A tough week at work, but was able to catch the Spoon show down at Rockefeller Park thanks to a rain delay. The skies opened up around 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and it didn't look like I would make it home dry, much less get to see one of my favorite bands, and a band that I have somehow managed never to see live. By 7.30, when I left the office, the rain had let up enough for me to make the cross-town just-in-case trek to the lower west side, to see if I could catch the tail end of the Spoon show. Arriving at Rockefeller Park, I found a wet but game audience and Spoon just taking the stage. They played a relatively short fifty minute set, covering a lot of new material and some old favorites. Rockefeller Park was a beautiful outdoor venue in which to see a show, and despite the weather and the delay, Spoon were able to warm up a crowd that had waited out the rain for an hour. Worth the schlep.I bought the new record, unfortunately titled Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, and can echo the sentiment of most of the reviews I've seen - it's a consistent record, taut and rhythmic, and living well within the framework laid out in previous efforts, particularly the most recent Gimme Fiction. Maybe they have gotten to popular, but I would kill to see Spoon in a smallish venue sometime soon.
One of the benefits of living in Williamsburg during the summer is the ability to take a quick walk down to McCarren Pool Park on a Sunday afternoon to catch one of the weekly free shows, which include a pretty good line-up of bands. Having spent most of the afternoon working, I snuck out to grab a diet Coke and catch the last few songs by Tommy McClain at the "Ponderosa Stomp." Admittedly, part of the draw was the "backed by Yo La Tengo" claim, but the funk, soul, and blues of Mr. McClain, his working of the not-jam packed but sweaty and grooving hipster crowd, and the general bliss of a hot Sunday afternoon where everybody was out made the trip well worth my while. Looking forward to more shows so close at hand.
No comments:
Post a Comment