Just got back from San Francisco yesterday in time to see the gig (my first time seeing B.R.M.C.) and was pleasantly surprised though a bit underwhelmed.
DJ Strange, myself and our crazy crew of friends were there, on the right middle side, and then later in the show, on the left middle side.
Firstly, to Mark Gardener. I didn't know it was going to be acoustic and to be honest, none of us liked his set that much. DJ Strange remarked the group sounded like buskers, and overall we were unimpressed. The Ride songs were cool, but totally lacking their original energy with all of those cool shoegaze-y, fuzzy, lustrous guitars (of course, done acoustically they would, but it made for even more disappointment). The 2 performers with him seriously looked like they partied at our parent's houses back in the '60's/'70's and I swear they could be poster children for Meeps on 14th Street. When Mark said they were going to bring a full band along in December, I said to myself that I wished he had done so now. Ah well.
When Peter from B.R.M.C. took to the stage in the beginning for his acoustic sets, DJ Strange said that he had 10 times more the presence than Mark Gardener did. All of us swore that if Peter sang the word "Jesus" one more time though, we'd lose it!
Almost all of us were disappointed in the fact that overall, the show was very slow and sedate. Of course, we knew that mostly songs from "Howl" were to be featured, but we'd wished they'd mixed it up. At one point a friend of mine went into the back sitting area and fell asleep, and DJ Strange left one song 'til the end due to being so tired. We felt bored.
The song highlights for me were, naturally, "Stop," "Whatever Happened To My Rock 'N' Roll (Punk Song)" and "Love Burns." I wished they'd done "In Like The Rose."
I wanted MORE songs with energy, drive and pure out rock 'n roll but I didn't get them. I wish the setlist had been full of more of that rather than the slow stuff. (That said, I did like the slow songs - there was no one song that they did that made me want to leave - I just wanted more energy!).
The best thing about the gig for me was the atmosphere. I simply loved the lighting effects (strobe lights and all) and swirling, ever present smoke. Very nice. Reminded me of the scenes from "9 Songs" in which you see B.R.M.C. on stage.
After the gig, we all headed over to DC9 where I ran into Peter. I spoke with him briefly, asking why "In Like The Rose" was left out and he said, "Well, we can't do everything." I asked him how their inclusion in "9 Songs" came about and he told me the story. He was very nice and it was cool meeting him.
After we wandered from DC9 at closetime back to the 9:30 Club, we saw Peter standing against the 9:30 Club building wall, talking with one other guy. As he waved to me (cool indeed!) we wondered why he wasn't off partying, etc. - it was kind of weird, though nice to see.
P.S. Jaguar, I don't see "Whatever Happened To My Rock 'N' Roll (Punk Song)" listed on your set list. I'm sure I recall them doing that one?
Cheers
DJ Medusa.
