Show Review: No Age @ Vice ASR Party @ Onyx/Thin

First off- congratulations to No Age. They just signed to sub pop and I wish them the best of success! I admire No Age because they've managed to ascend without management, while keeping it "street", running their own record label, dating jen clavin from mika miko (dean only) and hanging out at the smell.

It was with a little chagrin that I ventured into the gaslamp last night.

The Approach:

My key to Gaslamp parking success is to use my office parking lot space- located just outside the dark hear of the gaslamp at 1st and Cst. I walk down C st, avoiding broadway, until I get to third avenue. Then I cut down through horton plaza and pop out at 4th and E. From there it's just a short jaunt through the labyrinth until Onyx/Thin presents itself at 852 5th Ave.

The Entrance:

Normally, I don't like to wait in line for my entertainment. However, in the Gaslamp, a little judicious line waiting only serves to heighten the unique pleasures and flavors of a gaslamp nightclubbing experience. There were two methods of entrance into Onyx/Thin. The first was waiting in line ("guest list only"), the other was getting the represenstative of vice or whoever to tell the doorman to let you in. Each method received its attention from the doorman in turn. The Door man? He was majestic. Wow! Someone interview that guy for street scene makers or whatever.

Getting in didn't seem to be impossible provided you were either a) "on the list"/willing to stand in line for 10 minutes b) able to be waved through by the rep at the door. Waving your ASR wrist band around- not so much. As a result, there was a small cluster of people who couldn't get in kind of clustered around outside.

Pre No Age:

First no one was there and I eavsdropped on a convo between two american apparrel reps and two vice (?) reps. They reminded me of music industry professionals- super reserved, professional attitude mixed with youthfulness. Then Anna Banana, Girl Chaos (she had an art show @ BBSD) and AnnaMaria Stephens and Malicious with her posse. I talked to all them and to Corey Biggs, and even though part of me knew that this had to be Corey Biggs, I didn't really ask about it until after I'd stopped talking to him. He seemed nice, wasn''t a douche bag. Didn't know who I was or anything, just chatting with a guy.

We all watched Mario, Branden and Andrew Prayers get in with out waiting in line. I ended up talking to Dean from No Age- he recognized the Oooga Booga t shirt I had borrowed from CDW. Jen Clavin from Mika Miko was there. I have now learned not to blog about my convesations with people in the music industry about discussions which may be interesting but are not "public", so fine. I talked a bit with Russ Friend of Skull Kontrol (RFSK). I think he went to high school with Andrew Prayers? I don't know. He's hilarious. I'm a big RFSK fan. I didn't want to harangue the No Age guys so I went upstairs and listened to the DJ spin some What's Your Rupture?! Love that track!

No Age Performance:

No Age is great. I think it's significant that they have only two people in the band- more manageable that way. No Age just very obviously has their shit together and they serve as a kind of inspiration/point of interest for me. It's certainly no stretch to imagine them meeting/exceeding the level of interest you've seen for a) ratatat b) battles. That is just objective fact. And Sub Pop? For Real! The music swiirls and builds- it spirals? I noticed Randy seemed to use a little sampler with his guitar. I guess that's an electronic aspect that I didn't quite get before. It was quite clear to me that No Age writes compelling songs, with build and structure. The idea that the music is this undifferentiated mass is just false- there are songs there.

So it was awesome, even though most of the people stayed upstairs dancing to some horrible sounding electronic music. I don't know who the dj was and I don't mean any offense- not sure what was up with that? Peter Bjorn and John? Really? It's September, 2007.

Post No Age Performance

The original idea was to try to do both Onyx/Thin and Aubergine in one night, but I wasn't unhappy when Aubergine proved to be a "total fucking nightmare." I didn't want to get involved, but through the smoky glassed doors it looked like a real nightmare.

Conclusion

Was anyone from Vice actually there? My thought it "no". By "from vice" I mean-- "paycheck comes from Vice Inc." So while I don't begrudge Vice it's success, I think it is fair to observe that there is very little that separates Vice as a culture industry purveyor that is any different from your hypothetical "Corporate Overlord" model. Vice isn't really "indie", in a certain sense. In another, commerical sense, they are the very epitome of a succesful sales producer of indie cultural product. So it's kind of a contradiction. But I don't mind the loss of authenticity. That kind of progression in a business is the inevitable by product of sustained excellence.

But seriously- next time warehouse- vice let's talk.