Dean Christakos« Visiting the Asia Society | Main | The Summer Spike In Gas Prices »
July 25, 2004
Adventures in Music
Friday night found me driving down from Boston into Manhattan to see The Charms play at the Irving Plaza, and Saturday night I made it to the Lower East Side to see Freezepop at Rothko .
Irving Plaza is another Clear Channel venue. The Charms are a Boston-based band who I've seen at some other small venues near me, and seeing as how the band was going to be in New York at the same time I was, I figured it would be worth going, since I hadn't see them play since the Fall 2003 International Pop Overthrow came through Cambridge.
The Charms were playing as a part of Little Steven's Underground Garage festival, which was sponsored by Dunkin' Donuts. I wish I were making this up, or that I could come up with some sort of proof available for this online, but in between bands we were treated to special performances from dancers dubbed the "Dunkin' Donettes" which were, as far as I could tell, New York City model/actresses (mactresses?) in search of work and willing to pretend to be putting on a performance that the concert-goers were interested in.
Heavy rain meant I was stuck in traffic from Stamford, Connecticut into New York, but delays in the band-lineup over at the concert meant that I was able to make it in time to see The Charms as well as the band before them, Steel Pier Sinners. As the lead guitarist for the latter broke into an intense guitar solo, I thought to myself, "I like these guys, but then, I'm from New Jersey." Later on, I realized they hail from Asbury Park, NJ.
Rothko, in Manhattan's Lower-East Side played host to Freezepop, a Boston-based synth-pop band with the misfortune to have an awful, awful opening band precede them whose name I have attempted to block out of my mind. Rothko is a tiny venue that turns into a dance club after the shows end assuming, unlike me, you live in New York City and can get home in a reasonable amount of time in the middle of the night. But they win bonus points for having a disco ball and playing 80s music.
Posted by Dean at July 25, 2004 5:15 PM