My Live Weekend

This weekend marked one of the most anticipated Seaport free shows of the summer and the last free McCarren Pool Show. It was a diverse and mostly positive, if entirely too damp, weekend of live music. I will reserve my judgement of Takka Takka and The Forms, who both played heavily abbreviated sets in the rain on Friday. (but seriously I'm certain both of these bands are terrible.) Here's my ratings.

The National (Seaport) 89% - This band is going to be around for a while. They have sturdy songs and an impeccably towering sound without an inch of fat. Basically you will almost never see a National fan embarrassed for their band of choice, that's a lot to say in this day of genre hopping and retro kitsch.

YACHT (McCarren Pool) 90% - There is just something about a guy and his computer. The seeming insularity of computer based pop music once seemed sure to keep this genre from being any kind of a live experience. Well this has all shifted. Dan Deacon, Girl Talk, and YACHT put on some of the best shows around. YACHT surprised me, breaking out hilarious and jovial dance moves and giving an incredibly friendly question and answer session mid-set. (Check the photo on the side, I'm standing in the back smirking.)

The Cool Kids (McCarren Pool) 81% - Four songs is a terrible way to judge a live performance. The Cool Kids did everything they could with their time, I hope to see them again soon.

Spank Rock (McCarren Pool) 84% - Flossing, simply flossing.

The rest of The Baltimore Bass Connection (McCarren Pool) 82% - The whole Baltimore Bass performance was pretty impressive, But really I almost would have preferred single sets from all the performers. Not just Spank Rock and The Cool Kids, but Kid Sister and Betty Black Pase Rock.

Ghostland Observatory (McCarren Pool) 27% - It's sad that the last free pool party would end with this band. Initial good will was wide spread for this band but about three songs in (after the vocoder lost it's novelty) I realized that they sounded quite a bit like INXS. How am I supposed to hang with that?