faux-romantics May 17
So, a quick gmail search indicates that I finally listened to Los Campesinos! (punctuation theirs) on about April 24th. I was basically immediately in love and when I realized they’d be in town tonight, I was gonna go, regardless of the facts that 1) there are shows the next two nights as well and 2) apparently, nobody else cares about them. Well, I went into today thinking that was the case, thankfully Caseus’s/Tweaks’s new roommate is the shit and decided to come with, bringing along her northlander friend.
The show itself was basically everything I expected - a lot of fun but also a bit of a mess. With seven members playing drums, bass, two guitars, violin, glockenspiel, synths, melodica, and cowbell, among other things, it was no surprise that the sound guy couldn’t quite get the mix right. What I’ve never understood about sound mixing is why the vocals aren’t always turned up. Is it just me, or shouldn’t they always be louder? You can never really make out words at a show unless you know them already, which is kind of ridiculous.
Anyway, I knew the words, and thought the show was pretty tremendous. They’re a more professional outfit than I really expected, given how big and new the band is. The gave a ton of energy, and the crowd was actually more appreciative than just about any I’ve seen in DC. People were really into it, from what I could tell - a lot more movement in the crowd than your average show, but then, the music kind of demands it. In particular, “You! Me! Dancing!” had the crowd shaking they asses - but really, how could you not?
The only gripe I have is with the lead singer, Gareth. It is fortunate, for him, that I am really tolerant in general, because he’s borderline insufferable. His voice is thin and piercing, but even that I can overlook. But live - he just has a face that fills me with violent thoughts. I don’t think he ever once smiled, and instead had that sort of pouty disaffected persona that was not only a turn-off, but was/is pretty completely ingruous with the music itself, which is engaging on every level. Dude, you’re on your first American tour. You’ve got a killer band (that includes three rather fit young ladies) that’s getting some solid press. You’ve got a very appreciative crowd eating from your hand - could you crack a smile? Just, like, once look like you’re not cooler than the very thing you’re doing? C’mon. Jerk doesn’t even play a guitar. Incidentally, their lead guitarist was tremendous, I’d vote him for band mvp. Aaaand… that was los campesinos!