I saw My Chemical Romance at The Warfield in San Francisco, at Bamboozle Left in Irvine, and at Saltair in Salt Lake City. There are many bands and artists that I love enough to travel out of state for, but somehow when I'm doing the traveling for MCR I have to fight not to feel embarrassed. Because this band gets a lot of flack from my peers, mostly because they play songs that people really like--and even worse, they play songs that teenaged girls really like. I have never figured out why, if a teenaged girl likes a song, that song is automatically deemed poor quality by the rest of the world. This music taste rule has always struck me as one that must have been invented by teenage boys, or at least by boys stuck in the teenage mentality. Musically, My Chemical Romance couldn't be more different from the pop boy bands of the early '00s, but liking them now carries the same social stigma as liking boy bands did then. (Whereas Justin Timberlake has become beloved by all; go figure.)
I love big music. I love music that isn't afraid to be itself in the most embarrassing and ferocious way possible; I love music that's theatric and emotional and aims to connect. My Chemical Romance is one of my favorite bands because they make music that's big and loud and painfully earnest, because they don't seem to know the meaning of holding themselves back. Almost every song they've written has catharsis written into it, and I think if I weren't incredibly overinvested in their music I would hate it--a middle ground is unimaginable.
MCR's live performances are not polished. The strains of electric guitar that are layered so distinctly on their studio recordings blur and crash together onstage, and Gerard Way's vocals are often uneven. However, they more than make up for it with their stage presence, the sheer momentum of their songs, and a passionate, almost childish dedication to connecting with their fans. They are well aware that it's more difficult for a popular rock band playing arenas to connect to an audience than it is for an obscure grungy band touring in a van to, and they make every extra effort to keep themselves from being alienated. For the duration of their set, you will believe that they love and adore you as a fan, that all they want is for you to scream and jump and sing and be a part of it. Way spent almost more time turning his mic towards the audience for them to sing than he spent singing himself, and on many of the songs from The Black Parade, his vocals were drowned out by the whole audience singing every word.
The hugeness that I love about MCR's albums is even more momentous played live. As performers, they take advantage of every building bridge, every guitar solo, every scream and drum roll finale. They have dropped the makeup and costumes from their live shows, but they're still plenty theatrical, hamming their music up for all its worth. They know why their fans love their music and they deliver, doing justice to every cathartic release possible. They put so much into their shows that I am always surprised that they have the energy to tour at all, that a single performance does not drain them completely.
They are all about giving their fans what they need, on this tour especially: they changed the set list each night I saw them, but the staples included B-sides and songs off of their first record that I never thought I would get to hear live. They know the fan mindset, they know that fans get attached to demos and shitty old songs and the B-sides that aren't on the album for a reason, and maybe it's silly of me, but the fact that they realize this and then reward it made me feel privileged, grateful, and loved after each show. I got to hear 'Kill All Your Friends' performed three times, a gift I never thought I'd receive, and it makes the money spent on tickets and travel seem meaningless. This is why My Chemical Romance will never lose their most impassioned fans no matter how popular and mainstream they get; this is the trick to getting music fans to give you lots of money in this day and age. The downloading age means that it's not enough to get your fans to just love you; you have to give back if you want to reap the benefits.
Kill All Your Friends- My Chemical Romance
Headfirst for Halos- My Chemical Romance
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Vampire Weekend on 3/31
I lose track of whether or not it’s cool to like Vampire Weekend these days—hipsters are fickle creatures, and the backlash is firmly in motion. Opinions on the band are divided, and I’ve personally mostly been in the middle. I wasn’t crazy about their album upon first listen, but I must admit it’s grown on me. All arguments about hype and cultural appropriation aside, they make well-constructed songs that stand out, and they put their African influences to good use.
Their prep school/ivy league influence was immediately striking. Their merch booth sold ‘Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa’ scarves in the classic prep design along with the usual t-shirts, and while they might be a New York City band, every song reminded me wholly of New England instead. The sounds and content of their album bring to mind studying on the quad on the rare days the sun is out, sneaking into your dorm past curfew, crisp season changes, and old-fashioned upper-class comfort. The songs perfectly capture the curiosity and eagerness of academia, as well as the disconnect from reality that comes with campus life. The vocal stylings bring up feelings both mature and childish, calling to mind the way the same feeling of being between adolescence and adulthood in college.
When it comes to their live show, Vampire Weekend clearly has room to grow. This was most obvious in the vocals, as singer and guitarist Ezra Koenig had trouble finding and keeping his pitches, but the whole band started off the show playing a little awkwardly—the instruments just didn’t seem to blend together to form a cohesive whole. They kept the buoyancy of the songs, especially in the bass parts, but it took them a while to loosen up.
As the show progressed and they chatted more (to my delight, they mentioned their love of Kilby Court several times, as they played that venue when they came through earlier this year), Koenig gradually relaxed, improving the sound of his guitar and his voice. ‘I Stand Corrected’ was the turning point: he put his guitar down and seemed to settle into his voice, letting it come breathy and natural. He hit the hardest notes with understated confidence as opposed to forcing them, and afterwards the show went smoother and their air of self-consciousness evaporated.
They predictably closed with ‘Walcott,’ and it was by far their best number of the night. They let themselves get sloppy and forgot about being delicate or preppy, delivering a thrilling chaotic performance that swept everyone up into its momentum. I’ve often felt that the studio version of this song would grab me more if it didn’t hold back so much; the song is clearly intended to be the show-stopping, penultimate anthem in the album, but it comes off as just a little too prissy. But ‘Walcott’ live delivered just what I wanted to hear, fulfilling the same need in the audience that great live performance always does. It gives me hope that as this band matures, they’ll take their music in a direction even more engaging than their debut. The issues with their live performance will improve as they gain experience, and I look forward to what they’ll bring us next.
Boston - Vampire Weekend
Their prep school/ivy league influence was immediately striking. Their merch booth sold ‘Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa’ scarves in the classic prep design along with the usual t-shirts, and while they might be a New York City band, every song reminded me wholly of New England instead. The sounds and content of their album bring to mind studying on the quad on the rare days the sun is out, sneaking into your dorm past curfew, crisp season changes, and old-fashioned upper-class comfort. The songs perfectly capture the curiosity and eagerness of academia, as well as the disconnect from reality that comes with campus life. The vocal stylings bring up feelings both mature and childish, calling to mind the way the same feeling of being between adolescence and adulthood in college.
When it comes to their live show, Vampire Weekend clearly has room to grow. This was most obvious in the vocals, as singer and guitarist Ezra Koenig had trouble finding and keeping his pitches, but the whole band started off the show playing a little awkwardly—the instruments just didn’t seem to blend together to form a cohesive whole. They kept the buoyancy of the songs, especially in the bass parts, but it took them a while to loosen up.
As the show progressed and they chatted more (to my delight, they mentioned their love of Kilby Court several times, as they played that venue when they came through earlier this year), Koenig gradually relaxed, improving the sound of his guitar and his voice. ‘I Stand Corrected’ was the turning point: he put his guitar down and seemed to settle into his voice, letting it come breathy and natural. He hit the hardest notes with understated confidence as opposed to forcing them, and afterwards the show went smoother and their air of self-consciousness evaporated.
They predictably closed with ‘Walcott,’ and it was by far their best number of the night. They let themselves get sloppy and forgot about being delicate or preppy, delivering a thrilling chaotic performance that swept everyone up into its momentum. I’ve often felt that the studio version of this song would grab me more if it didn’t hold back so much; the song is clearly intended to be the show-stopping, penultimate anthem in the album, but it comes off as just a little too prissy. But ‘Walcott’ live delivered just what I wanted to hear, fulfilling the same need in the audience that great live performance always does. It gives me hope that as this band matures, they’ll take their music in a direction even more engaging than their debut. The issues with their live performance will improve as they gain experience, and I look forward to what they’ll bring us next.
Boston - Vampire Weekend
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