11.25.07
Who’s Ruby?
In keeping up with our jet-setting ways, Staci & I headed out of the country again to catch a concert the night before the Ohio State/Michigan game. Turns out Amsterdam (and The Netherlands) is a pretty boring place. Ok, not really, but you’d think so with how often we seem to be doing fun stuff elsewhere. This time the fun thing was heading to Antwerp, Belgium to see Kaiser Chiefs and Silversun Pickups with, who else, Jon & CJ.
Staci & I caught the train down to Mechelen, Belgium to meet up with Jon & CJ and then head up to Antwerp for the show. CJ actually got home after Staci & I arrived because she was flying home from Vienna, Austria due to a business trip. By the time she got home, we were running a little late, but not too much as we planned on skipping the opening act anyways.
We arrived at the arena and grabbed some €2 Stellas (love cheap, good beer) and headed inside, thinking we were catching the end of the opening act. Wrong. We were catching the beginning of Silversun Pickups. Oops. Oh well, it was most likely their first song, so it wasn’t a huge issue. We found some seats in the upper level, drnak our beers and settled in for a good performance. Nothing spectacular visually, but then again, thats not what we were expecting anyways. This wasn’t that type of show. Basically we just wanted to hear them play some good music, and they didn’t disappoint.
A side note: Silversun Pickups’ bass player seemed to be having seizures throughout the set. Not really, but her awkward, no-rhythm “dancing” sure made it seem that way. Thank god she’s not paid to dance, and it didn’t seem to effect her playing, but it was a little hard not to laugh. Think Elaine Benes from Seinfeld, though no kicks or thumbs-up motions.
The Kaiser Chiefs were a tremendous surprise to me. I’d heard of a few of their songs on the radio from their two albums, but hadn’t really thought much of them either way. I liked a couple of the songs, but most of them I wouldn’t would give a passing thought to after hearing them.
The week before the show I started listening to their latest album, Yours Truly, Angry Mob, and really liked it, but only a couple of songs really grabbed my attention. I never got around to listening to Unemployment (their first album), though. Too distracted with work projects. However, their live show changed all that. They came out and played with great energy, even though it was the last date of the European leg of their tour. The crowd was really into it, singing along and just having a good time. I kept being surprised when they would play songs that I knew from the radio, and I kept thinking, “They sing this?”
Final verdict: It was a good time for me and my whole family. I was really impressed with both bands, and the night was a lot of fun. A good way to start Ohio State/Michigan weekend.