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BANDS: Punk
& Ska INTERESTS: Venues ETC... About LOTD
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Metropolitan with We Are Childhood Equals and The Id at Meridian Cafe in
Williamsburg, VA 9/26/02
I've been on a kick complaining about large venues ever since I saw a show at the Virginia Beach Amphitheatre earlier this summer. The show was basically rubbish, partly because from the lawn, you couldn't hear a thing except the people around who seemed to have paid close to $50 just to socialize. So needless to say, it was pretty refreshing to see a show coming from the opposite end of the spectrum. Meridian Cafe, which is owned and operated by the College of William and Mary, is literally a house turned into a coffeehouse/ concert venue. When I first arrived, I wondered how the bands would even fit their equipment in the door and where they would actually play; but by the end of the night, Meridian seemed like the perfect venue for an indie rock show in a college town where bands and fans from two mid-Atlantic scenes (Richmond and DC) had a chance to come together. The show kicked off with We Are Childhood Equals, a newer band from Richmond that is part of central Virginia's Pop Faction collective. We Are Childhood Equals mixed their noisy guitars with harmonizing vocals to create a sound that seemed heavy on the Sonic Youth influence. We Are Childhood Equals plays in and around central Virginia often; I recommend checking out a show if you are in that area. The Id took the stage next, and one of the band's members wore a K Records t-shirt, which appeared to foreshadow the The Id's sound - minimalist rock with purposefully off-kilter drumming and vocals. The band seemed very practiced in their slightly off-balance twee pop, bringing to mind many K Records bands. Metropolitan then took the "stage" (there was no stage really, just a section of the room) and everyone on the porch was called in because the show was about to begin. The three band members standing there didn't seem to take up too much space, but as they began to play, their presence filled the room. Starting off directly from the beginning of their latest album Down For You Is Up, the band played tracks one and two, "Westmoreland" and "Slide Rule." The latter is a seemingly Clash-inspired tune that turned the energy of the room up a few notches and proved to be a highlight of the show. The band blew through their set, playing both new tunes and also a good number of songs from their first album Side Effects. Off of the more lo-fi and effects-heavy Side Effects, the audience got to hear more direct, live versions of "All Too Much," "Transmissions," and "Drop Dead Girl." Disappointing to me was the absence of newer songs "Brightside," "Girl From Montpelier," and "This Real" from the set. However, with the varied instrumentation on some of these songs, recreating them in such a setting might have proved difficult. Despite short sets by all three bands, the audience seemed to be satisfied with the performances as they mingled with the bands throughout and after the show. So is it better to have 10,000 people at a show who aren't really paying attention or far less that are listening intently, hanging onto every note? I would say the latter.
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