Day 169/365 - Ida Maria & Glasvegas in Concert

There was a double bill of Norwegian rocker Ida Maria and Scottish band Glasvegas at the Black Cat tonight and I went, largely on the basis of a single song -- Ida Maria's "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked."

Before heading over to the gig I stopped by Al Crostino, a small Italian restaurant and wine bar on U Street, for dinner. It turned out to be one of the best meals I've had in a while (and it gave me a chance to slurp down a couple glasses of prosecco). The pasta e fagioli (pasta and bean soup) was comparable to the version I had in Venice and the Osso Bucco with soft polenta was one of the best dishes I've had in DC. The polenta in particular was mindblowingly delicious. I was running late for the concert, so I didn't have time to try any of their desserts, but now I have an excuse to go back. I'd rate Al Crostino as the second best Italian restaurant I've been to in DC, after Galileo.

As for the show, Ida Maria was as good as I'd hoped. She played a short, full throttle set that was pure attitude, energy, and rock and roll. And the live version of "Better When You're Naked" didn't disappoint. With the way she sings I don't know how she has any voice left. She must have vocal cords of steel. Glasvegas isn't really my thing, so I left about 20 minutes into their set. A lot of people there seemed to like them (although I did notice I wasn't the only person leaving early), but to me all their songs sounded the same. They were just kinda mopey and dull and the vocals were very muddy and indistinct so I couldn't tell you what the hell they were singing about. They seem to try and cover their shortcomings by amping up the volume. It's rock so it's supposed to be loud, but playing 'stadium loud' in a small-ish club like the Black Cat is neither big nor clever. It's just L-O-U-D.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 118/365 - Passion Pit at the Black Cat

I headed over to the Black Cat tonight to see an electropop triple bill consisting of much buzzed-about headliners Passion Pit and opening acts Cale Parks and Paper Route. It was a young and studiously hip crowd. It's entirely possible I was the oldest person there, including the bartenders.

I had thought about skipping the openers and just showing up for the headline act, but I'm glad I didn't. Cale Parks turned out to be a one-man trippy, trancy groove fest and Paper Route cranked out pulsating, pounding, rave rock (think Jimmy Eat World meets Prodigy). Generally I'm not that into electronic music, but both of these acts were well worth the 15 bones it cost to get in the door.

I have to confess to being a bit underwhelmed by the Cambridge, Massachussetts-based Passion Pit, however. From the three tracks they posted on their myspace page I thought they would play chilled out electronic lounge music, but in person they are far rockier and fast-paced. They came across like an electronic, falsetto, less-funky version of Vampire Weekend.

Passion Pit is a perfectly fine band and they seem like an energetic, earnest group of guys (although you would be hard-pressed to find five nerdier-looking dudes on stage anywhere), but I don't think they quite live up to the 'next big thing' tag that has recently been stuck on them. Hopefully some of the buzz that has descended upon Passion Pit will trickle down to their tourmates Cale Parks and Paper Route. They're certainly deserving of a bit more hype. Passion Pit, perhaps a bit less.

They were still good, though and I hope they ride this wave as long as they can because they seem like friendly, down-to-earth guys.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)

Day 101/365 - The Raveonettes at the Black Cat

Tonight Pia and I caught The Raveonettes concert at the Black Cat. The Raveonettes are a ? four-piece band (three women and one man) who play moody, slightly dangerous-sounding rock and roll with an early 1960s vibe to it. I love the distinctly unpolished, decidedly unglamorous nature of the Black Cat. It looks exactly like what it is – a no frills rock and roll club. Pia had never been there before and she said when we went inside that it didn’t even seem like we were in DC anymore. She said it felt more like Philly in there.

The crowd was mostly 30 and 40 year-olds and took a while to trickle in. Pia and I got there when the doors opened, so we were able to snag a seat at one of the very few tables at the back of the room. It was a good thing too because it took forever for The Raveonettes to come onstage. The opening act was a band called Nickel Eye, which took me a while to figure out was probably done to sound like “Nikolai.” They were so-so. They had some good numbers and some mediocre numbers and had a bit of an 80s feel to their sound.

When The Raveonettes finally came onstage Pia and I moved down to the floor to get closer to the action. They played a great set, very lively and earnest with the kind of thumping rock you can feel in your chest. It was a rather short gig, though, and Pia was bummed they didn’t play her favorite song of theirs. Oh well, maybe they’ll play it the next time they come to town.

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)