There's a song I heard on Brave New Waves a few months back from a group(?) called LCD Sound System. In "Losing My Edge", the narrator/vocalist laments how he might not be as on top of current music trends as he used to be; his plaintive refrain is "I was there...." during various epochal moments in punk/new wave/alternative music history.
Tell me about it.
Monday night's Ladytron show went well, although I had a headache by the end of the night from all the cigarette smoke, and the noise (I had procured ear plugs for the event, but forgot to use them). I also couldn't resist playing Wizened-Old-Music-Curmudgeon by constantly applying labels to the effect of "Old Music Act 'A' meets Old Music Act 'B'" to all of the songs.
Of the first opening act (Phaser):
"Somone should tell them Smashing Pumpkins broke up already"Of the second opening act (Simian):(Oh, OK, that was Graig's quote, but it could've been mine, dammit.)
"It's Pink Floyd meets The Happy Mondays"Of Ladytron themselves:"Jesus Jones hacks a Speak & Spell"
"Gary Numan meets Siouxsie and the Banshees"Etc., etc."Vince Clarke (of Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and Erasure fame) meets Blondie"
I'm also never going to be Ms. Fashion Queen, even on a good day, but this point was particularly brought home to me observing my fellow Ladytron fans. Women with skinny neckties (which, I archly noted to Graig, I was wearing 20 years ago), guys and girls with vertical hair a la The Cure, small round pins with band names on them (another 20 year old throwback) and even a couple Kraftwerk-meets-Chairman Mao buttoned up tunic-thingies.
At one point I was standing in line in the women's washroom and noticed one of the young fashionistas looking at me. I caught sight of myself in the mirror and observed:
- faded green Giordano sweatshirt that I bought in Hong Kong ten years ago
- black MEC polar fleece jacket from seven years ago
- faded blue Eddie Bauer khakis of unknown vintage (double pleats)
- brown leather lace-up boots made by Prospector (rounded toes)
Anyway, I did actually have a good time at the show, and have an increased appreciation for Ladytron's music, having heard it performed live (synth bands never a compelling stage presence, but the sound had a certain energy to it that I never got from listening to their recordings).
If you're curious, you can listen to a few Ladytron tracks at Epitonic.
Further reading:
- GAK's take on Ladytron's show in NYC last week
- Jeremy's writeup of Monday's show
- Carla's pithy summary
- Zhan's report
- Josie's writeup (for those of you who are cool enough to have a password)
I also note that while I did not get carded at the door, Josie did. We are the same age, but she is clearly much cooler than I.
[Addendum: Oddly enough, Graig had the opposite response to the show from me -- he thought the live act was more sterile than the recordings. Maybe it was the enthusiasm of the crowd that got me pumped, or maybe the fact that the speakers were so loud as to send a ripple effect through my entire body and make my ears bleed, but the live show definitely left an impression on me.]