southeast

Thanks for posting! Very interesting to hear about the band and how they play music...Now I like them even more!

Oh, wow, I am SOOOO happy for you! Just take it easy in Europe, have fun and get some warm clothes with you - it is ******* freezing here at the moment. I really wish you girls were coming with me. I'll write a report. Hopefully with an M&G to report about after the gig.

One week till "my" gig on the 7th. On the one hand I am happy to see them. On the other hand - what if I am disappointed? I have never seen them live before. After Vampire Weekend's gig I was disappointed - too short, too unpersonal... It would be horrible. My expectations are so high, because I love their music so much that I really hope I like the music as well when I hear it live. I don't know if this makes sense. I am so exited.

Hey, nice pic! And Andrew looks like he's having fun, not just the usual fan photo, ugh. Haha! Love that.

So here’s my report on the Vampire Weekend gig I went to on Saturday. The gig was sold out but we got in at 7 pm and at that time there were like 30 people in the queue in front of us. Pretty relaxed and very nice people there. So we had time to get a drink and sit on the floor and talk to some guys we met. I tried to find a set list, but only found a time table so I knew they would start playing at 9:15 pm. The opening band was “Jenny & Johnny” from Cal-i-fornia maaaaan. They had some nice songs though and played for 45 minutes. Till then everything was fine, we were in the 2nd row, directly in front of the micro of Ezra. But in the break btw. Jenny & Johnny and VW people started pushing from behind like mad so I had to hold on to the bars not to get trodden on or get pushed away. There were also some very drunk guys who just pushed their way to the front rows in a very unpleasant way. And as VW walked in people went really mad. They started pushing so hard I thought I would lose my shoes and taking pictures or filming was impossible. I couldn’t really listen to the music either, too busy trying not to fall. And it was terribly hot. So after the first song we pushed our way out to the right and found a good spot near the medical staff – they had to pull out some people from the middle of the crowd who had fainted and take care of them. But they enjoyed the gig as well, were dancing and singing as well. We still were in the second row so it was ok. I stood near Chris Baio, the bassist, he’s such a charming guy – smiling all the time in a boyish way, he was really enjoying himself. And his way of dancing is just hilarious. They played the well known songs like Horchata, Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, A-Punk, Diplomat’s son, Taxi cab, Walcott, Mansard Roof, Holiday, White Sky, Campus, Cousins. 3 encores. I don’t remember the exact set list, sorry. As the fast songs were played I was really glad we went out of the middle of that crowd – people went crazy, were jumping, screaming, pushing… After the gig we went out, people coming from the inside of the crowd were lying on the floor, gasping for breath. We got our coats and waited for a while on the back door where the tour bus was parked but after a while we got really cold and since I am taking my guy to the MGMT gig on the 7th as well and I really want to wait for the M&G then I thought it would be a good idea to skip that one (if there ever was one ) – he hates M&Gs. So we went home. About the music: They play the songs in exactly the same way as on the album, nothing experimental, new, improvised at the gig. So I think for me it is enough to listen to the albums. If you want to have a party and a rave and a mad time – go! It is fun. But if you want to listen to the music and watch them - better watch some vids on utube. Don’t get me wrong – they are very good live performers! Ezra sang beautifully, great voice. Had his usual stuff on: jeans, boat shoes, blue white checked shirt. Rostam was the conductor – you really could see how he carefully listens to the rest of the band and how it is really important for him to know if they are playing “his” songs right. I think he’s an extremely talented person. Hope to hear more music from him in the future. They were smiling and nice, but didn’t interact with the audience a lot. Ezra just said some Hellos, Thank yous and “Our next song is…” “We have to come again, you are a great crowd” bla bla the usual stuff in English. I wonder sometimes how tired musicians must be of that sort of talk… Also something else about them performing live…I didn’t feel some special kind of vibe or atmosphere at the gig. I don’t know how to explain it better, it was kind of too well rehearsed or too smooth to be very emotional. I really want to hear MGMT live and feel something else there. The best thing about that gig: MGMT are playing at that venue on the 7th as well. So now I know where to stand at their gig So that’s it. I made three vids with my iPhone but the sound is terrible – next time I’ll use my camera instead…

Will listen to it! Thanks for posting the information!

Hehe, we are such a helpful lot here...

I didn't watch it too. No time. But here's a link: http://bit.ly/9AUoZh

It happened while he was doing his Pilates exercises.