Monday, Nov. 05, 2001 - 2:27 p.m.
Heather and I trekked to east Atlanta for the Death Cab for Cutie show last night. We were early and the club was late opening doors, so we went to the bar around the corner and watched the Simpsons (it was the Run Lola Run episode) and marveled at the fact that, unlike Athens, bars are open on Sunday. I guess Athens needs one day a week to clean up all the puke and spilled Miller High Life. Anyway, we finished watching the Simpsons and waited in line at the club some more.
When we finally got in, the Echo Lounge turned out to be a pretty cool place. We sat in the lounge during the first band (The Close - really mopey, dismal stuff). The Prom played next. They're a cool piano, bass, drums trio, with the occasion synthesizer. I joked at the beginning of the set that all of their songs opened with chord changes and cymbal flourishes from '80's power ballads, like they were Night Ranger or something. As it turns out, they do a fucked up rendition of Night Ranger's "Sister Christian" as a hidden track on their CD. How about that.
Death Cab were pretty good. I'm not really a fan of their records because they tend to lack any kind of real dynamic, and a clever line here and there only gets you so far (I don't think Ben Gibbard has even been to Lowell, MA). As a live band, however, they're a lot better. They hadn't done a sound check, so there were technical problems throughout their set, and they would lose momentum in between songs, making weak attempts at stage banter instead of just starting the next song. By the end of the set I had pretty much lost interest. I found myself thinking about the grocery list and the fact that I still don't really have a job instead.
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