After work last night, I had plans to meet up with Caryn for dinner, so I waited around for her at the Barnes and Noble in Union Square, and found a corner and read my book for a while. Finding a place to read in a bookstore was tougher than I'd thought it would be. I'm usually disdainful of people who just sprawl out in the aisles when I'm trying to navigate through looking for a book, and as usualy the aisles were crowded with just these sorts of people. I'd never really noticed how many of people do this until I tried to find an open space myself. After finding a little spot in the foreign language reference section, it was actually pretty pleasant to sit there and read for a bit.So I met Caryn in front, then we made a quick stop at Petco to pick up some supplies for a cat she's keeping for her boss, until a new permanent owner can be found. She tried all night to convince me to take the darn cat, but there's no way I'm taking it. Plus, it's 8 years old, so it'll probably be dead in a few years anyway. I'd hate to make an emotional connection and then have it die shortly there after (emotional connections taking a few years to form for me anyway). We decided to go to the new location of Sandobe, which has transformed into a more upscale sushi restaurant. So we headed for the L train to first avenue below Union Square. As it happened, as I entered the platform, I spotted Miss Charming Melodee, who was on her way to buy paper supplies for a project she's been commissioned to do. This is the second time I've randomly run into her on the subway, and it's an odd feeling you get when you run into the person you're living with in random spots unexpectedly, since all of our interaction is usually planned, and if we see each other somplace it's because we went there together. I felt like I'd been caught doing something unseemly or something. So it makes me feel all weird in a way that i hadn't felt since we first started dating. Anyway, Caryn tried to convince her to take the cat as well. A selling point was that the cat didn't really have a set name, despite being 8 years old, so we could name it whatever we want. When it comes to cat names, I've always been partial to "Steamed pork dumplings."
The new Sandobe was indeed much nicer than the old space, which was crowded, dark, and extremely cramped. The new one was a bit much though. Each table had an illuminated center panel that was green or blue or red. I felt like we should've been looking at slides or x-rays or something. The food was supposed to be a little better, and it was, if only barely. It was definitely more expensive though. Regardless, it was a pleasant meal of catching up with Caryn.
At the end of the meal, Caryn got a phone call and immediately became quite agitated. The call was from Emily of the band Metric, whom Caryn has become fairly tight with. She was going to the Liars show at Warsaw, and called to inform Caryn that the "secret" opening band was none other than the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, one of our mutually favorite bands. For a while Metric's most notable fact was that they once shared a loft in Brooklyn with the members of the YYYs and another now-prominent New York band whose name escapes me. But apparently they're on the rise, and deservedly so. Of the few songs I've heard by Metric, I like most of them, and the lyrics are surprsingly good. Anyway, Emily told Caryn that the show was supposed to be a secret and that she shouldn't tell anyone. Luckily for me, I was sitting in front of Caryn when she found out. A lot of people probably knew anyway, since there was concern that the show would be sold out. So Caryn was in a big rush to get out there. I was supposed to meet up with Geoff, who was actually having dinner 5 blocks down 1st avenue, so I was debating whether or not to go. Plus, I didn't want to leave Miss CM at home alone, since she's also YYY enthusiast. But before I could decide anything, Caryn had already flagged down a cab, so I said fuck it and got in. After stopping off at her place to drop off the cumbersome bag of kitty litter, we caught another cab for Brooklyn.Warsaw is located at the southern end of Greenpoint, which is pretty convenient if you're coming from the Lower East Side. One of my regrets about my time living in Greenpoint was that I never went to a show at Warsaw while I lived in Greenpoint. It's one of the less convenient venues to get to, so I always felt it was a shame that I never went there when it was within walking distance of my house. Anyway, as we got there, there was a sizeable line out front, and our hopes waned a bit. Caryn was a bit upset that she had seen Emily two days ago, and she neglected to mention this show. Even if we couldn't get tickets, there was a good chance the Metric lady would've gotten us in anway I guess. So I wasn't in that much of a hurry to be a paying customer. For Caryn's part, she normally would try to get on the guest list for a show she wanted to go to, since she works at Spin, but in this case she didn't even try, since Spin had given the Liars' new album an F. Regardless, we got tickets, and all was well.
The first band we saw was TV on the Radio, whom I'd heard pretty good things about. I didn't know that the band was 4/5 black, which is very odd in the New York rock and roll circles. The lone white dude was the guitarist, who looked uncannily like Rivers Cuomo, right down to the glasses and shirt and the way he played the guitar. The music itself was ok. Caryn's opinion was that the lead singer was the weak link, and I had spent most of the time thinking that the group would be cooler if the singer were blind, a la Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise. Still, the guitarist's huge afro and beard were entertaning enough themselves.
Once that set ended, Caryn wanted to get a lot closer, so we crept up toward the front. I've stopped trying to get toward the front at shows, so we were a lot closer to the stage than any show I've been to in years. So the YYYs come out, and Karen O is dressed like, I'm assuming, the Queen of hearts, in this red velveteen or something frock with sequined gold arms and one gold fingerless glove, along with blue tights with red hearts, and shimmery gold underpants. When she first came out, she had her back turned, and on her back was written the name of the Liars new album, the release of which was the reason for the show. She happens to be dating the lead singer of the Liars, so her presence made perfect sense. Anyway, the shot itself was pretty good, but not the best I've seen them. They played a lot of new songs and none of their bigger hits, and between most songs Karen wouldn't stop yapping about mush the Yeah Yeah Yeahs loved the Liars. On and on and on. If I were the Liars I would've been pretty embarrassed. And if I were Karen's boyfriend, I'd have a major inferiority complex, as her band is everything his is not. I've said before that on paper, I'd assume I would hate the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but their appeal is undeniable to me. They're just power and rock and roll personified, and as I was watching I kept getting the feeling that I was seeing something great in its prime, like if I'd seen all those bands at CBGBs in the late 70s. I've never seen another band where all the musicians were so suited for what they do, and where all their strong points mesh with the other's so perfectly. Karen O may be the charasmatic front woman, but I can't imagine her singing with anyone else. Nick Zinner's about as limited in his guitar sounds as Karen O is vocally, but like her, he does absolutely maximizes the tools at his disposal. He comes up with the perfect riffs. And the drummer is possibly the dorkiest looking drummer this side of Pat Wilson of Weezer. But like Pat Wilson, he's a fucking hurricane back there. Caryn thought he was a bit too loud, but we were standing not ten feet from the huge speakers, and not 20 feeet from the drums themselves. Anyway, Caryn was also of the opinion that the lackluster show was deliberate, as Karen probably didn't want to upstage her boyfriend's band, though the YYYs are clearly the superior outfit. In fact, when the Liars came out, my first thought was that they sounded what I'd imagined the YYYs would sound like if they had an obnoxious male singer. I think they only way that the YYYs could've avoided upstaging the Liars is if they came out, sat in silence for five minutes, took a giant poop on the stage, and left without wiping.
Still, all in all it was worth the trip and the money. I'd see the YYYs any chance I got. They're the only band I've ever come across who impressed so much during a live show that I was instantly a fan, despite never having heard them or even of them before. They've just got it. Though I'm pretty sure that if I had to hang around Karen O for an extended period of time I'd find her annoying as fuck. But it's nice to see someone who's so good at something having so much fun doing it. Her smile is so wide I wondered if she had extra rows of teeth. The only disconcerting thing is that while she gained a lot of her notoriety from the swigging, spewing and pouring of beer all over herself on stage, she now sips from expensive bottles of Veuve Clicquot champagne on stage. Lousy rock star...
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