What Do You Mean They're Not Superheroes?: The Best Concerts You Missed Last Week

Usually on Mondays you guys hear from me about the books that I think you probably missed out on last week when you were at the comic store, but this week I decided to change things up a bit. I had the delightful opportunity to see three concerts this last week and I thought I would take a moment of your time to let you know what you missed out on.

Let's go back to last Wednesday. The night of the final presidential debate and while most were people found themselves glued to the television as Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain verbally sparred their way through the last of their shared sound-byte fest I found myself on the SLU campus at The Billiken Club waiting for a night of music. First to play was the surprisingly amazing Judgement Day. Three men, one drummer, one violinist, and one cellist. And they rocked all of our faces with their own brand of String Metal (think indie rock Apocalyptica). It was easily one of the most intruiging opening acts I had seen in a long time and while they may not have been for everyone I personally was held rapt. I highly recommend that you check them out because I think that they have something truly awesome going on. Next up was David Vandervelde and while I found him entertaining I don't think he was something really worth writing home about when sandwiched in between two stunning acts. The headliner and who I was there to see was Margot & The Nuclear So and So's. They piled onto the stage, all nine of them, and they played some of the most enjoyable music I have heard in a very long time for an hour and change. If you like bands like The Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens, The Arcade Fire or Broken Social Scene I think you're bound to love their sound. I came away from the show feeling light and care free and must admit that it was one of the more enjoyable nights of recent memory (when you end your night at Uncle Bill's Pancake & Dinner though ... it's gonna be a good night).

Next was a trek down Columbia way to The Blue Note to see Broken Social Scene. Land of Talk opened and they were fun but certainly just an appetizer to the main act. I am going to leave most of the talking about Broken Social Scene to Darren as he has already expressed interest in telling you all about the show but suffice to say that they played for just shy of 3 hours and I was completely ensorcelled by them the entire time they were onstage.

Finally tonight I headed out to The Bluebird to see Man Man. The opening act Tim Fite quickly took Judgement Day's place at the top of the Most Interesting Opening Act list. It's really hard to describe the experience of seeing Tim Fite live onstage, I think that my friend, and fellow concert goer, Mike Brodeur put it best "Two words describe that experience: Brave and Versatile. It's like he said 'Welcome to my brain, it is what it is.'". Think hip-hop ... but ... in an incredibly unique way. Then the men in white took the stage. Man Man is perhaps one of the most energetic and entertaining live shows I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. This was my third Man Man show and they are now the band I have seen live the most times. Man Man is like hearing the inner sound track to the life of Tim Burton ... like a dark crazy carnival that rolls into town and steals off into the night with your children. They played for a little over an hour and when you consider the amount of energy that they expend onstage it's miraculous that they didn't collapse when the set was done.

I think that if you aren't going out and experiencing music live then you are really missing out on one hell of a fun experience and with all the great venues here in the Saint Louis Metro Area and with Columbia's Blue Note not too far away that there is no reason not to head out and check out something live.

P.S. Because of the Man Man show and a work commitment this week's Episode 37 will not be available until Tuesday night.