First Impressions of D.C.

So the move down to D.C. actually went off pretty much without a hitch, and I'm just about all settled in. Thankfully my lease in New York goes through the end of the month, so I'll be back in a few days for The National and Takka Takka at South Street Seaport, but it's impossible to deny that my time in New York is essentially up. For now.

That said, my first weekend in D.C. almost felt like I was in New York (except for that whole missing The Thermals at Maxwell's and missing The Thermals and Ted Leo at McCarren thing). First up on Saturday night was Brooklyn's own Takka Takka playing with White Rabbits and The Cribs at the Black Cat. Much like their show at Mercury Lounge a few weeks ago, Takka sounded great. The new guys seem to be settling in nicely, and I'm quickly becoming a very big fan of the band's new, meatier and slightly jammy sound. I hear that they're looking to record LP #2 sometime this Fall, so hopefully we'll get to hear it before too long.




Next up was White Rabbits, who have been getting a ton of buzz over the last few months, especially from WOXY.com. I have the band's debut album, Fort Nightly, and while a few songs are pretty good, I admit that I find the rest of the album pretty boring. That said, seeing the band live is a completely different experience. On stage they have a ton of energy, as well as a ton of members (and friends) running around stage, and two (!!) full drum kits. They definitely won me over, and I can't wait to catch them live again.



I skipped out before The Cribs came on. I really, really hate the songs of theirs that I've heard (especially "Hey Scenesters"), and wasn't really in the mood to stick around. I heard from a friend who's seen them live before that I made the right choice. Phew.

Next up on Sunday night was New York's Eugene Mirman and Leo Allen at the Rock and Roll Hotel. This was my first time at this venue, and I gotta say - I like it. Despite the fact that it's in a complete and utter warzone of a neighborhood, the room itself was very comfy (think a slightly deeper Mercury Lounge), and had a cool bar upstairs with a decent-looking kitchen. This was something like the 3rd or 4th time I've seen Eugene this year, and amazingly about 70% of his material was new to me. He was hilarious as always. (Note to Flight of the Conchords: give the man more lines.) Leo Allen was good as well, and opener Larry Murphy had some pretty interesting puppets.



So, all in all, not a bad start to my time in D.C. Let's hope we can keep this type of pace up for the next 12 months.