The Bravery
Do they ever cut you off at the Black Cat? I mean, do you show up one time and they just say "No, man. I can't let you in tonight. Its for your own good."?
For the third time in a week, I found myself walking upstairs to the mainstage in preparation for some rocking. After what has been a very draining week, I was exhausted, and quite frankly would not have minded if I had been turned away for not being hip enough to see The Bravery.
My first introduction to The Bravery was through the BBC (here and here). When a friend with an extra ticket grabbed me at 10:30 last night, I was really torn between my bed and the show. I guess I can always sleep later. I'll try and prevent yesterday's ramble and come right out with it. These guys want to be huge fucking rock gods. And they dress, coif, sing, play, and prance around on stage like they are. Maybe they will be. Musically, their synth-rock sound comes right out of Robert Smith, Joy Division, and Duran Duran with a little Tears for Fears tossed in there for seasoning. Not bad, but LBH, I hope that they are not "The Next Big Thing" I already survived the '80s once.
Lead singer Sam Endicott is from the DC area and he chatted a bit about coming to see shows at the Black Cat when he was a kid, so *snap* *snap* for that. Then he proceeded to tear through a song while posing on the front speakers. And then the bassist went crowd surfing. I mean, who does that anymore? Rock Gods, thats who. Oh, and his moms was at the concert. She apparently taught him how to sing. She was a jewel who was digging her boys music, but she is not a rock god.
Randomly overheard at the show
16 year old girl: "I would hate to be balled."
Blink. Pause. Breathe. "Um..." Pause. Breathe. "Excuse me?"
16yog: "Being bald would suck. I really like my hair."
Update: DCist has just posted their review of last night's show, along with links to other bloggers all of which were pretty positive. I don't feel the need to repeat all the links here, but there are two comments that I feel deserve repeating.
From tom at Unrequited Narcisism:
"Like I said, it's not that The Bravery aren't a good band. It's just that we seem to have segued smoothly from electroclash to dance rock to Cure-dependent new wave without a break, and my tolerance for synths and eye makeup is fading pretty quickly. I get that the garage rock craze couldn't go the distance, but I'd be very happy if our next musical fad came from somewhere besides New York. The ball's in your court, Canada! Or rink. Whatever. Hell, I don't know."
And from Bags at the 9:30 Club Forum:
I stayed for probably 2/3s of The Bravery -- a couple songs were really good -- the first being the best. But, there are so many friggin' bands like these guys around right now -- this guitar-heavy new wave retro synth stuff, with singers who sound like Robert Smith or Jon King (examples, Hot Hot Heat -- whom I'm seeing tonight and said during The Braverym, "this is like a preview for tomorrow!" -- The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, The Futureheads, The French Kicks, Stellastar).
Again, I'm not rushing out to jump on this band wagon. Perhaps a few more turns through the LP will fire me up.
For the third time in a week, I found myself walking upstairs to the mainstage in preparation for some rocking. After what has been a very draining week, I was exhausted, and quite frankly would not have minded if I had been turned away for not being hip enough to see The Bravery.
My first introduction to The Bravery was through the BBC (here and here). When a friend with an extra ticket grabbed me at 10:30 last night, I was really torn between my bed and the show. I guess I can always sleep later. I'll try and prevent yesterday's ramble and come right out with it. These guys want to be huge fucking rock gods. And they dress, coif, sing, play, and prance around on stage like they are. Maybe they will be. Musically, their synth-rock sound comes right out of Robert Smith, Joy Division, and Duran Duran with a little Tears for Fears tossed in there for seasoning. Not bad, but LBH, I hope that they are not "The Next Big Thing" I already survived the '80s once.
Lead singer Sam Endicott is from the DC area and he chatted a bit about coming to see shows at the Black Cat when he was a kid, so *snap* *snap* for that. Then he proceeded to tear through a song while posing on the front speakers. And then the bassist went crowd surfing. I mean, who does that anymore? Rock Gods, thats who. Oh, and his moms was at the concert. She apparently taught him how to sing. She was a jewel who was digging her boys music, but she is not a rock god.
Randomly overheard at the show
16 year old girl: "I would hate to be balled."
Blink. Pause. Breathe. "Um..." Pause. Breathe. "Excuse me?"
16yog: "Being bald would suck. I really like my hair."
Update: DCist has just posted their review of last night's show, along with links to other bloggers all of which were pretty positive. I don't feel the need to repeat all the links here, but there are two comments that I feel deserve repeating.
From tom at Unrequited Narcisism:
"Like I said, it's not that The Bravery aren't a good band. It's just that we seem to have segued smoothly from electroclash to dance rock to Cure-dependent new wave without a break, and my tolerance for synths and eye makeup is fading pretty quickly. I get that the garage rock craze couldn't go the distance, but I'd be very happy if our next musical fad came from somewhere besides New York. The ball's in your court, Canada! Or rink. Whatever. Hell, I don't know."
And from Bags at the 9:30 Club Forum:
I stayed for probably 2/3s of The Bravery -- a couple songs were really good -- the first being the best. But, there are so many friggin' bands like these guys around right now -- this guitar-heavy new wave retro synth stuff, with singers who sound like Robert Smith or Jon King (examples, Hot Hot Heat -- whom I'm seeing tonight and said during The Braverym, "this is like a preview for tomorrow!" -- The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, The Futureheads, The French Kicks, Stellastar).
Again, I'm not rushing out to jump on this band wagon. Perhaps a few more turns through the LP will fire me up.
posted by Fletch at
9:25 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home