The Upstate Life

Monday, July 25, 2005

Prepare for the Heat Wave Edition

Friday night was the Kaiser Chiefs show at the 9:30 Club and TUL was able to leave with a grin on his face. No, it wasn't because the bouncers complimented me on my Wilco t-shirt, but the fact that the Chiefs delivered, putting forth a great amount of effort onstage which resulted in a very enjoyable concert. Openers The Cribs didn't do much for me, or anyone else on the floor for that matter. The Chiefs kicked the show off with their single "Na Na Na Na Naa" and managed to get the place moving from there on out. Though not as energetic (or incredibly sweaty) as the last show I attended at the 9:30 (LCD Soundsystem/M.I.A), the audience proved to show some signs of life throughout the set. I wasn't able to obtain a setlist, but since the band only has one album released, they essentially played every song from Employment with some B-sides thrown in.

The Upstate Life ventured out to Virginia for a day of tubing in the Rappahannock River on Saturday. There's nothing more relaxing than floating down a river with a beer in hand during a perfect summer day. With the water at an incredible 80 degrees and three "cooler tubes", it erased any broken down Metro escalator or Borf imagery. Saturday night, TUL finally saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I've always been a fan of Tim Burton, and once again, the director failed to disappoint. I didn't think it was incredible by any means, though you can never go wrong by casting Christopher Lee. Depp carried the film obvs, but I felt he could've done so much more with the character. Oh well, I'm sure seeing Mr. and Mrs. Smith would've been a lot worse.

Pitchfork beat TUL to the punch with M.I.A.'s headlining tour schedule. After opening for LCD Soundsystem last month, she'll be returning to the 9:30 Club as the top billing on Wednesday, September 21st. Hopefully Diplo will be behind the DJ booth this time around rather than at a frickin sushi bar.

Posted by Brett at 2:52 PM |