Tonight at the Bowery Ballroom we saw Ra Ra Riot and Tokyo Police Club.
We’ve seen Ra Ra Riot three times this year. The first time we saw them we were surprised and won over by the enthusiasm of the musicians in the band. We often feel that Ra Ra Riot’s best songs sound like six musicians accidentally playing in the same room. They seem to be lost in their own inner worlds until the music snaps together and creates this great sound that suddenly makes sense as a whole. We love them.
Tonight’s set was great. The passion and practice was apparent. The band played at least three songs that we haven’t heard before. We can’t wait to see them again in the future when these new songs are as strong as the rest.
Tokyo Police Club headlined the night. We discovered Tokyo Police Club listening to the KEXP Song of the Day podcast when we heard “Citzens of Tomorrow”. Maybe our understanding of the band’s themes were shaped too completely by this song, but we think most of their music sounds like the lost soundtrack of a great Philip K. Dick Sci-Fi flick about a dystopian future, i.e. very cool.
Whatever. They’re great. They had the crowd clapping along twice. We enjoyed the flying tambourines. We can’t wait to see more of Tokyo Police Club.
The show stopper was kick-ass. Both Ra Ra Riot and Tokyo Police Club crowded Bowery Ballroom’s stage to play a raucous cover of The Rentals‘ “Friends of P.” We wish we had a bootleg of the show made from the soundboard. If we find a copy of this song, we’ll post it.
From Tokyo Police Club’s A Lesson in Crime:
“Citizens of Tomorrow”
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“Nature of the Experiment”
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From Ra Ra Riot’s eponymous album:
“Each Year”
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From Ra Ra Riot’s myspace page:
“Anthony (Live)”
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UPDATE
Someone uploaded a video they took with (we guess) their camera of Tokyo Police Club and Ra Ra Riot playing “Friends of P” at the Bowery Ballroom.
