|
last night. hey do you want to see a band tonight? sure, who’s playing? all the saints and the coathangers. yeah, i want to see both those bands! you want to see the coathangers? yeah, they’re getting a lot of internet love, and they have some good songs on their myspace page… dude. what? forget it. okay, what time is the show? all the saints come on at 12. coathangers probably at 1. cool, see you there. see you there.
feeeeeeeeeeeeeeedback, and then… all the saints play faithful sabbath meets nirvana, in sebagos, with a giant metal fleur de lis. they are loud, sludgy, and intense. they thank us for our energy, or something else appropriately self-depricating. the coathangers begin setting up. there are lots of people on stage. it’s kind of a party scene. they’re talking, hanging out, lookin’ cobrasnake. a tech guy walks around checking all the equipment, amps, guitar, bass, keyboard, drums. he appears to be showing the girls how each piece of equipment works. he twists a knob on the guitarist’s vintage mesa boogie amp. he tells her what level to keep it on, something like that. then he fixes the drums, talks to the giddy drummer, a female tommy lee with full-color tats running down both skinny arms. she’s talking, and laughing, and forgetting to light her cigarette. the keyboard player sits on a marshall stack, smiling. the roadie continues his tour of the stage. tightening, testing everything. they begin playing.
woah. people around us are wondering how many times they have played before an audience. or if perhaps this is their first time playing their instruments at all. it reminds us of high school bands. the familiar drum fills. barely three chords. the clunky bass. two poking notes from the keyboard. but slower. each one tries singing. adding a little something bratty to each song. are these the songs from the internet? there is a disconnect. as they play they smile and if one of them isn’t singing she is giggling. at one point the keyboard player laughs and looks embarrassed. she is giggling. the song ends. although the room is more than half-full, there is barely any clapping, a few cat calls, and at least 3 photographers taking pictures from all angles. another song. same deal. we decide the next song will be our last. the song is called nestle in my boobies. for this song the drummer becomes the bass player, the guitarist becomes the drummer, and the bassist becomes the singer. the song starts and there is no bass. the drummer, now the bassist, looks lost, nothing is coming out. the bassist who is now just singing turns around and stomps on a pedal. the bass can now be heard. the bassist and the drummer laugh. the keyboard player laughs. we try to think of other bands that this band sounds like, or is aspiring to sound like. we keep coming back to: it’s christmas day and le tigre, or luscious jackson, or the bangles, only 14 years old, rip open their presents to find shiny new instruments. a guitar, a bass, a drum kit and a keyboard. they begin playing their new instruments. this is what it sounds like. the parents smile. mom cleans up the wrapping paper, dad smokes his pipe. a dog runs through the scene.
we’re going downstairs. i’m coming. this was a slight disappointment. i know. let’s go downstairs. okay. did you notice that not many people were clapping? yes. did someone tell me chunklet likes this band? dunno. the songs on the web, they’re good songs. mmmmm. and everyone has to learn how to play at some point but… maybe that’s what rehearsal’s for? maybe. it wasn’t sloppy, necessarily, just amateurish. i don’t think i’ve ever seen a band that green on their instruments live before. it’s cute! they were laughing up there. it’s like they were playing rock and roll dress up. but this is what people thought about the strokes, right? right… the girls are really cute. yeah… still. still. they’re really cute. yes, they are really cute. and they’re having fun, right? right. they could get a lot better. yes, and they should. they will.
Read more at: . |
