Live DC: 1990s / Art Brut / Hold Steady @ 930 Club

November 21, 2007 by Svetlana  Send to a Friend

We’ve been hyping this show since forever so it came as no surprise that it sold out at 930 club on a Tuesday.
I will not lie if I say that while we are fans of all three bands (some to greater, some to lesser extent) we basically came out to see

1990s.

Have you seen them live yet? If not, shame, shame, SHAME on you. Their show at RNR in August is still one of my favorite nights this year and “Cookies” is the best record probably at least half of you don’t own.
Plus, any band you run into in the lobby of the venue holding plastic cups filled with whiskey who then even pretends to “remember you from the last time” is fine by us. (read our jazzy interview with Michael here)
But more than that: seriously, the funn(i)est (altogether now: “my cult status keeps me FUCKING! your! wife!”), most energetic show around. 3 people, 2 vocals (Michael is also on drums and Jackie is also on guitar), new bass player and just straight up, non-stop awesomeness. If you liked the later, punchier britpop, you’ll love them. If you loved earlier, poppier punk, you’ll love them. Hell, if you like music and fun and all that is good with the world, you’ll love them. And if you remember Yummy Fur, from which 1990s sprung, then you know what I am talking about.
And “See you at the lights” is in my top 10 songs of this year. Easy.
Now, can we please see them headline next?

next came

Art Brut

I like Art Brut. And even though opinions of them are polarized around these BYT parts, we all agree that Eddie Argus is one funny motherfucker(check out our interview here) and that what the music lacks in actual musical quality, it definitely makes up for in lyrical zest.
Which is where the problem with the Art Brut show last night rolls in: while I appreciate the self satisfaction and cockiness as much as the next person, it is really hard to pull it off when the WORDS ARE NOT COMING THROUGH CLEARLY THROUGH THE SOUND SYSTEM. Booo. So, it ends up being a lot of high-school punk pop with only flashes of biting wit streaming through it.
By the end I am pretty sure that even the hard-corest Art Brut fans were sort of bored.
Which is a shame.

then I left, so here is Cale to peace out on the Hold Steady:

The Hold Steady

Wait, I gotta get a word in on the other bands too!  1990s are so awesome I can’t stand it.  I JUST, I JUST CAN’T STAND IT! (name that reference and we’ll send you a BYT mug or something).  Definitely the highlight of the night. The 40 or so people in the audience were obviously there to get a good spot for the other bands, but by the end of the set everyone was a fan.

And yes, 30 seconds into the Art Brut set I remembered why I walked out after two songs last time I saw them.  Just not an entertaining live band.  Also the guitar player was mugging the ENTIRE SHOW.  On the other hand, what did help this time was a large screen that projected simple text messages that played off what was going on on stage.  Like there would be some stage banter that sounded off the cuff, and instantly a response to it appeared on the big screen behind the band, and it was in fact hilarious each time.  Also Svet, you missed the last song redemption - a medley of Good Weekend and We Formed a Band, that is until the guitar player took center stage for mug-fest 2007 and I became sad again.

As for The Hold Steady?  I can pretty much sum it up like this:

Craig Finn is way more entertaining live when he’s drunk than after hoovering up a monster line of uncut Bolivian marching powder right before hitting the stage. This makes him think that when he doesn’t sing directly into the microphone the crowd can still hear him. I love this band, I really do, but last night was a sloppy mess, and not in the way that they’re supposed to be a sloppy mess.

all photos : joel didriksen kingpinphoto.com
npr stream of the show (sadly ONLY of the second 2 bands): here

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