Rock show

I missed out on Q and Not U the last time they were in the area a few months ago, for a few reasons. I'd seen a Cake show the night before, the Q show was on a weeknight, no one would go with me, and I was broke. But I regretted missing it ever since. (I have a weird history with this band: a friend introduced me to their music a few years ago and I wasn't entirely impressed. I went with him to one of their shows back when they were still a four-piece -- summer 2001-ish -- and while I liked the energy, I didn't know any of the songs and I really didn't give on the crowd. A year later, I downloaded a few songs and liked them enough to get the albums, and have been hooked ever since.) So I was determined that the next time they came through, I would be there.

Sure enough, about a week ago, I found out they would be playing as part of the RNC protest. Naturally, all of the former conditions popped back up: I'm still broke, nobody else wanted to go, I was out late Tuesday, and would figured I'd be dragging today at work. But I bought a ticket anyway and I'm glad I did.

To call this show an anti-Republican convention event was sort of lame. The first three bands said next nothing, including their own names. Finally, halfway through their set, one of Q's vocalists (Christopher Richards) said, "We all know why we're here." I really thought he was going to leave it at that -- God damn obscure-ass indie rock folk, I thought. But then he said something about us being invaded by Bush, while they (being from D.C.) have to deal with him all the time -- or half the time, considering Bush's vacation schedule. I don't know, perhaps it was unrealistic to expect the level discourse I'd gotten the previous night, but as I mentioned in a recent conversation with a friend of mine regarding Fahrenheit 911, I'd much rather have people well-educated on the issues agree with my perspective than people who sloganeer for "my side." But again, it's a rock show, raise the bar at your own risk. I guess they raised money for something.

The music itself was a mixed bag. The acts got increasingly interesting as the evening went on, and for that reason I won't much discuss the first two bands. Suffice to say, I was more impressed by the Devo DVD they played when the show was supposed to be starting around 8. The third act was called Shy Child, which I just now figured out by doing some research, because they never bothered introducing themselves. I must say, for a two piece outfit they produced a lot of sound. Nate Smith, the drummer, was pretty tight. Didn't need to see him topless though. But the real show was Pete Cafarella, who played a Roland keytar. Now I ought to say that A) keytars are inherently dorky and remind me of 80's bands like Supertramp -- who may or may not have actually used keytars; B) I have always felt that one cannot rock without at least one guitar; and C) bands who play songs that sound very similar to one another turn me off in a big way. Regardless, Shy Child rocked ass. I had a rare to desire to shake my ass during their set, which you'll be glad to know I resisted, partially out of goonish self-consciousness and partially because by this point everyone had pushed near my spot and were all up in my grill. To be fair, only the first three songs really sounded alike, but as I said, they were all good. I may have to grab one of their albums off of Amazon, when I have cash again.

Q and Not U still topped them, though. It's always nice to see a band that enjoys what they're doing. Again, some of my long-held rules were shattered: for example, A) when men start balding they look stupid jumping around on stage; B) there's no point in listening if you can't make out the lyrics; etc. It's hard to pick favorites, but I think I've enjoyed the two songs off of their single even more than their earlier stuff. So I was worried they'd blown their load when they played them both within the first four songs. But then they went on to rip through some of my other favorites from their previous albums, and mixed in some new material from their upcoming record, and all was well. I liked the way they kept the groove going between songs, despite technical glitches (keyboard stand problems) and multiple instrument switches. If I'm ever in a band again, I want to be able to keep the set moving like that -- no dead time for people to lose their energy.

And this was an energetic crowd -- a pseudo-mosh pit broke out near me, much to my annoyance, about two songs in. I resisted the urge to break some scrawny emo asses over my knee because I was rather concerned about my glasses getting crushed. And damn, it really was the skinniest audience I'd ever seen, like a Vegans Against Vegetables convention.

So yes, I ambled in the door after two and then dragged myself up this morning to get on the bus. And Bush hasn't been dethrones yet. But at least I had a good time.