WAS/Bishop Allen/Oxford Collapse All At Bowery

To start off with, sorry this wasn't up earlier. Going back to school is a bitch, especially when they don't give you internet until the today.

Anyway, to the point, all those bands above played Bowery Ballroom. 'Twas amazing.

I have been We Are Scientist and Bishop Allen fans for a while now, and I was fortunate enough to see the Oxford Collapse play with them at the Galapagos back in July(?). So, when I saw that they were all playing at Bowery Ballroom, my heart skipped a beat. However, in my unmatched naivety, I assumed that it wouldn't sell out, and boy, was I wrong. This show was not to be missed though, and Ross and I went to Bowery day of to see if any extra tickets were released. There were, and the evening was wonderful. It was pretty surreal, Virgin people were putting up posters and whatnot. All really foreign.

Downstairs, the Scientists were bustling about, namely trying to pick up all the flyers saying they were going to be signing things after the show, so as no one would know about it, and they would save themselves the... I believe the term they used was "degradation." After a bit of that, some sort of manager informed them that Virgin would pull them from promotions if they didn't, at which I poked a bit of fun at Keith.

Upstairs, Ross and I got absolutely perfect spots, front and center. The first opener was the Kites. On the whole, I was unimpressed. The five piece was alright, but the songs seemed repetitious, and worse, all fairly similar. Now, I'm not saying they were bad, because they weren't. I've seen much worse openers. But it just seemed they were lacking that variation that would make them a little more interesting. On their behalf, Ross was a fan.

Next was the long awaited Bishop Allen set. I was slightly disappointed/really excited at the fact that they only played new songs. The new stuff is excellent, nothing less than I would expect from BA. They played a few that I knew, like "Last Chance America," and "Toast from Benefit Street," and a few that I didn't, but I was enthralled nonetheless. Their set always seem too short. Christian R. also let the audience know that they would be releasing an EP of new material some time soon. Oh man, the implications of Bishop Allen selling recorded material! I must get my dirty mitts on one of those. I'll be waiting for Clementines as well.

Oxford Collapse was next on the bill, and they didn't come to disappoint. Much rock and stamping about the stage was had. The new darlings of Pitchfork played a pretty solid set, although they didn't cover "Proud Mary" like they did at Galapagos. They're so good at keeping their songs clean while putting a ridiculous amount of energy into them all the same. They're really fun to see on stage. I'm looking forward to maybe seeing them and WAS again in Hoboken later this week.

By the time WAS took the stage, the place was packed. I longed for the days of old with the smaller venues; I felt like a sardine at Bowery. The set was outstanding, although there was no guitar throwing or any other ridiculous spectacles. They did, however, play their cover of "Be My Baby," which I watched with envy online when they played it at Paradiso in Amsterdam. Unfortunately, a shoving war broke out during "The Great Escape," at which I was extremely disappointed, but I should probably get used to it. After going through nearly their entire catalog (not including the old stuff of course), they guys came out for an encore of "This Means War." Oh, and Ross nabbed the setlist.

After the Scientists signed this, that, and Ross's chest, there was an afterparty to attend at Rothko's. Try as we might, we couldn't get in, or get snuck in, so we called it a night and head home (Next time we'll have to get those fake IDs).

We Are Scientists
Bishop Allen
The Oxford Collapse
The Kites