When I first got wind of the so called "Coachella shows" that were going to be announced, I started chanting "XX at the Fox" over and over to Brandon, so I am pretty sure I willed this show into existence He has been a big fan since he first heard them, but somehow they fell completely under my radar until one day I heard Angels on XM and pretty much lost it. Although their first album didn't do much for me, I couldn't get enough of the second album, Coexist, every song ripping my guts out every time I listened to it. So, of course I was crazy excited at the prospect of seeing them live, and the Fox is one of my very favorite venues, due in no small part to the fact that the drive to Pomona is much more palatable than the trek to LA. It is also a gorgeous building, reminiscent of the Wiltern, and the view from the balcony is wonderful. Being the old fogies that we are, we always choose to sit up there rather than brave the lower area. Little did we know that wouldn't really matter for this show....
Talk about a polarizing night. Leading up to the show, Brandon pulled one of his famous flip flops, and suddenly decided that he doesn't really like The xx anymore and that even though he loves their first album, their latest album sucks. That was news to me, as he seemed as excited about going as I was when we first got the tickets. [Editorial speculation: It sort of seemed like he was just having a bad attitude due to my disinterest in the Polica show as well as the Hannah Georgas album, which he vehemently denies.] So, going into it, I knew he was going to be overly critical but I hoped he would still enjoy it.
Doors were not until 8, so we left pretty late and the drive was traffic free. However, once we got there at around 8:30, the line was still completely wrapped around the entire building. We got in right before 9 and the balcony was already packed but we found a couple of good seats on the aisle, and the seat in front of me was broken so that ensured a great view. Or so we thought...
Opener Nite Jewel went on promptly at 9:01, which was a lovely change from the previous night's long wait. Her set was slightly tedious, but I applaud her bravery for going out there with just her keyboard and rocking it out. The crowd was polite enough and she seemed pleased with their reaction. Little did she know what was simmering just below the surface.
The show was sold out and there was a lot of intense energy filling the house. The second there was even an inkling of movement on the darkened stage, everyone went absolutely ballistic. They were on their feet from the start of the show and never sat back down again, even filling the aisle ways of the balcony in vain attempts to get a better view. Being the personal space person that I am, I was more than a little annoyed at the girl who decided to stand next to my seat in the aisle and creep closer and closer to me throughout the show, finally ending up halfway into my seat. She also kept flipping her hair over her shoulder and whacking me in the face with it, and her boyfriend smacked my arm every time he put his arm around her. Someone almost got shanked, is all I am saying.
The xx came out dressed all in slick black and looking solemn, from what I could see. Of the otherwise spectacular show, my only negative comment would be that a lot of the time the lights were pointed directly out into the audience, so it was hard to make out what was happening onstage. I was immediately overwhelmed by how rich and beautiful their voices sounded. These two clearly have no need for ProTools - their voices were pure and lovely the entire night. I was was also incredibly impressed with the percussion/electronics guy in the back who was definitely earning his paycheck. When I was listening to their music earlier this week I started to wonder what the instrument usage would be and assumed they would rely heavily on synths and other electronic means. I was pleasantly surprised that this guy ran around like a maniac from bass drums to steel drums to keyboards, filling the air with gorgeous, layered sounds. It seemed that the majority of the audience agreed with my assessment of the majesty we were beholding. Every time the singers opened their mouths to sing, they were met with ecstatic screams and cheers. Their stage banter was limited to a few quiet "thank yous" between songs, but at one point Oliver Sim did say something like, "Keep screaming - you're making us feel like One Direction!" I found the sound and lighting to be equally mesmerizing, putting me into sort of a trance even though I wasn't partaking of any of the mind altering substances being enjoyed by those around us. I am going to let you in on a lil secret: I am kind of a weirdo and often find myself tearing up when we go to shows because I become very affected hearing songs I love live. Brandon makes fun of me a lot for this, so I had to fight REALLY hard to keep it to myself last night. I managed to hide it well most of the time but I did let one tear slip during the glorious final song, Angels, my very fave. I just couldn't hold back any longer.
I walked out euphoric, completely blown away by the performance, so it came as quite a surprise when Brandon announced that he thought it was awful. He complained that it was one of the most boring shows he has ever been to, noting that they slowed down even the up tempo songs that he likes to a crawl. "It felt like I was slowly drowning," he said. He was also bothered by the fact that the lighting techs didn't seem to remember the fact that they had lasers at their disposal until 40 minutes into the show and that in spite of all the elaborate staging, they did nothing with the "big white parachute" behind them. Although technically proficient, he said they seemed like they were still hung over from Coachella and that they would rather be sleeping.
In case you're interested in judging for yourself, here's a snippet someone posted of the show. Great example of the crowd's reactions as well.
Not gonna lie, we argued quite a bit on the way home about this show. He finally begrudgingly admitted that it sounded beautiful, but he also claims that he found the vocals muddled and unintelligible half the time which... I wonder if he needs to get his ears checked. There was such an extreme divide between our experiences that I really felt like there had to be an emotional reason behind his passionate disregard for a show that I found to be enthralling.
Another item of note: I never got a good shot of it, but here you can kind of make out the fact that on one side of the Fox theater sign the neon was turned red and the F and O were turned off so it was just a big red X. NO idea if this was intentional or not, but I gotta admit I got chills when B pointed it out. Whether due to serendipity or design, it was a very cool sight.
Next up is Purity Ring, another one of "his" bands that I assumed he would be excited to see. Who knows how tonight will go...
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