Silversun Pickups @ Webster Hall, NYC [5/15/07]

The meatheads have arrived.

I knew they were coming. When I heard the first seconds of "Melatonin", I knew they were coming. When the band's two shows at Mercury Lounge last fall sold out right away, and one got moved to Bowery Ballroom and still sold out, I knew they were coming. When I saw the band on The Tonight Show, I knew they were coming. And when I saw that, nearly nine months after it's release, Carnavas was on the Billboard album chart, I knew they were coming.

And come they did.

Although, at first, it didn't seem like it. When I showed up at Webster Hall around 9pm, the room was still only about 30% full, and most of the people I saw were your typical NYC indie rock show concert-goers. Lots of indie dudes with their arms crossed and their neck-beards at a good 3-weeks' of growth. Then the openers, Sea Wolf, came on, and kept the extremely-indie vibe going with a set that was much, much better than I ever expected it to be. Seriously - while I haven't seen as many shows so far this year as I normally do, Sea Wolf were, by far, the pleasant-est surprise I've had with an opening act all year. Their name sucks - deal with it. Their music doesn't. I liked them enough to pick up their debut EP, Get To The River Before It Runs Too Low, which I just listened to and highly recommend (it's co-produced by Phil Ek, who also mixed it - if that ain't a badge of legitimacy, I don't know what is). So, all in all, by 10pm, I was in a pretty good mood.

Sea Wolf, "Ses Monuments" [BUY]

And then they came. First it was the two meatheads who pushed their way to the front, stood directly in front of a group of short girls, and drunkenly congratulated each other over how great their "seats" were. They then spent the next 15 minutes yelling for the "beer guy" to come back. Then, about 5 minutes into the Silversun Pickups' set, three or four other meatheads near the front decided that it was time to start a mosh pit. It didn't seem to matter to them that no one else wanted to mosh - all they cared about was that they did. Now, I like to mosh with the best of them when the circumstances warrant. Granted, it's been a while, but I'm certainly not one to get upset by a mosh pit. But there's no need for a mosh pit when only 4 people seem to want it, and the other 996 people in attendance don't.

Not surprisingly, it didn't take long for the four moshers to piss people off, and guess what? We got ourselves an old-fashioned indie rock fight. (That's sarcasm, kids... there are no fights at indie rocks shows. Or at least there shouldn't be. There are only roof collapses.) Then, after things settled down a bit, several more meatheads pushed up from the back so that they could get in on the mosh action up front. Sadly, the pit pretty much disappeared, and the meatheads were forced to pogo. And no, I didn't take a picture. I was afraid that it would have broken my camera.

So, anyway, how were the Silversun Pickups? They were great, as usual. I've loved this band for 2 years now, and a few stupid idiots aren't going to change that. Nor will the crappy acoustics at Webster Hall. They're a great band and they deserve all the success they're having. It's just too bad that success in the music world brings out the meatheads. Although I am glad that I had the chance to see the band at Mercury Lounge (twice) and Pianos (once) before they blew up.

The pics:





Edited to add: Head over to Daytrotter to hear some more Sea Wolf. I'm quickly becoming a very big fan.