2003, Jul-Dec

Matisyahu
@Southpaw
New York, NY - December 24, 2003
*Who knew that this kid would be a hot commodity just a couple years later.

An orthodox Jewish reggae rapper. I am not kidding. And he was good.

The White Stripes; Autolux, Whirlwind Heat
@ Roseland Ballroom
New York,NY - November 19, 2003
*White Stripes in 2003 = Apex of the Retro rock movement, and the real kick-off of me as a wannabe-New York indie music guy.

It was truly a fitting culmination. After over a year of hearing their music, of absorbing the other retro-bands, it was high time I got to see the King and Queen of this wonderful mess do their thing live. In an ultra-packed Roseland Ballroom, where tensions would soon run over between Jack White and us good time rockers against the party-crashing, mosh-for-the-hell-of-it-not-for-the-music, “frat fuckers” as Jack would later call them, the supposed siblings White took the stage and – as per the routine – Jack kicked off every song spontaneously. In this case, “You’re Pretty Good Looking For A Girl”. Next came “Let’s Shake Hands” – and the head snapping rock n roll was in full session. Meg White, looking spaced out from her hairdo, sang her sweet “In The Cold, Cold Night” and among the covers, we were treated to Dylan’s “Lovesick”. Jack White commanded the audience with his wail – in chipmunk form this night and his mesmerizing guitar work. The bass-less Stripes – the pride of the Motor City – dished out its flow of song into song with deft dexterity. But beyond the music, there were logistical problems. First, the Roseland was oppressively packed (while the hip and cool New Yorkers sat leisurely on the platform adjacent to us). The idiots in the center continued to mosh recklessly, not caring about anyone in their path. Security ran in to get one particular fool, but tossing us around to do it. How can there be such madness to such sweet songs as “Hotel Yorba” and “I Want to Be The Boy”. On a personal note, some paranoid weirdo with bad breath standing next to me felt the need to stare at others and me all night, rather than the show. And then the bottom fell out, and what may prove to be an infamous night in rock n roll history came about. The crowd surfing kicked in during the finale of “Boll weevil”. Jack stopped once for a jerk – something unprecedented. It continued and finally Jack lost it. He ranted about these jackasses crashing the place and trying to hurt people. This of course resulted in a thunderous response from some of us good guys in the crowd. The Detroit Two finished the song and the night – and all was better. Of course since then, Jack has had some run-ins. The pressure of fame and rock n roll and bad blood. But considering all the crap – and that the two opening acts were embarrassingly bad (including Jack’s prodigy Whirlwind Heat) – the Stripes pulled off the amazing anyway – and dished out some of the greatest music heard in many years.

Holly Golightly; Ko & The Knockouts; Booty Olympics
@ Southpaw
Brooklyn, NY - October 20, 2003

Poor, poor Brooklyn. It regained its bum rap as the ol’ NY of the days of yore. But, with this retro-rock movement in full swing, isn’t it only fitting then, that bands would get mugged before the show? While Booty Olympics a local female quartet sustained the crowd with humorous front girl shtick and good rock, we were to learn after much delay that the two headlining bands were mugged of all their money and equipment on the way to the gig. Despite this circumstance, and their warnings of a poor show, the two acts delivered the goods on rock n roll. The first act, Detroit’s Ko & The Knockouts, were uniquely led by bassist Ko Shih, quite possibly the only Asian-American front woman in all of music. This trio’s sound deftly bridged ol’ 50’s doo-wop themes with 60’s garage menace. Next came the main event, Holly Golightly. Imagine Nancy Sinatra doing early Rolling Stones. This associate of the White Stripes (as are Ko & The Knockouts), the British dame Ms. Golightly conjured up images of smokey go-go 60’s British blues. And though the bands’ night was ruined by the outside world, we in the crowd hoped we entertained them with our enthusiasm for quality rock n roll, as much as they entertained us with their talents.

The Sounds; the Flesh
Club Luxx
Brooklyn, NY – September 2003
*My first hipster gig after moving back to New York

When retro-rock became the critical fad, while only making a minor indent in the charts, over the last few years, there became three centers of Retro-rock: Detroit, led by the White Stripes, New York, led by The Strokes, and Sweden, led by no one really but the Hives were the first to break out (no pun intended). While other American cities tried to pick up steam on the trend, Britain joined the craze with The Darkness, and Australia expanded its presence from the Vines to Jet. In the meanwhile, another Swedish band came stateside, this one led by a Debbie Harry-looking young thing named Maja Iversson. These Swedes, uncharacteristically dark-haired (Maja dyes her blonde), came to America with a semi-hit and became the darlings of late night TV performances. This band, like most of retro-rockers was The Something or others. In this case, they were the Sounds. And though they might never really top the charts, The Sounds will be remembered by those who saw them and heard their stellar album, for contributing to the retro-rock movement with an 80’s Pop New Wave throwback. With catchy riff-flavored songs, The Sounds could bring the cramped house down as they did at this little club in trendy ol’ Williamsburg. In the tradition of old punk clubs, fans could sweat to death in the confines but are always saved by the very ferocity of rock that brought them there. Though Maja did not wear her trademark Ramones or CBGB’s shirt (instead she wore a unavoidably enticing black tank top), she still summoned the spirits of punk in the retro-New Wave séance. In the drunken fun chaos, I remember the Flesh were good. It was on nights like this that I was glad to be in New York and in the midst of the Retro-rock movement.

Phish
@ Tweeter Center
Camden, NJ – July 31, 2003

In the 4 years I lived in Philadelphia, I had one chance, early on, to see Phish but I did not know enough about the band to get tickets in time. Having been educated in Phish-dom by roommates, it seemed almost like a postponed coronation when I finally got to see Phish live, just outside Philly – a month to the day I moved out of Philadelphia. My second straight concert in the rain, things really took a turn for the worst when authorities decided they didn’t care if this was a Phish concert, there would be no consumption of normal Phish-related substances. This all made Phish’s trademark longwinded jams a little boring and unbearable. In the hour and a half we were more entertained by the teens roaming the crowds, who did E and other things before coming to the show. Oh and by “Wolfman’s Brother”. Better luck next time.