We showed up to
Bowery Ballroom with no tickets in hand to the sold out show. Lucky for us they released some extras at the door. I'm going to start right off the bat by saying this was a great show all around. It has been a long time since I have had that much fun at a show. The
White Lies and the
Friendly Fires both play upbeat music which can make it very easy to get caught up in a dancing frenzy, which is exactly what I did.
The White Lies are usually thrown in the group with Interpol, Editors and The Bravery for their type of sound and it makes sense because that is who they sound like. I do personally feel they have a little Joy Division in them as well, but that's me. The crowd was really in to them. A lot of bouncing around, singing along and the occasional fist pump which I enjoy. Lets me know the people are there for all the right reasons. The band sounded pretty solid despite complaints about his throat from the lead singer (Harry McVeigh). They also provided an entertaining light show.
I'm a pretty big Friendly Fires fan which is why I wanted to make sure to catch the Thursday night show at Bowery since they were headlining unlike the Friday night show. They were exactly what I expected. Non-stop energy from song to song. The band looked to be having a great time on stage especially the lead singer (Ed Macfarlane) who had some pretty funky and highly entertaining dance moves. The entire crowd seemed to be having a really good time...Then things got confusing, for me at least. They finished up the set and went off stage. Still on a high from the great set everyone started clapping and cheering in anticipation of an encore. After about a minute the house music came on but very low. The crowd cheered again. After another few minutes pass the house music is full blast and the lights come on. I mean what the F? I stood there dumb founded. This was the worst ending to a really great show. The crowd never missed a beat. We were all singing a long and dancing with every song and this is how we get rewarded. I don't understand what happened but it was an ending I wouldn't have predicted.
Despite a busy year for these two bands a couple of the fellas managed to get together and record some new music. Well maybe not. These two songs on their myspace have been around for a couple of years, but no one was spreading the word. Until now.
