Show reviews

Hi friends!

Sorry for the lack of posting this week but I've been busy frequenting shows. In the past 7 days I've managed to fit in three pretty solid acts, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at McCarren Park Pool in Brooklyn, Dirty Pretty Things at the Bowery and Gnarls Barkley at Central Park Summerstage.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs were - as always - excellent. First to note, they played at the recently renovated McCarren Park Pool in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. For about 20+ years this public pool has been abandoned, but apparently last year someone had the brains to put it to good use and turn it into a concert venue for the throngs of hipsters who don't leave New York in the summer. The venue is phenomenal - first off, it's enormous (capacity is 5,500 people). Secondly, the set up of the actual "pool" space means that there is a lift all around the pool for folks who don't mind watching the band from afar and avoiding the fray. Warsaw - a nearby venue - I think is actually organizing the bookings for McCarren as all the amazing Polish ladies were at McCarren park serving up their Perogies and Kielbasa (reason enough to trek out there). FYI for New Yorkers, they hold parties at this venue every Sunday where bands play and DJ's spin from 2-8 in the afternoons (www.thepoolparties.com). BUT! Back to the YYYs. After a mediocre set by Sonic Youth Karen O came bounding on stage wearing what is probably best described as a pinata/birthday cake/explosion of pastel streamers. The YYYs made an conscious effort to play great selections from both albums (Gold Lion, Phenomena, YControl, Art Star, and of course, Maps) and I think were genuinely psyched to be playing to such an enormous crowd in their hometown. Despite the general elation of everyone at the venue the tension between Karen and guitarist Nick Zinner was clearly palpable. She barely interacted with him throughout the whole show and went out of her way to bring Brian Chase (the drummer) out to the crowd, but didn't acknowledge Nick at all. I read last spring in Spin that Karen didn't think the YYYs would make it past this tour, which would be a terrible terrible shame, and you could really feel it at the show.

Click on the below link to watch a video of Karen's YControl encore from YouTube (please note sequin cap).



Gnarls Barkley played last night at Central Park's Summerstage. This venue is pretty much the opposite of McCarren park - terribly organized and poorly staffed (especially re: beer). Despite the physical difficulties the show itself was pretty fun. I was definitely unaware of quite how many people were on stage for each show. They brought out 2 strings folks, 2 drummers, 3 backup singers, a keyboardist, CeLo and Danger Mouse. Matching outfits were of the prep-school variety, but it was hot enough that by the end of the show CeLo only had a wife-beater on. Overall I give the show a B - nothing particularly mind blowing but their music is fun enough that even if you are less than psyched about the venue the tunes make up for it. Plus, they led with a cover of "The Wall" by Pink Floyd and played Smiley Faces in their encore - a fave of mine.

There isn't any good video up from last night and you all know Gnarls' songs, so instead enjoy this little video of the band "Of Montreal" covering Crazy at McCarren Park a few weeks ago. Awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MshngvNaMKQ

Last but certainly not least was my favorite of the bunch - Dirty Pretty Things. I won't go into too much detail about these guys as I just wrote about the album, but suffice it to say that I think DPT is really one of a few bands out there that have a real musical talent and an amazing rapport with fans. The mood at the Bowery was literally exploding at the sight of Carl Barat. Carl's fans have stayed through some tough times with him, and to see that not only has he survived the dissolution of what many touted as one of the greatest bands to come out of the U.K., Carl has set the bar even higher with DPT. The band gels flawlessly, and not only that but you can tell they absolutely love playing with each other and adore their fan base. I think that Carl has enormous potential and fingers crossed will continue to make fantastic music.

Below a clip of Carl playing France (actually a song he wrote while in the Libs) at the Bowery. He didn't play guitar all night except for this one song (due to his dislocated shoulder).