Live Review : New York (USA), February 18th, 2008

The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, New York - 1 000 ppl

Before the show

I was in NY with a US fan from Michigan. On that first concert day, we checked the venue around 10 am to see where it was and how long the queue was. About 30 people at the time, already. It was President's Day so schoolgirls had the day off and took advantage of it.

We came back after 4 pm to stand in line, chatting with two of the few guys around (a father and son both fans, who had come from Boston for the show). We avoided television crews looking for sensationalism. I was not going to "brag" I had flown from Paris to see those gigs : I was half wary of being lynched by US fans for 'stealing' tickets from them when we have so many TH concerts in France, and half wary of... uh, passing for a loony. I do know that it is excessive to fly that much for a band. Especially since I already have tickets for 3 of their upcoming shows in France.

But it wasn't just for the band. More that I'd never been in NY and I tend not to travel unless I have a definite deadline or occasion like that. Also I knew the set list / concerts would be different from the upcoming tour. And I've never seen the band in a venue as "small" as 1 000 people. Over here the smallest they play now is 8 000 peeps. I like smaller venues better.
Many little reasons are just as good as a big one.

We saw the band's appointed "venue security head" passing by a few times. He may have reorganized the line, as it tightened a bit and we gained a few meters. So we were protected under the schaffoldings when rain started falling, thankfully.

Around 6:30 pm, people did start to move, but only entered the venue slowly, in small groups, to avoid panic and trampede. (this may sound overly dramatic and paranoid, but if you have witnessed one TH concert, in ANY town or country, you will know that their security knows their business and is right to do that... For some reason, TH fans are very, very enthusiastic. Often hysterical. It's a mystery why. I mean, I get the enthusiasm, but with TH it often turns into sheer craziness)

As there were already 10-15 rows of people packed in front of the stage when we finally got in, and since we planned to queue early on the next day, I figured we'd have a better (and different) view from the balcony, that was still not filled. So we went there. Which also gave us a sight of the VIP area nearby (journalists and co), and of David Jost going up and down taking pictures of the venue and the crowd, apparently as excited as the fans themselves (?... go figure. It was oddly endearing though).

The show

Set list was the same as in Canada or in L.A., I think. Mostly in English with only Totgeliebt and Durch Den Monsun in German. The crowd sang along just as much on them as on the English songs, it seemed to me. The girls behind me were singing in German even when on the English versions, which was... disturbing. But I think they, too, were foreigners who had come to NY just for the occasion.

There were quite a few of us. I overheard parents speaking in French the next day, and at the airport on my way back, saw a French teen girl with her grandmother speaking of the concerts. Plus overheard several people obviously not American.

I very much appreciated to hear Black live - Schwarz is one of my favorite TH songs, and since it wasn't on the Zimmer 483 set list, hearing Black is the next best thing to it... Hearing it had been played at the Canada shows was one of the reasons that made me decide on a whim to jump on a plane for the NY concerts.

I still tend to like the German versions better, because they have an added edge to it due to the different sonorities. But I'm getting used to the English.

Before going to the show, I was half expecting (hoping) that since TH is entering the US market as a grown-up band, give or take, rather than a teen sensation, they'd get a slightly older / less hysterical fanbase there. I was wrong. The core fanbase was... the same as in Europe. Young, female, with "I <3 TH" drawn with mascara on their faces, and dressed to catch the eye of the guys on stage. Uh uh. Thankfully there were also other fans, but the screaming hyper-excited ones are the ones that are always shown. And heard. They often managed to cover the music, even though the sound system was really loud - nearly too much, crunching the music. It wasn't as loud in the pit the next day, oddly.

The gig was good though. So far I haven't seen an actually bad TH gig - granted I've only seen 4 now live, plus 4 on DVD / video. Some were better than others, and this one wasn't the best. But compared to some other bands I've seen, their average is rather good.

Bill's English was better than I expected, too ;)
Unlike his French, it sounds like he knows what he says, and he could even change his speech a little from one day to the next.

And the "OMG I can't believe this is happening!" bonus...

Since we both were in NY for the first time, my roommate and I decided to do some sight-seeing on that day before the show. Good for us, as after 3 hours of walking around, we entered the nearest Starbucks Coffee to get a drink and rest our legs... and barely managed to keep a straight face as we recognized the gangsta-rapper-styled guy in dreadlocks looking at us as we passed by his table.

Hey. That sort of thing doesn't happen in Europe (no, we didn't disturb him, we pretended not to know him. By now I wish we had least said "goodbye for the show" when he left).
... Oh crap, and now I'm in mother-hen / protective mode for him TOO. Like I / they needed that.

Videos

Break Away
Black
Totgeliebt
Don't Jump
Rescue Me
By Your Side
Durch Den Monsun