Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Glasvegas/Ida Maria, July 28 at the Henry Fonda Theater

I wanted to see Glasvegas, Vanessa wanted to see Ida Maria. I pegged Maria as a shallow opening act but she ended up steling the show. Glasvegas were great, turning in a good rock show for one of the best albums of the year, though there was a feeling of desperation, especially from the frontman who was trying to channel Joe Strummer to a nearly embarrassing degree, and working against a thick Scottish accent in the singing that would be impenetrable to American audiences who are too lazy to decipher that kind of thing. The drummer was also a surprise to me, having about a third of a full drum-kit that I had taken for granted, when hearing it before the show, was a full one. They use it well, then. I never really considered a connection between Mo Tucker and Meg White but this is a continuation of that and seems to work just fine. Opening with "Geraldine", far and away their best song, was a bit puzzling to me but the rest of their set almost rose to the same level. Maria never sucked up to the audience or forced them to join her party. She was amazing, being even more fun and sexy but never fluffy or lightweight and looked like she was having the time of her life -- or just drunk. If the two groups' music wasn't so different, Glasvegas should have been afraid that their opener would blow them off the stage. It turned out that maybe they both coaxed their best performances out of each other.

Glasvegas' set-list:
"Geraldine"
"Lonesome Swan"
"It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry"
"Polmont On My Mind"
"Fuck You"
"Flowers & Football Tops"
"Ice Cream Van"
"Go Square Go"

"Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime"
"S.A.D. Light"
"Daddy's Gone"

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