I remember going to the Velvet Lounge with a few other boardies the night Rilo Kiley was playing there.
We (well at least my future wife and I) left after the opener, just like we did when Broken Social Scene played the Black Cat.
I feel you pretty much have to review that RK concert now.
But in all seriousness, I am surprised to see she's at Anthem sans a co-headliner. (Although to be fair, it could be a seated 2,000 person arrangement and we just don't know.)
Alright, let's pretend I stayed...Rilo Kiley was actually pretty solid. I'm so glad I went. They had hooks, they had looks. Their music was hooky as hell, and for me that's a good think. Jenny is cute in a way that you can admit you think so to your girlfriend without your girlfriend getting jealous.
Arlo was really the band we were there to see. Here's my review of their set.
It was 2002. I was a fan of a crunchy power pop band from LA called Arlo and they were playing a scrappy little music club on U Street called the Velvet Lounge. They were actually opening for another band that went on to become fairly popular in the indie rock scene, but I was interested in seeing the opening band. So I invited a handful friends and acquaintances to the show. There we were, just the half dozen of us and the band. Midway through the set, the drummer and one of the guitarists started arguing, and before we knew what was going on, they were on the floor brawling as the other two band members continue to play. As the rest of us stood there dumbfounded, perhaps wondering if the brawl was part of the act, into the fray jumped my friend Scott. Singlehandedly he broke up the fight and was later seen talking with both of the combatants in successive fashion. I asked him what he was talking to them about and he told me he was hoping to get them to reconcile.
15 years later, my friend Scott and his wife were murdered in their house, three days before Xmas day.
