as promised/threatened:
i was in line shortly after 9 and it took me 45 minutes to get inside the Roseland. the line wrapped around the building almost 270 degrees. i would have been fine wit this save for the fact that is was raining cats, dogs, gerbils, and several species of amphibians - potentially more, but the better part of an hour spent in the torrential rain tends to dull one's sense of taxonomic observation. suffice to say that everyone was a hot soaking mess by the time they made it through the door... and it only went downhill after that.
by 9:45 (AKA the time i got in), the place was pretty much packed (roseland = ~ 3000 people). this was my first show at the roseland. given the length of the line i encountered when I arrived, I considered myself lucky to get a spot near the soundboard at the back of the hall. Busy P's set was generally forgettable, except for ending with "fight for your right to party" that had some traction with the home-town crowd. second time i've heard him spin and the second time i've asked myself "if he owns & manages such a great label, why is he spinning such crap?!?"
scheduled for 10, the prodigy came on around 10:25 - they're now batting 0 for 2 in the on-time dept for club shows, be warned. i was happy with my back-of-the-monstrous-hall position and was prepared to spend the concert 250 feet away from the stage, but just before the band took the stage, Mr. 6'4"/280lbs came barging through with every intent of making it all the way to the front. when this highway opened itself to me i rode his wake to within 4 bodies from the rail, AKA ~24 inches once the music started. from an e-mail to my buddy: "once the music, surge & crush came on, it got hot, sweaty and insane instantly. zero room to move. it wasn't so much dancing as being involuntarily moved by the human mass. the only pit i've ever experienced that was more intense was rage against the machine... this was luckily a lot friendlier, but still high potential for passing out, getting hit by crowd surfers, etc. at one point i had to make some space by pushing back on the wall of flesh for a girl who couldn't breath... it was that tight. i lasted about half of the main set up there before needing to bail. caught the rest of the show from the back, and dried off
definitely glad i went, but it was the pit experience that i'll remember most about this show. music was fun, but it really was all about the crowd's energy." i got carpet-burn (jean-burn?) from a crowd-surfer's knee using my forehead as a support point. the band was definitely fired up, maxim & keith were jumping around as much as the crowd. live set-up = the 2 MCs, liam on laptop/keys/samplers/etc, a guitarist, and a drummer.
if you want the full intensity of this show - it's a ton of fun and generally safe - get down in front. check your jacket and don't bring a purse. otherwise, enjoy observing the madness from the back of the room or the balcony.
good photostream:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nycelectro/3394419398/in/photostream/ note how much room
the crowd has up front... i.e., NONE. now imagine everyone jumping in unison... bearman is right!
