Well let’s talk about the show already. No one probably cares, because it was like 10 years ago, but I’m better late then never.
First things first: No flashes permitted with cameras! Yeah, right. I took about 15 of ’em. Most of the security people probably weren’t informed at the gate like we were. Second: Bring your own booze to the Ford Amphitheater, because a beer is $5.25, and a low-grade 7/11 bottle of wine is $20. They don’t sell cigarettes either.
Well, as expected, all the hard-core LA’s shoe-gazing Emo’s showed up in their uniforms; converse all-stars, tight jeans, alterna-western cowboy shirts/small youth soccer jersey, and of course horn-rimmed glasses; very predictable. Some chose to be daring (about 25) and wear “Murder City Devils” t-shirts they purchased at their show the night before, at the Glasshouse in Pomona.
The opening band was none other than the Black Heart Procession. The empty seats during their performance showed how many Emo-posers were abounding. For all ya’ll that do be knowin’, The Black Heart Procession is like Damien Jurado gone gothic. For those that don’t know Damien Jurado, I suggest you find out. The lead singer plays a 6-foot saw with a bow, which is very impressive, creating a haunted-house “spooky” sound. The drummer is “that guy from ‘Rocket from the Crypt'”. He wears a horse-head mask, usually. Don’t ask me, ’cause I don’t know.
Modest Mouse put on a hell of a show…but, they did not play most of their songs off of the “Building Something Out of Nothing” compilation. They chose, instead to favor their earliest and latest releases. Though their playing was impeccable, I found myself crowded. By that I mean, that it wasn’t the type of venue that I would deem Modest Mouse appropriate; too fucking large!
Modest Mouse is the type of band whom you relate to the best when you need to feel good about feeling down. They’re best appreciated after (or during) those four glasses of wine and that much-needed cigarette. The type of band that you wish was your own secret; like your own personal soundtrack to sorrow. They are an intimate band. So, watching them with 2,000 other people who are there to “rock” is not ideal. That cold, lonely night after a hard day of being depressed IS the ideal time. Never the less, they put on a show that is nothing short of beautiful.
So, lets’ recap… Emo-sodiers: unoriginal. For Amphitheater: BYOB and cigs. Black Heart Procession and Damien Jurado: Great, but perhaps too dark (and too good) for Emo-soldiers. Modest Mouse: Best saved for lonely drunken nights, but put on a hell of a show.
Bottom line: Go see all of these bands, but preferably at a small venue. I’m right and that’s that!
