Artist: The Walkmen
Venue: Webster Hall, NYC, NY
Date: May 24, 2006
My last show for a while started off rather disappointingly. The opener was Mazarin (explicitly stated as being “of Philadelphia” — who knows where the one is from, or why neither has changed their name). In any case, their sound was a little too ordinary (with a hint of country) for my tastes. They also played a song that was on the new Walkmen album — not having heard it enough, I didn’t recognize it, but I didn’t like it.
Now drunk guys (and girls) are always a problem at these shows — being loud and obnoxious while the band plays or yapping away. I’d seen it and had always been able to avoid it before. Today however, my luck had run out. This giant guy planted himself right in front of me, with his bimbo of a girlfriend hanging on his arm (swaying as if she was hanging on for dear life). Just behind them was the guy’s weasely friend (also teetering dangerously). “Don’t worry man, we won’t be in your way.” Yeah like hell you won’t — unfortunately, it being a packed show, there wasn’t much I could do.
Finally the walkmen were up, and at first I thought I had maybe come to the wrong show — the main singer looked like a marine. And then he started singing and I thought for sure he wasn’t going to survive the show. His voice seemed loud enough to not even need the mic. The price for this was that the veins in his neck were straining to the breaking point. I honestly felt that if he continued at that pace, I’d be witness to the first ever death-by-singing.
Fortunately, no such thing happened, and all I got was a great show of good music. Now would be the hard part, waiting for the next show, several months away…
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