Cold War Kids -> Clap Your Hands Say Yeah @ Mercury Lounge 1/24/07 :: Review
I apologize in advance for the over use of CWK (Cold War Kids) and CYHSY (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah).
Out with the old and in with the new…actually, I’m gonna stick with the old. Last night I saw two bands at different stages in their career. The Cold War Kids are just starting off and after a successful debut album are about to endeavor on a U.S. & European tour. Then you have Clap Your Hands Say Yeah who HAD the successful album in 2005, about to release their second album (hopefully avoiding the sophomore slump) and are now trying to hold onto their fans (it’s tough having hipsters as your audience base). Clap Your Hands Say Yeah could give a lot of big brother advice to the Cold War Kids…I actually think the two are doing the European tour together, so they will have plenty of time to talk.
Cold War Kids I left the show with a lot of questions…specifically about their upcoming Bowery Ballroom shows …How did this band sell-out not one, not two, but THREE shows months in advance? Did people buy tickets off the album and hype alone (ala me for the Mercury show)…or are these repeat customers who want all the CWK they can get…are people seriously going to all three shows? They could barely fill the Mercury Lounge with sound…how are they going to fill the Bowery? Then again, a few months of touring could work wonders. What I give the CWK credit for is choosing to play venues like Mercury, Piano’s, Union Hall and not jumping straight to the Bowery…which they easily could have done months ago. I’m not sure if this was a PR move…ie sell-out a bunch of small venues, thus creating a ticket frenzy and enough buzz to last a year…or are they conscious of the fact they aren’t ready for the Bowery? I highly doubt they could have sold-out three shows without all the small sold-out gigs. I was contemplating buying a ticket for one of the Bowery shows, but just couldn’t before actually seeing them first…glad I decided not to…gonna stick with listening to the album (which I’m still highly recommending).
w/ Illinois
Wednesday, January 24th 2007
Mercury Lounge – NYC (early show)
I’ve been listening to the Cold War Kid’s album Robbers & Cowards since it was released last year and think it’s GREAT…definitely in my top ten of 2006. I’m a sucker for indie piano rock and Robbers & Cowards nails it. I’ve been trying to see them ever since the first listen, but kept getting shutout of their shows. So when the Mercury Lounge tickets went onsale I didn’t hesitate buying a pair. This show (just like their bazillion other shows these past few months) sold-out pretty quickly and was amongst the hot tickets to get on Craigslist. Needless to say, I was excited to finally see CWK live…however, the results were a little disappointing. Maybe it was the docile crowd, the drummer who was just OFF at times making me feel discombobulated (reminded me of a Melvins song I can’t remember the name of), the entire band being low in the mix (very quiet for a rock show), dead on start times (so unrocknroll), no encore (again, so unrocknroll), or my super high expectations…the show was just lack luster and unfunfilling. The word “tight” is one of the highest compliments you can give a band and not once did that word cross my mind during their set. Not saying I didn’t enjoy the music, but just didn’t compare to the quality on the album.
Two more quick notes about CWK, found out a possible reason why the drummer sounded OFF from this Harp Magazine article…“I seriously first started playing drums on a regular basis when I started playing with this band,” says Aviero, who was brought into the fold last.” And the Cold War Kids should be added to Love God’s Way list of Safe Bands…read here.
And couple quick notes about the opening band Illinois…I’ve always said two things…1) You can’t go wrong with a rock band that has a banjo player and 2) You can’t go wrong with guy who who sits on a suitcase to play the keyboard and uses a telephone as a microphone.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Wednesday, January 24th 2007 (late show)
Mercury Lounge – NYC 
Earlier in the day Clap Your Hands Say Yeah announced a special late night show at the Mercury Lounge…I thought “Hey, I’ll be there anyway…why not for only $10″. So got tickets and was prepared for a long night (w/ the neccessary prelimary cheesteak from the Cheesesteak Factory). The CWK show was over around midnight, which meant I had an hour to kill before CYHSY. Neddy was suppose to join me for both shows, but decided it was best for him to skip the late show and head home to Long Island. I on the other hand hopped on the subway to meet up with some friends at bar/restaurant called Cafe Riazor. A few quick beers, a tequila shot and I was on my way back to the Mercury Lounge. With Neddy having bailed, I was lucky to actually convince one of my friends at the bar to join me (not that easy to do on a school night…having just turned 31 she quoted the infamous Bob Seger as the reason for her decision to come…“So now sweet sixteen’s turned thirty-one“…I don’t understand either, but I was happy to have some company). Got there just as CYHSY were hitting the stage…I would say around 1:20am. Quick side note, I was quite happy with the lack of Craigslist ticket scalping for this impromptu late night show…I’m not saying there weren’t any, but most were offers of tickets at face value. And all the CYHSY fans unlucky enough to get tickets earlier in the day, but were willing to wait outside in the cold got in…and one kid trying to sell his extras for $40 a piece out front was NOT allowed in.
Once I heard the music my sense of time disappeared, which is exactly what you want to have happen at a late night show on a Wednesday. For me CYHSY is about the lead singer and guitarist Alec Ounsworth who is a cross between David Byrne and Bob Dylan (in the fact that I can only understand about half the words he says and he plays the harmonica). The set included all the classic CYHSY songs, a bunch of new ones, extended space jams, megaphone vocals, and even some dance beats (which is exactly what you need at 2am in the morning to keep you going). The band was tight (take note CWK) all night long and the crowd was loving it. So funny to see two distinct crowds in the same venue on the same night…the CYHSY crowd was definitely liquored up and ready throw down. The show wrapped up around 2:30am and I honestly could have gone another hour. Hadn’t seen CYHSY since they played at the South Street Seaport a couple summers ago and this show had me thinking “Why not?”. Here is the setlist from stereogum:
Gimme Some Salt
Some Loud Thunder
Emily Jean Stock
Satan Said Dance
Over And Over Again (Lost And Found)
Mama, Won’t You Keep Them Castles In The Air And Burning?
Goodbye To Mother And The Cove
Upon This Tidal Wave Of New Blood
Encore:
Clap Your Hands!*
???
Heavy Metal
*megaphone
So glad I decided to do both shows…seeing CYHSY made up for the disappointment of CWK. One more thing, on my train ride home I listened to a fantastic album called “Lemonjelly.ky” by Lemon Jelly (thanks Krister). The perfect post show late night chill-out music…it was exactly what I needed.
Freaks Ball VII
