The DFA79 show was...intense. It was definitely the most-moshed show I've been to, which makes sense since no other bands I like impinge on death metal as much as DFA. I've long been skeptical of bands with three or fewer members (the White Stripes included), since the scope of the sound tends to be inherently limited. Still, bassist Jesse Keeler and drummer/vocalist Sebastien Grainger definitely are an exception. The setlist was basically all of You're a Woman, I'm a Machine as well as a couple from their previous EP in addition to a brief interlude of Danzig's "Mother," which I was proud to recognize rather quickly (Dmo knows what I'm talking about). The only disappointment was the exclusion of "Sexy Results," which along with "Black History Month" and "Romantic Rights" is my fave song off the album. It would have been hard to replicate the bongo and cowbell action with only two people, but so it goes.


I saved myself from getting beaten up by staying the right side of the stage, though it was so crowded that for the most part you didn't have room to fall down even when people were pushing you. After 10 minutes it slowed down because people got tired, but I just resigned myself to jump around and make the best of it, because you can't really go to a DFA show and NOT expect some rowdiness. Anyway, fantastic show...and probably also the smelliest, given the number of sweaty male bodies packed into the Middle East.

Death From Above 1979 / "Sexy Results"

*******

The Stars show was pretty much the antithesis of the DFA79 show, since Stars are just a nice indie pop band (though similarly to DFA are also based in Canada...Montreal specifically, though I'm not sure which if any of them are actually Canadian). It wasn't too packed, as Stars were co-headliners that went on first (Ivy closed the show, but we didn't stay for them). I only genuinely like two of their songs but their music is entirely unoffensive so it was a perfectly decent show.

An interesting aspect of Stars is that Torquil Campbell (that's a dude) and Amy Milan share vocal duties, but between them only Milan plays guitar while Cambell occasionally plays trumpet; nice to see the chick doing heavier lifting. The most amusing (slash disturbing) part of a Stars show is listening to and watching Campbell. His stage banter has a kindergarten teacher feel it: soft-spoken and kind, he seems genuinely appreciative of the audience, but then, while maintaining his warm and gentle tone, he says things like "this is a song about fucking someone in order to kill them." I was prepared for it because I watched their KCRW performance, but it's amusing and odd nevertheless.

Stars / "Ageless Beauty"

*******



The Kasabian show was a free concert put on by FNX and wound up being overall perhaps the most enjoyable I've been to recently. Let me count the ways:

- Kasabian have a good catalog of bouncy, rocking songs. Aside from Mulldoggey favorite "Running Battle," they played all their good stuff as well as new song "Stunt Man." Also, they wisely play "Club Foot" last, which is an even bigger ass-kicker live than I imagined.
- It was a 21+ show, so no annoying Xers, though there was one meathead in the front row who couldn't really dance and seemed like he was borderline retarded. His odd jumping patterns occasionally led my foot to get stomped.
- Relatively full house of appreciative fans, but not TOO crowded, so we were able to get into the second row pretty easily
- Lead singer Tom Meighan was stoned out of his mind, so he was very happy and appreciative, ending each song with differently intoned versions of "Thank you BOSTAHHHN!!!" Reminded me of that part in Black Sheep (or Tommy Boy maybe) where Farley and Spade inhale all the nitrous and start saying "roa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaahd."

Kasabian / "Clubfoot"
Kasabian / "Processed Beats [Vinyl Version]"

*******

British Sea Power were one of the more memorable shows for me last year because lead singer Yan was so drunk that he was falling down most of the set and did well just not to piss himself. I think I have a picture of him lying shirtless and drunk on the stage which summarizes it pretty well. This time around the band seemed very sober, to the point that they seemed almost lifeless.


Between their first two albums BSP have developed a very nice set of songs; I think once a band has two good albums it's pretty much the best time to see them, because assuming your taste mirrors their own perception of what people want to hear, you'll get an excellent set of 12-15 songs and all the good ones. Such was the case here, and by the end of the set they began to rock out and get a little goofier, with guitarist Noble stumbling around with his shirt as a blindfold while Yan pranced around taking occasional kicks at him. Then they took turns carrying each other around and doing human wheelbarrows before they left. No encore, but it didn't seem necessary at that point.

British Sea Power / "Please Stand Up"
Note: the beginning guitar riff reminds me of the theme song from Step by Step. TGIF baby!

*******

If I'm ever fortunate to get a Ferrari, I will attempt to avoid doing this. Pretty sad...