare. Dozens of kid jumped to the front of the floor in a frenzy. Kim went crazy for it, and actually encouraged more to do so, which turned the floor into a frothy, sweaty mess. Shortly afterward, I nearly had my eye gouged out by a short guy with a birthday hat on pogoing in front of me. Kim came out, walking on the hands of the crowd and did a little booty shaking for us. I had to laugh as the underage kids who had pushed to the front were too weak to hold her up once she started shaking it in earnest.

I was rather surprised that during the entire set, they only played one song off the new album (nearly exhausting the first two), one that they play at every DC show. I didn't mind, as I still feel that though Cameras is really good, I still prefer the first two albums to Sidewalks.

I still get a kick out of these kids every time they roll through. You're never gonna find more enthusiastic people playing music for others. They're effervescent without being saccharine. Here's to you Matt & Kim.

Local Natives @ 9:30 Club

I have been waiting to see these guys since I missed them play at Rock and Roll Hotel earlier this year. I had a surreal experience during the opening act. My friends were checking out these girls that were dancing near us, and admittedly they were looking pretty good if it weren't for the wildly flailing hippy dancing. Even more odd, they approached me and knew my name. It became readily evident that they knew my little brother from college and that we had actually met at one point. There were a few awkward moments where they took pictures with me almost assuredly texting them to my brother, and me being unsure as whether to ask them to stay and hang out or to just let them go. We opted for the latter.

Initial impressions of the band were: Lead singer looks a little like Joaquin Phoenix from where I was standing. The band was bigger than I had initially imagined. The hype about the live show put on by these guys was not just hype but well-deserved word of mouth. Their booming afro-funk beats coupled with their choral choruses were a perfect mix. They also found ample opportunities to rip forth with little rock-out moments. They murdered the crowd with Sunhands and pretty much solidified my patronage for future shows.

I was initially torn on the decision to go to this show. Phantogram was playing Black Cat the same night, but in the end, I was very happy with my decision.

Roctoberfest: Week 2

The Thermals @ Black Cat

I have seen the Thermals before, at Black Cat even. It even made my top 5 concerts of last year. So understand me when I say, that this concert through the last one in the pit, and stomped it to a bloody mess.

I was joined by my cohort from last year's concert to enjoy this one promoting their new album, Personal Life. Each of their albums deals with a theme ranging from religion, to death, to the current theme of intimacy and relationships. The Thermals continue to provide angsty post punk that brings you back to rocking out with your friends in black t-shirts damning "the man". While it maintains that feel, the new album serves up some pretty heavy lyrics with strong content.

Last year's concert was a slug to the mouth. It played loud fast with almost no pauses. Lead singer, Hutch Harris, was somewhat subdued only giving song names and brief "thank yous". This time he was more than actively engaged with the crowd, breaking several strings and gallivanting around the stage while providing some wicked guitars. The pit was bigger this year, although my friends were not as into the idea of going in this year. I must say that it was a good call because some poor bastard lost his shoe and stepped on a broken glass or something. We saw him hobbling out of the venue with a bloody near gangrenous foot. If The Thermals continue to produce a product this high energy and cathartic, I will continue to buy tickets well in advance.

Jukebox the Ghost @ Black Cat

I had tickets to this show, but as mentioned above, my friend from last year's Thermals' show was in town, so I decided to skip the show. I had just watched a streaming acoustic set of them online, and was just so exhausted by the schedule that I just decided to skip the show. Full disclosure: this would be another solo show for me, and while I am now inoculated to the experience, it's not something I enjoy more than hanging with good friends.

Posting update

Apologies to everyone for my lack of posting for the last quarter. I've had a few blogs ready to go, simply waiting for pics. As I still don't have some of the pics I will be posting blogs without them, and hopefully add them in later.