Tokyo Police Club - 5-Mar-2009

I started using iTunes Genius in February and when I made a mix based on Snowden's Black Eyes, one of Tokyo Police Club's songs was on it.  I actually had A Lesson in Crime in my iTunes library (courtesy of my sister), but never listened to it because I didn't know it was there. Well, everytime I listened to the Genius mix, I would check my iPod when Tokyo Police Club was playing.  So, long story short, I bought Elephant Shell and some more songs off Smith. 

Then, while reading a YouTube friend's blog on 2-Mar-2009, saw that Tokyo Police Club was coming on 5-Mar-2009 and had to buy tickets.  Good thing I bought them that day because it sold out.

CONCERT

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Opening Band #1 - Ruby Coast = MISSED THEM (but got a free button)

Opening Band #2 - The Harlem Shakes / First thought was the lead singer was kind of short and wore a really ugly 80's tweed blazer jacket.  Second thought was about the main guitarist wearing retro glasses and retro letterman looking blue sweater (very "Buddy Holly" like).  

I don't know The Harlem Shakes, but I will say they put on a really good show.  They had a lot of personality and energy.  The lead singer seemed to try and make a sexy face that I wasn't into, but could ignore.  That retro guitar player ended up peeling off 2 layers of shirts and his glasses. It was like Superman because once the glasses came off I had to do a double-take; I didn't recognize him.  He really enjoyed performing which was evident by his constant "O" face.  I really wish I had taken his before/after picture.

Their music really wasn't my thing, but I can say I liked their performance.

Main Event - Tokyo Police Club (TPC)

OK, here's the real reason I haven't blogged in awhile.  I always feel like I have to write about the events in the order they occurred.  That's usually fine, except I really didn't want to write about TPC because the show was such a let down for me.  It was so boring and should have been full of energy.

I won't lie.  I had HIGH expectations of the group because I had been rocking their stuff and got a mental image of what I thought they'd be like.  Well, what I got was a bunch of  20-yr old random kids with tight jeans, logo shirts, and messy hair (all except the drummer who took off all his clothes except some gym shorts to perform).  

Seriously, when you have a sweet name like TOKYO POLICE CLUB and your music is dancetastic pop wave, there should some kind of image that goes with that.  I saw visions of Interpol Hipsters dancing in my head and I got High School Musical.  =(

So that was the first let down.  Second one...stupid security guard singling ME out and telling me that I couldn't record the show.  WTH??!?!?  Especially when there were about 3 other cameras within 3-steps from me and NONE of them were asked to stop video recording.  I got about 5 songs and part of another, but NONE of them were my FAVORITES! 

Maybe I was just in a bad mood and any other day the show would have been slamming, but I sulked and watched boring TPC sing song after song while the lead singer drank some tea between songs.  OK, so maybe he was sick?  Maybe that is why they were so lackluster in energy?  I have no idea.

I didn't stay for the full encore.  My 3-inch boots were making my feet scream and my disappointment coated me in a blah mood. 

Sadly, since this show, I haven't wanted to listen to TPC anymore.  They really bummed me out.  But, I will blow the dust off right now and tell you what the highlights were. 

Highlights from the show:

1> YOUR ENGLISH IS GOOD! - To me it's the best song, and during this one the keyboardist really picked up the slack and sang his heart out during the "Give us your vote" parts.  As I listen to it on my iPod right now, I am reminded why I "loved" them in the first place.

2>BE GOOD - I love over excessive clapping in songs!  Seriously...helps the audience know when to participate.  Plus, again the actually energetic keyboardist got to add his "hey hey hey" parts into the song adding some life to the stage.

3>NATURE OF THE EXPERIMENT - opening song...I like it a lot, but it's not Your English is Good or Be Good.  BUT, at least I got this one recorded.

4>I should have stayed for the whole first encore song to hear, CHEER IT ON.  Come on..."When you're standing there...it's Tokyo Police Club!"  Awesome use of your own name in a song.  But seriously, if you're going to do that shouldn't you back up all that swagger with some overly cocky image...sunglasses, crazy coiffed hair, anything?

5>Annoying girls who kept asking for TESSELLATE and didn't shut up until they sang it (which wasn't until near the end of the set, so we heard the request a lot).

6>Wait something is coming back to me now?  Yes...this was the show where the lead singer tried to gain audience participation by playing, "MADLIBS".  However, either the audience wasn't into the game, was too dumb to play (as alluded by the singer), or he just has no follow through, but it was definitely AUDIENCE/SINGER FAIL!  

I should give TPC another shot, but not sure if I will.  I think it may be better to let the image I have of them in my head as cool New York styled cats remain instead of the real thing.

So here are the five songs I was able to record and 15-Sec of the sixth song.  enjoy =|