This is probably (I only say probably because we've been told that each year would be the last year that Coney Island would be open for a few years now) the last free Sunday show at McCarren Park. The promoters seem really upset about it. I couldn't really be bothered to care. Free shows will happen somewhere else I guess. But since this was the last free show, and since the headliner was such a well known band (Yo La Tengo was the headliner. Someone at the show was confused on this point, so I just wanted to spell it out in case anyone was unclear), we (yes, I go to all shows with my girlfriend. Deal with it) were expecting total unmanageable madness. We both aren't fans of large crowded spaces, and this looked like it would be the worst one.
When we arrived, what little optimism I had been feeling evaporated. The line went all the way around the venue. I had my doubts about whether or not we'd get in. But we stuck it out. And in the end it was well worth it. We walked into the venue right when the first band started to play. We quickly made our way to the front and were able to secure a pretty good spot. We didn't know the groups name at the time. Turns out it was the British Soap actress Ebony Thomas AKA Ebony Bones. Thomas was dressed in a pretty ridiculous and colorful outfit (just google her. I won't be able to come up with a better description than that) and wearing eyelash extensions and glitter. She had two backup singers that rarely danced in sync. The band was made up of drums, bass, guitar that was never loud enough and a keyboard/trumpet player in a mask and a hat.
Outlandish outfits aside, the band was pretty tight. And it was hard to find any fault in Thomas or her energetic backup singers. The music was a strange blend of soul and dance punk that wouldn't have worked without such strong vocals. And the band was pretty imaginative too. But what sealed the deal for us was Ebony Bones herself. At one point, she urged the crowd to move to the left and then the right. This attempt to get the overheated crowd to dance fell flat, but what impressed me was how her smile never wavered. There were two British kids towards the front going nuts. Maybe that was enough support. Whatever it was, we were pleasantly surprised by the level of the performance, and I'm kind of disappointed that there no albums for me to buy.
Up next was Titus Andronicus which was for me the main attraction. After catching the final twenty minutes of their set at an outdoor show in July, and falling in love with their debut album The Airing of Grievances (more on this later), I was very eager for the full Titus Andronicus experience. I might have been in the minority on this. Some asshole in the line behind us complained that they were horrible at some show he had seen, and during the set, some underweight hipster asshole behind said, "hurry up asshole."
But like the teenage friend that introduced Titus Andronicus said, those people can "suck it" as far as I'm concerned. I sort of understand where they are coming from: Titus Andronicus are not a "tight" live band (dropped and unplugged microphones are a common occurrence), but anyone who can't get swept away by their energy simply has no soul. And maybe Patrick Stickles stage antics can be a bit much, but I was amused to watch him cut off his beard during a song.
Titus Andronicus was exactly as awesome as I thought they'd be. No less and no more. The set included 3 out of 4 of my favorite album tracks (Fear and Loathing in Mahwah NJ, Joset of Nazareth's Blues, No Future Part 1) and a stirring rendition of "The Enemy is Everywhere" that didn't suffer much from not including the sign with the chorus (it's the same as the title). Patrick Sickles invited his girlfriend on stage to help sing "No Future Part 1", and while we couldn't hear her very well, it was still pretty cute. And of course they closed with "Fear and Loathing in Mahwah NJ", easily the best song of the year.
And that's when we should have left. I know a lot of people who'd be horrified that I went to a Yo La Tengo show for the openers. but there you have it. I've seen them before. I have four of their albums (Painful, And then nothing turned itself inside out, I can hear the heart beating as one and I am not afraid of you and I will beat your ass), and while I find nothing to complain about in their music, I also find very little that's especially engaging. They opened with "Mr. Tough", a song that's perfectly fine for listening to while cleaning the apartment or fixing dinner, but nothing I'd ever be able to devote much attention to. And to be honest, that's how I felt about anything that didn't involve Ira Kaplan freaking out on one of his many guitars. So we got bored and tired and left.
I guess I could get into more detail about why Yo La Tengo fails to move me. I've thought up countless reasons: How they are living proof talent and creativity aren't enough to make great music. How Ira Kaplan's guitar playing may be great but still lacks the effortless beauty of my favorite guitarists (Kawabata Makoto, Alan Sparhawk, Pete Townshend, etc.). How Titus Andronicus' songs move the band and the audience to shout the words while Ira Kaplan seems to be yelling to create energy that simply isn't in his songs.
But maybe I'm just some pretentious hipster who refuses to give them a chance. What do I know? So I'll leave it to my girlfriend who really hadn't heard any of these bands before (she had heard a bit of Titus Andronicus prior to the show, but not that much) and said to me after the show that after hearing so much excitement to Yo La Tengo and finally hearing them, she thought "That's it? Really?"
UPDATE: Apparently Titus Andronicus joined Yo La Tengo to play a Misfits cover at the end of the show. That would have been cool to see. Yo La Tengo's talent and Titus Andronicus' energy would make a great combination.
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