I just got back from seeing Pains of Being Pure at Heart at the Black Cat. It was pretty good! Honestly, they offered just about everything that you could ask of a twee-pop band. They were fresh-faced and well behaved. They were so excited to be in DC (“we love Teenbeat!”). One of them had bangs! They were exactly what you would expect, and to say that is not to diminish their charm one bit.
The show didn’t quite click for me, though. I can come up with a lot of plausible reasons: they front-loaded the setlist, their songs only have a couple of tricks, or, most obviously: I’m too old for this. Honestly, though, I don’t think that’s it. I think I’m just a bit out of practice. Sommer and I were talking about this in the Red Room before the show: we need to get back in the concert-attending habit. If the two fifty+ year-olds behind me in line were any indication, it’s not over for us quite yet.
Fortunately, there’s a hell of a lot of good stuff coming to the Black Cat in the next couple of months. I’d encourage any interested parties to pester me to attend the following:
- 10/6 – Title Tracks – $8 (backstage)
- 11/6 – Thao with the Get Down Stay Down – $15
- 11/7 – Le Loup – $12
- 11/14 – Olivia Mancini & the Mates – $8 (backstage, CD release)
- 11/20 – The Wrens – $15
- 12/3 – Ted Leo Rx – $15
I guess that’s it. I could be talked into Bishop Allen, Girls, Dirty Projectors, that guy from Television, or virtually anyone else who isn’t Art Brut. And of course the Cat isn’t the only game in town. I’ve got tickets for Gaslight Anthem, but I also see Dinosaur Jr., the Raveonettes and Built to Spill coming up at 9:30. Headlights is coming to DC9 on 10/25, and I’m on record as loving them. A bit more tentatively, I could under the right circumstances head to RNR for the Spinto Band or Titus Andronicus.
In short: make me go to some shows, please. I’ll drop these into a Google calendar shortly; if you’re interested in contributing to that effort, let me know.
And to irrefutably prove that I’m serious, I’m making an impulse purchase to facilitate this resolution. If the listed technical details are to be believed, it’ll be money well spent.
Let’s talk about Dirty Projectors. Primarily, no one has been able to answer this one simple question for me, about them: WTFF? I accidentally saw them open for TV On the Radio, and my concert-going partner and I were rendered speechless by the fact that not only was this group opening for TVOtR, but that they were getting any applause at all.
I mean it. Find their video for “Stillness Is the Move.” It features llamas and Mariah Carey-esque vocals. Like a horrible highway accident, you won’t be able to turn away.
I already bought tickets for Ted Leo, so consider this my official pestering of you to do the same. Pretty sure I’m going to get Wrens tickets, too. It’s like 2006 all over again!
I need to mostly recuse myself from any discussion of the Dirty Projectors — Emily really really likes them. I will say that they put on a really enthralling show when we saw them at Johnny Brenda’s in Philly.
I think they’re a bit too cerebral for me, though. I do sort of like them — they’re like the Fiery Furnaces, except tolerable! — but they’re not something I’m likely to put on if left to my own devices.
Gab and I are tentatively going to Raveonettes and definitely going to Broadcast the next night. There’s also A Place to Bury Strangers, Os Mutantes, Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele (DC9), The Very Best, The xx, among others coming up. I’m psyched for Thao and Wrens, too!
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