So who was the person who had to tell Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney that they are playing a double hitter tonight? My feeling is that they put on a brave front and say, "Yeah, that would be cool," but inside they are like, "why don't you just kill us?" Not only did they play a 90-minute set starting at 8pm, as I type this they are doing it again at Terminal 5. Don't forget, that's two soundchecks, as well. More power to them. If you went to both gigs tonight, let us know if there was a decline in performance with the second show.
I finally got around to listening to Brothers, and hot damn it might be their best yet. Attack & Release was damn fine, but they manage to make a more complete album. If Attack & Release had a draw back, it was that it had great hits, but a few stragglers in there. Front to back, Brothers is a funky, sexy, nasty and soulful album. Auerbach saved some of his best guitar riffs for this album. With each album, the duo have expanded their sound, not just relying on their drums and guitar formula. They add a few bass parts, harmonica and the occasional keyboard parts.
With tonight's show, they started off with the two of them, then added a few backing musicians for the new tunes. The new stuff lit a match for the night because when it's just the two of them in a venue of thousands of people, you tend to want something with a little more energy and activity.
I didn't plan on going to either gig tonight, but extra tickets were given to me. Ding dong, I'll take them. I was late getting there and arrived when Morning Benders announced their standard, "We have two songs left." Thus, I was stuck in the back. Let me tell you, I've been spoiled with my small shows, photo passes and being upfront, because standing in the back sucks. Especially at SummerStage because Rumsey Playfield slopes down to allow for drainage. DRAAAAAAAAAINAGE, ELI!
The whole show I was staring at the back of people's heads. When you're in the back, the people around you don't pay attention and use the show as background for their social gathering. It's like seeing a rock concert in a mall food court. People are constantly walking around you and you have to step aside, breaking your concentration on the show. I'm saying, "So this is what it's like in the back of the show. People walking around."
The two things it's good for is people watching and having a tad bit of personal space. I had this inner conversation in my head, "I've never seen so many Ray-Ban sunglasses in my life. Do they give those away? ... That lady is carrying 12 beers ... Hmmmmm, ice cream. I could go for some ice cream. Nah, the line is 30 people long."
So, I would probably have enjoyed the show better and given you a proper post if I could have actually seen and hear the show. Patrick is 6'6" tall and I still couldn't see him and I never saw Dan do his thing. I think SummerStage needs to hit up their sponsors to pony up some LCD monitors on both sides of the stage.
As a side note, I saw a random t-shirt that read, Honk If You Like Wolves. I really hope somebody uses that as a band name.
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