Thought I'd bring these comments over here from the 'This Week's Roll Call' thread:
Highly doubt BJM will be even half full.
You may be right which surprises me. There was a time when the BJM maddness prevailed around here but I think Anton's couple of drunken extravaganzas through town are catching up with him. I missed him when he played DC9 (I think it was). That show was good, wasn't it? Only saw them once and that was a number of years ago in Baltimore and that was a good show. Anton's spent a good amount of time in Iceland lately and I have a feeling it's chilled him down a bit. At least, I sure hope so. Looking forward to seeing the show.
However, I have to admit that the real push that is getting me down for the show is to see the opener, Flavor Crystals. Have no idea how their music will translate live but I flipping love this band, especially their first album called On Plastic. In fact, when I was doing my radio show, The Trans-Atlantic Underground on Kool Rock Radio, I selected On Plastic as the album of the year for 2005. I'm still playing them on Air Atlantic Underground Radio. The song Milky Way still sets me off...in a good way. Kind of like a mildly tempered Lupine Howl. With that said, their 2nd release is a whole lot more laid back and kind of misty sounding. For beginners, I would recommend On Plastic. Don't skip out on the band if you are coming to the show, especially if you like a bit of spacey Psychedelia in your music. Not way out there like Psychic Ills but more like a nice mild buzz.
So, those who went, what did you think of the show? I know there had to be others there from the board besides Az and myself. The place was packed though it seemed a big bulk of the people didn't arrive until just before BJM hit the stage.
Thankfully, Anton was on his good behaviour but something was up. From the moment he hit the stage he looked really down and depressed about something. At one point towards the end of the show, one of the band members (Matt Hollywood if I recall) went over and cusped his shoulder for a moment as if to console him. Something was definitely not right for him. At first I was thinking that maybe it might have been some lingering seasonal affective disorder from spending the long winter months in the darklands of Iceland. As the show progressed, it was evident that something else was up but I couldn't figure out what.
Other than about 2 swallows of a Red Bull, he wasn't drinking. Obviously, based on his past performances, that's a good thing. I even wondered if maybe he has some kind of a drinking or conduct clause in his contract. Pure speculation on my part but it all makes perfect sense to me. At one point he bitched about something being 'pedestrian bullshit' but that's all I could make out. I can never understand what musicians say over mics. Besides, he didn't really say it to us.
Though I was disappointed that they didn't play my favorite song, I was very pleased with The Flavor Crystals. Wasn't sure how they would come off live but felt they delivered.
By the way, can we have a DJ playlist? There was some good music spinning before the show. Saw someone up in the booth but didn't recognize him. There was one particular song that Az and I were really tripping out to and we'd love to know what it was. Looked like the music between the sets was coming from the soundboard.
