Serena Maneesh, Mercury Lounge, 1.21.06

I had been pretty excited about this show. Serena Maneesh got good marks from Pitchfork, they're from Norway, they were getting some buzz, so I felt pretty good about the thing even though I'd never heard a single note from them.

First opening act was Kiss Me Deadly, straight from Montreal.




Nothing terribly impressive. Some superfluous fx and the guitarist (on the right in the photos) looked like he was about 16. You can dance to it.

Next up, Asobi Seksu.






They were pretty fun. I don't really remember much about the show.

Serena Maneesh took about 45 minutes to set their shit up, which gave us ample time to make fun of them and pick out which band member idolized which rocker. The lead singer was a pirate (or Keith Richards), the bassist was Nico, the sitting guitarist was neil Young, the chick over to the left was Stevie Nicks, the drummer was the singer from The Killers, the other guitarist was Beck (sorta) and the violinist (whom I didn't even notice until about the 3rd song and never really heard) was the singer from Keane. The had some horrible entrance music playing as they came on, and I made a very, very funny joke about it, but you really had to be there. Then they started playing and it sucked. Bands like Wilco and Yo La Tengo can pull off the long wall-of-sound wankery and make it seem interesting, but these guys (and girls) didn't have it. We bounced after about, I don't know, 25 minutes of their set, and they left after about 45 minutes. I made a few more hilarious jokes on the way out, and some chick pushed me in the shoulder and said something like, "HOW'S THAT BEER!?" Yeah, it was that kind of weekend.


(l to r) Stevie Nicks, Neil Young, Nico, The Killers










Yeah, so maybe I'm just a douchechill and I don't like anything live I've never heard before, but that's simply not true, and D hated the show perhaps even more than I did. I was shocked to see a somewhat positive spin via brooklynvegan, but check the comments for more disappointed attendees. Oh, and I, for the record, didn't push anyone out of the way to take pictures, but when the show became too excruciating I had to push my way to the front to grab my coat, which I had stashed under the stage (I was only about 2 rows back). I felt like a total asshole, and a few people gave me funny looks, and I apologize.