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indie-snob>+!#
ben kweller @ the metro (3.7.03)
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No matter what anyone says, Ben Kweller remains the nicest guy in rock music today. The man remains dedicated to his fans, even when 25 of them are lined up an hour before doors. (Some of us, i.e. me, 2 hours before.) I talked to Ben a little before the show. You can tell the fame is getting to him a little. The first band to open for him as AM Radio, a member of Weezer's record label. And, it's not hard to see why. The butt-ugly (dare I say fugly?) lead singer flirted with the young girls as he played air guitar, singing generic rock songs with a damn weak voice. I wanted to reach up and slap him, but I dared not to. With no pop qualities, uninteresting guitar solors and riffs and basic bass lines, the only thing that was interesting about the band was how much the drummer could sweat and his face looked like he was constipated... even when he wasn't playing. Let's all just pray that their album due out in June WILL NOT be on the radio or MTV. Please. Pray with me. Centro-matic showed more talent, but a lack in differentiating thier songs. The singer had a strong, bluesy voice that was very pleasant and relaxing. However, you don't want to have to feel sleepy before one of your favorite artists comes out. All of their songs held some nice guitars and keyboards and drums and blah blah blah, but other than that, there was nothing particularly special about them. I liked them for three songs, but over that, I kinda felt like going to sleep. Q101 (the local "alternative" station) DJs came out to introduce Ben Kweller. They were booed, got stuff thrown at them, etc. It was a great spectacle and most gratifying. Ben Kweller came out with the nice, friendly, pop-like aura surrounding him that just made me so damn happy! He opened with "Sha Sha" and played most of the hits off the album. One of the most amazing songs you could ever see Ben do live is "Debbie Don't Worry Doll," a folk ballad with beautiful riffs and suiting harmonica off his "EP Phone Home" EP. For his encore, he played "Lizzy," my favorite song off Sha Sha, another folk ballad. He also covered "Ice Ice Baby," known to the Ben Kweller world as "BK Baby." Highlights of the show of course included "Debbie" and "Lizzy," but also included a new song, titling something along the lines of "Disaster," "In Other Words" and "Family Tree." I honestly feel that this was the best show I've seen Ben Kweller do musically, but nothing could compare to the magic of the first night of Schuba's in August. Plus, there was no "Kokomo," which is the best cover Ben could ever do. I still love Ben Kweller. But I love Ben a little less when he plays in front of 1200 people. What happened to 200? |