My Little Brother Just Discovered Rock and Roll

And so we were all able to tell the difference checking out the Art Brut show last night at Bowery Ballroom. Having sat out Tuesday night’s show, I was told that Wednesday was the night with the “bad openers.” This proved to be only half true.

In general, when going to see a band like Art Brut, you’d expect some eclectic openers, and we’ve had to suffer through a few doozies in our time as Bruisers. When The Robocop Kraus came on, I thought, “This can’t be right.” Because they weren’t awful. I didn’t understand what the singer said the name of the band was, I thought he said they were from Sweden (nope, Germany), but the one thing I did hear him say is, “We're so excited to be in New York” with a big smile on his face.

It’s not vanity or ego. I don’t need everyone who comes to play here declare their love for my city. But it was the genuineness with which he said it, and then the enthusiasm and eagerness that they showed performing was infectious…they won over the audience. (A certain band who will go unnamed could take notes on that.) What could have turned out to be another nightmare set for a poor opener trying to pierce the too-cool shell of NY hipsters turned out to be so much fun. People were clapping. Cheering. Maybe even *gasp* dancing. They had fun, and they tried really damn hard, but eventually, against their better judgment, the audience had fun too.

I can’t really describe their sound. It was on the lighter side of indie, with keyboards. Not quite Maxïmo Park-like, though. A touch of 80's pop. The vocal stylings screamed Futureheads, but without the complex harmonies. Same way of delivery, and the singer even almost had the same voice as Mr. Hyde. I couldn’t stop smiling all the way through, and declared at the end that they were so adorable that I wanted to take them all home with me. I settled for spending $15 to take one of their cds instead.

And now we get to the ugly. Literally. And not ugly, even. Fugly. Gil Mantera’s Party Dream. I’d like to think that I have a decent sense of humor. I even managed to live through a Towers of London set with mild amusement. But if this band is supposed to be funny, then I don’t get it. I know it’s a strange thing to say, coming to see a band like Art Brut who themselves are a bit of a parody of a real band, but this band was less a parody and more a joke. The kind that you don’t laugh with, you laugh at. Or, in our case, scamper away from when they jump into the audience and wail, “Eeeew, he touched me” after not getting away fast enough. However, when they weren’t performing and the singer was talking, he was quite funny. Too bad he didn’t restrain himself to just that. Members of Art Brut were standing on the side watching and laughing, and I felt a feeling akin to the one I got watching Alex Franz watching and laughing the performance of The Evaporators when they opened for them at Roseland back in October 2004 - and feeling very much like I was just not cool enough to understand why it was so great.

They were part Towers of London (parody aspect), part Chromeo (electrified vocals), mixed with large doses of The Village People and The Full Monty. Luckily not the full monty. But more than I ever wanted to see. Not to mention that they were their own personal fluffers and would periodically stroke themselves inside their pants. As my friend MD said, “I don’t need to come to a concert to see that, I can just get on the subway.” I made my friend Jasmine take pictures, just because I know that no one would believe me without pictorial evidence. I warn you, though, your eyes will never be the same.











And now on to “Doug Brut.” What can you say about them? They’re just ridiculous fun. The kind of fun where you don’t mind the boys moshing and shoving you around, and you even for a split second think about joining them. The beer thrown was cool too, because my hair looks better with some beer in it, no joke. Eddie eschewed their setlist in favor of “requests” (which resulted in them playing their setlist, just in a different order.) Some of the same jokes as last time, but they make you laugh at them anyway. Mikey the drummer, as always, standing. And my oh my, how Jasper has grown. When we saw them back in November, he was new to the band and still a bit hesitant. No more. The attitude is pure rock and roll. The hair is now even more so. What an inspiration. I think I may go out and form a band…