3 Shows/1 Week

Genevieve's visit was only the beginning of a week and a half of unemployed thrills, bearing the overarching theme of SHOWS.  There was plenty that happened between concerts, but for the sake of this post, I'll be strictly speaking musical nights.  Then I'll go back and fill in the blanks.

1.

After seeing the Captain off, I took a quick power nap at home and later met up with my friend Kendall and two of her pals for spicy Vietnamese food.  She and her friends, a grad student from Boston and a music video director/shooter from California, had been drinking tequila since the sun rose.  The director, Andrew, had plans for us all to head to Williamsburg after dinner so we could catch Caveman at Brooklyn Bowl (he’s friends with their manager) and meet them backstage.  That translated more to us getting access to the bowling alleys free of charge and then loitering a bit too long.  From there, we headed to an empty loft space on Wythe Ave because Gavin of LCD Soundystem was spinning a guest DJ set.  At that point, Kendall started crying inexplicably and I sensed that I should leave her and her Bostoner best pal to talk it out.  Good show, though, and that's #1.

Andrew with our street-friend Jaime.

Jaime had a giant bag of jeans to deal with.

Caveman at Brooklyn Bowl. 

2.

The next evening, I had a dinner date and Show #2.  The date was with Sebastian, who I met at my friend Heather’s birthday party.  He’s a Long Islander minus the accent, and because he books music at the Mercury Lounge, he had asked me that morning if I’d be interested in seeing Antlers play a benefit show at Glasslands.  The show had only just been announced the day before and was impossible to get tickets to after they sold out in five minutes, but there’s the nice thing about show bookers -- they know bookers at other venues.  Before the concert, we met at DuMont in Williamsburg.  There’s a burger shop version of DuMont, but Sebastian asked me to meet him at the fancy restaurant location which is close to Barcade on Union Ave.  The place was incredible ~ their backyard felt like a wooden terrarium covered in vines, and the food was perfectly delicious.  Sebastian ordered the wine and oysters for us and we both had salmon.  He wouldn’t let me pay for anything, and believe me, I tried.  I'm new to the mid-20's dating scene, and I've learned that asking someone out to dinner is a grand gesture. It's usually just drinks, to maintain a casual, risk-free air.  But I will attest to the dinner trick's way of earning major impression points.  Not only that, but it had been a while since I'd been treated and made to feel like I was worth a fancy, real dinner date.  It was nice.

Antlers!

After dinner, we had a little time before the show started, so Sebastian introduced me to this fantastic bar somewhere in the south streets of Williamsburg where they make a mean Pimm’s Cup and have a giant backyard full of scavenged barn furniture and project 60’s surfer films onto a wall.  It was like the drive-up movies for Brooklyn pedestrians.  Then it was a quick jaunt around the corner to GlassLands for the concert.  The show was great, if a little hot and hazy thanks to a lack of airflow, and then Sebastian and I walked back to our patch of Brooklyn.  He lives off the Hewes stop of the J/M but has walked me home {out of his way} twice and I have to say – I appreciated that.  Sebastian should probably write a book, because he seems to maneuver the modern day gentleman's code expertly.  All in all, it was a great show and a great date.

3. 

That Thursday, I continued my Show Parade with The XX.  I was feeling a bit overextended with all the excitement of Christina's visit and my job ending and picking up a freelance gig to boot, and I almost sold my tickets because I wasn’t sure I could rally for music that’s known for its use of near empty space and sonic pops, but I’m so glad I didn’t bail on Karolina and Katie.  Not only was it a smashing Montreal reunion for us three ladies, but the show was fantastic.  Cinematically lit, expertly performed ( I couldn’t take my eyes offstage), and of course, engineered so that the audio gave even more away than the albums.  It was my first time seeing a show at Terminal 5 and I really loved the set-up.  Their VIP section is one balcony above the main floor, and from my position close to stage right, I could spy on both Lana del Ray and Alexis from Sleigh Bells.  Everybody comes out for great bands, and I'm glad to be included in that.  Thank goodness for a second wind and Show #3. 

what I've got to show for so many shows

Blinky but happy with my two K's.

the XX