Getting the Royale Treatment with The Rapture

Hey guys, remember The Rapture? Did you know they were still together? No, well, me neither. Apparently the band everyone was going apeshit over in the early 2000s and then subsequently forgot about is still together. Echoes was a staple of my listening back when it was released and established the band as one of the elite dance-punk bands when the genre was just beginning to boom. I actually loved their much less lauded second album, Pieces of the People We Love, where they began their decent off the face of the earth. It was a no-brainer that I was going to attend their free performance at Royale on August 4, 2010. The concert was sponsored by Amstel Light but I wasn't expecting the unlimited free Amstel Light that I was greeted with at the venue. The beer snob in me wanted to scoff at the fact that it was Amstel Light but I'd be a real asshole if I complained about free beer so I kept it to myself (until now). Surely, I thought the free beer was a recipe for disaster but it simply ended up being a really fun and interesting night.

I hadn't been to the space since it become Royale but I had seen a few shows there when it was The Roxy. The venue has really turned around and looks great. If you take a look at their upcoming concert lineup, you'll notice that it's pretty freakin' awesome. That's because they are using the same promoters who book shows for the Bowery Room as well as other venues in New York City. Looks like I'll be making my way to Royale more often as it seems like the spot is set to blow up.

DJ Die Young started the night by playing some choice tunes ready for the floor. He played the kind of electropop/indie mix that you would expect for such an event. One song that stood out to me was Robyn's "Don't Fucking Tell Me What to Do" since I was just saying that I was surprised it wasn't played in every bar/club yet. Most night people much like myself will connect with the ingenious lyrics. Of course, I could only identify so much with a 30 year old Swedish woman. The DJ spun a decent selection with some other notable standouts like Hercules & Love Affair.

Don't Fucking Tell Me What To Do by robyn

During the DJ's set, my friend took it upon himself to turn to a girl and pronounce that he had a feeling that she and I should talk and then walked away without warning me. Obviously, I had to start up a conversation since I was just standing there looking around in shock. Because most of my life has to turn into some kind of strange sitcom plot, it turned out that her first language wasn't English. However, despite the language barrier, we actually ended up talking for awhile. She was a lovely young lady from Spain and I was having a great time despite some awkward moments that seemed like they were out of Bottle Rocket when we couldn't understand each. Apparently, getting A's in honors level Spanish classes in high school didn't do anything since I can't remember a damn thing!

The next DJ was actually from Amsterdam and went by the name The Scumfrog (why?). He played some decent house music and his set was giving me flashbacks to the time I saw Armin van Buuren. The best thing about him was how genuinely happy he looked as he would ride a build, drop the beat, and pump his fist. He was able to get more and more people to flood the dance floor. Still, at this point, I had more than my fill of the DJ music. The girl I was talking to said she was hungry so I escorted her to grab a bite to eat. It was a nice break from the loud, repetitive beats.

I was jonesing for some actual live music by the time I got back in. The Rapture took the stage just before eleven and looked exactly like they did the first time I checked them out. It was like they stepped out of some kind of dance-punk time warp. They were as tight as ever, kicking out some seriously danceable jams. The set contained mostly songs from Pieces including the incredibly infectious "Don Gon Do It". Fan favorite "House of Jealous Lovers" was unbelievable. The songs featuring saxophone, which I have an affinity for, really got the crowd worked up. At one point, the singer walked into the audience to the back of the venue and sang on top of the bar. He took a roundabout way back to the stage and it was hilarious to see all the people awkwardly try to get out of his way or get tangled up in the microphone cord.

 

The Rapture - Don Gon Do It by dominantmusic



There was no need to ask for more cowbell at this show as there was an unsettling amount of it already present in their set. I really enjoyed the one new song they played called "Sail Away". Despite being a very un-STYX-like song, it definitely stood out as unique amongst there other tunes and had me interested in future material. According to Wikipedia, they are aiming for a summer 2010 release for a new album. If that's the case, they better get cracking!

At the end of the show, I met back up with my friend who introduced me to a girl that happened to be the author of Tongs, the blog that posted the infamous 'Overheard in an Allston ladies' room' article. I re-tweeted the article which apparently reached a bunch of people and I latter realized that I was mentioned in the comments on the infamous post. We talked briefly about music and then went our separate ways. I have to apologize if I was off-putting but it was a long, strange night and I didn't want to come off like the "You like blogging?" guy from that Snickers commercial - I'm kinda shy, go figure. She was kind enough to hold the set list up for me which is featured below. There is a review for the show at Tongs that chronicles it much more succinctly than I have done here. I was really glad I caught this awesome event along with a rare performance by The Rapture and got to meet some cool people along the way. Apparently you can still have fun with little to no money in this city.