Found In the Woods

Saw Belle & Sebastian last Sunday night at the 9:30 Club. The show was fantastic. This was my second time seeing them there, the first time being on the Dear Catastrophe tour. The opening band, The New Pornographers, were great too. Their energy was massive and they were incredibly tight. Their drummer was hilarious. He was twirling and tossing his drumsticks and never missed a beat while taking generous swigs from a tank of, what looked like, gin or whiskey. He even shared with the other bandmembers at different times.

B&S came on and did a wonderful show. They opened with Stars of Track and Field – a slow one and a favorite of mine. They played a handful of new stuff, most of which I don’t really care for, and a good dose of oldies, including String Bean Jean, Century of Fakers, Electronic Renaissance, I Don’t Love Anyone & The State that I am In, another favorite of mine. The banter from the band was wonderful. At one point Stuart took his shirt off and requested a small v-neck from the merchandise counter in the back. The crowd passed it forward and he put it on, even though the thing was extremely tight… his mannerisms were hilarious. They played a beatles cover “Birthday” for one of their sound engineers who’s 40th b-day it was, which was a real treat because of how simply and tight the song was performed. I imagined the beatles themselves were performing. Discourse about the Scottish vs. American social practice and limits on public discussion about sex were hilarious; using colloquialism vs. being up front and overt, basically.

All in all an enjoyable night. The crowd at these shows is typically very friendly. Take, for example, the guy behind me who blew smoke in my ear twice. When I finally turned around and gave him a nasty glare, he apologised profusely. A few moments later he tapped my shoulder and offered me a drink he’d purchased at the nearby bar. I thanked him and politely refused (I don’t take candy from strangers), but come on – you would never see that at a Rob Zombie show. Aside from the turds in the “VIP” section (artsy-fartsy morons armed with cameras, picture phones, blackberries and cliches) the crowd was respectable (quiet enough to hear a pindrop during Stuart’s piano solos in Fox in the Snow) and fun.

You can listen to the second night’s show on NPR Here.