Day 117 - End of an Era
The NBC Thursday comedies I watch (all of them, now) wrapped up their season finales on Thursday, and I finished out the seasons on Friday. This is an incredibly uninteresting update, but it's basically all I remember doing. This marks the end of Fridays spent catching up with my NBC Thursday comedies. I had to have something to fill this space.
Day 118 - London Calling in Amsterdam
Very exciting day, as James and I headed to Amsterdam for the London Calling festival at the Paradiso, which is supposed to be a showcase of UK and American bands on the rise, but objectively, it was the Americans that stole the show.
Somewhat strangely, Ra Ra Riot, perhaps the highest profile band playing on Saturday, was the first band I wanted to see going on at 7:30 PM. They turned in a really good set, and it was certainly better than the times I'd see them at the Blind Pig. The sound was very full and you could hear each individual instrument nicely. They had a new drummer I didn't recognized who seemed to rush the pace a couple times, but all in all they were a great way to open the show. James and I migrated up the balcony to grab some seats to take in the next couple bands, and Cults was really good. I had only heard their hit "Go Outside," but they delivered pleasant pop music with a great female vocalist. The Crookes, a British band, were the first non-American act on the evening to be better than average, though I couldn't help but feel that we've heard their sound a million times before. Enjoyable nonetheless.
The band I was most excited to see was Cloud Nothings, and they did not disappoint. Playing in a smaller room than the main hall, they absolutely shredded through their set, and it was a bonafide punk rock show. I absolutely love the new album, and they play all their songs live at even more frantic speeds, and it all amounted to a glorious set. I decided afterwards that they are my favorite band of 2011 so far. Back in the main hall, Wild Beasts were up next, and they were aggressively boring and painful to sit through. They played the longest set of any band, and the entire time I was waiting for any of their songs to be worth my time. When you're playing a festival, let's shy away from three-minute noise breaks and other self-indulgent garbage. I was actively upset by how terrible their set was. For what it's worth, the drunken crowd loved it.
Saving the day, however, was Twin Shadow. I loved the album last year, but it's a bit sparse, and I didn't quite know what to expect in terms of a live show. What we were treated to was the most surprisingly tremendous set I think I've ever seen, wildly surpassing my expectations. Every single song was a winner, with driving 80s synths, catchy choruses (CHORUSES are a concept, Wild Beasts), and shockingly heavy guitars. Some of the songs had moments bordering on metal, and I absolutely loved it. I'd go see Twin Shadow live whenever I get the chance. Rounding out the evening was a manic set from Ty Segall, which was really good, and had a raucous crowd. On a whole, the top five sets at London Calling were 1. Cloud Nothings 2. Twin Shadow 3. Ra Ra Riot 4. Ty Segall and 5. Cults. USA! USA! USA!
There was an indie disco afterward that we stuck around for for a bit, but we ended up leaving and wandering the somewhat sketchy streets of Amsterdam after dark back to the train station. After FEBO and waiting forever for a night train, we made it back to Leiden around 4:30 AM, and had the pleasure of biking home in the rain.
Day 119 - Embarrassingly Lazy Sunday
Owing to the late night, I woke up fairly well into the afternoon, and managed to watch Arsenal mercifully end their season with a 2-2 draw away at Fulham, and the Michigan softball team lose a lead in the 7th inning and get themselves eliminated from the NCAA softball tournament. Not a great day for my rooting interests. This does, however, leave the Tigers as the only team playing right now that I have a rooting interest in. Weird.
The next week is all studying, and then after my final on Friday I'm meeting Alan in Amsterdam. More blogging to come, surely.
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