Matt and Kim, Wellmont Theatre. Atypical Father/Daughter Dance

Matt and Kim, Wellmont Theatre 11.17.12

So much energy it was exhausting to watch.

Visual program was most entertaining.  Lyrics, live feed from the show, and some nonsense filled the video screen.

Who doesn't like confetti?

Lots of folks in these parts belong to country clubs.  Some of them are super nice (read: super expensive.)  Baltrusol in nearby Summit, NJ is something like a bajillion dollars a year.  It hosts major golf Championships, fashion from Lily Pulitzer and some major movers and shakers from the NYC area.

Folks like me can get overpriced grounds tickets the next time the US Open or PGA comes to town.  Other than that the daunting fence does an admirable job of keeping my sorry ass away.  Which means I will not be able to attend one of those father/daughter dances those clubs embrace.  Not that my daughter would want to go to such a thing.  But nevertheless, the bonding moments between father (almost 40) and daughter (10) are forever fleeting.

Leave it to music to form a common bond.  Since she is not permitted to drive it has been established that the parents control the radio dial.  More specifically, I control the dial.  These days that means plenty of newer alternative, some 80s, some 90s, and the occasional adult alt.  I have been careful to not listen to Howard Stern with her in tow.  She will have plenty of time to hear about Bradley Cooper's conquests and porn star sound effects later in life (much, much, later in life.)

For the most part she digs what she is hearing.  She has seen Gotye, The Bravery, Cut/Copy, and Blondie to name a few.  Last night the Wellmont in Montclair, NJ presented a Brooklyn double bill:  Oberhofer and Matt and Kim.

"Let's Go", the addictive single from Matt and Kim's fourth LP Lightning brought us here.  The duo is a sheer force of high energy, high voltage, high octane dance pop.  It is a rather simple formula.  Matt Johnson is the man behind the keyboards and vocalist.  Kim Schifino plays drums.  But the formula is successful because they are having so much fun it's contagious.  Johnson's vocals, a high pitched squeak that is admittedly not for everyone, is serviceable and suits the material.  His humor, attitude and showmanship are exemplary.

When you add Schifino's voracious drumming, spirited stage antics and vulgar banter between songs the Matt and Kim live show goes from ordinary to exceptional.  It is just two folks on stage so you have to forgive some pre-programmed music.  Johnson's keyboard has tracks, hooks and grooves to pull from.  Last night they sampled from Sugarhill Gang and DJ Kool.  So, in that sense, there were some moments when the event took on a dj set and/or club night.  The countless tweens and drunken college kids further emphasized that feeling too.

But when Matt and Kim reached into their original material things went remarkably well.  The opening song, "Block After Block" was fast and furious.  "Daylight", probably their most popular song, was performed with an avid enthusiasm.  The whole darn concert was a giddy, free wheeling smile fest.  These guys should be working at Disney because it is hard to imagine a more happy duo.

Last night marked the final show of their 6 week tour and they were intent to go out in style.  Balloons were thrown into the audience to be blown up and released.  They blew confetti into the crowd a few times mid song.  Kim crowd surfed on hands and shaked her ample booty from various points on the stage.  Matt propelled himself from his keyboard stool and appeared to take flight.  They thanked New Jersey.  They thanked everyone.  They had a blast.

My 10 year old date stared in awed amazement for the 90 minute set.  It was the first time she saw crowd surfing.  It was her first concert that had "a light show, and movie screen."

"It was so much fun dad, they were really good!" was her assessment once she got her hearing back.

The Brooklyn duo might never get higher praise.  This is a highly critical and highly opinionated young lady to say the least.  Her father was quite impressed too.

Good thing events like this exist.   This is the kind of dance I approve of.  Soon the little one will want nothing to do with me.

"Just drop me off and pick me up dad." I can hear her say.

"Sure, no problem."  Think it will occur to her that I will park the car and hover around the venue rather than make myself scarce?

Youth is, after all, wasted on the young.  And acting your age is grossly overrated!!

For more:  Setlist looked something like this...  Matt and Kim official page.   Please note they will be supporting Passion Pit in the winter, with a notable show on 2.8 at New York's Madison Square Garden.  It is suddenly a much more interesting event (although I am still a bit shocked Passion Pit is playing MSG.)

Also, check out Oberhofer here.  They started off the evening with some quality, upbeat rock.  The guitar work and Brad Oberhofer's voice had a tendency to grow repetitive.  Overall, they have a good vibe and are easy to root for.

Oberhofer, Wellmont Theatre 11.17.12

NJ's smallest hipster.  Had a great view all night and managed to score a seat for Matt and Kim!

Synth Week (Or the Week my Wife Questioned my Sexuality)

About four songs into Grimes set last night at Bowery Ballroom my wife politely leaned over to me and whispered "You have to be a little bi, right?"

Ouch.

You can't be a little gay, or a little bi, right?  And if you are bi isn't that just another way of saying gay? It's like saying hipster, or experimental college phase,  or suburban gay.   But it is gay nonetheless.

So let me premise by saying by each and every account I am a straight man.  Be out and proud I say and I will support you 110%.   Gay marriage is as great (and flawed) as straight marriage.  But I draw the line at skinny jeans and ain't no way men turn me on.

But what is the stance on watching (and enjoying Project Runway and Top Chef?!)  I cancel that out with a love of baseball, football and college basketball, don't I?

Flannel shirts can go either way I suppose.  But I loathe shopping for clothes.

And where do you stand on synthesizers??  I mean, for someone who grew up in the 80s isn't the appreciation of synths my birth right?

New Order.  Human League.  Thomas Dolby.  Thompson Twins.  Depeche Mode.  Real Life.  Icicle Works.  INXS.  Those are just a few that come to mind.  Who am I missing?

And today the mighty synth is back and bigger than ever.  Naked And the Famous, Foster the People, Cut/Copy, M83, Passion Pit, The Sounds, Gotye XX, Walk the Moon to name a few. There are plenty more, like 2 the 2 acts I saw last week.

Tuesday 10.23 American/Swedish act Miike Snow made their Wellmont Theatre debut.  Andrew Wyatt, leader and central figure for the band, is a strong ringleader.  And this is something of a circus.

Front stage is positioned as some sort of spaceship contril room.  Synths face each other stage left and right and light up like a Star Trek set piece.  Think Wrath of Khan, not the tv series.

The only thing distinguishing them from a dj set is live percussion, which they employ quite effectively.  The drum kit gives the illusion of a rock show, even if it is secondary to the proceedings.  This is a synth act.  Swede's Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg were/are a formidable songwriting and producing act without Wyatt.  They won a Grammy for the Britney Spears song "Toxic."

With Wyatt they spin/play/program the beats and allow him enough freedom to act them out.  His voice and their harmonies breathe a toe tapping energy to the live show.

This is as close to a Jersey club as I am ever gonna get.  Even though the place was very quiet (Tuesday night show in NJ soon after they played NYC was ambitious- couldn't have been 1000 people there) those in attendance enjoyed the production.

Wyatt is confident and charismatic.  The Swedes are animated and engaging.  And the hooks, oh the hooks.  ""Paddling Out"" and "Silvia" have earned their rightful place in the synth canon.

Make no mistake, this is as much theatre as it is music.  Lots of the music has been sampled, manipulated on computer and played like your favorite mix tape.

M83 played Wellmont a few weeks prior and absolutely killed it.  Maybe they set the bar too high because Miike Snow left me slightly disappointed.  The small crowd was a little soft too.  Tuesday nights are a challenging night to bring the high energy.  These boys have been touring for like 30 years consecutively too.  That cannot help.  Good stuff for sure, but not life changing.

Which can be also be said of Canadian toddler Claire Boucher, nee Grimes.  We caught her at Bowery Ballroom 10.27.12  performing one of 4 (!!!) sold out NYC shows.   Truth told she is 24 years old.  Tastemaker magazine has called her and her music "as an alien love child of Aphex Twin and Abba."  She played Enya before taking stage.  The set consisted of 3 keyboards and 3 floral covered microphone stands.

It is dream pop.  It is dark wave.  Dark ambient.  Industrial.  Experimental.

The lighting is an integral component as well as Grimes pixie voice and meek, ethereal stage presence.  It was Halloween weekend in NYC too so the kids were all in costumes.  Or were they??

The Grimes set is all synths and moody, mystic vocals.  Boucher can sing.  Her voice brings Julee Cruise to mind.  Does anyone remember Cruise and her work with Angelo Badalementi for David Lynch?  Her look is an amalgam of Kate Bush, Sinead O Connor and Karmin.

What puzzles me most is the lack of live percussion.  It makes the whole event seem MORE theatre than concert.  It was also an issue with Sleigh Bells's show earlier this year.

The whole thing seems contrived.  Do we need the mere appearance of the keyboards.  Is it the same show with the lights and Grimes singing alone on stage?  Probably.

Maybe I'm a bit old for the scene.  Maybe more specifically, I'm no longer taking the drugs required to fully engage with this type of artist.

It plays much better on a lazy Monday afternoon stranded due to a Hurricane.  Pop in the dreamy soundtrack to mellow and let it be.

Live, in front of an under appreciating bunch of twerps, is quite different.  She came on closer to 11:30 too which was annoying too.  Her openers were off stage around 10:45 and let's be honest it does not take much to set her up.  Find an outlet and plug in keyboards.


Thankfully we were able to see Futurebirds earlier in the evening.  They are a guitar band from Athens, Georgia.  Lots of guitar in fact, including a pedal steel.  Sorry, pedal steel is my kryptonite and with the Futurebirds it's pretty darn good.  They were opening up for trendy and buzz worthy band Heartless Bastards.  Their set and stage presence/demeanor were both likable to say the least.  

The guitars help with my heterosexual credibility don't they?  Can I keep my straight card?

Or as a few friends suggested my card may be either a) missing or b) the mere mention of straight card calls for immediate removal of it.

Judge all you want.  More synths shows are on the horizon.  I'm comfortable with it.  Maybe if you aren't you are the one who should be questioning yourself.  ;-)

Uh oh, an emoticon.  Back to square one.  Admitting the problem is step one.



Futurebirds Irving Plaza 10.27.12

Full head dress and feather cape for Halloween.  All I could think of was how warm that must be.

Grimes Bowery Ballroom 10.27.12

Just could not get a decent picture at this one.  Might be time to upgrade phone.  Samsung or Iphone?

Miike Snow Wellmont 10.22.12

They came on stage with creepy Eyes Wide Shut masks on.  Totally cool.

If Eminem were a synth loving, emo singer he might look like Andrew Wyatt

When Good Concerts Go Bad, Fiona Apple, Wellmont Theatre, 10.12.12

This is waaayyyy too far away to see Fiona Apple

She is still super thin, and has some Madonna-esque definition in her arms.

Her voice, and band were both strong.  She commands the stage and is most comfortable there.  No, it's not the hash!

When Friday night rolls around a few slices of pizza, bad tv and the couch can be heavenly.  The weeks are difficult and I know I/we are not alone.  There is work, parenting, coaching, trying to avoid election coverage, eating, sleeping among other things.  Finding money for entertainment is one thing.  Finding the time to go enjoy said entertainment is most certainly another.

We catch a fair amount of shows, not enough movies and an embarrassingly small amount of museums over the course of a year.  Weekends are spent pursuing excitement and relaxation.  More often than not they end up an exercise in housework and menial chores.  It is why Friday nights are coveted evenings of decompression and abject disinterest.

A Tuesday concert really is not that awful.  For the most part your body and mind are turned on.  You will more than likely get to sleep around midnight regardless.  Wednesday's alarm clock will go off whether you go out the night before or not.  In other words, Wednesday is gonna suck concert or no concert.

It was with some trepidation we decided on a Friday night show.  And not because Ms Apple is unworthy.  The poster child of 90s heroin chic and pretty darn accomplished singer/songwriter/pianist
Apple is certainly worthy.  Is she $50 a ticket at Wellmont in Montclair worthy?

Answer:  Unsure.

This blog pays nothing but the joy of writing it and, hopefully, you reading it.

Naturally I thought that ticket would get me on the floor.  We have all become pretty accustomed to being near the stage.  Take a look at some recent posts for my usual view M83, Naked and The Famous or White Rabbits .  Those pics are from the World's worst camera phone. Thanks for nothing Droid!

$50 a ticket is steep.  Especially for a New Jersey show.  And more specifically for a general admission theatre ticket.  Wellmont is a redesigned 1922 movie theatre.  Large netting covers the art deco ceiling in an attempt to shield its patrons from falling plaster.  The stage is a nice size and the sound is pretty darn good.  It is not however the Beacon Theatre or Radio City.  It's swell that it is not on the other  side of the Hudson.  It's amazing how crossing through the tunnel, just a few miles from Wellmont/Montclair, affects a trip.  5 minutes of City driving can be enough to put you in a foul mood. Couple that with any Jersey driving, all of which DOES put you in a foul mood...  and you get the drift.

After arriving at 9 on the nose we headed to our usual spot (right stage side on the floor.)  After another shit week we deserved some cocktails.  Excuse us for missing the opening act.  Sometimes you need a little fried food and spirits.  But, besides staying thirsty my friends, act responsibly.  When we showed our stubs to the usher he politely said "Oh, you are upstairs."

"Huh?" was probably my response.

Apparently our tickets were General Admission "Balcony."  The balcony has seats, as opposed to the standing room only floor section.  The GA seats were first come first serve.

First things first.  The Wellmont is much bigger than I thought.  We ended up about 10 stories high and fully able to smell the very plaster that threatens to fall.  $50??  For this.

Ms Apple took the stage about a minute after we sat down.  She looked skinny.  In fact, she literally looked like a toothpick from our viewpoint.

Her band started playing the wonderful  Fast As You Can, we think.  Cause we could not hear much.

$50?  For this?

No, this is a $20 seat you pick up on the spur of the moment.  At $50 your seat should be assigned.  That was the only GA ticket available at point of purchase and nowhere did it say we would be responsible for dusting the ceiling.

But perhaps worse than that nonsense was the obnoxious crowd that surrounded us.

First we had to climb over 20 something make out crew.  We are not talking lovers embrace and mild kissing either.  This was full on, kissing like 7th graders in the closet of a house party, not coming up for air, off to war not seeing you for a while, make out crew.  At a Fiona Apple concert???!!!

"Excuse me. can you stop violating her kidneys with your tongue and let us through?"  They did, grudgingly.

During Shadowboxer, when others around us started chattering and talking over Apple's ballad.  It was clear things were not going to get better.

Bad view, bad sound and a crowd unwilling to give the artist a modicum of respect.

It all went terribly wrong so fast.  We climbed over the make out crew again and headed downstairs.  Picture the yodeling hiker on that The Price is Right game when you think of our ascent/descent to our seats.  It was up there!  And we did not get a parting gift for getting there!

Pawn Stars and spending the night with our daughter was being sacrificed for this?  And the baseball???  The glorious baseball playoffs that we could have been watching.

And this isn't a knock on dear, sweet Fiona Apple.

We got to the floor (kinda) after alerting the head usher of our dilemma.

"Yeah, they should be on the floor, let em in," he hollered to his underlings once we made it downstairs.

Too little, too late.  The floor was mobbed, we were aggravated, and the crowd at the backbar was as annoying as the folks upstairs.

But we managed to hear some songs as she intended, notably "Werewolf" from her latest LP, the impossibly titled The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver of The Screw And Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do.  She is strong in voice, piano, stage presence and material.  A good show and pleasant experience was in there somewhere, probably for all those within ear/eyeshot of the concert they paid good money for.

Maybe another time, at another venue, we will be able to buy whatever she is selling.  For now a certain bitterness fills the air.  

An incomplete grade on an event that held such lofty expectations makes for a piss poor start to the weekend.

Thankfully the next show is on a Tuesday.  You hear that Miike Snow??!!  The pressure is on.

For a legitimate review please take a look at Tris McCall's take here: Tris McCall Star Ledger Fiona Apple review

She plays the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ and Terminal 5 in NYC.  Go get yours should you dare.