Guilt Free Pleasures: Stop... Continue!

Last night I saw Electric Six perform at the Bowery Ballroom. I have to say it was a decidedly better experience than when I saw them on a boat this past summer. This was my first show at the Bowery Ballroom too. It's a nice space. Much bigger than the riverboat from the Rocks Off Concert Cruise.

The best improvement was that Electric Six was actually on a raised stage so I could see much better (and there wasn't a scantily dressed girl who felt the need to pole dance on a column in front of the stage obscuring my view this time either). Plus the people in the crowd were significantly less rowdy, so I wasn't being shoved around as much (see? The audience can totally make or break a show). There were a few mini-mosh pit attempts from these six guys not standing far away from me, but most of them fizzled out relatively quickly. One guy tried to crowd surf and dove off the stage, but this crowd was having none of that so no one caught him. They just kind of all jumped out of the way. It was hilarious. He didn't get hurt or anything - if he had it probably wouldn't have been quite as funny - he just got right back up and tried to start moshing.

Ironically, the girls were the probably more rowdy this time around. At one point, lead singer Dick Valentine came and sat on the edge of the stage (pictured right) and pulled two girls up on stage with him. This happened directly in front of me, so all of a sudden I was being shoved in all directions by girls trying to get to him. And when he came down into the audience and was dancing with those of us who happened to be standing there, the shoving got even worse. But I stood my ground and maintained my spot. The good thing about the shoving was that I went from being approximately 3rd row to being shoved up against the stage, so I ended up benefiting from it in the long run. Just goes to show you though - there is truth to that stereotype of girls throwing themselves at rock stars, because as cool as Valentine is, he's definitely not super hot or anything and he had all these 18-20 year old girls shoving each other to get to him.

I feel like part of the reason the crowd was overall less rowdy was that it was an 18+ show so it wasn't like on the boat where everyone was totally trashed. But it made me feel old when I looked around me and realized my friend and I were the only people I could see in the vicinity of where we were standing with wristbands signifying that we are legally old enough to drink.

Electric Six was awesome as usual, putting on a high-energy performance and just having a blast and being their crazy selves. Dick Valentine is quite a character. He came on wearing a shiny purple/blue cape that "Showtime" on the back (pictured right). He quickly lost that, and soon thereafter took off his blazer and untucked his shirt. He seems to really like hugging audience members (particularly girls...) and picking up the microphone stand and swinging it around in the air or propping it on his shoulder. At one point he also started doing push-ups and sit-ups. He dances really silly most of the time, which is awesome. And he also just sat down on the stage for a bit and was playing air guitar.

My favorite member is still probably the guitar player with the dark hair (pictured left - there are two guitar players, and I can't figure out from their website what his name is) who always conveniently ends up on stage right in front of me so I can stare at his beautiful face. He's really hot. Although, I have to say, he came out in a sweater and a hat before the show to set up, and he looks so much hotter in a suit, which he wore during the performance (he also wore a suit when I saw them on the boat). But he gets really intense when he's singing and the veins in his neck pop out and he has great hair for rocking out. He's pretty awesome. As a matter of fact, all the members of the band are really cool and total characters. I loved the keyboard players' glasses too.

The one thing I have to say that I missed from the boat performance is that a few of them were wearing sailor hats and other sailor garb, and that was fun. This time around, there was no sailor garb. I also didn't know any of the songs off their new album, "I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me From Being The Master" so I couldn't really sing along to some of the songs (but that's my own fault). Oh and I also wish I could've gotten better/more pictures of the band members on the right side of the stage, but my camera sucks and they were far away/blocked by people, so sorry to those band members who are under-represented in these photos.

The other really cool thing is that I managed to snag a set list (with the help of my really tall friend). It is the first real set list I've managed to get my hands on (pictured right) because usually I am too shy to ask for it or too short to reach it if it's left lying on the stage. So here it is, the set list:

It's Showtime
Dance Commander
Rock and Roll Evacuation
Down at McDonnelzzz
Infected Girls
Riding on the White Train
Electric Demons in Love
Randy's Hot Tonight
Dance Pattern
Improper Dancing
Danger! Danger!
(which is actually titled Danger! High Voltage on the CD, but that's what the set list says...)
Future is in the Future
Feed My Habit
I Buy the Drugs

Encore:
When I Get to the Green Building
Dance Epidemic
Gay Bar
Germans in Mexico

More pictures (and for even more - yes, I took a lot of pictures - go here):