Buzz Blog

Titus Andronicus was on stage already when I arrived at Kilby Court last night, as was an unexpected guest.---

No, it wasn't a friend of the band, or Will Smith arriving for a secret after-party (remember that rumor last New Year's Eve, courtesy of the Downtown Alliance and a gullible Tribune reporter?). It was a really loud young woman who was obviously drunk, tripping balls, or off her meds. Or needing to be on meds, perhaps.

Regardless, she was right up on stage, loudly yakking at the singer, when I got there. Then she was off stage, loudly yakking at the singer. Then she was in the back of the room, next to me, loudly yakking at the singer. Eventually she made her way up to the front again, this time to slap the singer on his ass. It was a gesture met with bemusement at best by the folks in the band.

I don't mention this to mock the girl, but to raise the issue of responsible gig-going. This girl clearly had too much of something in her system, and the uneasy quiet in the room as she prattled on indicated she didn't have any friends on hand to help her get it together. Or, at least, no friends who wanted to embarrass themselves by keeping her from embarrassing herself further.

It's one thing to get a buzz on for a show. It's another to get so completely out of your skull that you fuck up the show for the band and the rest of the fans. You don't want to be THAT wasted. And if you have a friend becoming THAT GUY or THAT GAL, help 'em out! And get them out of there for the benefit of the rest of us.

That said, I'll be getting a buzz on Thursday at the City Weekly Artys party, then hitting some of the live music filling town. To wit:

At The Depot, critical faves The Gaslight Anthem headline a gig that was originally $23, but is now just $5. Don't know why, but it's probably a smart move in terms of getting some folks to the show. Obviously well worth checking out, even if they suck. But I don't suspect they will.

Over at The State Room, it's the Southern front-porch swamp-blues of JJ Grey and Mofro, who are always a decent time. The songs get a bit same-y after a while to my ears, but there will certainly be a party vibe on.

And finally, the best gig of the night is at The Urban Lounge, featuring Crooked Fingers, with David Williams and The Awful Truth opening. I've loved Crooked Fingers ever since I saw them at the old Velvet Room (now Elevate) a few years ago. If you know the room, you know it's pretty big, but there were probably only 20 fans scattered across the massive space.

Rather than simply doing their usual show to a smattering of applause from a bunch of disconnected groups of two or three, leader Eric Bachmann had the whole band trade their electric instruments for acoustic ones, and they hopped off the stage and came down among the tables in the bar, beckoning us fans to create a tight little circle around them. We did, and they proceeded to mow through a few songs unplugged, and sometimes a cappella, to get the fans that WERE there totally geeked up on the show. Then they went back to the stage and killed it for another hour or so. It was one of the best shows I've ever seen, and that's sayin' somethin', suckers!