I was supposed to write about the Do Make Say Think concert over the weekend, but I got distracted and distraction turned into feeling sick… and I still don’t feel well, but at least I feel well enough to sit at my desk and type in an entry. It’s nothing horrible, just seasonal allergies and asthma problems, but it’s enough to leave me irritable, confused, and in pain. In fact, a co-worker asked me today how I was doing and I said, “Allergic” in place of my usual, “Good, how are you?” Truth be told, I should have just stayed home because I got absolutely NOTHING done over these past couple of days. I am not such a great employee when I’m sick (but not contagious!) and can’t breathe, but I’m a good enough one to show up. heh.
In any case, last Friday (when I was feeling fine) and headed down to New York to see Do Make Say Think at the New York Society for Ethical Culture. I made the mistake of thinking I could catch a cab uptown, but I quickly bailed the taxi stand at Grand Central and went with the subway instead. Got there in amazing time, but not early enough to catch The Electric Kompany’s full set (I blame the girl at the “will call” table that liked to talk more than issue stamps to get in. I also thought it was kinda shady that she didn’t check my ID to confirm I was who I said I was. Not that anyone really knew that I was going to get in by saying my name and taking my seat, but, still…) I did catch the tail end, but I feel like I didn’t really see enough to gain a full opinion.
I was more taken with the venue itself. Having not stepped in a church for a very long time, it was odd to sit down in a pew, program in hand (churches I attended with my family often had programs, too, especially for holidays like Christmas and Easter). The building itself didn’t have a very church “feel”, and I suppose that was because I wasn’t listening to a spoken sermon and I wasn’t surrounded by church members. Just hipsters. (I even saw a guy that resembled a very young Allen Ginsberg, but it was more wrong than right) The people sitting around me were astonishingly polite (please, and thank yous!) and though I heard that there were a few people who kicked the back of pews, everyone seemed laid back. It was nice to sit during a show! I thought that sitting was TOTALLY rock n’ roll and I’m not even joking. (Although, we did all stand at one point and I clapped my hands during a song and ovation for what seemed like 10 minutes or so — NOT unlike the churches my Dad made us attend — even the guy next to me remarked on how long he had been clapping and how much his hand hurt from it)
I get pretty emotional at shows. Shows are kinda my therapy, I’ve found. Being that it was in a church nearly made it a religious experience — I always like the music part of church, especially singing old hymns — that I couldn’t sing along didn’t matter, really. Had I written this review Friday night it would have been a lot more emotional than what I’m writing now, it would have had a lot more “OMGZ” and “OMGZ AWESOMELIEKWHOA” and all that, but since I’ve let a little time pass and I’m a bit more serious (cough cough — no, really, I’m coughing) but that doesn’t make the show any less awesome, just less fangirlish. I think I added in my LJ that DMST were “holy” and I kinda meant it.
I am still in love with Justin Small, though. I love how he rocks out when everyone (I think there were 9 or 10 or 11 people on stage?) looks so serious (but not stiff). I hope he’s still doing stuff with Lullabye Arkestra. I love that shit.
In any case, it was one of the better shows I’ve seen in a long long time, and the best DMST show I’ve seen (although, hold that thought, I’ma see them in October in Toronto!)
KINDA related, but not really, I got a message from last.fm buddy thanking me for showing him the way to Sloan and DMST, and I’m like “Yo, I gotchurr back” actually, I just thanked him for writing to let me know, and that I’m glad to help and go see DMST NOW! And that’s just one of the few reasons I love that service. I know it doesn’t really matter how many times you listen to a song or artist, but it’s really interesting to see the listening habits of yourself and others… or it could be really embarrassing, as the world will know I’ve listened to 1,886 DMST songs or 2,688 Sonic Youth songs or 70 Oasis songs! since 26 September 2005 (two years, wow!) I’ve switched my settings to show songs of the past 3 months, although, you can access my total listening stats somewhere else.
So, I’m still stuck on that Virginia Woolf book, but to be fair, I haven’t felt much like reading since my head hurts so bad that sometimes my eyes clamp shut involuntarily. (Fun!) I haven’t started anything else, though, so there’s still hope. And here’s hoping that I’ll be able to breathe better tonight and tomorrow and every day after…