I've still never seen a Yeah Yeah Yeahs concert. But I can say I've
been in the same room with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I think! They
definitely sounded like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, which is to say, pretty
great.
People such as satellite engineers and ham radio
enthusiasts use a term called "line-of-sight," which, without all the
underlying math, describes an unimpeded path between two points in the
atmosphere described by the trajectory of a ray between those two
points. After the jump, the relationship of that term to last night's concert. Click here or on this informative diagram:
At the Yeah Yeah Yeahs performance last night at the Beaumont, I had
unimpeded line-of-sight with the shoulder blades of some tall
motherfucker standing in front of me. Moving to any other part of the
venue was useless, because the show was sold out, the house was packed
and the Beaumont is entirely the wrong shape for a concert: The floor
is flat and the stage is low. Nobody I was with could actually see
anything.
Fig. A is a diagram of Concert X, a Phil Collins performance in a conventional venue with series of tiered platforms.
Fig. B is last night's Yeah Yeah Yeahs performance at the Beaumont.
I couldn't believe that any Phil Collins show could be better than the
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but there it is, mathematically. The Beaumont is a
great club with a big dance floor, but its geometry creates a pretty
terrible concert experience. I'm not kidding -- people were actually
holding up their phones and cameras over their heads, like periscopes,
watching the show on little screens because nobody who wasn't tall
could see a damn thing.
A giant plastic orb was suspended over
the stage, which, as the band appeared around 9:45, revolved pole-to-pole to reveal
a gigantic iris. Cool! An eyeball! It was pretty much all I would see
for the next 90 minutes. Karen O opened the show with "Heads Will
Roll," wearing what appeared to be a luchador's mask with fluorescent
accents, which I could see every now and then when her head popped up
above audience-level. I assume she had some kind of awesome outfit to
go with it.
Apparently, there was a lot of really impressive
theatrical stuff happening onstage throughout the show, which I mostly
couldn't see. There were Ridley Scott-style shafts of blue light and a
wind machine blowing around plumes of confetti which occasionally
exploded from the stage wings and the floor. Atmospheric! There was a
strobe light at one point, but since the big eyeball wasn't moving
around very much and I couldn't see the band, the effect was undramatic. "I've never felt shorter
in my life," said a petite woman named Michelle who stood nearby for
most of the performance.
So, basically, the only thing left to
discuss is the music, which was great. The spare arrangements of YYYs'
songs are tailor-made for live performance, and the characteristic
drama of their compositions (and the power of Karen O's amazing voice)
make for a compelling live experience. The crowd made a lot of
noise, particularly during the band's popular songs and what my ladyfriend suggested might be Karen O costume changes. She was only
guessing about that whole thing as we're about the same height. The
band sounds fantastic live, and someday I hope to
see one of their performances.
But look! Our photographer had a fucking great view. Click on the photo below for a slide show of all the up-close action you almost certainly missed out on last night, unless you're Manute Bol.
Here is a photograph of their set list. Note the "atmospheric transition" between songs two and three. After the first set ended about eight minutes shy of an hour, they came back after a 15-minute break and encored with "Maps" and "Date with the Night."
This was the first time I'd ever heard of the opener, Grand Ole Party, who were great. Lead vocalist Kristin Gundred is also the band's drummer -- I'd have liked them anyway, but any band whose lead singer also plays the drums is awarded 5 bonus points and a +1 mushroom (except Genesis).
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Man, it must suck to be genetically deficient. That's alright though, you could always buy a giant pickup or put on 100 lbs of muscle like so many of your lilliputian comrades.
I would have liked to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs but do you ever notice that the Beaumont Club has NO AC OR HEAT? I don't enjoy being cramped in a hot box swapping sweat with strangers. In the winter it seems to be below freezing inside too. What's the deal?
I take pride in my pituitary gigantism...suck it if you don't like it! Peace Bitches
HAHA, do you only sound like Kent from Real Genius when you're on the internet, J.J.? Or do you talk that way in real life, too?
I was there and made my way up front, it was a great show and I thought it sounded fine. If I were at the back of the room picking apart the show instead of watching a great band play then I might have had the same complaints..but then again I'd rather enjoy the show so that's what I did. It was crowded for sure but its a sold out rock show, get over it.
I was with friends that are 5'9" and 6'1" myself, I am about 5'7"...we were on the floor in front of the entry steps and could not see a THING. Usually off the side is better. The only people I'm assuming saw the show: first 4 rows, VIP & the people sitting on the patition next to us. It was the first time I'd been to the Beaumont since PFUNK in 2005 and was throroughly disappointed with the sight lines. I don't see myself seeing a show there again, unless it's the YYYs...they sound to amazing live to miss.
This was a hilarious review. I was there -- but I could see because I forced myself (with the help of everyone else forcing themselves) to the front. The only thing keeping me from the rail were two arm-locked hippies who got mad and would make evil faces at me whenever I grabbed the railing for support when the crowd got a little too rough. I left with Karen O spit water all over me, ringing ears and sweat-soaked clothing. It was awesome.
Good write-up! Looking forward to an album from the opener, Grand Ole Party.
I was in the VIP area (frankly a little pitiful for a VIP section, but I digress) and had a good view of the crowd, if not the stage, and have to agree with Anon, looked oversold to me. I commented to the person I was with that it was oversold and she agreed, responding that a fire would probably mean death to us all. And the tall motherfucker syndrome was in play up there as well, security had to get involved when some ape took offense to a girl a foot shorter than him trying to get in front of him so she could actually see the show. Even at six feet I was sometimes on my tip-toes trying to find a place where I could see and not block people behind me, and dodge the ceiling supports in the way.
Overall though the music itself was great, the energy of the YYYs and the crowd was very high, and that always makes me forgive some venue shittiness.
Well, you can't argue with math, can you? I really like the back row guy at the Phil Collins concert "My view is unobstructed!" Ha ha ha.
OMFG, excellent review. And yes the sound sucked. I settled with the fact that I could not see & shuttled to the back to dance my ass off. Maybe next time I'll invest in some extreme stripper heels for a better view. You nailed it on the girl singer/drummers. Midnight Movies' Gena Oliver is another superwoman of this kind.
i think the Beaumont over sells. what is the legal max capacity in that place anyway? def not the place to see a fairly popular band.
You know who's appearing Saturday night at Old Shawnee Days?
NIGHT RANGER.
I shit you not.
www.oldshawneedays.com
(And by the way, a 15-minute break before a 2-song encore? Bad form.)
I was there at Franz Ferdinand, too, Randall, and I couldn't see much more than Alex Kapranos' Beatle-bob bobbing above the crowd once in a while. And I'm six feet of sheer 20-20 vision! I don't know why they don't just raise the stage.
At this show, I was doubly disappointed, because not only could I not see the stage, the sound seemed mixed really low. I don't know, maybe I've been to too many shows and am deafer than most, but the sound at this show was continually at risk of being drowned out by the crowd, and I stood about parallel with the sound board.
I gotta say, though, the vast majority of the crowd ate that shit UP. I left with my ears ringing -- not because of the PA but because of this BANSHEE standing behind me who screamed her lungs out between the first set and the encore. I mean, it was epic. She screamed like she was on fire. She wasn't alone, either. The crowd was going absolutely bonkers.
Good piece! I didn't go last night, mostly because it was the Beaumont. I did go to the recent Franz Ferdinand show there, and I couldn't believe they "remodeled" without addressing the sight lines. I'm tall, but trying to see anything there sucks.
Thank you for the diagrams, Chris. I love the creativity you bring to these things.
Speaking of statistical outliers, the Beaumont is many standard deviations past the mean level of horseshittyness for a concert venue. I loathe that place for shows over ~ 400 people.
Showing up early is pointless because a) if you get there 2 hours before a show, you're going to have to use the restroom and lose your place, and b) a bunch of A-holes are going to push their way past you anyway.
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