June 27, 2002

 
Clinic are not meant for large outdoor free concerts. This is something that I learned last night - this is music that is meant to be paid full attention to, and is diminished by having loads of people chatting amongst themselves while they play "Porno" and "The Second Line". Clinic is music meant for small rooms, and it's meant for people who have something more than a casual interest in their music.

Of course, this has nothing to do with Clinic's actual performance, which I enjoyed thoroughly. I especially loved last night's cool, mellow "Mr. Moonlight", which was suited very well to being played on a pier in the twilight. I was happy to see a slightly different set from the last time I saw the band too - they traded "Come Into Our Room" for a new song, and "Magic Boots" for "Monkey On Your Back". I was excited to hear them play different songs, even if it was at the expense of two of my personal favorites. Still, them not playing "Come Into Our Room" was a slight let-down. The last time I saw them perform that song, it seemed like a perverse, jittery encantation; it was a perfect song for them to open up a show. "Candle lights and all things bright, come into our room." Also, it was sort of strange that they skipped that song since it is their newest single...hmm.

The two opening acts were very, very lame. Radio 4 played bland Gang Of 4-meets-INXS 80s bass heavy rock, striking me as nothing more than a bunch of unimaginative bores cashing in on the popularity of their Brooklyn home. The program said that their lyrics were about "living in the city of New York". Eek.

Firewater were just embarassing. This is a band that spent nearly an hour offering up every 'alt-rock' musical cliche known to man, seeming as though their prime musical ambition was to have their music appear in advertisements and on tv shows. Terrible, mind-numbing Corporate Rock.

On the way home, I was thumbing through a copy of Tuesday's New York Post that was on the seat next to me on the train. I found Dan Acquilante's review of Sonic Youth's Murray Street album. It was a positive review, but one error jumped out at me - Acquilante says something to the effect of "the album starts off strong with "Rain On A Tin Roof"". Do the New York Post employ fact checkers anymore? Is Dan Acquilante so lazy or under such severe deadline pressure that he could not bother to look at the cd packaging to note that the opening track is called "The Empty Page", and that the third song is titled simply "Rain On Tin"? It's such a simple error, but it ruins the authority of the review and the reviewer in one fell swoop. I know the Post is the last paper to expect integrity and facts from, but this is just ridiculous.