don't you wish you had some more

i went to see french kicks play bloomies soho yesterday... it was kinda weird. but my love for them is so strong, i ignored all of the weirdness, danced, sang along and had a great time. free shows are always awesome. they played mostly stuff from the new album, including my favorite, "one more time," and also a couple oldies, including "close to modern." here's a video clip of them playing "close to modern." btw, their drummer is amazing. mike, byron and i tried to drink the non-existent "cocktails". after some foraging, we found stella served in wine glasses. some people were walking around with trays of bread. tons of cute indie rock kids showed up. i think only one girl was full-on dancing and singing. indeed, we need to teach the indie rock kids how to dance. stop thinking you're too cool to dance. how can you not dance to french kicks? they're so damn catchy. shame on you.

cass mccombs and iron & wine @ maxwell's

i got a last minute invite to the sold-out cass mccombs and iron & wine show at maxwell's. the last time i went to maxwell's (in hoboken) was to see the walkmen. i swore after my treacherous commute to and fro, i would never go back to maxwell's. but there i was, taking the path train, heading out to jersey on a thursday night. but c'mon, cass mccombs canceled all of his new york dates and this was his only area show for a while. dt and i got there in the middle of cass's set... cass was wearing some kind of eyeshadow and his brand new band had a guy wearing a dress like he just came from some hippie festival. i thought, uh oh. while they did mostly play fast songs, cass did play a couple of my faves: "aids in africa" and "not the way." so beautiful.


i have to say that this is my first time hearing or seeing iron & wine in concert. and boy was i looking forward to it. the band did not disappoint. their songs were so soft and sweet and pure -- probably the most sincere music i've ever heard. ever. the lead singer, sam, had this voice that was like a soft whisper in your ear, incredibly intimate. it gave me shivers. i just closed my eyes and swayed to the music. i found out that i had seen the drummer's other band last week. he also plays in a band called teen wheat who played with circle and square last week at lit. iron and wine and teen wheat are total opposites as far as musical styles, so it just goes to show you that you can use music to express your creativity in oh so many ways.