My Old Stomping Grounds

Los Campesinos! at Le Poisson Rouge, New York, NY, June 22nd, 2012

Nearly a quarter-century ago, when I arrived as a freshman at NYU, the campus was in a bit of upheaval.  Along with the implementation of a new schedule, which meant that classes would be in session during the Jewish High Holy Days in early September, NYU’s administrative staff were on strike for my first week or two of classes.  Together, these situations meant that professors had some decisions to make.  Professors canceled classes that met on one or the other of the holidays.  Many professors also held classes off campus so they wouldn’t have to cross picket lines.

In my case, the strike meant that my first-ever class at NYU took place at the headquarters of some union local near campus.  Many of my friends had their first classes in more interesting places:  cafes, restaurants, The Bottom Line, and The Village Gate.  I always think of that when I hear or read about The Village Gate – how cool it was that I was going to school at a place where professors could just move a class there.  I thought about it again last night as CoolMom and I headed into Le Poisson Rouge, which sits on the old site of my friend Bob’s first class at NYU, to see Los Campesinos!.

This was going to be an early show.  I think there was a DJ set or something scheduled for later at night.  So CoolMom and I had to rush a bit for what I thought would be around an 8pm start for the headliners.  We walked past most of the Campesinos! sitting on a bench in front of the merch table as we entered, so we knew we were ok.  We arrived in time to catch the second half of the set from Yellow Ostrich, and watched from the rear of the crowd.  Tom Campesinos! was watching from the same location, as it turned out, and he seemed to be enjoying it.

I can understand why.  What we saw was very good.  Yellow Ostrich are a trio that play noisy pop, featuring lots of overdriven guitar and an occasional horn.  They did an excellent job getting the energy level of the crowd up in preparation for Los Campesinos!  Last night was my first exposure to Yellow Ostrich, and I’ll be spending some time today checking out their catalog.

Los Campesinos! took the stage at around 8:30.  I think there’s a difference between “pop punk” and “punk pop” if that makes any sense.  Los Campesinos! fall firmly into the latter category as far as I’m concerned.  What surprised (and delighted) me last night was that, during their live performance anyway, the “punk” component of their musical DNA becomes much more prominent.  Lyricist / lead singer / glockenspieler Gareth Campesinos! commits utterly to the songs, even some of the crowd-pleasing older material that he must be a little tired of by now.  The audience, which on this night included one of the tallest people I’ve ever seen, knows every lyric to every song and shouts right along with him.

The band opened with “By Your Hand” from last year’s Hello Sadness and continued with “Romance Is Boring.”  “Death to Los Campesinos!,” one of those songs that I and the rest of the crowd loved from their debut full-length, Hold on Now, Youngster…, followed.  By that time, the moshing and crowd surfing (including the super-tall guy) were in full swing.  I’ve got to admit that it surprised me a little as I’d never thought of Los Campesinos! as inspiring that.  CoolMom pointed out to me that she saw people doing it at the Real Estate show, though, so I guess it’s just what the kids do these days.  Gareth even commented from the stage, “Don’t want to be a killjoy or anything, but that circle pit down there, it’s kind of lame.  From here you just look like a bunch of dudes bumping into each other.”  CoolMom and I remained safe towards the back.

The rest of the set was fantastic and drew on material from the entire Los Campesinos! catalog, including my personal favorite "The Sea Is a Good Place to Think of the Future."  The energy of a seven-piece band combined with the clever – and numerous – lyrics, and the bits of "choreography" that accompany many of the songs make for an excellent live show.  For the final song of the encore, “Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks,” Gareth came down from the stage and sang and danced with the crowd.

At the end of the show, the whole band went directly from the stage to the merch table.  As CoolMom and I walked out we saw all of the Campesinos! chatting, signing and taking pictures with fans.

Le Poisson Rouge is a nice place for a show.  One side of the space has a nice, long bar where, last night, the servers were unusually friendly and attentive.  Unless you’re behind a post or the tallest Los Campesinos! fan on earth, visibility is good and you’re very close to the action on stage.  The way things were set up last night made it almost impossible to walk around the venue and not interact with the performers on some level.

One minor drawaback:  There’s virtually no AT&T reception in the below-street-level performance space, which makes for a small amount of stress for coolparents relying on a babysitter.

It was nice to get out with CoolMom to see an act that we both really love in an area that has a lot of memories for me.  We even got to enjoy a late Thai dinner before hopping the PATH back to the car.