A weekend concerto in three parts: Saturday
Surprisingly enough, when you are quitting your job, leaving town for a six week road-trip, and starting grad school in another state, there is a ton of shit that you have to do before you go. Some of it was done from the pleasant enjoyment of bed on Saturday afternoon. God bless central AC and wireless internet.
Old 97s show. Awesome. The only band in recent memory that has actually given not one, but two encores at the 9:30 Club. Both well deserved. Other points of note.
1. Rhett Miller's voice was shit. It sounded like he'd been touring for a bit too long and the raspy strains couldn't hit the high notes. It did improve as the evening progressed and he fed off of the crowd's enthusiasm.
2. I have not felt young at a concert in many years. The late-30-something crowd was old but energetic. The people sitting on the upstairs risers somehow believed that they could take up both the space on the risers and the railing. Maybe that's because they haven't been to a standing-room only concert in a while, but here's a hint: a sold-out show means that the 9:30 club sold all of their space. It means that you have to stand where you want to watch the show from, whether the band is on stage or not.
3. The one young person I noticed was really rocking out. Like she was at a Poison concert, circa 1989. Maybe it was her version of two-steppin' it, who knows. Not to mislead you, my readers, she only flashed her bangs around when she was singing along. Apparently she had only ever heard Satellite Rides, but man did she have those lyrics down.
Again, additional blubbering about how the show was amazing probably won't help, but tough shit. Go and listen to some clips and buy an album. I'd tell you to buy Fight Songs, but there are some people out there with less musical taste than I.
Old 97s show. Awesome. The only band in recent memory that has actually given not one, but two encores at the 9:30 Club. Both well deserved. Other points of note.
1. Rhett Miller's voice was shit. It sounded like he'd been touring for a bit too long and the raspy strains couldn't hit the high notes. It did improve as the evening progressed and he fed off of the crowd's enthusiasm.
2. I have not felt young at a concert in many years. The late-30-something crowd was old but energetic. The people sitting on the upstairs risers somehow believed that they could take up both the space on the risers and the railing. Maybe that's because they haven't been to a standing-room only concert in a while, but here's a hint: a sold-out show means that the 9:30 club sold all of their space. It means that you have to stand where you want to watch the show from, whether the band is on stage or not.
3. The one young person I noticed was really rocking out. Like she was at a Poison concert, circa 1989. Maybe it was her version of two-steppin' it, who knows. Not to mislead you, my readers, she only flashed her bangs around when she was singing along. Apparently she had only ever heard Satellite Rides, but man did she have those lyrics down.
Again, additional blubbering about how the show was amazing probably won't help, but tough shit. Go and listen to some clips and buy an album. I'd tell you to buy Fight Songs, but there are some people out there with less musical taste than I.
posted by Fletch at
11:26 AM
7 Comments:
Buy them all.
By
Anonymous, at 1:14 PM
it was a damn good show, but i've decided i'm over-saturated. I hereby am not seeing old 97's or wilco again until they have a new album out. I love "best of" concerts, but if you see the same show every. time. they. come. to. DC. then it gets bland.
I have no one to blame but myself, though.
By
The Governess, at 1:50 PM
It was only my second Old 97s show, and the first is a little fuzzy, so I think that I would unquestioningly go again. I do know what you are saying though about seeing the same sets over and over.
By
Fletch, at 3:38 PM
Governess:
The last time the Old 97's were here was almost a year ago (I think). I'll take one show a year from them, even if (this time) it is a pretty similar set to the last one I've seen.
But I hear where you're coming from.
By
Anonymous, at 4:25 PM
Judy from DCist here. The people I came with, who did not know the band, all left unimpressed and unhappy. Most left halfway through the show!
It's interseting, though, and I should have mentioned this in my review, I gained a new appreciation for the non-Rhett songs at the show. I always skip over them on the CDs.
By
Anonymous, at 10:32 AM
Judy- I hope that you stayed the whole time. I too felt that the first half of the show was the weakest, but the band really fed off of the crowd as the set continued. I definitely think that the show could have been better, but I was impressed by how Rhett pushed through and still managed to energize the crowd.
As for the non-Rhett songs, I love 'em. Sometimes he gets a little too pop-py for me, and Murry really brings some of that ol'time twang to the songs. Great for singing along to in the car. You know, if you do that sort of thing. I totally don't.
By
Fletch, at 12:40 PM
oh I bet you so do when other people aren't with you!
By
Lauren, at 1:36 PM
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