A day replete with 7 meetings is no way to treat a beer-riddled brain – this much, I know is true.

The show last night at the TLA was excellent. The opener, Demander was every band I played shows with when I was gigging – sloppy, but with some good ideas here and there. At one point, I leaned over to Doug and said, “I liked this song better when it was called Seven Nation Army.” Demander had a guitarist that looked as though he really, really wanted to be in The ‘Mats in the 80s. The drummer was the most redeeming thing going on, a fantastic drummer. I was struck with the idea that she really needs to get out of that band. She should in fact, demand it – which is where the name Demander comes derives.

Art Brut was interesting. They remind me a lot of The Streets but with a post-punk rock band backing the thick English accented story-telling vocal stylings. Let me say this, I can’t stand The Streets, so this doesn’t bode well for me. But, Art Brut won me over. They were a lot of fun to watch – except when the singer Eddie Argos unbuttoned his shirt and unleashed a big fleshy pale belly upon the crowd. A few minutes later Eddie the Hut buttoned back up. Jasper Future resembled Niles Crane on guitar with constantly changing facial expressions. Although I enjoyed the performance, Doug and I agreed that we could have done with a 3 song set, that’s about all the Art Brut required. Also, I had had enough of the references to Top of the Pops.

The Hold Steady were unbelievable. The set list was strong (although I was disappointed at the omission of Arms and Hearts) and the band is such a perfect drunken party on stage. It’s great to see an artist on stage that really seems to be enjoying being up there and being thoughtful with their art as well. I was really impressed with guitarist, Tad Kubler and bassist, Galen Polivka. It’s always a blast being in a crowd like that too, a person departing a Hold Steady concert is probably the person you want to have a car accident with.

To me it didn’t seem all that much better
When he went and climbed up on that cross
To me you didn’t seem all that much like a princess with your
Bandaged hands and your hacking cough.
Arms and hearts and alcohol and faith
We pull each other in and then we push it all away
~The Hold Steady

Doug and I had a good Irish meal at Downey’s Restaurant before the show. They have Chimay on tap and the world’s smelliest bathroom that has an attendant. I’m pretty sure I could smell Ben Franklin’s pee in there. After dinner, I called the kids and talked to Viv while walking towards the TLA. She heard the city sounds in the background and kept asking if I was coming to see her (she thought the ambient honks and bus brake squeaks were airport noises). I wish I was princess.

• wikirage
• Goth Raggedy Ann and Andy
• Talking Board Show
• Nad Shot – it hurts to look at this
• Cardboard Art
• Flyer for an awesome dog

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 24th, 2007 at 9:28 am and is filed under beer, family, food, friends, music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.