Wednesday night’s show at Spaceland with The Living Blue and Light FM taught me three very important facts:
If you book a show on Grammy night in Los Angeles, expect a thin turnout.
Despite this obstacle, The Living Blue still assembled a respectable crowd, just as drunk and rowdy as a packed weekend show would be. Complete with stumbling awkwardness and hyper-extending air kicks, the crowd fed off the energy The Living Blue radiated. The fast and fierce garage pop of the Illinois natives left a smile on my face, as well as a satisfactory ringing in my ears. Having played together for over seven years, frontman Stephen Ucherek and guitarist Joe Prokop gel as if they were born of the same DNA. Ucherek is intense in his delivery, ripping through songs as if working out inner demons. Not to be taken too seriously, he exchanged calls from the audience for “More BEER” as he swigged from a large stein at sidestage. Guitarist Prokop is the most animated of the bunch, dramatically swaying and plunging about the stage while shredding along side Ucherek. Altogether the band gives a great live performance, definitely worth checking out if you find them playing in your neck of the woods. I debated on whether or not to buy the CD at the merch table, but the $3 left in my wallet after a couple drinks swayed my decision. Perhaps next time.
The second fact I learned, courtesy of Spaceland was:
Bulky security guards have trouble tapping kegs.
With their first LA gig, Light FM, out of Chicago, opened the night with a some fun pop tunes. Imagine a sped up, grungier Death Cab for Cutie, and a bit more vivacious on-stage. After the finished their set, I sat at the bar and watched the Grammy’s on a muted television (which is by far the best way to do so) and was treated to the debacle that was 2 security guards attempting to tap a keg. Few things are as entertaining as sipping a beer while watching 2 large, intimidating men repeatedly spray themselves in the face with beer foam. The climax of this event was none other than the bartendress gliding over and effortlessly plugged the tap into the keg. Couldn’t have been scripted better.
The last thing Spaceland taught me on Wednesday night was that:
Matt is right, I DO need to buy an external flash.
DOH! I hate to admit when Matt is right, but Spaceland occasionally forgets to light the center of the stage, often where you will find the lead singer nudge nudge. As you can see from some of the photos, my built-in flash has a tendency to nuke the color right out of an image. Looks like I’ll be needing to make a bit of an investment coming up here. Anyone feel like being an IceCreamMan photo sponsor? Take pity on a poor starving photographer! The line forms to the left!
