that was frickin sweet

last night my roomie and i went to see the cold war kids, tokyo police club and delta spirit at a small venue here in madison, wi. it was frickin awesome.

first of all, i love the venue. the annex is dirty and small and just love it. and when i say small, i mean it's definitely one of those venues where the band members come out and watch the other bands play which is always entertaining to say the least. i love that the stage is so close to any place you stand and that the bar is located close enough to hear the music. it also has pretty nice bathrooms near the stage which is always a plus.

my roomie and i left a little late due to preshow drinking and a slow gettin' ready time, so we only caught the last one and half songs of delta spirit. they sounded great though, i hadn't listened to them before, so maybe i'll check out their myspace or something.


tokyo police club was full of energy. the participatory crowd hand clapping and use of tambourines, yes tambourines plural (which at one point the keyboardist and guitarist threw back and forth to each other, it was amazing) made the set even more upbeat and awesome. there songs are filled with adrenaline and that definitely came through in the live performance. thankfully this did not lead to crazy dancing, as one might expect. everyone just danced politely within their own space which was nice considering the fact that i could have been knocked over easily (due to the alcohol i had consumed).

it was at this point that my roomie and i decided it is unfair that boys look ever so hot when all sweaty and dirty and girls look gross. how can this be? construction workers and rock stars are always dirty and dripping sweat, but they are the hottest categories of men in the world. it was extremely hot with all the body heat being produced near the stage, so we decided to watch cold war kids from the side by the bar.

the cold war kids were great as expected. like tokyo police club their music is filled with adrenaline, but it is of a much more chill vibe. i love the singer's voice and their live performance was sweet. we watched from the side so we were able to see other audience members' faces as we watched the show and i think that may have been the most entertaining part of the evening. i am a fan of people watching in general and concerts reveal many peoples' little ticks and such. we also saw a couple older audience members (old men? why are you here?) and one looked like rev. camden from 7th Heaven, totally in a freaky way.

it was a great concert and a great night, i'm hoping more fab bands come to the annex. it's a good time.