- 01
- Oct
Here's a show-going tip: If you head out to a buzzy set and arrive to find that it's sold out, don't wait on the sidewalk 'til your friends come out and proceed to make you feel as though you missed the lord and creator manifest in a 45-minute set by a Brooklyn-based Black Flag-tribute paying experimental indie band. Yep, Rise Above was on display at the Merc and we missed it 'cause we were late (apparently the show sold out just before 1:15AM, when we got there). The thing that stung most about the post-show sidewalk? It wasn't so much what friends said; it was their rapturous facial expressions. But, here's what some exclaimed anyway:
- "Dirty Projectors were amazing!" said Brooklyn Vegan.
- "The best live band I've ever seen!" said The Forms.
- "The best band ever!" said Grizzly Bear.
- "Never have I, at this venue or any other, experienced something so beatific, so worthy of my time, energy, and money, something so rewarding of my considerable effort to arrive at this show on time and with ticket in hand, as I have tonight watching Dirty Projectors at Mercury Lounge," said some other guy maybe.
So we went and had margaritas, which almost but not quite helped drown our jealousy. New Yorkers in attendance, may as well pile on; we're numb at this point. Anyway, Dirty Projectors are setting out on an overseas jaunt this month, so that's one must-see band that won't be at CMJ. But European friends, they are coming to you, so take the jump for tourdates, get yourselves tickets, and get to the venue in advance so you too can rub DP's awesomeness in the face of your sidewalk-stuck friends too irresponsible to make it to the show on time.