Air at the Theater at MSG

You know when you go to a show, (usually one of your favorite bands) and right before it starts you get that "yea-yuhh, this is going to be awesome" feeling? Well, that's what it was like tonight, right before Air went on...except they are not my favorite band. I am barely familiar with them. I bought Moon Safari and Premiers Symptomes b/c I happened upon them in the used section of Kim's the day after my friend recommended them to me. I listened to them a little at first, but didn't really get that into them. Then I moved to back to New York in June and listened to them a bit more. They were good, laidback tunes for summer...good for unpacking boxes to...painting your room, etc. on a hot summer day. But for some reason, after that they never really got stuck in the rotation.

The only reason I even thought to go to the show tonight was because multiple people had told me they were a great band to see live. And they were all right.

Before they went on the lights went all dark and purple. Then there was this kind of droney noise that kept on while the band came out, and then Nicolas & J.B. came out, started playing and finally broke it. After some intensive Air-listening over the past couple of days I recognized many of the songs upon hearing them, but can't tell you the names of a lot of them. What I did notice immediately though was how flawlessly the songs were performed. Everything was perfect...not in that annoying, very synthetic-sounding way either, where it's almost too perfect. When Air performed it was like all the good things about their albums...those little groovy parts that would stop me as I was unpacking my boxes or walking to work...they were more emphasized, but so were all the subtleties as well. Everything just sounded richer. It was excellent.

As much as I enjoyed the entire show, even a lot of the more mellow songs which new life was breathed into upon being performed live, I can't help but say...the more banging ones were my favorites...namely:

Remember
Kelly Watch the Stars
Sexy Boy

Kelly Watch the Stars was probably one of the first more upbeat songs that they played that I knew so that was exciting. It also made me want them to play "Remember" which has emerged as one of my favorites over the past few days, and low and behold, a few songs later they did. *edit* - switch those 2 songs around.

It was great...right when the drums kicked in toward the beginning Nicolas turned around to look at the drummer and when he turned back to the crowd he had this huge grin on his face which made me happy. I like when the bands/dj's I see seem like they are enjoying what they are doing.

I forgot to mention that they started playing at 9:40. At 10:40, they stopped. Of course they did an encore. They played a very mellow song that I didn't recognize...and then a song or two after is when they dropped Sexy Boy, which was just full out rocking. Nicolas was just wailing on the guitar. It was excellent. At this point the crowd was really into it.

Other songs they played with no regard to order:

People in the City
La Femme d'Argent
Talisman
Cherry Blossom Girl

I think they closed with a super extended, rocking, banging version of La Femme d'Argent...it could have warranted guitar smashing at the end it was so good. I should say though...I keep going back and forth on whether they closed with that song or Talisman...and also out of those two, I think whichever one they didn't close with, might have been the song they opened the show with...it was very confusing! haha. *edit* They opened with Radian which I discovered thanks to Music Snobbery's setlist.

Overall...it was yet another banging show I have been to this year, that I would never have gone to had it not been recommended so strongly. And this is why you should listen to your friends...and also why you should yell at me about going to shows. The end.