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Wow, two good concerts in quick succession. First, Lake Trout, now this show.

Some friends and I went to The Middle East in Boston, MA to see Vampire Weekend, Ra Ra Riot and Tokyo Police Club. It was a great lineup and a benefit for a good cause, The John Ryan Pike Foundation, which is where all proceeds from this show went.

The Venue: The Middle East – Cambridge, MA
The venue was a great place to see a show. It’s your average low-ceiling, dark room venue but had a few different levels so you could get your head above the crowd if you wanted to. It was downstairs, which is an actual venue with a soundboard, 2 bars, coat room, etc… They have shows upstairs in the restaurant/bar, but that’s more acoustic-type, open-mic shows.

Opener: Vampire Weekend
I don’t know… This is the second time I’ve seen these guys (actually, this is the 2nd time I’ve seen this exact lineup). They’re too gimmicky for me. I’m really not sure why. They can’t catch my attention. This time, like when I saw them last time, I find them just good to keep me from wandering off to the bar to watch the silent TV. They were about as interesting as this description of them…

Next up: Ra Ra Riot
I’m conflicted. They were amazing live, their recorded stuff… smeh… Anyone who brings an electric violinist and electric cellist to the stage deserves mad points. Their songs had what every half-assed band with a synthesizer is trying hopelessly to accomplish, but most fail miserably. I guess that’s what is missing in Ra Ra Riot’s recordings. (wow, I’m in ramble-mode today…) Their tunes are catchy, I thought the drummer was great, and the singer was dead on the whole time. For their last song, they brought out Vampire Weekend and Tokyo Police Club to “bang on shit”. It was highly entertaining, with most of the crammed stage just jumping around and clapping.

Headliner: Tokyo Police Club
Awesome. They played a lot of new material. They only have one official release that is very short, but I’ve never heard a lot of the songs they played, which points toward a promising sophomore release. The keyboardist is probably the most entertaining part of the show. He goes absolutely nuts the whole time AND he when he screams into the mic, he sounds like 20 people… seriously… listen to Citizens of Tomorrow… That’s him.

The only disappointing part was the fact that the venue emptied out a lot after Ra Ra Riot. I guess it was because John Ryan Pike was part of Ra Ra Riot and everyone there was only there to see them. Those people that left missed a pretty awesome dance-fest.

No, I didn’t dance, I’m jus-sayin…

So, anyway, go far out of your way to see TPC, drive a good distance to see Ra Ra Riot, and if Vampire Weekend is playing in your living room, well… I guess… don’t tell them to stop…

This entry was posted on Monday, December 17th, 2007 at 10:04 pm and is filed under Concert Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.