Back in 1989 I saw what my friends and I called the Monsters of Alternative Rock tour: New Order, PiL, and the Sugarcubes. I hated, and still hate, New Order. I loved PiL. I was indifferent about the Sugacubes. PiL was as obnoxious as I expected and New Order as sucky. I only vaguely remember the Sugacubes, but what I do remember was that they were the teeniest and the cutest damn band I had ever seen. I stood by that until last night. Shonen Knife is officially the cutest band in the world.
Shonen Knife has been around for awhile. I first heard them when I bought the Carpenter's tribute album, If I Were a Carpenter (it's effing awesome, by the way), in 1994. Shonen Knife's cover of "On Top of the World" is the absolute stand out of the album. The second is Sonic Youth's interpretation of "Superstar," because through Sonic Youth you realize what a dark song that really is, but I digress.
Anyway, Shonen Knife. I only have one of their albums (Happy Hour), and I had heard of them in the early '90s when they were getting a lot of buzz from their tour with Nirvana. I wanted to hear and know more, I just never got around to it. Now I have to hear more.
I was pretty shocked when I heard they would be playing a club in town. Shonen Knife is one of those bands many of the bands I like have cited as an influence. So, hell yeah, I was excited. Of course, the night of the show I was worn out and feeling lazy and old. Despite that, I dragged myself downtown to sit in a club full of middle-aged usta-beens and youngster hipsters and waited two hours. Actually, the doors were locked when we got there. Shonen Knife got off their little tour bus parked on the street and had to knock on the door to get in. Kinda weird.
Visqueen opened. They are another band I have heard of but know little about. I liked what I heard and need to know more. Link to one of their songs performed in Seattle a few days ago.
Shonen Knife opened the show with Konichiwa off Happy Hour. You can find a copy of the song and some image on YouTube.
Live version from Seattle a few days ago:
They closed the show with Top of the World. Recorded version with static images.
Televised Version:
Now... most people who go to shows with me know a couple of things. I hate it when people talk about stupid inane shit during a performance. Basically, if you are watching a band and trying to hold down a normal conversation, I will tell you how much I hate you.
I will often lose my mind during the show of a band I love. Why? Because I love them. (I didn't lose my mind at this show because I was wearing the wrong shoes and I was too congested.)
I will pick out one or two people and focus on them. Sometimes it is because I find them amusing and entertaining. Usually it's because they annoy me.
Last night, the guy next to me went pat the point of annoying to creepy. He had seen Shonen Knife the night before in Vancouver BC. I know because he told me so multiple times. Why was he creepy? Well, he was wearing a light blue button down and some sort of track jacket. He was middle-aged (as am I), but he was that Very White Suburban White Dad. He had an awkward sense of rhythm--meaning none. At the end of each show, he would clap his hands together once and raise them in the air. Then he would do that double-fingered eye point to the drummer (point at his eyes, point at the drummer's eyes), give a thumbs up, and say, "You're great." He'd do this two or three times in a row. He would lean into the lead singer. He and I were right in front of the lead singer and it was a low stage--I could have touched her if I'd wanted to. So, he would lean in and stare at her intently. I don't know if he did this to do just that: stare intently, or if he was trying to figure out the words to the songs. He would try to sing along but he would just open his mouth at random and make sound. Sometimes he would cover the monitors with his hands. Other times he would lean over the monitor. I don't think he realized the band uses those to hear the full sound of the song. But I don't think he realized a lot of things.
But you know, there was this other guy I met from Vancouver, BC who was weird, although not as creepy. A friend and I decided this means everyone from Canada is weird.
One more video, just 'cause: Daydream Believer:
2 comments:
Both Shonen Knife and the Sugarcubes were on a short but powerful list of "bands I would play to annoy my roommate Joy". At the top of that list, of course, were the B-52s.
But I am impressed as well that they played your town, and can imagine that they would be exceedingly cute.
The album I had was called "Let's Knife", and there was a video on 120 Minutes called "Riding on the Rocket".
Exceedingly cute is what they were.
And the cutest thing? Naoko Yamano, the lead singer, was telling a story about going to our local mall. The story? She got lost in the mall. I have never been to Osaka, but I am 99% positive any mall is Osaka is bigger than ours.
Someone in the crowd asked her what she bought. Tshirts and a shoulder bag. "I like to shop," she said.
So.very.cute.
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