Silversun Pickups @ Pianos, August 3, 2006

What seems like decades ago, JK and I had a momentous night of music that received little coverage on our little lifezine. We caught Muse at Hammerstein Ballroom. It was as epic as epic gets. So epic that the battery in my camera was completely cooked when I tried to take my first picture. Snuck that fucker in and everything. Oh well. Cloud Room opened, and in a way, I felt bad for them. It was probably a big deal for them to open up for Muse, but the majority of the crowd was simply there to see Muse. Cloud Room's sound, additionally, was much better when Top and I caught them at Black Cat.

Following the Muse show, JK and I hopped a cab to Mercury Lounge where we caught Silversun Pickups. Brooklyn Vegan was there, and apparently, so was MTV. I kind of thought the MTV thing was a joke. Which is the reason why I laughed and beer came out of my nose when someone yelled, "MTV sucks," or something creative like that when it was announced that the "You Heard It Here First" crew was up in that mutha. Brooklyn Vegan also took much better pictures, probably had a far better camera, and most likely, a lower BAC. Silversun Pickups seemed a little loaded, too, but it didn't keep them from test-driving some new songs. They sounded fantastic. All night long. I found the lead singer to be an absolute riot. At one point he quoted Marty's line to the band in Back To The Future where he tells the guys what key to play in and to "keep up with the changes."

Following their set at Mercury Lounge we bounced around the area, rolled into Welcome to the Johnson's, smashed some PBR's at which point JK decided that it would be responsible to get home and get some rest before his flight the next day, which suddenly, was today, and in fact, hours away. I grabbed my backpack at his crib and promised Dr. Thomas Beckett (who appeared halfway through the SSPU set), his brother, and lady friend that I would meet them at Piano's. JK and I checked our Fantasy Baseball teams on-line, I bummed some CDs (notably Priestess and Tokyo Police Club), charged my camera batt and we said our farewell. On to Piano's.

On my way, I see Beckett and crew rolling down the street swilling some ghosts, he points to Piano's across the street and we converge on the beautiful noise coming from backstage (as well as the bar). BVegan has the details of who exactly was on stage, I was in the back talking to Mr. Patron, taking bad pictures while Beckett asked me why his post about Radiohead at the Greek Theater was yanked from Metro D...It went from there. What a great night. Timing is everything.

MP3: Silversun Pickups - "Dream at Tempo 119"