Cold War Kids, Tokyo Police Club @ The Middle East (Boston)

Once you get past the obnoxious bouncers, the Middle East is actually a pretty good indie venue: dark and small. The first act, Delta Spirit, started out well but didn't follow through. They played two or three crowd-pleasing songs, then failed to keep up the good work. Pity, they started out really well.

Now, Tokyo Police club were awesome. They organized their set-list very well; playing "If It Works" first to warm up the people in the crowd who might not have heard of them then they slipped in "Citizen Of Tomorrow" during the middle of the show. All this time, fans of the band were really only waiting for one song: "Nature Of The Experiment" which they played right at the end of their cathartic gig.

But none of it even compared to Cold War Kids! They started off with "We Used to Vacation" and "Red Wine, Success" and really warmed up the audience. By the time they started playing "Hang Me Up To Dry," they managed to re-create a kind of '80's indie rock vibe on ecstasy. After this they could have done no wrong...but still they kept pushing the musical envelope. To our great surprise "Hospital bed" or "Hang Me Up To Dry" didn't not make the number one on our list, because that night, it was unanimously and incontestably "Saint John." They were joined by the two opening acts and the enthralled singing crowd to coordinated a sort of noise-music that projected us into a nirvana of sounds. They followed with five more songs, which included "Pass the Hat" and "God Make Up Your Mind" that were a bit more mellow to round up the evening nicely. Nicely done, Kids!

MuteMath @ Gramercy Theatre

After two amazing opening acts, what kind of show would MuteMath have put on for this crowd? Whatever they had to do was done last night. MuteMath plays a kind of experimental rock that sounds a bit like an electronica version of a fusion between The Police and Air.
The band started out with their signature intro of “Collapse” and “Typical” and completely nailed it. The record track does not even compare to their performance anymore. The audience went nuts. Before they even had time to catch their breath, Darren King had already started battering the beat of Chaos on his drums. By then, utter madness was unleashed. The crowd clapped along to the fast-paced beat of the song.
The best song of the show was probably “Plan B.” Greg Hill started it off with a mind-blowing guitar intro, King backed it up with his powerful beats and Roy Mitchell-Cardenas, bass, just sent the song on an express ride to “you can’t top it”-ville.
After Mitchell-Cardenas and King synchronized a beat for “Obsolete,” Paul Meany said, “ The next song is called control and I’m gonna need a lot of voices for this one.” The moshpit totally agreed and by the end of the song, Meany turned the microphone over to the crowd singing, “It’s such a beautiful surrender.” Before they left the stage, the band preformed a version of “Reset,” which was quite frankly out of this world.
After the encore, the band played three last songs that ended in an instrumental euphoria, and King’s set scattered all over the stage.

Set List:
Collapse
Typical
Chaos
Picture
Voice
Plan B
Stare At The Sun
Obsolete
Control
You Are Mine
Noticed
Break The Same
Reset
(Encore)
Sooner
Without It
Ok

Typical :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqiVIgiN8zo

Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin @ Gramercy Theatre

Drummer, Phil Dickey, likes to spice things up a bit. After he switched position, mid-gig, with guitarist John Robert Cardwell, Dickey jumped off the stage onto the security platform in front. Only his feet got stuck in the cables at bit…
“That was thoroughly rock and roll,” said Deanna Wallach, photographer with the Cinematics who high-fived him after he plugged all the cables back in. “Really that was stellar. He’s amazing. ”
Right on! They are all amazing, they’re the “we-do-our-own-thing” kind of band, and though we don’t necessarily understand why they do it, we love it! Just like we loved “Pangea” and “Boring Fountain.” The overall vibe of their performance was a more chilled out, “friends-rocking-in-their-basement” kind of gig. They started playing “Oregon Girl” immediately after the sound check. They just blew the crowd away. The rotating band finished off the performance with the addictive riffs of “Ocean-O.” The next time they will come to New York, these Missourians might just be their own main show…

Set list:
Oregon Girl
I am Warm and Powerful
Pangea
House Fire
Boring fountain
Modern
Half-Wake
You could write a book
OCEAN-O

Highlights of The Show:

Oregon Girl:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXXsxZ0CNPo&mode=user&search=

Pangea:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4bUqqCZ4Xo&mode=related&search=

Boring Fountain:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K_BcZCphgk&mode=user&search=

Ocean-O:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD44DcjSsvs&mode=user&search=

The Cinematics @ Gramercy Theatre

The energy flows from the Scottish band that sounds like a mix between Placebo and Joy Division. Though the band does not fight the ‘80’s new wave influence, they are not “just another one of those bands.” Franz Ferdinand and Editors might have ventured around the genre of that bygone era, but no one has done it quite as superbly as The Cinematics. Their debut record “A Strange Education,” combines the best of both decades. If Ian Curtis had not committed suicide, Joy Division’s last record would have closely resembled it.
Last night, the band definitely warmed up the crowed for MuteMath. They opened and turned everyone on with “Sunday Sun” and “Keep Forgetting,” but they really peaked with “Maybe Someday” and “Break.” At that point, the whole crowd realized that this was not just a bland opening act. The band could feel it too, and they were showing it off. They were literally playing as if no one would ever stop them.


Highlights of the Gig

Maybe Someday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNbYHKbwuhc

Break:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNdcAHhj3vw&mode=related&search=

Aqualung @ the Hiro Ballroom

In the middle of the gig, Ben Hales walked over to Matt and whispered something in his ear. Matt’s facial expression changed then he said with a smile, “euhm, ladies and gentlemen, my brother Ben has an announcement to make. He has told me he just ‘rocked’ a button off his shirt.” Ben, who was swinging his guitar to the beat of the music, was so engrossed in the tune that he ripped his top button off his shirt. “This is not how I choose to look,” he told the audience. “Be careful,” Matt said, “not to rock your cloths off all the way down to your bollocks.”
Throughout the gig, there was a lot a back and forth between Matt Hales and the audience. Whether he was teasing us with an extended piano introduction, or telling us about his awkward encounters with Richard Gere and Ricky Martin, he was having a long intense conversation with us. From “Easier To Lie” to the magnificent “Tongue Tied,” he delivered a stellar performance of his best hits with his signature candid smile.
Hales alternated the old with the new, as he introduced us to some songs from his new record, Memory Man, out today nationwide. Based on the cheer-o-meter from last night, his new tracks were pretty well received especially “Something To Believe In” and “Outside,” whose faster tempo sets it aside from most of Aqualung usual songs.
“I know it’s something most artists assert,” said Hales about Memory Man. “But for what it’s worth I’m really quite proud of it.”

The Highlights of the Gig:

Something To Believe In:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTtJP9ZR1Wc&mode=user&search=

Outside:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgLKpTLWJTw&mode=user&search=

Tongue Tied (partial):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUvCJF3DPFo&mode=user&search=

Easier To Lie (partial):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfEyvcNuOt8&mode=user&search=