This is an open forum for staff members, contributers, and fans alike to submit their reviews on the latest music releases and concerts. In an industry that is drowning with overprocessed, grossly overrated, unoriginal crap these days, this is our chance to allow the real stars to shine, if only on our humble, little stage; and expose you to some of our favorite talents.
Reviews are given 1 - 5 stars.
My ears are ringing. Still. Literally 24 hours since the beginning of the Cold War Kids concert in Cambridge, Mass. last night. Opening for Cold War Kids was Delta Spirit and Tokyo Police Club. Delta Spirit tore it up. I’m without words; which is really saying something as my whole life revolves around my having appropriate words in storage. Okay, not entirely without words. The guys from Delta Spirit started things off beautifully…really, whenever a band embraces more than one percussion instrument at once, they have my interest. Not only did they whip out a maraca, but it was played by being smashed against a tambourine. You heard correctly. Have you ever seen someone tear up a maraca? No? Go check out Delta Spirit, stat. If you’re trying to get a friend to come with you to a show, but she’s not really into the indie rock, folk, alternative scene…show her a picture of the band and she’ll start putting her shoes on immediately and stay as long as you want her to. I always understood that it was necessary to have at least one sub-standard looking guy in a band for credibility, but Delta Spirit proves that this is, in fact, a fallacy. Oh right, their MUSIC: fabulous. Matt Vasquez, frontman, has just the right amount of rasp in voice; There’s just enough grit to give the music some sex appeal and edge without sounding contrived. Also, my “plus one” insisted that I throw in a line that anyone who wears a newsie hat deserves praise—and who am I to disagree? Check out their myspace page, because if you haven’t heard of them before reading this, you need to familiarize yourself and start spreading the word to your friends.
Tokyo Police Club left something to be desired for me. However, I feel that I may have been in the minority in this distaste as people were clapping and doing some pretty enthusiastic head-bobbing around me while they were on stage. My feelings at the time: “These kids are all wasted or they’re more familiar with their songs than I am.” I’m going with wasted. Now, it’s very possible that these guys are incredible, but that their stage set-up was bad; their vocals were more imagined than real as I couldn’t hear anything that was fed through the mikes. The kid in front of me, I’ve been calling him Gordo after the kid from that Disney show “Lizzie McGuire” (I’ve seen commercials for it, so shut your holes!!! Don’t judge me!) because he had the same hair. At any rate, Gordo was very into it. As were many of the folk around me. I still attribute it to drunkenness. As I was too cheap and bitchy to buy more than two drinks from a place that overcharged me so, I was depending solely on a sober music experience. What’s that, you ask? Check it out…it’s entirely different than what you’re used to. The Tokyo Police Club songs all seemed supercharged with energy and spirit, so I’ll give them that…but that performance just didn’t do it for me. Their music on myspace, though, is pretty great, so I’m willing to give them a second chance in a live setting.
Now, the headliners—Cold War Kids. One word: Stellar. The energy was there. The crowd spruced back up after a 30-minute set-up interval…which dragged the mood down considerably. With the first note, the crowd was there with them; we were on stage with those guys. Their songs are all so emotionally-charged that you get sucked right in. So you can imagine how their live show would suck you in on an entirely different level. The head-bobbing began to grow to an almost frenzied tempo, making me worry about people having neck injuries and not realizing it until the next morning. Cold War Kids brought up Delta Spirit and Tokyo Police Club to help them out with a rendition of “Saint John” which incorporated trash can lids, harmonicas, a recorder, tambourines, among other fascinating percussion implements of destruction. It was incredible. Everyone on stage was rocking out to their own physical limits. There was nothing left to give by end of the song. Incredible. If you do get a chance to check out this tour, please do! The energy is out of control, the tickets are cheap, and the men are good-looking. What else could a girl need?
Reviewed by: Sally Feller | April 2007
