In the past several days, I had the opportunity to check out 2 great performances in this dear city of mine: Me’Shell Ndegeocello and LCD Soundsystem.
First up: Me’Shell Ndegeocello, Friday April 6th at Joe’s Pub
(No show pic . Sorry. She doesn’t allow photography at her shows!)
Me’Shell did a 3 night stint at Joe’s Pub where the first two nights were dedicated to performing select songs from her now 10+ (!) year old album Bitter. The final night, Saturday, was a night of Gil-Scott Heron covers. I wish I could have experienced both types of shows, but my budget wasn’t cooperating.
If you’ve heard her song “Fool of Me” (featured in Love and Basketball), it isn’t hard to figure out what Bitter is all about. Its a depressing assed album straight up and down. A beautifully moody and somber work that can bring down the happiest of the happy. This album came out at a pretty good time for me: young love, doing well in school, great life. I played this album repeatedly when I got it, to the point I had to confide in my good friend about how down I was feeling without knowing why. His solution? Take Bitter out of my CD player, which I did. Problem solved. I feel this album embodies La Douleur Exquise (loving someone who is unattainable). I’ve been down that road, many, many, many times. Le sigh.
Joe’s Pub was a great venue for this kind of performance. Very dark, very intimate (though the wait service did kill the mood at certain points). Me’Shell played bass for most of the songs while she had another guitarist and drummer back her up. She immediately starts it off with “Fool of Me”. Pretty much by the time she said “I feel so dumb/What kind of fool am I?” I got that horrible pre-cry feeling welling up in my chest. I managed to keep it at bay for a few songs but by the time she did “Wasted Time” (she didn’t perform the songs in album order), it was a wrap. Tears streaming in silence of course. Can’t be acting out in public.
I loved how silent the crowd was. Normally you’d have somene trying to sing along like they lived it but it was as if everyone was transfixed, caught in the moment and feeling Me’Shell was expressing through those songs. I saw a couple cuddling which I really didn’t understand ( if heartache gets you in that amorous mood, go ahead lovers!). She did everything off the album except “Adam”, “Eve” (which are instrumentals anyway), “May This Be Love”, and my personal favorite, “Sincerity”. It is probably a good thing that she didn’t do this one for my tear ducts’ sake.
She livened things up a bit at the end by doing 2 songs off her new album (which is really great and you should hurry up and buy!), Devil’s Halo. She did very funky, very rockin versions of “Lola” and “Mass Transit”.
As an encore, she was given a special request from Joe’s Pub staff, which she obliged. She did a personal favoriite of mine, “Outside Your Door” off Plantation Lullabies (sound familiar? its because Brian McKnight jacked it!). I think it was a good ending to the show, bringing us almost full circle back to that terribly pleasurable feeling of wanting someone that does’t know you exist, but to that point where you’re still hopeful that you’ll catch their eye, not that dark place after you realize ain’t no way in hell you’ll be with them that Bitter covers. Ah, unrequited love.
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Have I thoroughly depressed you? I hope not. Its time to snap out of it, which I properly did Monday, April 12th at the LCD Soundsystem show at Webster Hall.
(photo courtesy of Brooklyn Vegan who have a ton of great shots and a review of the show)
I’m not 100% up on LCD, apart from “Tribulations” (which I love) and “Daft Punk is Playing at My House”, I wasn’t familiar with the first album. I got into their second album, Sound of Silver, because of the Loosie Remix of “New York, I Love You” featuring Spec Boogie (which I can’t seem to locate right now. I’ll upload it later) . I know there have been a grip of single releases and b-sides between albums that I don’t know much about but overall I love their sound. Fun Electronic Dance Rock with funny smart lyrics provided by lead singer James Murphy. I like how LCD Soundsystem has had a sound that a lot of the kids are into today for several years now. They’re more relevant now than ever given the kind of music that is popular now, so its very good that after 3 years, they have a new album dropping called This is Happening, and have started to perform again.
They did their first show in a long time this past Thursday at Music Hall of Williamsburg. I heard the sold-out show was pretty great, though they were definitely a little rusty (and apparently, very drunk). They decided at the last minute to put on another show as a practice for their upcoming Coachella performance, my brother bought tickets, and I gladly allowed myself to be dragged along.
I thought the show was great. They did a good mix of new songs off the album, as well as some album cuts and between-album cuts. They are definitely still working out the kinks which James Murphy puttered around stage trying to fix. They started “Tribulations” and it wasn’t recognizable at first but a quick fix by Murphy and it was all to the good. The energy overall of the band was really fresh and enthusiastic and the crowd fed off that and returned a great response. The floor was literally shaking at a few points in the night. The last song of the main show was really a blast-Murphy called for his lighing guy to get real “rave-y” with the lights and we got treated to a lazer show of sorts. Someone started tossing some glow in the dark ball around the crowd and it was a nice feverish ending. They came back and encored with “Daft Punk” and “New York, I Love You”.
Their album drops May 18th and they should be back in NY in the next several weeks doing more shows. I hear they’re playing Terminal 5. They definitely worked out a lot of the kinks Monday night and by the time they get back from Coachella, I’m sure their show will truly be amazing.
You can dowload some new songs of their album here. The album is also streaming here.
Oh! I almost forgot! Opening for LCD was a group called Fall On Your Sword. Apparently they are part band, part “media composers” who work on various film and commercial projects, but also perform live. I walked into the venue while they closed out a song that flipped the theme song to Days of Our Lives and was thoroughly confused by it all. Then this song came on with the accompanying video and my brain flew out of my head. What in the what???
The first time I ever regret missing an opening act.
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