omgnyc

I only attend one show for CMJ this year, but I made it count. Saves the Day played the Knitting Factory last Saturday with a ton of other bands that I missed. This was the second time I saw these guys, saw them at CMJ last year too, and both times have been acoustic performances. The intimate setting of the KF is perfect for these performances and the crowd made it that much better. Everyone singing along to all of the songs in a tiny packed room is exactly how these songs should be played. Everything was slowed down to the perfect degree and Chris sang each song with such passion. The set was really well mixed between their much favored old material and songs from their forthcoming album. Usually I cannot stand when the person next to me is singing louder than the band, but when the whole crowd was in unison, especially for the encore which consisted entirely of requests, everything felt right in the world.

Justice played a second show at Terminal 5 Monday night accompanied by the Midnight Juggernauts. This venue is brand new and was a perfect location for these French hipsters. It's basically a building that has been gutted leaving only iron beams, painted white, and a stage. In other words a giant steel cage. The Juggernauts kicked things off with their indie-disco rock sound that seemed to get people to do some bouncing. However nothing compared to when the 3 x 3 set of Marshalls was unveiled with a giant neon cross in the middle. When the opening beats of "Genesis" began to pump the crowd went into instant frenzy. Some weird combination of moshing and dancing that only seemed appropriate for this strange mix of New York hipsters and what was the biggest gathering of French people I've ever seen outside of Paris. While I'm sure they're no robots in a pyramid these dudes got people moving. The strong opening got the energy flowing in such a way that I almost did not notice when things got slow in the middle of the set. Not until the epic rendition of "We Are Your Friends" came out of the speakers did I notice I had almost stopped d.a.n.c.i.n.g. That song transcend this "rave" into a giant choir when the house lights came on for the chorus, which could only be stopped by the amazing remix of Metallica's "Master of Puppets," until the show ended and everyone just kept chanting "we are your friends, you'll never be alone again" well into the streets.

Hot Tracks:

1. Radiohead - "Nude". I'm aware that I reviewed this entire album already, but this song is so damn good.
2. M.I.A. - "Paper Plans". Wait for the gun shots.
   

While I am currently living here in New York I know where I came from. Let's go sox!

Keep it scene in the city.