Wolf Parade Concert

I bought tickets to the Wolf Parade concert more than a month ago, I think. Even before their second album, At Mount Zoomer, was released during the middle of June. My friend John introduced me to the band several years ago, when I was studying in England. I loved their first (and only full length) album, Apologies to the Queen Mary, from the very first time I listened to it and was disappointed when I realized that Wolf Parade’s members are also members of other bands and therefore don’t tour very often as Wolf Parade.

The new album was released in June and WP planned a mini tour to promote it. As I mentioned earlier, I hadn’t yet listened to the new one yet when I bought the tickets, so I was a little concerned about a sophomore slump (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Killers, and Animal Collective all come to mind). But luckily for me, I wasn’t disappointed. At Mount Zoomer has a different sound than Apologies, but it’s really good. Maybe not as great, but nearly so.

After work yesterday, I met Ashley and Tyler for burgers at SoHo Park at the corner of Prince and Lafayette. Tyler and Ashley had gotten drunk together (while I slept) the previous night while watching 30 Rock, so neither of them felt very energetic but Ashley was my date to the show and was pretty excited about it, too.

After we parted ways with Tyler, Ashley and I hopped on the subway and made our way to the venue, Terminal 5, which is located at 56th and 11th. After sorting out some problems related to my water-logged tickets (I accidentally took them on a swim in the ocean at Coney Island a few weeks ago), we found ourselves amongst the first arrivals and staked out a nice spot towards the front.

Everyone around us was sitting, and the floor was clean, so we sat down for a while, too, until the floor gradually started filling up and we stood up and Ashley sent me on a mission to grab a couple of (overpriced) beers.

I returned with the drinks just as the opening band (Winter Sleeve?? Maybe??) started playing. Their opening song was pretty good, but neither Ashley nor I liked the rest of their set and I was anxious for WP to come onstage.

Once Wolf Parade did take the stage, they didn’t disappoint. The set list was evenly mixed between songs from the new album and the best ones from the old. The band sounded good, were pretty loud, and the crowd knew the songs. The only annoying part was the moshers. I’ll never understand people who mosh, especially at a concert where the music is not REALLY loud nor all that fast. But to each his own, and they did add an extra bit of energy to the scene. Ashley and I were both bounced around a little bit but it was fun and we both laughed.

Overall, the experience was great. The crowd wasn’t too unruly, the music was fantastic, and the venue was fun. I realized that it had been too long since the last concert I attended. I’m going to try to go to shows more often from now on. You just can’t beat live music, especially in a place like New York City.