My first show of 2007 brought me to the Merc to see what the fuss was about with Scotland's The View. Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos and famed Rolling Stone 3-star reviewer David Fricke were also in the crowd. I'm definitely a sucker for UK/Irish buzz bands and there have been tons of them across the last couple years - all fighting for exposure and success in the States. From Kasabian and the Kaiser Chiefs to Forward Russia and the Kooks, I've seen them all live and left each show impressed and believing the hype. That is until now. The View are the new NME darlings and they spent the last two nights at Mercury Lounge playing their first shows in the US. I'm a little surprised but the consenses over at Brooklyn Vegan seems to be pretty positive. I just didn't see it. Their sound is part Strokes, part Libertines with a bit of ska-flavor thrown into the mix. The band is extremely young - I believe 18 is the average age - so they'll get comparisons to the Arctic Monkeys (some have called them the Scottish Monkeys) but the comparisons should end there. I also caught the Monkey's second show in the States @ Bowery Ballroom and they were a much MUCH tighter band. Simply, The View needs practice. I won't be too harsh only because they're so damn young but I think they could have used more seasoning before attempting to win over crowds in the U.S. Aside from their UK hit singles "Wasted Little DJs" (which sounded great) and "Same Jeans" all of the other songs sounded alike to me. Their may be a future for this band but I'm not seeing it. Bring on The Fratellis.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
New Shows for '07; Best Shows of '06
I've been sulking over the last few weeks and it's because I've had no live shows on the calendar to look forward to in the new year. And then everything changed in the last 24 hours. I've just picked up tickets to see new UK buzz band, The View @ Mercury Lounge on 1/3. This is a DIY Scottish band that has been linked to ultimate fuck up Pete Doherty. They've since been getting a lot of play on BBC and their debut album comes out in the UK on January 22nd. I'll go in with low expectations and hopefully leave pleasantly surprised. Also on the books, Peter Bjorn and John, who are somewhat surprisingly doing two shows at Mercury Lounge on 1/29 and 1/30. By now, I hope you have all heard "Young Folks." It was on Grey's Anatomy after all...(that's intended to be sarcastic but seriously best pop song of the year?) Lastly, the best news of all, The Thermals will be doing two headlining dates on the East Coast (w/ the Big Sleep). Tickets go on sale Friday at noon (at least for NYC).
Mar 2 - Black Cat Washington, DC
Mar 4 - Bowery Ballroom New York, NY
And just like that, bands representing two of my favorite albums from '06 kicking things off right in '07.
With that, I thought I'd list my favorite shows of 2006:
1. Editors @ Mercury Lounge (Jan. 20): I don't know one person, blogger, etc. in attendance who wasn't floored by this performance. I had been listening to their album for quite some time but that's a different band. Simply, the most jaw dropping live performance I've probably ever seen and I shared that experience with about 200 people.
2. Muse @ Hammerstein / SSPU @ Mercury (Aug. 3): There are a collection of bands that can rightfully claim to be the best live band in the world today. Muse currently holds that title. Jumping in a cab and rushing to see SSPU at Mercury made the night that much more memorable.
3. Pearl Jam/MMJ @ Continental (Jun. 3): Any Pearl Jam live appearance is going to count as one of the best of the year. They're my favorite band and the benchmark for any rock band trying to make the jump to arenas. Oh and MMJ is no slouch, they get it.
4. Wolfmother @ Northsix (Feb. 19): Watching this band grow into something huge and knowing that InMyTree and I saw them before it all went down.
5. Radiohead/The Black Keys @ MSG Theater (Jun. 14): No need for explanation
