A very sad goodbye to the Harlem Shakes, one of my favorite non-local bands of 2009. They first came to my attention when I was looking up bands that were playing at SXSW this year. Kevin Bronson's Buzzbands.la party was all local bands with the Harlem Shakes as the one exception. I fired up their myspace page and after hearing less than 30 seconds of "Niagara Falls" I was hooked. "Technicolor Health" is unquestionably one of my favorite albums of the year.
I heard the news Friday night but couldn't find confirmation so I ignored it. But it's true, and very disappointing. I sincerely enjoyed seeing them twice at SXSW and for both of their LA dates opening for Passion Pit. After their Passion Pit tour I kept waiting for an announcement of their next LA date -- I was preemptively excited for them to headline The Echo or Spaceland, but it wasn't meant to be.
For my more detailed review of this tour at the Troubaour, go here.
Another excellent night.
Harlem Shakes: Loved their set again, and the sound was better this time -- Lexy's vocals were finally loud enough. They started off quiet as usual but the sound guy turned them up about a minute into their second song. There were more people who seemed interested in The Shakes than at the Troubadour, but that could simply be because the Echoplex is triple the size. And again, another loud round of applause as they finished their set.
Passion Pit: Another great set with a fun crowd. I had some issues with the couple who barreled in front of me after the first song (the main issue being their odor), but once I moved over it dissipated. The encounter threw me off a bit, and I got slightly bored/tired halfway through their set, so I moved over to the left some more and started dancing, jumping, etc. along with everyone to my left and had a great time.
Which show was better? I'd say it's a tossup, and I keep going back and forth. The Troubadour was smaller and came first, and I think Passion Pit played better, but the sound for The Shakes was superior at the Echoplex and the venue was a lot darker than the Troubadour, which made Passion Pit's set feel like more of a party (looking back The Troubadour was quite bright). Either way, both shows are at the top of my list for the best of 2009. It was a privilege to be able to see this tour twice.
Here's a video of The Shakes finishing up Radio Orlando (my video of this song from the Troubadour show stopped before the end).
I've always been ambivalent about the Troubadour. Wherever I've lived in LA has been within walking distance, so I've never had to drive there, and that's a nice perk. And the venue is set up wide, instead of long, so you can get close. But I think the stage is too low or something to that effect, because it seems like at the Troubadour, more than any other venue I can think of, it's really easy for someone to get in your line of sight, even for someone like me who's over 6 feet tall.
But after this show I'm ready to say that I really like the Troubadour, but probably more for the quality of bands they book to play their small venue more than anything else. Seeing Passion Pit and the Harlem Shakes at the Troubadour was a great experience; definitely one of the best shows I've seen all year. And seeing these bands in such a small venue would never happen in New York, where The Shakes are locals and Passion Pit is just up north, so score one for LA.
The Shakes were scheduled to go on at 9:15, so, thinking that the place would soon be packed and wanting to reserve a good spot for the rest of the night, I showed up at 9. The place was practically empty, which surprised me. It might have also surprised the band as well, because they didn't go on until 9:30, when the place was leaning towards half full.
I've loved The Shakes since I heard the first 30 seconds of "Niagara Falls" on their Myspace page in March; they can't do wrong in my eyes. They're even better live than recorded, and they did not disappoint this night. I thought their set was great, even if the sound was a bit off (there was an echo-y quality to it) and the vocals were a little low, so I took out my earplugs. The first time I saw them at SXSW the vocals were so low that I don't think anyone could hear them; it wasn't nearly as bad this time but I was concerned for a minute or two. I definitely appreciated that they played a track or two off their EP. They covered all the hits, with the exception of "Niagara Falls" and "Sicko." Judging from the applause at the end of their set they earned many new fans.
The Shakes' set would have been enough to make it a great show. But no. Less than half an hour later out come Passion Pit. I wasn't into it for the first minute or two, but once I adjusted I was blown away. So much fun, so much energy, and the crowd was loving it. They almost turned the Troubadour into a dance floor, albeit a dance floor where everyone is facing forward and trying not to get in each others' way. I had thought some of the tracks on Manners, their new album, were a little on the slower and on the more boring side, but live they pulsed with restraint, and made for excellent foils to the more blatantly dance-y songs. And they even made the songs sound as much as they could like they do on the album. When they played "Little Secret," for example, they played the shouting sample from the album, instead of the bandmembers just doing the shouts themselves.
If I had one criticism I'd say they played one song too many; after the first song of the encore my ears began to hurt (partially my fault because I didn't use my earplugs) and my feet started to hurt as well. I can't think of anything else. The band played like they loved it, and despite the small size of the Troubadour they acted as though they were genuinely grateful for us even being there. But after a performance like that, it was us who were grateful to them.
I can't wait to see this tour again tonight at the Echoplex. It will be different, but I know it's still going to be amazing.
The Passion Pit/Harlem Shakes show at the Troubadour sold out. Hope you got your tickets! If you didn't there are still tickets available for their Echoplex show.
Didn't go to Chicago, and I was reminded of the Divisible (11pm) show with Hello Dragon (10pm) at Silverlake Lounge. I'm going to skip the Reggae Meets Africa show (which will probably be a late show) to check this out.
I'm enjoying the NBA playoffs more this year than any other (when I used to ignore them), but it continues to disappoint me that the Celtics keep winning.
What you need to know about in advance this month:
Passion Pit and The Harlem Shakes are touring together, a/k/a the next step of The Shakes' impending takeover. Submit now. They play the Troubadour on the 28th and the Echoplex on the 29th. I insist that you go to at least one. I'm going to try to make it to both.
Residencies: Avi Buffalo has the Tuesday night residency at the Echo, Gangi has the Monday night residency at Spaceland, Restavrant plays every Thursday at Silverlake Lounge, and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros play the Regent Theatre the first two Thursdays of the month.
Silversun Pickups' Swoon will debut at #5 on Billboard with about 48,000 first week sales. [UPDATE: Actually # 7. Hitsdailydouble misleading me again!]
The Henry Clay People are playing Lollapalooza. It will be their first major festival appearance.
The Harlem Shakes are touring with Passion Pit and will be in LA on May 28 (Troubadour) and 29 (Echoplex). Now you just have to choose which one.
Went to the Silverlake Lounge to see the Local Natives on December 8, 2008 and fell into the local LA scene. Started my blog on February 21, 2009 to keep track of it all.
ChanceEncounterRecords@gmail.com
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