The Raveonettes At Bowery Ballroom (drunk girls are good kissers)

Last night the Whale and I caught The Raveonettes at the Bowery Ballroom. I'm going to go ahead and admit that we skipped Black Acid, not missed, skipped. I was just not feelin' it when I listened to their myspace, and my tolerance for music that I don't like is pretty minimal. The Whale is a pretty big fan of a few of the Raveonettes songs, so we figured it would be worth checking them out live to see if they had a little bit more variety of flavor on stage.

We arrive after 97% of the rest of the crowd, so we bee-line for this great open spot sort of near the center of the crowd. We get there and realize immediately why there is an open spot. There is an outrageously drunk girl with her BF and friends "standing" over there. Girl was ALL over the place. She had this, long, ratty ponytail that kept touching my arm. Hair belonging to strangers kind of freaks me out, but this was really out of control. She also kept asking if they could go home (in between violent sways) and her BF would tell her that they were just going to hear the first couple of songs. I keep thinking that it couldn't get worse (unless she hurls on my knee-high moccasins or my white tunic). But oh no, I was wrong. Two dudes wedge themselves in front us, completely shamelessly. The whale is not a tall person, although I am, so I am mainly concerned about her well being. I would offer to trade, except that puts her directly next to Drunky McInconsiderate, so we are stuck. And to make matters worse, Dude turns out to be a woman hating gay man, who makes rude comments and is just a total douche bag in general.

So the band starts. They open with our fav song, Hallucinations followed by Dead Sound. SWEEEEEET. But wait, drunky starts dancing like crazy knocking into everyone, upsetting drinks and stepping on toes. Although BF sort of tries to contain her, it was a pathetic attempt. I am sort of pushing her away as she bumps into me, but the ass hole in front of me shoves her really hard away from him, causing her to tumble into the crowd. They respond by shoving her so hard that both she and her BF take a major spill. It was not cool (although at the time it seemed funny, I later felt that the ass hole behaved very poorly.) We eventually move, at the bidding of another gay couple behind us (they were our comrades in arms throughout, and they were both super cute).

So how was the actual music? As much as I like the Rave-on-ettes I will not be seeing them again. The Whale and I were both bored at the end (maybe our inability to listen to the whole album straight through should have been a sign). They have one song that they just sort of change up a bit here and there. Their slow songs have a lot of energy, but every song sounds exactly the same. Its sort of impressive really. As much as it is catchy and fun for about 4 songs, after that one could do without. I feel like it shows a lack of innate talent, they haven't grown or changed at all since their original sound (which is a unique sound, granted). The raveonettes are cool for sure, but are they trying to grow? I don't think so.

Thanks all for now kids,

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