BRMC w/ Elefant and the Morning After Girls @ the Metro - 2/8/06

First, let me just say that the title of this post is misleading, as I didn't actually see the Morning After Girls. I actually planned on catching a bit of their set, but events conspired against me. When BRMC was in town a few months ago, their show hadn't sold out beforehand, so I bought my ticket at the door and eschewed Ticketbastard's service charges. I figured I'd do the same this time. No such luck. But I'd already paid twelve bones for parking, so I figured I'd hang around outside and see if I could score an extra ticket from someone. After about 15-20 minutes of waiting in the 20 degree weather with nothing but a sweatshirt, Spike, who is touring with BRMC and playing some guitar and bass, walked by and offered to add a couple of us to the guest list. So I missed the Morning After Girls, but I got into the show for free. That's a trade off I was willing to accept.

Not long after I got inside, Elefant took the stage. First time I've seen them live, but I've listened to their debut album "Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid" a bunch of times. They sound a lot like Interpol. They have a new album coming out in April called "the Black Magic Show", so I was expecting to hear a lot of stuff that I haven't heard before, and I wasn't surprised. They played a few off of "Sunlight...". I know they played Bokkie and Love, and honestly, I think that's all they played from that album. They only played 8 or 9 songs, but they'll be touring in support of the new album this Spring, so I'll probably try to catch them then. The new album sounds like it be a little more rock oriented, but it's tough to tell from just a few songs.

When Black Rebel Motorcycle Club came to town a few months ago, Peter Hayes took the stage and played three songs solo acoustic before the rest of the band joined him. This show started in a similar fashion, with Hayes coming out and playing "Restless Sinner" but he limited the pre-set to that one song this time around. They lacked some of the energy this time that they've brought in the past, but word from Robert Levon-Been was that Hayes was sick. Indeed, prior to their full encore, Levon-Been came out and did a solo acoustic number in order to give Hayes a little more recovery time. Anyway, on to the Incomplete and Out of Order Setlist®:

• Restless Sinner
• Shuffle Your Feet
• Ain't No Easy Way
• Howl
• Stop
• Six Barrel Shotgun
• In like the Rose
• Love Burns
• Red Eyes and Tears
• Whatever Happened
• Awake
• Rifles
• Spread Your Love
• Promise
• Weight of the World
• Sympathetic Noose
• The Line
• Two I haven't heard before (although one sounded like a weird version of US Government)
  
• Heart and Soul

The set was a lot more rockin' than the one they played the last time they were in town, which I kind of figured. Their latest album, Howl, is a lot more stripped down, acoustic, bluesy and gospelly than the first two, which are pretty much straightforward rock albums. Search out some reviews and you can read why. Anyway, last time they played almost the entire new album, which I thought was great, but didn't set well with some in the crowd, or at least one dude near me who wasn't happy with the set. They were touring to support that album, so it wasn't surprising that they played what they did. I kind of figured they would play more of a mix this time around, and they did, with four from "Take Them On, On Your Own", and six from their self-titled debut, including Awake, which may be my favorite song from that album, and which I haven't heard them play since probably late 2001. Another highlight was seeing them close the set with Heart and Soul, which is a terrific closer, and another one that they didn't play last time (they may have played it back when they supported TTO, OYO, but I can't remember, and that show is a whole 'nother story that I won't go into now).

So ultimately, while the set was better, the show lacked a certain something. It was still a very good show, and I certainly got my money's worth. Maybe it was just the people I was around. A couple of guys in front of me talked during the entire Elefant set, and that was kind of annoying. But otherwise, a pretty entertaining evening. Even better, it got me away from the Kings game.