I'm starting to get real lazy in terms of not writing about a show until, well, a few days after the show. Having a few nights of crown royal over-consumption between the Jose Gonzalez set and now is not helping me out much either. So here's a few things I remember....
-Overall a beautiful, beautiful performance. The hair on the back of my neck stood erect for the duration of the show.
-I thought the sound was great - with the exception of the background noise of the crowd which I will soon tear into. Given that the Black Cat completely fuckered up the sound for Juana Molina beforehand with not being able to get rid of feedback, there were no issues for the main act.
-This was the most diverse crowd I've been a part of in a long time. To my right front, a group of guys that appeared to have jumped out of those ridiculous IZOD magazine ads. Behind me, all Spanish speaking individuals. To my left, a group of lesbians. To my right, a group of children from Jose's homeland, Sweden. It was awesome.
-The folks waiting in line outside that were in front of me were holding their tickets in the air like they had just won the lotto jackpot.
-Jose's choice of apparel: Gray work pants, an army-issue brown t-shirt, vans. Can you say down to earth?
-Obviously, Jose Gonzalez is an unbelievable guitar player. No effects, no loops, just that unique ability to make it sound like there are two totally different guitar players playing at the same time, and for some songs, the addition of a percussionist.
And now, the bad and the ugly: Possibly the worst concert etiquette I have experienced. Ever. Apparently the majority of the people in the crowd thought it was OK to carry on loud conversations throughout the entire performance. This was evident not only when Jose would stop in the middle of a song, or change songs, but it was loud enough to hear during the actual playing. As much as I tried to block it out and focus solely on the beautiful guitar and vocals, it was impossible. These were the same d-bags that as soon as the show was over, complained "that was it?!?' while storming towards the exit for whatever hot club they were off too. And I have a theory, which may be a stretch - but this reminded me of what has been going on with the Sundance Film Festival most recently. People catch the word that a really cool act or show is coming to town, and therefore the show becomes the cool or trendy place to be (some say the same about Wrigley Field bleachers which is for the most part BS). The group of pop-collars next to me were actually bragging that they didn't even know the name of the guy playing guitar; this was in between them talking about the party they were late for, and me telling them to shut the fuck up. So it goes...I'm really hoping this doesn't become a trend around here. To date, we've been extremely fortunate in scoring tickets for any show we want, and having great all-around concert experiences.
Jose Gonzalez will be touring the rest of the summer overseas, and will return to the states for an LA show at the Hollywood Bowl on Aug 27.
Monday, July 03, 2006
Jose Gonzalez @ Black Cat June 30
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3 comments:
i concur. people were talking really loud through both juana molina and jose gonzalez. it's like they didn't know that their music needs to be listened to instead of being background music for a bar (they should have just stuck downstairs).
Nice to know I'm not the only one getting annoyed, but I think it is always like that at the Black Cat anymore. I don't know if it is the new clientele or the new space or both. I really don't remember it being a problem at the old location. It makes me sad because I often decide not to see a show scheduled for the Black Cat because I can't stand the crowds.
Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to experience the old black cat...only been here about 2yrs. But I've read plenty about it. Dave Grohl has written a lot about (and talked about at his unannounced 9:30 club show) how sick the place was and what an influence the place had. I think a big part of what to expect from a crowd there has to do with what type of music is being played, and how well the band is peforming. W.A.S. - sup-par performance; half the crowd was into it, the other half was talking. Wolfmother - mosh pit?!? Eagles of Death Metal -complete crowd interaction; every dude had his fist in the air and every chick wanted to jump jesse hughes' bone after the show. The backstage seems to be completely absent of d-bags, but obviously the bigger names play upstairs.
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