MOG

!!! at the Showplace Theater, Buffalo, NY with The Stay Lows and Holy F--k 5/12/2007

Wow, what a great show! My ears are still ringing. I was five feet from the stage with BrainFoodX and a couple other friends. The Showplace Theater is exactly what it sounds like, a former movie theater turned dive bar. The beer was cheap though, $3.50 each. We got to the venue at 6:50 pm, expecting the doors to open at 7 pm. We were the first "smiling white kids" to arrive, to quote my friend. The tour bus for !!! was parked right in front of the Showplace. We saw the roadies bring all the equipment inside, and kept seeing band members get on and off the bus for various reasons.

We were finally allowed inside after 9 pm, when the staff at the Showplace realized that the crowd wouldn't get any bigger than the roughly 30 people waiting outside. The Stay Lows were a chill instrumental rock group. They managed to work in a cello without it sounding forced when combined with drums, guitar and bass. Even better, their cd was $5 bucks and came with a poster.

Holy F--k was wicked. For starters, they might have the coolest band name ever. They never actually spoke to the crowd, just started rocking out, only pausing to note their last song. Their DJ appeared to have a circuit board with all kinds of things attached to it, including some sort of analog tape that he ran through a device to create a beat, and a foot-pedal for the bassist. The keyboardist had at least eight different instruments that he continuously plugged and unplugged to create the right sound. One of these appeared to be a breathalyzer with a hose attached to blow into it, which he held up to a microphone.

When !!! finally took the stage the crowd erupted in cheers and clapping. They played a short set, just over an hour. It was filled with quality dance-rock. Mostly they played tracks from the new album Myth Takes with a few older songs. At the end of "Hello? Is This Thing On?" the singer crossed the barrier and jumped into the crowd. It was pretty sweet. I was dancing through the whole show, in my own world. I didn't even notice the ceiling fell until the singer said something to the crowd. !!! closed out their set with "Heart of Hearts" off of Myth Takes. I was hoping for an encore, but the small crowd starting clearing out almost immediately. The ten of us leaning on the barrier at the front kept cheering, in hopes the band would return to no avail. The girl next to me was shouting "Guliani!" We were both disappointed !!! didn't play "Me and Guliani Down By the Schoolyard (A True Story)".