Brightest Young Things

Pictures Courtesy of: Army of Me's Myspace

When I arrived at the Black Cat on Tuesday night for the Army of Me show I was utterly surprised by the make-up of the crowd.  Normally, when going to the Black Cat you can expect 3 different types of people:

1) Rockers
2) Hipsters
3) People like Me (lame-os)

However, there were groups of people I had never seen before (people in suits? Old People? Bros!?) which threw me off balance enough to realize that tonight's show was going to be a little out of my comfort zone.

I arrived in time to hear the end of Ki: Theory's set (from outside the door) on which I have little opinion other than they were loud.   Army of Me's stage set up is really interesting and that honestly entrigued me the most from the onset.  First of all, they have taken it upon themselves to light the stage.  As many who read this website may know the Black Cat Backstage is rather dark.  To combat that problem (rather successfully) AoM decided to bring their own lamps, which basically looked like they grabbed them off their living room tables before heading to the show, a pretty cool effect.  The evening started with a Vince (basically) solo acoustic song about love as a tribute to his brother who had just gotten engaged.  The song progressed along, with Vince at points sounding a bit Bob Dylanesque in his delivery.  After that the full band came out for a full set of pop-infused rock and roll.

The one problem I found was the disconnect between the record sound and the stage show.  I did my research and listened to a bit of AoM before going to the show so I had some frame of reference and perspective.  Vince is a great songwriter so the lyrics were still excellent and poignent but it seems that the records packed more of a punch than the actual live show.  Or maybe it was exactly what AoM wanted.  After years of being under the radar, then going to a major label, and eventually breaking from that as well, maybe it was time for AoM to just play music because they wanted to play music.  They've been around long enough that I trust they know what they're doing.  Maybe you should trust them too.

Previously in Live DC:

• 5/22: LiveDC: Spirit Animal @ Red Palace
• 5/22: LiveDC: Astra Via @ Black Cat
• 5/22: LiveDC: Father John Misty @ Rock & Roll Hotel
• 5/22: LiveDC: Drive-By Truckers and Lucinda Williams @ Merriweather
• 5/22: Photos: Summer Camp takes the "Ladies of Town" Drag Show
• 5/22: LiveDC: Penguin Prison & Class Actress @ RNR Hotel
• 5/21: LiveDC: James Morrison @ 930 Club
• 5/21: Photos: Que Sera L'Anniversaire @ Napoleon
• 5/21: LiveDC: La Sera/ Beach Week @ Red Palace
• 5/21: LiveDC: The Black Keys & Arctic Monkeys @ Merriweather Post Pavilion