My body has an adverse reaction to a crowded Mercury Lounge. Like it just cannot deal. At the !!! show and at the Kaiser Chiefs show I had to evacuate about 3/4ths of the way through the sets because it was just TOO hot to the point where I felt entirely ill. This is pretty upsetting because I love the sound at Mercury and really enjoy seeing bands there. But last night, during the Go! team, it was just more of the same. Sarah saw me in the front room and said I looked "traumatized" after I had walked out. That's never good.
This is all unfortunate because the evening started out so well. So let's backtrack... the fantastic Jay emailed me in the afternoon and hooked me up with a list spot, which I was beyond excited about. He was djing between bands and promised to play The Upwelling (which he did!) so I obviously had to go. And people have been buzzing about the Go! Team for months so I figured I should check them out if I had the chance to do so, esp. since the shows have been sold out for a long time now.
Peter and I met for dinner @ AKA Cafe, which has $5 glasses of wine on Mondays. I think I now know where to get the cheapest vino on most any given day of the week in the city - at least on the lower east side. After a delicious meal and Peter sharing some SXSW discovered tunes from his ipod with me, we went over to Merc in time to see The Big Sleep. Basically this band is two guys and a girl who make a LOT of LOUD, sonic shoegazer awesomness. I saw them back in the summer out at the Hook and don't recall liking them nearly as much as I did last night. I think they added more vocals to their songs which I always appreciate, and I think the sound at Mercury suited them much more.
The Big Sleep - Fast B
(right click save as please)
The next openers were even BETTER. This is such a rare thing I think, but honestly, The Mobius Band kind of blew me away. A little shoegaze meets Strokes meets Radiohead - does that even make sense? Well whatever, it was great. I'm just bad with comparisons. These three guys seemed to be able to do everything imaginable and produced a fantasticly rich sound -- something most bands need five or six people to manage and create. So we had two stellar openers, and it was finally time for the Go! team. The Mobius Band - Starts off With A Bang
At this point the room suddenly because PACKED and a hot uncomfortable mess. When the band finally took the stage, I already felt a little wilted.. it was 11 pm on a Monday night afterall. But this band came with energy to SPARE, backed with two powerful drumkits and led by singer/MC "Ninja" who is a little spice girl/power ranger hyperactive tour de force. But for some reason, despite all of their efforts, I don't think the band was really connecting their material with the audience. During the set, Ninja addressed the crowd saying: "So we heard this rumor about New York City, that you all don't dance and will just stand and watch with yer arms crossed, is that TRUE???"
To which the crowd responded: "yes!"
Okay then. That's NYC for you I guess. Despite my best efforts - and Ninja's constant between song encouragement - I just couldn't get into this band. And then it was too hot and I had to evacuate per the usual to the back, and even from that spot in the audience I just wasn't blown away. I felt more like "go to sleep" and this band was allllll about team spirit rah rah rah. Maybe another time when I've had more rest or redbull this will all work itself out.