hair and piercing eyes, body movements rigid and spastic, skinny white jeans and European pointy-toed Shoes. They were a Killers-meets-Bloc-Party band, an indie style so mass-produced in the states but possibly even moreso here in London. But Notting Hill Arts Club's Death to Disco Wednesdays had kids lit up by cheap beer and technicolor light shows, so Kites was perfect for the night. Clubbers danced like they were on E infront of the band -- they ate it up. When their set was finished, Kites posed for a few photos, and went about their night never to be seen again as the DJ blasted M.I.A. and Lady Gaga. Most often despised, a generic British underground indie band was the perfect welcome to London gift.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
KITES - 1.5 @ Notting Hill Arts Club
My first introduction to British indie could not have been more cliché. Kites was headed by a Brandon Flowers lookalike with Flock of Seagulls 
hair and piercing eyes, body movements rigid and spastic, skinny white jeans and European pointy-toed Shoes. They were a Killers-meets-Bloc-Party band, an indie style so mass-produced in the states but possibly even moreso here in London. But Notting Hill Arts Club's Death to Disco Wednesdays had kids lit up by cheap beer and technicolor light shows, so Kites was perfect for the night. Clubbers danced like they were on E infront of the band -- they ate it up. When their set was finished, Kites posed for a few photos, and went about their night never to be seen again as the DJ blasted M.I.A. and Lady Gaga. Most often despised, a generic British underground indie band was the perfect welcome to London gift.
hair and piercing eyes, body movements rigid and spastic, skinny white jeans and European pointy-toed Shoes. They were a Killers-meets-Bloc-Party band, an indie style so mass-produced in the states but possibly even moreso here in London. But Notting Hill Arts Club's Death to Disco Wednesdays had kids lit up by cheap beer and technicolor light shows, so Kites was perfect for the night. Clubbers danced like they were on E infront of the band -- they ate it up. When their set was finished, Kites posed for a few photos, and went about their night never to be seen again as the DJ blasted M.I.A. and Lady Gaga. Most often despised, a generic British underground indie band was the perfect welcome to London gift.
FUN. with STEEL TRAIN and POSTELLES - 12.3 @ Royale
The Fun. show was exactly what you'd expect -- fun. But let's start with Postelles. Typical Hives/Vines/Strokes kind of a band, but great to get the vibe going. The hipster population increased tenfold from what the Theatre District usually sees (apparently I missed the memo on plaid). Moving on. Steel Train's Jack Antonoff (also in Fun.)
brought the fun to Royale in a way that was sickenly sweet. At moments it was like eating an entire container of frosting -- seems like a good idea at first, but half way through it's just way too much of a good thing. The band wrote a song for a children's performance entitled "It's Fun to Dance," whose lyrics were literally, "It's fun/to dance/it's really fun to dance." Yes, it was endearing, but until "Road Song," you could not take the band seriously.
And then the band gathered in a semi-circle center stage to sing their ballad about living their lives as traveling musicians, an ode to anyone who's ever fumbled with a steel guitar to himself, traveling alone down a dirt road without a clear destination, just enjoying where he is at that moment.
When Fun. came on, I'm pretty sure half the crowd expected the show to turn into a Format concert, with Nate Ruess staring blankly into space and focusing on singing a song, stuck in his own head rather than connecting with the audience.
But this was the first time I had seen Nate actually smile. This was the first time I had seem him
appearing to actually have fun while performing. Hopefully that was the point of making this band. They opened with "Be Calm" and the rest of the night was a good time from then on. And in the ambiance of Royale, with gold plated, royally painted ceilings and red-lit bars, we could have easily been watching the hippest circus performance Boston has ever seen.
brought the fun to Royale in a way that was sickenly sweet. At moments it was like eating an entire container of frosting -- seems like a good idea at first, but half way through it's just way too much of a good thing. The band wrote a song for a children's performance entitled "It's Fun to Dance," whose lyrics were literally, "It's fun/to dance/it's really fun to dance." Yes, it was endearing, but until "Road Song," you could not take the band seriously.And then the band gathered in a semi-circle center stage to sing their ballad about living their lives as traveling musicians, an ode to anyone who's ever fumbled with a steel guitar to himself, traveling alone down a dirt road without a clear destination, just enjoying where he is at that moment.
When Fun. came on, I'm pretty sure half the crowd expected the show to turn into a Format concert, with Nate Ruess staring blankly into space and focusing on singing a song, stuck in his own head rather than connecting with the audience.
But this was the first time I had seen Nate actually smile. This was the first time I had seem him
appearing to actually have fun while performing. Hopefully that was the point of making this band. They opened with "Be Calm" and the rest of the night was a good time from then on. And in the ambiance of Royale, with gold plated, royally painted ceilings and red-lit bars, we could have easily been watching the hippest circus performance Boston has ever seen.
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