Queens of the Stone Age @ Terminal 5 3.25.11

Queen of the Stone Age by Andres Cortes

Spending weeks meditating on shaking booty to wicked guitar riffs, the potential awesomeness of hearing one of the best rock albums ever recorded and the million different kinds of hot Josh Homme was going to be, it all came down to one great night at Terminal 5 hosted by Queens of the Stone Age celebrating the re-release of their classic self-titled debut.

In hopes of getting a choice spot near the stage and nowhere near the ultra-violence of the pit, I braved the cold for 2 hours prior to doors in the line. While waiting for Snail a nice mutton-chopped young man named Joe engaged in conversation to fight the anxiety brought on by time's slow toll and the bitter freeze. In our short time together I learned he had never heard Queens of the Stone Age with the exception of "Mexicola" and came hoping to discover the rest of the album was as great. By door time, unfortunately we lost him to the masses and never saw him again, bummer.

Instead of hanging with a cool dude all night, we were by a few jerks meaning the stretch of time between coming inside and Queens of the Stone Age was going to feel like an eternity if we weren't into the opening band. And so we suffered. Not in the mood for the croak of the Dough Rollers' 50s blues rock revival, we stood there trying not to stare at the piercing red glow of the digital clock on the stage but failed miserably.

The clock crawled its way to 9pm, the band hit the stage donned in signature black to crank out the whole of Queens of the Stone Age. Watching these guys play you can't help but think requirements for being in QOTSA include the ability to make Joshua Homme and the audience horny as shit and light the stage on fire when you play because that's exactly what they did they were so tight.

Beautiful bastard Homme hammered through the set powered by his favorite endurance cocktail: vodka and cigarettes. When he wasn't killing us playing sweet riffs and gyrating that Elvis pelvis, he served some drunken comic relief at random intervals of the set: poking a bit of fun at the QOTSA newbs, telling dick jokes, heckling assholes, hitting on everyone and giving sage advice on the essence of cool. The always sharp Troy Van Leeuwen's fancy footwork overheated us, that man is way too classy. We geeked out for the win, happy our air-guitar skills matched -- however vaguely -- the way Homme and Troy played.

To our wonderful surprise, the guys didn't quit after the 45-minute or so length of their debut we got not one but two encore sets. The first included "Turnin' on the Screw," "Long Slow Goodbye," and "Little Sister." The second "Burn the Witch," "Make It Wit Chu," and "No One Knows." I've never been a huge fan of "No One Knows" but it made me really nostalgic for ever-shirtless low-end wonder Nick Oliveri :( All in all, however, the set was of epic epicness.

The only thing that matched it's greatness was Josh's gray guitar pick landing on Snail's cowl neck sweater. One sly move into her bra later, it was saved from the clueless, salivating front-row fanboys who looked down at the floor with sheer desperation wondering where it had gone. It's now safely stored until we open up our dream office. Pow!

Needless to say, our souls were rocked and p-control littered the floor. We danced and scared the jerks behind us with our hypersexual movements, as usual. In our rock show afterglow, we ran into a cast of characters -- some cool dudes who cracked us up mock-singing Justin Bieber's "Baby" and many a drunk person, including one man literally so bent out of shape we thought he had a disability and one poor dude who couldn't get a break almost losing his mandal and later narrowly escaping a slip on a banana peel -- and reveled in the hotness and happy accident that made our night.

Ratatat/DOM/Bobby Birdman @ Terminal 5 10.9.10

Ratatat (press still)

After a stuffing at Hummus Kitchen and trying REALLY hard to get to Terminal 5 after all the openers* we got there while Ratatat was one song or so into their set, our greatest fear come true!

Entering the floor we got blasted by steaming hot hot heat-- a side effect of the place being filled to capacity -- (this where I write a clever line comparing the hotness in the venue with the music's hotness BUT I WILL NOT!) we worked our way up to the less claustrophobic 3rd tier where we removed our coats to dance and peek in between heads to witness the awesome going on below.

This particular Saturday Mike Stroud and Evan Mast were the coolest dudes ever. On stage clouded by smoke and screens looping images of a rotating classic sculptures and a Beethoven(?) bust, parakeet motifs, their creepy music video for "Drugs" and other awesome things like lazers, they pumped through a lot of Classics and LP4 with bits of the other albums without saying much except "AYO!" and "Thank you" a few times.

Even though the volume was at about a 12 at T5, I felt like it needed to be louder which made me think "These dudes need to do arena shows!" Many indie bands don't translate well to such a large, less intimate setting but Ratatat have the guitar power of an old school arena rock band -- only they replace sucky power ballads with danceable electro-rawk grooves.

Music geekiness: Loved that instead of getting other peeps to cover their bases live, they had a set up that allowed them to easily rotate about and go from gultar/bass to keyboard to drums whenever necessary.

Also I think it was Mike who did the crabcore guitar pose which reminded me of the gif below and made me laugh.



The characters at this show were mostly on the majorly entertaining scale. While Snail and I stood up, I was in back of this girl with the most amazing smelling hair and when she whipped it around it was intoxicating. Snail unfortunately just had some dude talking shit to his friend who was most likely the fan out of the two.

After Snail left my side to sit and I already had my danceathons to faves "Wildcat" and "Lex," I joined her and we chair danced like nuts and observed the other people on our tier for the rest of the night. The main attraction was a group of friends with individual unique dancing styles. We didn't make fun because there's a fine line between dancing to the beat of your own drummer and dancing to a beat that's no where to be heard in the room. They were doing the first and we loved watching them.

There was also this kid that kept running around the tier and dancing. When he got tired he would randomly sit next to us and then get up and do it again. By the time I vowed to blow his mind and scare him by dancing with him when he came back, he just joined the aforementioned group of dancers, womp womp!

After the hour and half set we chilled on the leather couch until the people left the steeple, I committed a petty crime and we got home before midnight! We're old ladies.

For more on this show and some crappy pics of Ratatat check out the Village Voice.
*We always try to get to shows late when we're not interested in the opening bands but always get there eariler than anticipated.

Scissor Sisters/Casey Spooner @ Terminal 5 8.24.10

Scissor Sisters' gran finale

After letting the dancey and sexiness of the Scissor Sisters’ great new album Night Work seep in, nearly a month later we can chronicle the fun that was their show at Terminal 5.

The first of two homecoming shows, The Sisters were surrounded by family, friends and fellow sisters of all ages, shapes, levels of receding hairlines and sizes. Honestly one the most age diverse shows we’ve been to this year. With this special familial energy about, the Scissor Sisters brought the sex, the sass and fun with a special twinkle in their eyes and a-pitter-patter of their hearts.

Opener Casey Spooner of Fischerspooner fame was adorable. In his gray three-piece suit and only his mic and back track as company in a white spotlight, he sang songs about cinnamon toast and wanting to get invited to a party but not actually going and sitting home watching True Blood. He bought us for sure with the latter, because that’s us in a nutshell haha. His singing remind me of Neil Tennant from the Pet Shop Boys, loved him.

The Scissor Sisters came on stage ready to work it.

They opened with “Night Work”, playing the bulk of the new album with the exception (sadly) of “Sex and Violence”. There was also a good mix from their last two LPs including major crowd pleasers “Laura” “Tits On the Radio” “Comfortably Numb” and “I Don’t Feel Like Dancing.” The tail end of the set included a version of “Invisible Light” so pumped up that makes the album version feel inadequate. I can’t say the same about the “Flithy/Gorgeous” more rocked out reboot because I think its bleh compared the original.

We got blown away by the lazers lights and confetti money. The photograph above by Snail completely compasses the good ass time we all were having. Even though there could have been more crowd dancing, the concert was “Night Life” personified.

It may have been almost a month ago but Scissor Sisters are the kind of group that sticks to your ribs, fabulously, making this grand party including Jake’s sexy ass, Miss Ana’s beauty and charming interludes and a shy Del Marquis with his lacquered PVC pants a sight we’ll continue to see in our minds eye til the end of our days! Or until we see them again :)

Wolf Parade/Mools/Zola Jesus @ Terminal 5 7.13.10 + Album Review

This is probably the first show in a long time that I wasn't annoyed for 98% of it. The opening acts Zola Jesus and Mools were the best. Zola Jesus is a big, haunting voice in a little package that gave me goosebumps. Mools is a Japanese rock band that continues the tradition of great, riff based 90's alternative music. Their singer had this crazy big hair and the most random and fascinating on-stage persona. Could not stop smiling or looking at him.

When Wolf Parade came on, the geeking out began without stopping until the last note was played. Dancing, jumping, headbanging, singing every word, playing air guitar and air drums all to the possible dismay of the surrounding concertgoers who just stood there for whatever reasons I cannot fathom. We were touched when Dan intro'd "Little Golden Age" by saying "This is a song about nostalgia and the dangers of nostalgia" and how its best to live in the now. Snail and I were talking about that in between bands and forever and a day and it really amazed us that (yet again) someone we admire so much is THERE. At the end, we left that moment soaked in sweat and stank to go home to a world where this is all considered past tense.

Wolf Parade is one of those bands that is consistently delivering. My process with them usually has me loving specific tracks right off the bat then I grow to love the rest yet there's always a track or two I only like and listen to the least. Their recent one, Expo 86, continues this trend. I was instantly hooked on "What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had To Go This Way),""Ghost Pressure," and "In Direction of the Moon" and they are still my absolute favorites. "Cave-O-Sapien" and "Little Golden Age" grew on me quite fast. Songs like "Oh You, Old Thing," "Two Men in New Tuxedos," "Pobody's Nerfect" have parts within them that love more than others but I like them a lot. "Cloud Shadow on the Mountain" "Palm Road" and "Yulia" are the ones I'm more quick to skip if I'm listening to the album with iPod in hand. Otherwise, I like them, too.

Each album has a particular feel as well and this one boasts guitar and drum prowess. This is the album Dan Boeckner and Arlen Thompson shine more than they ever have in my ears. As Snail assessed, Dan's songs have always been the most straight-forward and instantly catchy while Spencer Krug's more cerebral and take more time to get used to.

This album as an 80's inspired composition has made me think comparing Dan and Spencer to two of the decades most important singer songwriters, Bruce Springteen and Morrissey, respectively. Dan's effortless cool and songs about living as a small town outcast who has a love/hate relationship with his hometown and the modern world that threatens to obliterate the purity and realness he associates with it is undeniably Springsteen while Spencer's literary background, complex yet heart-wrenching and oft times absurd narrative and reclusive nature is so Morrissey. I love that these two geniuses come together to make a perfect balance. Everyone else in the band also has their role we can stuff them into: Arlen is the drumming and production wizard while Dante DeCaro is the multi-instrumental accent that ties the band together.

They are the best band of the millennium our book.

Especially since their existence has taken Snail and I's friendship to celestial levels as the only other band besides Radiohead that has sent us up for a twirl and made us realize how blessed we are to be alive and be friends and be able to share this beyond-the-realm-of-reality love of music, writing, art, etc. and the artists who make it. We turn into total saps about experiencing such things together that we bring each other to tears and (now we're not ashamed to say) that's okay.

Massive Attack @ Terminal 5 05.11.10

Massive Attack by Ryan Muir

It happened. Cheep bought Massive Attack tickets on a whim and we went to see them at their first date in NYC at the awful Terminal 5. It certainly makes me feel like a jerky, bitter old lady to complain about venues but we must get out of the way that T5 doesn’t always sound the best in comparison to getting spoiled by the sound engulfment that are little venues like Bowery Ballroom and MHOW. Regardless, we danced, we endured the little annoyances of being semi-close and we loved it!

It was my first time seeing them and Cheep’s second. Our bestie Mr. Amaral also joined the drool party over Robert del Naja and Daddy G and the slew of awesome happening on that stage. Their light show and quote overload really guaranteed elation. I was seriously hoping for Tunde Adebimpe to show up and sing one of my favorites from Heligoland, ‘Pray for Rain’ but it didn’t happen… maybe next time.