gig review: battles @ bottom of the hill

[rone]

You know, if 2wanda and i have to stand in line with a bunch of scruffy, chain-smoking hipsters waiting for the doors to open, i would expect to actually have the band start playing sometime in the vicinity of the posted start time of 21:00.  At 22:35, we said, "Fuck this," and left, because she needs to sleep and i need to get to work.

On the bright side, stoat recognized us and we chatted a bit over the din of the warmup music (why does the pre-concert music have to be played as loudly as the live music?).  Oh, and the Anchor Steam was excellent and fresh (which it ought to be, given that the brewery is only a few blocks away).  But i'd be hard-pressed to give Bottom of the Hill, or Battles, another chance.

Comments

[bunnikins.livejournal.com]

I wonder if that's a cultural difference or I just go to more scruffy chain-smoking hipster kinds of gigs - I don't expect a main act to start until about 2 hours after the doors open/time posted for starting.

Annoying if there's no support act, only recorded music playing, but that's why if you're only interested in the main act, about an hour after doors open is a usual time to show up, here.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there was no opening band. The last time i saw Battles, there was an opening band and it was execrable (http://ronebofh.livejournal.com/508830.html), but at least it gave me something to mock. In my experience, opening bands have run the gamut from unbearable to meh to good enough to buy their music right there.

[nyar.livejournal.com]

You're making me feel better over the fact that, when I lived within walking distance (albeit a very uphill filled walk) of BotH for 18 months I only went to one show there. Of course, I've never showed up early for a show there (or even at doors)...

BOTH

[lammah.livejournal.com]

That sucks. Very rare to actually see no live opening act like that.

I've seen some damn good shows at Bottom Of The Hill, though. It's a great venue to catch bands in general...not counting a just-about-to-blow-up Alanis Morrissette back in 1995 (she was just OK, not great).

http://atmyheels.blogspot.com/search/label/BOTH

[racerxmachina.livejournal.com]

That's bullshit, no question. I've been to concerts that start two hours after doors open and if you're new to the club, it can be totally boring and frustrating. Imagine if other forms of entertainment made you wait two hours before show start? Two hours of shitty movie trivia and ads before even the trailers start for a new film? Even the frigging opera starts on time, there's no manager saying, "Oh, shit, play some canned Three Tenors on loop for a while, Andrea Bocelli just dropped a blunt and lit the green room couch on fire."