Grooves, Air, and Fire

It's been a momentous week at Monkey HQ. Two concerts (Arcade Fire at Radio City Music Hall, then Air at MSG Theatre), a Mets game tonight for Tardyboy's birthday, and we purchased the new Groove Armada album. Somehow I managed to go to work every day too. I know, I am so proud of my diligence - actually going to work with all that fun stuff!

Arcade Fire on Wednesday was good, not great. Our tickets were in the second to last row of the entire auditorium, so it was not going to be the best show I've ever seen. Adding to the misery, the guy in front of me INSISTED on standing the entire show. We are sitting in the third balcony my man, why don't we stand for maybe "No Cars Go" and perhaps "Rebellion" and call it a day? Despite the environmental challenges, the band still rocked the f*ck out. There were some magical moments when all 3,000 fans in attendance were chanting along with the band. And even though they've been touring non-stop for about three months now, the band brought serious energy to every single tune. If David Bowie selects you to open up his personal concert series at Radio City Music Hall, and then sits in the front row, you get pumped up I guess. It would definitely make me want to take it up a notch. And they did. I would give Arcade Fire a hearty 7 bananas out of 10 on the Chimp-meter.

Air on Thursday night was much better. We had floor tickets and were able to sneak into some seats in the second row, right behind the small floor section. Great place to watch the light show (which was trip-tastic). The sound at the MSG Theatre was amazing, you could hear every small nuance from the guitars to the crazy synths they employ, and the volume was not too loud. You could actually talk to the person next to you without yelling. I cannot say enough about Air to fully praise them to the extent they deserve. The word we kept on coming back to when we were talking about the show was "precise". It's a feat of immeasurable difficulty to get the level of production quality they have on their albums into a live show, and they did it. They covered the hits: Sexy Boy, Kelly Watch the Stars, and a kickass ten minute jam of La Femme d'Argent to finish the encore. The encore left me breathless, those boys have clearly listened to some Pink Floyd and know how take it up to a new level when they want to get the crowd up and going. There was a well deserved standing ovation and alot of smiling faces. They also played a few of the new tunes, disappointingly skipping Hell of a Party. I guess if you don't have Jarvis Cocker on tour with you, that song doesn't make the setlist. Oh well, this show still scored a rock solid 9 out of 10 bananas on the Chimp-meter.

Last but not least, I downloaded the new Groove Armada album, Soundboy Rock. It is fantastic!!! Triple Exclamation Points!!! I am sharing the best song with you, go download Lightsonic. Much like Air, I would say Groove Armada has a formula and they stick to it. Some critics give negative points when a group doesn't constantly "evolve" from album to album. I am the type of music fan that is perfectly content when a new album feels like an extension of the previous work. Soundboy Rock is definitely that - some of the same guest musicians as Love Box, a very similar dub/garage feel, and of course a full helping of the tasty G.A. hooks that get you dancing in your chair.

Enjoy the weekend.