24th
date night at The Roxy
I had a date with music on Sunday and it was scheduled to happen at The Roxy. I have to be honest, when I hear that a show I want to see is at The Roxy, the following 10 thoughts come to mind:
1 - great, it’s in West Hollywood, not far from where I live, I’ll get there in no time
2 - dammit, the sound there is as my friend Tim calls loud venue sound, DANGEROUSLY LOUD and the mix is always mediocre AND the house music is almost LOUDER than the mix most of the time. It’s always the same mix of hair metal and music completely unlike the bands I’m there to see and in the mood to hear, uggh
3 - dammit, unless the show ends early we’re going to have a hard time taking the band somewhere FUN and away from the strip to eat and drink and hang out
4 - dammit, I’m going to spend a fortune on drinks: soda, redbull and bottled water are marked up 400% and they’re my only choices
5 - dammit, my friends who’re meeting me there are all going to bitch about parking
6 - dammit, I’m going to have to stand in heels through the whole show and probably not see anything
7 - dammit, inevitably the box office person is going to be an asshole and there’s going to be a problem with my name on the list, there ALWAYS is, they’re SO disorganized
8 - dammit, I’m going to be stuck outside in some lame, long line and miss the first band only to sit for 40 minutes while the headliner futzes around trying to pass the time so more people collect in the club and they can play to the largest audience possible
9 - dammit, if I forget to hit the ATM, it’s going to be a GOUGING inside the club
10 - dammit, I’m going to have to take attitude from the snotty, too much make-up wearing, skank-looking cocktail waitresses if I DO sneak my way up to the booths and have to tell them “No!” 200 times when they ask if I need another drink.
I’m writing today to tell you that NONE of the above happened on Sunday.
Instead, here’s what DID happen:
I arrived at The Roxy at the time the doors where scheduled to be opened and low and behold they were OPEN!
I marched up to the box office (expecting to be annoyed and greeted with a nasty look) and instead I was asked for my ID, with a SMILE and the TWO people behind the booth (duh, so if one has to handle a DIFFICULT issue or pee or something, there isn’t going to be a long line) were kindly doing their jobs. One checked my name off of an alphabetized, typed list and the other looked through a recipe box-type thing to find the first letter of my last name and pulled out two envelopes, one with my ticket and the other with 2 VIP passes.
A WORD about the passes - A few days before the show, I posted “Going to see Frightened Rabbit at The Roxy this weekend, so excited!” on Twitter and I got a message back from someone at The Roxy saying, “hope you have a great time! what’s your last name? we’ll make sure you have some VIP access”. Again, in my past experiences this wouldn’t mean I would actually HAVE access, but something made me reply and when I got there, I had two wristbands waiting for me so I wouldn’t have to stand through the show. Can we say above and beyond?
I was asked for my ID at the door by a kind man who stamped my hand on the inside of my wrist (where I like it so I don’t look like I have a big bruise) and when I asked to where the wristband granted me access, he pointed to a sign on the door that said “Red - VIP seating area” “Blue - all access/crew”. I went inside and proceeded to the bar where I asked for a club soda with lime and was charged $4.50, but I think it was an all ages show.
I sat down in a booth around eye level with the stage and texted while I waited for my friend when I realized I was bouncing along with the music… at The Roxy. I looked over at the sound man and standing there smiling an ADORABLE smile was a tall dude with a goatee sporting “the grunge look”. Seeing as how I was bouncing along to Radiohead’s “Dollars & Cents” from the Amnesiac record (in my Top 5 Radiohead records, btw), I figured it was some kind of fluke and any minute he’d change it to Soundgarden or something. Probably one of the bands asking to hear that record as their “psych up” record before the doors opened, and they just left it on until the sound man got back to the booth. Sure enough, he turned it off and when I looked up to make my face of disapproval and make the “Noooo” plea he made the “Noooo” plea right along with me, smiled AGAIN and then, I heard “Everything In Its Right Place” blasting out of the speakers. For a moment I entertained the fantasy that he was playing Radiohead records ALPHABETICALLY which basically meant he was my favourite guy in the house that night, hands down. But later I heard some tunes from “In Rainbows” and chocked it up to just “grunge look sound man” having great taste in music and so-so taste in clothes. Nuthin but love fo ya, baby.
I should also note that the shared “Nooo” and awareness of each other’s presence was made possible by the fact that in addition to the music being WORTH hearing, it was being played at a volume that was conducive to between-band conversation. I didn’t have to go UP to the sound guy and YELL in his ear that shutting that off just effed up my good time, instead the space between us wasn’t cloudy with BLISTERINGLY loud sound waves. So it felt somewhat sweet and comfortable… as it should be.
The first band came on, Sunny Day Sets Fire ruled for days and are VERY worth the trip to Silver Lake to catch their live show at Spaceland tonight, see the video below. It was then that I realized I HAD in fact forgotten to stop at the ATM and much to my surprise the fee was $2.95 which is lower than the Bank of America ATM down the street from my apt where I would’ve stopped if I remembered.
Then between bands, the cocktail waitress made herself known. First, I noticed that she was fashionably dressed in a garment which suited the style of the audience (if she wasn’t carrying a tray and visiting tables, I would’ve thought she was the drummer’s girlfriend). Too many times I find myself in a venue on The Strip where post-pubescent prostitots are ordering me out of a booth if I don’t buy a ROUND of drinks this instant because it’s “reserved” for people who do (who DOES that??!?) and they often look terrible wearing way too much make-up and sporting outfits that belong down the street at Hustler (Viper Room, I’m looking at you). This was not the case and when she returned with my drink, I paid her and waited for her to return in 5 minutes to ask if I needed another. Instead, she didn’t bother me again until my cup was empty and I indicated TO HER that in fact I would like another. Yay! Later in the show when I mentioned to my friend who was paying for her drink that I was kinda sleepy (and cold - I forgot my sweater) and I commented that I wished they had coffee, the waitress said, “We do and tea AND hot chocolate!” OMIGOD If she wasn’t holding a tray I would’ve hugged her. Upon asking “Really??!?” for the 4th time, she finally took my disbelief as a cue and returned with a cup of coffee, sweetener and non-fat milk. At this point I was ready to ask for a puppy just to see if they had some back there.
Oxford Collapse took the stage and I enjoyed their set and the singer’s banter quite a bit. I think they should tour with The Henry Clay people on the east coast. The crowd was interested and respectful and drinking, but not to the point of horrendous intoxication and fits of flashing (swear, last time I was at The Roxy, my friend Kat and I witnessed a girl in front of us consume MANY cocktails and then proceed to flash 4-6 different men over the course of an hour and a half show). Perhaps the change in The Roxy’s choice of bands has something to do with the kinder, friendlier, mature but not old audience.
Finally, following most of “In Rainbows” *sigh* and minimal futzing from the band, Frightened Rabbit took the stage. The sound man who would be just DREAMY without that goatee… retreated to the back of the booth yielding to the band’s engineer, but was right there just in case he needed to know what a button did or how to make the smoke machine stop or whatever. I can’t stress this enough: once the headliner’s engineer shows up it is NOT time for the house guy to take a 45 minute smoke/coke/poke break. Treat the board like you would treat your girlfriend when the hottest guy at a party shows up. Don’t smother her, but don’t disappear or you’ll come back to find everyone painfully noticing her getting her buttons pushed by a stranger.
I will post my review of Frightened Rabbit in a few when YouTube gets its shit together, but let’s just say they were stellar and I enjoyed everything I heard and saw.
The show ended and I was permitted to hang around inside the venue after most of the folks cleared out to chat with the band for a bit and tell them how great they played and how much I have been enjoying the record (yes, I still do that). When it came time to start closing down, the bouncers kindly shuffled us toward the door and asked us to take the conversation with the band out into the side parking lot where they would be unloading their gear.
We planned to go out afterwards, but since the only options didn’t have food AND drinks (I was hungry, the band wanted to drink) I opted to go get some food with a friend while the band loaded out and we met up at the hotel for drinks later. It was a full night and I got to see three fantastic bands.
My only complaint is that there was nothing open or nearby with reasonably priced food and drinks where we could take the band afterwards. It usually isn’t a complaint since I hardly ever WANT to stay up on the strip longer than I have to, but when my friends (who didn’t complain ONCE about parking - price or location) mentioned their cars were securely and inexpensively parked nearby we racked our brains to find a place to go in walking distance — did you hear that L.A.? WALKING distance.
A WORD to the Sunset Strip - if the bands and the shows at The Roxy and other area clubs (I heard the Viper Room is all new and improved too, anyone know if that’s true??) start getting better, you’re going to have to open more places to hang out and eat within walking distance. With the price of gas and the attention to “green” behaviour hitting the mainstream, more people will want to park and walk or take a taxi to a neighborhood where they can get their needs met right there. Also, you’ll find people bitch less about the parking if they can park at 8pm and plan to leave around 2am and pay $10-$20 for parking for the whole night. The problem is: there’s nowhere you’d want to stay on the strip for that amount of time. Until now.
