Standing just to the right of the stage at the Bowery, I'm trying to mask my disappointment in Low vs. Diamond. Other than their wholesale theft of LCD Soundsystem's Sounds of Silver font (just look), what is this band really about? My list of grievances is long and somewhat irrelevant. Their singer looks like a kid you wouldn't take seriously in high school. In fact, if it weren't for supportive parents and a six-figure education, you wonder if this kid would have found music at all. Recast the whole thing: music not as a passion but music as an activity for upper-class kids taught that passion is important. He's also wearing an expensive watch. It doesn't fit with his bohemian rhapsody. It glitters like a scarlet letter. If I were more conscious or volatile I might yell "bullshit."
Just at the critical moment, when I'm down on the set and looking for reasons to hate it (see: the watch), some girl pokes me. She says, "you need to have more fun." Now, let it be known, I am not not fun. But she's right. I am not enjoying this and now looking for reasons not to enjoy it. I foolishly engage a conversation. "I mean, what is the real difference between them and say, Matchbox 20?" I say. This is between her contention that they are: 1) young, 2) fun, and 3) good. "I mean, I don't like Matchbox 20. So what the hell are we doing here?" I say. It's a rhetorical question and it isn't fair. Low vs. Diamond aren't nearly as bad as I think. They're also not nearly as good as the cabal of 20-something girls in front of me think. They are bouncing around like someone carbonated their bloodstream. If I were mean-spirited I would say, "you'd dance to anything, wouldn't you?"
The last song of the night begins with an anecdote. "Last night in Philly, everyone came on stage and it was ... well, it was awesome." The lead-singer with the expensive watch encourages fans, without explicitly encouraging them, to join him on stage. I watch the bouncer visibly wince at the prospect of having to regulate some 140-pound kid with a 6,000 dollar camera trying to get on stage. This isn't rock music. It's a lawsuit waiting to happen. Nonetheless, kids get on stage and sort of move around. It's as safe as a ball pit. All the danger has left rock clubs. This is rebellion for kids who don't know how to rebel. This is fun for people that don't know how to have it. If I were nasty I would say, "this is music for people that don't know music."
Listen :: Low vs Diamond - "Heart Attack"
6 comments:
huh?
This sounds like a blog for people who don't know music.
this is what i was talking about. you people are excitable. but it doesn't mean anything.
so... you're mad because the singer had on an exspensive watch?
this band isn't good.
you're going to hate on this guy because he has an expensive watch? what does having an expensive watch have to do with knowing how to make music? it was a good show, i was there. so what if they aren't #1 Billboard material. they play what they like to play, and if you are someone who loves music, you should learn how to have an open mind and except other people's styles. too be honest, you seem too judgmental of the band and the fans around you.
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