It’s nearly 2am, I need to be up at 7am, and I am AWAKE. Not good people, not good.
Last week while shooting the shit with Jason of ProductShopNYC before his radio program, the band Illinois came up. Jason said he had never seen them but keeps reading about them. I told him I’d written about the band a bunch. “Oh, that’s why I keep hearing their name! It’s all your fault.”
And it’s true. Their PR company has certainly done their job right, because I am brainwashed. But if loving Illinois is wrong, then I don’t want to be right. Tonight was my fourth go around the the boys from PA and one of the best performances of theirs I’ve seen. When you are the opening band, you really have to tighten your performance and throw out your best material- Illinois has that dance down pat.
Illinois’ tour with The Kooks is soon ending, but after a few solo dates, the group will be out on the road again, this time supporting The Hold Steady. Great pairing.
So yeah, there is this band from the UK, they are so good, you’ll love them, old school rock and roll, really catchy, totally danceable…yada yada.
The Kooks, another band whose album you will download and listen to on your ipod while going to work on the train, you’ll nod your head and people will stare. Another band from the UK whom you’ll contemplate buying an overpriced ticket to go see when the hit Roseland in a year, cursing yourself for not catching them at a smaller venue. Another Brit rock revival group whom somehow missed making it to an ipod commercial, whose songs are just as catchy as The ________.
Tonight was a great show by the latest Brit band to hit our shores- so spot on, so energetic. There is a reason their album Inside In/Inside Out was at the top of many people’s lists last year, it’s tremendous. If you don’t have it, beg, borrow or steal yourself a copy asap.
For those interested, these were my main two thoughts during tonight’s performance:
1. Does Luke Pritchard (lead singer) realise how much he resembles Jim Morrison?
2. This is the third damn time I’ve seen John Norris this week!
I was at that show, and I thought it sucked. The songs that people know, they played well. The new songs were…so-so. Maybe I’m just a little pissed off because I paid good money to be pushed around by a crew of drunken frat boys. They were loud, obnoxious, and they obviously have never seen live music before other than Dave Mathews at Jones Beach. Oh yeah, The Kooks were probably introduced to them by their British bond trader that sits in the next cube and reminises about last nights coke binge at Scores. The Kooks suck balls and their fans are even worse.
agreed, the kooks suck balls. im glad theyve disappeared. hopefully all of this terribly samey “indie” shite will too. glad to see the back of this section of pop music. its not real, it just for pricks who wanna fit in