I have been very lazy recently about posting any show reviews. Even this post will be very brief and undetailed. Sorry folks, too much excitement and not enough desire to share it. Last night, I saw Cat Power at the Palace of Fine Arts. It was an adventure just getting to the venue since the bus took us across the 101N for awhile until we stopped again at the Golden Gate Bridge. Luckily, we got to the show on time, with plenty of time to find our seats in the theater. It’s a nice big auditorium there and the seats were a great way to allow everyone a great view of the stage. The Memphis Rhythm Band was opening the show and playing most of the night with Cat Power. Her newest songs are a lot more upbeat and she was dancing a lot while the band was playing. She did sit down at the piano near the end of the show to play a couple songs and pulled out some acoustic and electric guitars to play solo. She coughed a lot and apologized a bit at the piano, that was kind of funny. The music was mostly very swinging band music, which was a real change from the usual piano-based stuff from early Cat Power albums. It was alright to watch, but I was glad the show ended early (around 10 PM).
On Tuesday night, I went to see The White Rose Movement at Slim’s on the recommendation of my friend Heidi, who ended up not even showing up to the show. She missed out on a really exciting show though. The band was really energetic and their music was intense and exciting to watch. The singer was carefully balancing himself on the monitor at the edge of the stage, so he was practically in the crowd. The bassist of the band was also really good and totally sweating by the end of the night. They were musically kind of new wave and punk, but they weren’t too synth-y like some bands I’ve seen recently. Citizens Here and Abroad opened the show and they were pretty cool too. The female singer/guitarist was pretty good and she alternated songs with the bassist.
On Saturday, I met up with my friends Jodi, Kimberly, and Heidi for the Editors in store at Tower Records on Bay and Columbus. I recorded video of most of this performance, but I have no idea if I should upload it to YouTube or just keep it for myself since there are a lot of heads in the way. The Editors played a full electric set outside the store and they were really exciting to watch. During the last song, the singer threw his guitar to his roady and just sang without it. After that, me, Jodi, and Kimberly went to get our CDs signed and take pictures with the band. Well, Jodi and Kimberly took pictures with them, I decided not to since the line was going kind of slow. After that, we decided to get some food and claim our parking space in the garage that Jodi usually parks in at 5th and Mission Street. We walked to the Metreon for dinner and I got a tasty turkey sandwich with a salad. After that, we walked to Starbucks for some more liquid refreshment. I got my usual Mocha Frappuccino. Jodi ordered a really complicated drink which she unfortunately spilled when she was showing me and Kimberly some dance moves for a Better than Ezra song called “Juicy.”
We left for Mezzanine soon after that and found this guy named Jon who was in line before us at Tower that Jodi got a photo with The Editors. We heard a little of the Editors soundcheck, which was pretty cool. Heidi and Camille joined us in line later. Before that, some woman from Vogue Magazine interviewed us about how we got into the band. When we were moved from the right side of the door to the left side, we were all freezing and annoyed at the door people who were making fun of us for being cold. Eventually, we were let into the venue and claimed our spots near the front of the stage. The Popscene DJ’s were great by starting their set with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s “Stop” and then playing Interpol, which made Jodi and Kimberly especially happy. The DJ set was so enjoyable that waiting for the first band to come on was not a long one at all. Monsters Are Waiting was the opener and they were pretty cool. They have a skinny female singer who was wearing the coolest shoes and a nice skirt. Their music was pretty good too, I got like 3 of their songs on video.
Stellastarr went on soon after the first band. Their music was really exciting and they were totally into their set. I think Jodi really liked their guitarist, it’s too bad she didn’t get to meet him after the show. I’m not sure I want a Stellastarr album yet, but I know they are an excellent live band. The singer/guitarist talked to us a little after the show. He had some cookies that a fan gave him, they looked tasty! I took about 7 videos of their set, they were that impressive to see live. This unfortunately left very little battery power for the Editors set, so I only got 1 full song and 2 parts of songs (under a minute) on video. This was okay, since I have the instore videos which are a little easier to watch. The Editors, as usual, put on an excellent performance. Lots of energy and the music was passionate and slightly dark. I enjoy watching this band perform, and this was my 3rd time seeing them – the first time being in January at Popscene.
Ladytron at Mezzanine on Friday night is the last show I need to mention, it was good, but I got annoyed by all the dancing people who got in the way while I was recording video. I ended up giving my brother the camera, but they noticed him holding it since he’s tall so he gave it back to me to put away. Two fights almost broke out between people who were dancing a lot and probably getting in each other’s ways. I was a little surprised and relieved that Ladytron had a shorter set, just over an hour and a half. Ladytron’s albums are great, but seeing them live is a little disappointing. They are a little robotic in their performance, which I guess is to be expected. The Presets who opened the show were more exciting and more into their set than Ladytron, who are very good at looking cool and detached on stage. It’s appropriate that there were quite a few drag queens in the audience, I didn’t see them for the whole show – but they were definitely there before and after.
