Detroitus
Les Sans Culottes/Be Your Own Pet/The Dirtbombs//Southpaw//2/18/06
The last time The Dirtbombs came around I almost went. Probably the deciding factor against that was that they played @ the Knit on the day that I was free. This time around, in addition to past rave reviews for The Dirtbombs, the deciding factor for going is that LSC is opening up, and they kicked ass over headliners Detroit Cobras back when I saw them @ the Bowery Ballroom during that whole Detroit binge a few years ago. It was like, well, if the Detroit Cobras suck, at least I like LSC. So if I don't like The Dirtbombs, at least I'll be seeing LSC.
With the show sold out and temps in the 20s or so and myself coming down with a cold thanx to all that sweating at shows and then heading out into the freeze, getting little sleep, and the 2/3 doing something weird past 14th, I still got off @ 23rd St. to get cough drops and Vitamin Water @ Duane Reade. So I get there after the doors open. Less time spent @ Southie waiting for the show. And something about this bill screamed rubes. Besides, who wants to see opening acts, right? So I'd have no problems. The thing w/the subway was that the 3 wasn't running and the 2 local til Chambers. I got there @ 8:30 and of course the place was empty. I put my stuff down and went to the bathroom and heard: Do you know where the show is? We've never been here before. How could you have missed that gigantic room right in front of the entranceway? And it's only 8:30; there's no show to be looking for, anyway. I get out to see a couple coming out of the men's room. They start exploring every inch of the basement. Now, if you're looking for a show that's sold out--especially The Dirtbombs--would it be held down in the basement? Somehow these brainiacs make it upstairs....and then try to head backstage. The bartender stops them by pointing out that that's the stage, since they didn't seem to understand the Employees Only sign on the door. At least the photo booth was there to occupy them. I have never seen anybody use it, aside from the kids at the teen rock showcase. They emerge shortly thereafter, sit in a corner, and proceed to paw each other. They came up for air when the guy came over to ask if me & Diane would buy them drinks. I almost snapped, What makes you think we have money to buy you drinks? but realized that since it's an 18+ show, they wanted us to get the drinks for them. Well, what makes you think we're old enough to buy drinks for you? Diane thought he was testing us and going to bust us if we did, but I didn't think he was wiley enough to be part of such stuff.
The international men and women of mystery in LSC were packing a secret weapon. Two, actually. They had a kickass bass player and chanteuse Edith Pisoff was rocking out and enjoying herself, a quality that a band such as LSC desperately needs. It was like the band version of Pinocchio becoming a real boy. Well, they always were a real band, but you know what I mean. I hope. 'Cuz I sure as hell ain't going into it b/c I've written about them enough.
The Tennessee teens Be Your Own Pet, who are touring w/The Dirtbombs, is what Modrocket would be like once they gain some self-confidence and more skill when performing. The lead singer kinda reminded me of Dana from Stupid a little, but what else would you expect from a teenage-fronted rawk band? I was thinking that Nick Sylvester would love 'em, since he always makes comments about peoples' ages in his columns. Though I did have to wonder if they would be generating all this buzz if they weren't teenagers, or have a female lead. I did want to write up the live teen rock showcase that Modrocket was part of, but not even I could be that mean. (Okay, I can. By the end--and there were only 3 bands that played--I felt like I was at a rock band-themed bar mitzvah, like one of the kids' parents rented Southie for the party, the instruments were there onstage, and the kids (sorry, teens) got to play rock band for a day.) But I did not get that feeling from BYOP. But every time I tried to form an opinion of them, my mind quickly added for a bunch of teenagers. I was trying really hard not to do that, but I guess it's hard when the only thing they really have going for them is the teenager bit. Donna said she thought they were a bit of a one-trick pony at this point and even though I swore I wasn't going to do the music-snob thing anymore, I told her what I thought. She said LSC were cute and the bass player is hot. (Then again, what the hell do I know about anything? Be Your Own Pet is playing Coachella. As is Hard-Fi and the Living Things. Maybe there is something to having a gimmick after all.)
See, I kinda knew what to expect out of The Dirtbombs--or at least I was pretty sure--and that's why I never made it a point to check 'em out sooner. To me, it was just another example of a genre getting milked for all it's worth (ie, The Strokes) and out of loyalty, it was The Mooney Suzuki and nobody else. Their 2 drummers/2 bass players had me thinking that more bands should have 2 drummers and 2 bass players, except more bands probably can't handle that and make it sound the way The Dirtbombs did--not to mention that some bands can barely get one of each at a time. It was a relief to witness a band like them--but then again lead singer/guitarist Mick Collins, who warned all of us up front that we were going to catch the flu off him, was wearing shades so if he was gifting any band members with That Look, I couldn't tell. Guess I'll have to wait for the pix to come back. They know how to be a band and that's what resonated with me more than their songs did. All you saw was a band playing a show, not a therapy session. They weren't wearing their genre like an ironic accessory and let that speak for them, like so many bands today tend to do. BYOP didn't either, which many younger bands tend to do. So maybe by the time they get to be 22, they will as well.
I walked out into the frosty air feeling a bit of hope for rock music and the group who charged ahead of me commented about how they lost their originality.
See? What the hell do I know?
The last time The Dirtbombs came around I almost went. Probably the deciding factor against that was that they played @ the Knit on the day that I was free. This time around, in addition to past rave reviews for The Dirtbombs, the deciding factor for going is that LSC is opening up, and they kicked ass over headliners Detroit Cobras back when I saw them @ the Bowery Ballroom during that whole Detroit binge a few years ago. It was like, well, if the Detroit Cobras suck, at least I like LSC. So if I don't like The Dirtbombs, at least I'll be seeing LSC.
With the show sold out and temps in the 20s or so and myself coming down with a cold thanx to all that sweating at shows and then heading out into the freeze, getting little sleep, and the 2/3 doing something weird past 14th, I still got off @ 23rd St. to get cough drops and Vitamin Water @ Duane Reade. So I get there after the doors open. Less time spent @ Southie waiting for the show. And something about this bill screamed rubes. Besides, who wants to see opening acts, right? So I'd have no problems. The thing w/the subway was that the 3 wasn't running and the 2 local til Chambers. I got there @ 8:30 and of course the place was empty. I put my stuff down and went to the bathroom and heard: Do you know where the show is? We've never been here before. How could you have missed that gigantic room right in front of the entranceway? And it's only 8:30; there's no show to be looking for, anyway. I get out to see a couple coming out of the men's room. They start exploring every inch of the basement. Now, if you're looking for a show that's sold out--especially The Dirtbombs--would it be held down in the basement? Somehow these brainiacs make it upstairs....and then try to head backstage. The bartender stops them by pointing out that that's the stage, since they didn't seem to understand the Employees Only sign on the door. At least the photo booth was there to occupy them. I have never seen anybody use it, aside from the kids at the teen rock showcase. They emerge shortly thereafter, sit in a corner, and proceed to paw each other. They came up for air when the guy came over to ask if me & Diane would buy them drinks. I almost snapped, What makes you think we have money to buy you drinks? but realized that since it's an 18+ show, they wanted us to get the drinks for them. Well, what makes you think we're old enough to buy drinks for you? Diane thought he was testing us and going to bust us if we did, but I didn't think he was wiley enough to be part of such stuff.
The international men and women of mystery in LSC were packing a secret weapon. Two, actually. They had a kickass bass player and chanteuse Edith Pisoff was rocking out and enjoying herself, a quality that a band such as LSC desperately needs. It was like the band version of Pinocchio becoming a real boy. Well, they always were a real band, but you know what I mean. I hope. 'Cuz I sure as hell ain't going into it b/c I've written about them enough.The Tennessee teens Be Your Own Pet, who are touring w/The Dirtbombs, is what Modrocket would be like once they gain some self-confidence and more skill when performing. The lead singer kinda reminded me of Dana from Stupid a little, but what else would you expect from a teenage-fronted rawk band? I was thinking that Nick Sylvester would love 'em, since he always makes comments about peoples' ages in his columns. Though I did have to wonder if they would be generating all this buzz if they weren't teenagers, or have a female lead. I did want to write up the live teen rock showcase that Modrocket was part of, but not even I could be that mean. (Okay, I can. By the end--and there were only 3 bands that played--I felt like I was at a rock band-themed bar mitzvah, like one of the kids' parents rented Southie for the party, the instruments were there onstage, and the kids (sorry, teens) got to play rock band for a day.) But I did not get that feeling from BYOP. But every time I tried to form an opinion of them, my mind quickly added for a bunch of teenagers. I was trying really hard not to do that, but I guess it's hard when the only thing they really have going for them is the teenager bit. Donna said she thought they were a bit of a one-trick pony at this point and even though I swore I wasn't going to do the music-snob thing anymore, I told her what I thought. She said LSC were cute and the bass player is hot. (Then again, what the hell do I know about anything? Be Your Own Pet is playing Coachella. As is Hard-Fi and the Living Things. Maybe there is something to having a gimmick after all.)See, I kinda knew what to expect out of The Dirtbombs--or at least I was pretty sure--and that's why I never made it a point to check 'em out sooner. To me, it was just another example of a genre getting milked for all it's worth (ie, The Strokes) and out of loyalty, it was The Mooney Suzuki and nobody else. Their 2 drummers/2 bass players had me thinking that more bands should have 2 drummers and 2 bass players, except more bands probably can't handle that and make it sound the way The Dirtbombs did--not to mention that some bands can barely get one of each at a time. It was a relief to witness a band like them--but then again lead singer/guitarist Mick Collins, who warned all of us up front that we were going to catch the flu off him, was wearing shades so if he was gifting any band members with That Look, I couldn't tell. Guess I'll have to wait for the pix to come back. They know how to be a band and that's what resonated with me more than their songs did. All you saw was a band playing a show, not a therapy session. They weren't wearing their genre like an ironic accessory and let that speak for them, like so many bands today tend to do. BYOP didn't either, which many younger bands tend to do. So maybe by the time they get to be 22, they will as well.I walked out into the frosty air feeling a bit of hope for rock music and the group who charged ahead of me commented about how they lost their originality.
See? What the hell do I know?
posted by heather @ 2:21 PM
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