all words: Andy Hess
all photos: Martin Locraft
Japandroids might be two dudes from Vancouver, but they make enough noise that you might be thinking there are a few other people in the band -- like 20 people.
But it's not enough that the Rock And Roll Hotel scored one killer group, they managed to cram the bill with two other bands -- New Jersey's Real Estate and Austin/Brooklyn based group Neon Indian -- that all would be great on their own.
Neon Indian laid down their smooth and hazy summer jams to warm up the crowd on a rather chilly night. The group played their must hear hits "Deadbeat Summer" and "Should Have Taken Acid With You", but neither took off in the live setting that I was hoping for. Both those songs on tape are winners, but they were hard to pull off. Surprisingly, the weaker tracks off Neon Indian's excellent debut Psychic Chasms were the one's that stood out more than their radio ready singles.
"Let's rock the beach" might be the perfect way to describe Underwater Peoples Records Real Estate. It's actually what the band's MySpace url is and it perfectly describes the band's lo-fi beach aesthetic. Real Estate played a straightforward and delightful set that found the audience swaying along to songs like "Atlantic City", "Fake Blues" and "Beach Comber".
Japandroids came on to a full crowd ready to have their eardrums destroyed by the groups loud, but melodic take on noise-pop. While the band was ready to rock, the Rock And Roll Hotel was apparently not. I was expecting a rowdy audience in an intimate setting, but when Japandroids' merch guy decided to crowd surf during the group's cover of "Racer X" and no one caught him. Poor guy.
Eventually the audience decided to loosen up and joined in on a lot of the groups sing along songs -- "Young Hearts Spark Fire" and "Sovereignty" -- mostly due to the pleading from singer Brian King who was suffering from a cold and his voice couldn't take it.
It's not very often that you find a killer triple bill like this in town -- the Cymbals Eat Guitar/Depreciation Guild/Pains Of Being Pure At Heart or The Twilight Sad/Brakes/We Were Promised Jetpacks might be the exceptions -- and if you missed this wonderful show, then I'm sorry.
Previously in Live DC:
- 5/24: LiveDC: The Adicts @ RNR Hotel
- 5/24: LiveDC: The Donkeys @ Black Cat
- 5/23: LiveDC: The Barr Brothers w/ Kishi Bashi @ The Hamilton
- 5/23: LiveDC: Damien Jurado @ Black Cat
- 5/23: Report: Soundbites 2012
- 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
God loves a cheerful giver.
great photos!
clearly should have gone to this instead of standing in line for the sartorialist
inspiring pix!
the crowd at this show was weak sauce, even by DC standards.
man this show looked/sounded awesome. great shots martin and solid write-up andy! guess i'll have to have a more open schedule next time japandroids roll into town.
i was behind my schedule so didn't go, unfortunately. Japandroids are a pleasure deferred.