I went up to Club Sonar last night with two of my friends to watch Camera Obscura make their Baltimore debut. I have to imagine that as Camera Obscura pulled into Baltimore they had to have mentioned to their tour manager, "What have you got us into" in their think Scottish accents. Baltimore does not seem like Hipster Paradise. Perhaps Heroin Paradise. Classic Baltimore moment: Parking was free across from Sonar but there were about three homeless people that tried to direct traffic and charge parking fees.
So, the club's not bad, there weren't too many people there and we didn't even get patted down for weapons. They must have known the crowd was going to be tame. There were scores of twenty-something indie chicks with their indie haircuts and indie clothes. So, we kind of moved towards the front and saw the Last Town Chorus play for about 40 minutes. It was intriguing. They both sty seated the whole time and the girl played a steel guitar like I imagine My Bloody Valentine must have played meaning it was all atmospheric sliding and such. The girl tried to engage in crowd banter tried to talk about Baltimore (she grew up in Columbia, MD) but no one paid her any attention so she would stop mid-sentence and start playing again. I get that people like to ignore opening bands, but I think maybe 10 people were paying attention. Personally, if you paid 15 bucks to see a concert, shut up and watch the music. Quit talking through the whole show. Every break you could hear the crowd babbling.
Camera Obscura hit the stage at about 10:00. They played until 11:20. Shortest set I've ever paid money to see (possibly rivaling Dolorean, BTE's co-headlining concert with Cowboy Mouth and Depeche Mode's "We're going through the motions" tour). Possible reasons CO played a short set. 1) They felt uncomfortable, 2) The crowd babbled through their songs as well 3) They're mean 4) No one seemed to care they were on stage. I don't know the answer. I do know that they played some songs fabulously including the most rip-roaring speedy version of If Looks Could Kill and a ripplingly loud version of Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken. The end of Razzle Dazzle Rose was nice and noisy. Tracy Anne's voice was perfect, especially on Country Mile. So, they played a nice set. Just too short. The material was heavy on the latest album, which I prefer Underachievers Please Try Harder (they played Suspended from Class, Teenager, and Keep it Clean). You just got the feeling that they were trying to energizer the crowd and those hipsters refused to be energized.
On a sidenote, pictures do not do justice to how weird this band is. The lead singer wore a hideous 80s dress and high heels, the keyboardist wore a frumpy dress and famously only whispered things to the lead singer, the lead guitarist looked 40 and should be a high school English teacher, the bassist looked 50 and had to weigh 250 (I should mention that the bassist actually stood out as being quite good, although I've never EVER paid attention to a CO bassline in my life). I mean, it's actually quite cool that these extremely normal people are in a band. The lead singer's not super skinny or super attractive, but she's talented. So, there you go.
I face a dilemma. I enjoy Indie music. I enjoy knowing people that like Indie music. But I dislike Indie crowds. This, I think, was the most hardest-core indie crowd I've been a part of. Generally, the Indies at a show have had a presence, but not like this. And I've always been bugged by the seeming pretention of people who show up to a show but are too cool to move. If you're going to come to a show and not move a) please move to the back and b) please at least watch the show. As I left, I just couldn't shake the feeling that we, as a crowd, utterly failed the band. Just like in college sports, fans can elevate the playing of bands. We blew it. We were just too cool.
I feel weird trying to sing lyrics along with a female singer. I tried a couple of lines and stopped. When I think about it, women sing along with songs by men all the time. Do women feel weird doing it?
4 comments:
RUN,
I'm a non-mover at concerts. I can't stand people that jump around and run into people. If you want to do that go clubbing. Same with singing along. If you want to sing along save it for the commute when you're alone in your Chevy Cavalier because I paid money to hear it from the real deal. I do, however, pay very close attention to the show. I try to catch everything that happens. I bring a pen and paper and write down the set list. Then I go home and take a look at how many songs they played from each album and hypothesize the reason of the song choice and what the artists were trying to convey by choosing the songs they did. I make note of ways they change the songs from their album versions. I take pictures if I can. I take videos and post them on YouTube. My Shins video of Turn On Me is the second watched video of Turn On Me second only The Shins performance of the song on the David Letterman show. I also note what the band members are drinking. Some drink water. Some booze. I note which ones smoke. Which ones dance around and which ones are sedentary. How the band members interact with the crowd.
I'm interested in the indie delimma of wanting to be part of something without wanting to be part of its community. I feel the same way. I'm too old to look indie and act indie but I love going to live performances. When I make enough money I'll just pay the artists come to my house and put on a private performance for myself and a few close friends. That'd be perfect. I'll invite you and then you won't have to worry about annoying 20-something indie chicks.
I don't even know what the term "indie" is all about. You're still a concert goer, eh? Muse was good enough for me. I really don't get a kick out of feeling weird about dancing and singing along. I agree with Josh. I also don't enjoy the company of strangers at concerts like I do at BYU ball games. I think it has everything to do with the gospel. The chance that the people around me are the type of people I could be good friends with is high. At concerts, it's low. I guarantee you had the highest morals and IQ of the crowd. Chances of me going to a concert and being surrounded by Dougs is slim.
OF COURSE we sing along and don't feel weird! Here is the great eternal truth: I can borrow Derek's clothes and just look cute and sloppy ("oh how cute she's wearing her husband's shirt today"), but Derek CANNOT wear my clothes without raising some serious issues (mainly the fact that if he can fit into my pants, I'm going to go shoot myself). So girls can sing along with guys, but it just feels weird as a guy to try to sing all high and girly. There you have it. And just to weigh in, I'm all for being INVOLVED at a concert. If you're not going to freak out and jump up and down to "Where the Streets have No Name" trying vainly to sing along with the rest of the frenzied idiots around you, then why did you come?
I can't say that I am much of a concert go-er. Maybe like Adrienne said "If you're not going to freak out and jump up and down... then why did you come?" And I see people do that around me, and I think to myself: "self, you don't really fit in here" so I sit the next ones out. But the concerts I do go to, I try to be as lively as I know how to be, and sing along where I know the words. It does seem to fuel the concert. The bands love to see that you are singing a long and get more enthused by it.
And, I'm afraid to say, that some of my favorite songs to sing to are sung by female artists... however, I usually only sing along in the privacy of my own car! ;-)
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