A nasty habit called rock and roll

Hi guys!

I figured I'd give you a quick update now so my posts while/after Courtney is here aren't uber long and discouraging to read, haha.

So the concert last night was amazing. I went with Jacky and was very excited to be there for her first concert! It was great, albeit a little strange compared to my past concert experiences. Most of this was due to the venue. Oh the Wiltern, how you spoil and disappoint at the same time. I will explain.

 
The Wiltern was built in the 30's and was originally a vaudeville theater, which explains its set-up. Its gorgeous and ornate inside, reminicent of what the Eagle's Ballroom at the Rave probably looked like before it got nasty and smoke-stained and run-down (my Milwaukee friends know what I'm talking about). Upon walking in, there is a large lobby with a chandelier, beautiful wall carvings and pretty much all things classy and expensive-looking. The actual stage looks just like a performance theater. There are four levels, including the orchestral pit and a balcony. Jacky and I were in the pit area, closest to the stage. Here's a couple pictures I stole off the internet to give you an idea of what it looks like inside:

So, as you can see, the barriers between the levels and the fact that only a certain number of people were allowed into the pit area (you had to get a wristband to be allowed down there, which Jacky and I did) really kept the crowd from getting too dense, which was both good and bad. Good, because I wasn't constantly getting shoved around and bumped into by crowd surfers, but bad because that's kind of what I expect at a show. I wouldn't say that it was a chill concert; people were pumped and jumping and dancing and everything, but it was like there were four separate crowds. I didn't feel immersed in the experience and connected with the rest of the crowd like I normally do. Kind of strange, but I did get a really good view of the whole show, which meant I got a really great video!

Sorry its so shaky. Its really difficult not to dance to the Sounds.

 

I'm going to skip talking about the opening acts in great detail because they weren't anything spectacular to me. The Limousines were great entertainers with a super flashy show that demanded crowd participation, so that was fun. Funeral Party played their set like it was a crowd of their own devoted fans, and, because that wasn't the case, they were shut off by the sound people before finishing their last song. Awkward. In between sets a really sweet DJ duo called Kids at the Bar played. I enjoyed that a lot, especially when they mixed a wolf howl into one of their songs, haha. Oh me.

On to the Sounds. I've been waiting to see them live for a very long time, and I was not disappointed. Maja Ivarsson, the lead singer, was just as crazy and crass as I expected her to be. There were a lot of crotch-flashing dances and ass-baring cat crawls across the stage, along with much cigarette-smoking inside a no-smoking venue, in her ordinary fashion. Sometimes its hard for me to get over how full of herself she seems, but I always seem to be reminded why her ego is so huge: cue the guy with her face tattooed on his chest at the show last night. And she is pretty bad ass, so I can't really hate on her. At all. I actually kind of love her a lot.

What made me most happy about the show is how much of a variety of songs they played. The Sounds just released a new album this year, and most bands in this situation would be playing primarily off this new album at their live shows. The Sounds surprised me by playing songs off all four of their albums, which was amazing. They skipped a couple of my favorites, but being able to hear a lot of their old stuff definitely made up for it.

So! That was my LA concert experience, and it was a great one. Today and tomorrow I will be writing a research paper, and then Courtney comes on Saturday! I'm sure I'll have a lot of awesome shit to talk about next time I post.

Until then! <3