Lobstergram3000: Art Brut, First Unitarian Church, 4.7.06

Philadelphia shows always have some sort of weird vibe.

(This seems like the best place in the post to insert a photo of a dude smoking crack in front of everyone in line)

For some reason, the crowd is always younger and rowdier down there than in New York. Last night was no exception: the audience was young (someone brought a fucking 8-year-old to a fucking Art Brut show and got a fucking shout-out from Eddie Argos. Seriously, what the fuck?), ugly, and smelly. The smell came partly from First Unitarian Church being a BYO (not sure if it's officially BYO, but it's definitely a church basement, so no bar. I'm not sure why that didn't occur to me before I left my flask at home)--people were bringing in 40s and flasks of whiskey, making for a delightful bouquet when mated with that smelly-ass kid's hair in front of me. One last side-note on the crowd: I'm pretty sure Kyp from TV on the Radio was standing right next to me for the openers, but he left for Art Brut. Maybe not, but it really looked an awful lot like him, and he has a pretty distinctive look.

But enough about the crowd. The first opener, Robocop Kraus out of Deutchland, played some thoroughly enjoyable punk, including a Minor Threat cover (their only song sung in German). The skinny little lead singer bounced around onstage with such exuberance you had to love these guys. Definitely an act to check out if they come by your town.

In a bit of Arcade Fire meets the video for "Sweater Song" meets Art Brut, the lead singer grabbed the drummer's snare and waded through the crowd with it, as the drummer followed without missing a beat.

The second opener, Gil Mantera's Party Dream, had received a bit of post-SXSW buzz as Village Voice's best band of the festival. Rumors of naked fist-fights and spandex intrigued me. Gil Mantera and Ultimate Donny took the stage wearing leather jackets and spandex, and set off with their 80s throwback electro-mayhem. It was fun for about five minutes, but with each desparate removal of some article of clothing the schtick grew over-ripe and devolved into just another foul odor in the room. Crowd reaction was mixed (Kyp seemed to be enjoying himself). I spent most of the set trying to figure out why this band bothered me, and it occured to me that Gil Mantera's Party Dream must be the Napoleon Dynamite of indie music, a punchline without a joke.

Soundcheck

In this shot, Ultimate Donny has a can of Tecate in the front of his pants, but that dude's head is in the way.

Art Brut, the greatest band of all time, took the stage and begain playing "Enter Sandman" before moving into "Formed a Band." Eddie Argos made another strong case for best front-man ever with his charming side-stories about Emily Kane (note: "Emily Kane" is no longer about being in love with Emily Kane but being in love with being in love with Emily Kane. Also note: there were apparently 2 or 3 Emily Kanes in attendance last night) and pleas that we all form bands and lyrical tweaks ("I'm drinking sherry with Brian Ferry!"). Art Brut: more please!