We're going to give y’all a little treat today with a DOUBLE REVIEW! In essence, we're reviewing an entire date consisting of dinner and a rock and roll show. In the spirit of the golden rule, we will review Mezcal in the same fashion in which we was treated by their wait staff: prickly and momentary.
Mezcal
3230 E. Colfax Ave
- Food: Mediocre.
- Service: “I hate to bother you sir, but can I order some of your mediocre fucking food? Again, sorry to bother you, I know you’re busy with BEING A FUCKING WAITER!”
On to the show!
Opening Act--------------------
I’m almost certain that I still would have hated Crocodiles had I not left Mezcal with a bad taste in my mouth, and if you don’t like my puns you can fuck off. Two LATFH dudes and a drum machine took the stage at 8:30, and I’ll admit they looked like maybe they knew what they were doing. Seconds later I was bowled over by a screeching, deafening noise that did not relent for 35 minutes. And that was just the singer! Zing! These geniuses figured out that there’s no such thing as bad word-of-mouth if:
A.) No one can speak at your show.
B.) Everyone is deaf when you’re done.
The joke’s on you, Crocodiles. Next time break our fingers too.
After that sorry excuse for a performance, we were grateful to take in the tunes of The Subjects. Their set was adequate, but not particularly memorable. They deftly bounced from one song to the next and while all were toe-tappingly pleasant, none really stood out from the others. They were like White Rabbits Lite. Also their drummer looked like Dane Cook’s chubby little brother. That doesn’t serve to further this review, I just needed to fit that in there somewhere.
Headliner--------------------
New York indie darlings White Rabbits took the stage in front of a packed house at The Bluebird and immediately launched into a relentless set that more than satisfied an audience that was thirsty for a something to cheer about. Having given plenty of time to Rabbits’ 2007 debut Fort Nightly, an album I thoroughly enjoy, I’ve got to be honest and say I was a little underwhelmed by their live show. The pace of the whole thing seemed a little rushed. They were engaging and personable on stage, it didn’t seem like they had someplace better to be or anything, but each song seemed a little hurried. Too much coke backstage maybe? If not for the whole band, then definitely for percussionist Matt Clark who spent the entire set running around the stage looking for objects to strike as rapidly as possible. Parts of the set reminded me of the scene in Dewey Cox where he does cocaine for the first time and he’s on stage screaming “FASTER! FASTER!” I suppose that speaks volumes for their energy level though.
The Venue & Whatnot--------------------
Rabbits fed off the crowd as much as the crowd fed off of them and the area in front of the stage was jam packed with bouncy, sweaty, late-teens (…and at least one teacher out with his students. Weird…).While I withheld my immediate judgment, the show fully satisfied the Rabbits faithful. I left the theater eavesdropping on several groups of concertgoers who were spouting nothing but superlatives about the evening’s headliner. The service at the Bluebird was how it usually is: a bit slow and a bit gruff. Hmmm… Familiar. Also they need to look into hiring some extra hands on Friday nights because the wait at the bar was pretty long considering the line was not.
Link It Up--------------------
White Rabbits
The Subjects
Crocodiles
The Bluebird Theater
