Arctic Monkeys
Electric Factory
May 17, 2007
My view from the afternoon of seeing the Arctic Monkeys tonight was nonplussed particularly because no one was interested in going to the show with me. Nuts to them. They missed an outstanding performance.
My diminished expectations coming into the Electric Factory stemmed from having seen the Arctic Monkeys about a year ago at the Starlight Ballroom. At the time, the Monkeys were riding the crest of a hype wave that I was certain would go to their young heads. Days after the AM show, I saw Clap Your Hands Say Yeah suck out loud at the TLA after rocking the First Unitarian Church a few months earlier. The flat and uninspired TLA performance was a disappointment given CYHSY’s DIY success and blog appeal. Overachievers please try harder.
But back to the Arctic Monkeys’ Thursday night show at the Electric Factory. The band completely dispelled my cynicism with a very tight, 80-minute set punctuated with a rousing “Fake Tales of San Francisco” that had the whole auditorium dancing.
Yet for a sold out show, the floor seemed sparsely populated. The front was packed with adolescents (as expected for an all-ages show), but on the fringes there was space for the chaperones and parents to dance, stretch, and check text messages. It was kind of cute seeing families bond to a Brit rock soundtrack.
The audience was enthusiastically polite and no one seemed to mind the lack of an encore as they filed out when the house lights and exit music came on.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Arctic Monkeys 5/17/2007
Friday, May 04, 2007
Evening Bulletin Was Dead Before...
Searching online for downloads of the WXPN simulcast of the Modest Mouse show I was at last night, I came across a review for We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank from the Evening Bulletin. Man, does this guy love WXPN...
I came across Modest Mouse because in Philadelphia we have what is perhaps the finest terrestrial radio station in the country - FM 88.5 WXPN.Were this 1990 when the internet was still new and 88.5 was the Philadelphia source for "college rock," I'd understand that sentiment, but c'mon. This is 2007 and there are much better stations than 88.5. WPRB is local and better. KEXP is out-of-town and better.
WXPN has improved, but it's still far from the best. Eat it, Evening Bulletin.
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