A post about last night's show for real (and I'm old)

Wow, not only have I not blogged in a long time, I haven't blogged about shows in a long while as well.

Ha, the previous post was pretty damn random simply because I was totally flabbergasted about the chick touching my hair and I needed to tell the story. Now, about last night's Tokyo Police Club show at the Bowery Ballroom...

I had taken care of my business and got there around 6:30, or a little after. The doors weren't supposed to open until 8, but Alex said he'd be there even earlier and I didn't want to leave homeboy hanging.

So by the time I get there, there's been some interesting about Tokyo Police Club being held up at the border. I chuckled a bit to myself thinking, "Oh Lord, I know it probably isn't, but please don't tell me it's 4/20 related."

Things were a bit delayed thanks to that minor kerfuffle I suppose, but I couldn't tell if that was it or if it was the usual lateness of the Bowery.

OK, I know the guys in Tokyo Police Club are young, but really, they were totally rubbing it in my face with their opening bands. Really, way to make me feel positively ancient. I get it, I'm too old to be going to shows anymore.

First of all, there was Smoosh. They're cute...and young. Seriously. You know what freaks me out? As young as they seem now, I first heard about them when I was still in COLLEGE. Like what, two years ago? Three years ago? It's crazy. It really makes me feel all existential. Like, what the hell have I been doing with my youth? These kids have accomplished a whole lot more than I did between the ages of 13 and 18.

They're very good on the whole and absolutely sweet, but can we stop to comment on Chloe's drumming? Girl can beat that thing. Anybody who doubts this just need to watch her totally pummel a drum set live for "Find A Way", Jesus, "Promises." At least watch the latter. It's truly amazing. I'd be really interested to see where she heads with her talent. And she totally rocks the drum face.

But I'm jumping out of all kinds of order here. The first opening band was a group of young lads called The Static Jacks.

I had seen them earlier outside. I was so being reminded of my own mortality...or maybe it was the other way around and I was probably depressing them with my own oldness. It's fairly sad when you look around at the crowd you're in at a show and see how young the people look, but it's a whole different kind of sad when you realize the people on stage are getting to be around the same age as you, or even younger for that matter. I felt like I was the tomb in Poussin's "Arcadian Shepherds" and was proclaiming to all the younguns there, "Et in Arcadia ego, my friends, Et in Arcadia ego."

I tried to cheer myself up by trying to make light of the situation, but it all went horribly wrong because it went something like this: "Oh, Lord. How old are these guys? 16? 17? I am sooooo old. What am I doing here? I'm too old for this shit. Haha, however old they are, they are definitely not legal, ha!...Oh, my God. Oh, God. It was a joke. A joke! Oh, God. Chris Hansen is going to arrest me now, isn't he?"

That beer I had for "lunch" didn't seem like such a bad idea anymore.

The Static Jacks pulled off an energetic set. And really, don't let whatever biological age they have fool you, because their musical maturity is pretty impressive. Oooooohhh, see what I did there? Actually, that reads so cheesy. I sound like Gene Shallit. But that's besides the point. I genuinely enjoyed the set. If it's danceable, you'll probably win me over. But these guys weren't just danceable. Just when you thought you'd figured them out, they'd tweak it a bit and kind of throw you off. They had a couple of songs with some fun composition. I don't know, like you think, "Oh, I get it, they got like a garage rock-y type thing going on," or whatever, then all of the sudden they throw "The Waltz" at you.

My favorite picks? Probably "Light Show" and "Northern Bank." They were selling 3-dollar CDs. It's a steal people. With like 4 songs on there, that's not even a dollar per song. Right? Numbers are not my forte. Well, whatever. The point is it was cheap. I do wish it had "Northern Bank" on it though. I'm pretty sure there was another one I liked, but I can't remember off the top of my head which one it was right now.

Tokyo Police Club. What more could I say that I haven't already said before? Hmm, let me think about that for a bit. Noooope.....no, can't really think of anything else. They're fantastic. Really, that's all I have to say. I do have to say they looked like they were having as much fun as everyone in the audience and that's always a plus. OH! The thing with the border. Well, they had some trouble bringing merch in so they decided to go DIY and had t-shirts that they had signed...and shoes. Yes, shoes. Signed shoes. Um, and socks. Hey, you know, whatever works and the gumption is admirable. I would've bought the socks with a little convincing I bet. The socks I could see someone buying, strangely enough, but I wonder if anyone bought the shoes. They looked like a pretty big size.

It was one of those shows where you're way more invigorated afterwards having been there because the fun of it sort of shoots you with adrenaline. So great job everyone who played last night.