Justice, DJ Mehdi & Busy P, and Chromeo at the Wamu Theater at MSG 3/11/08

After some initial feelings of ehhh leading up to this show due mainly to the cost of the ticket and some horrible Justice experiences at Terminal 5, by Tuesday I was ready to go. This was mainly due to listening to the Justice album straight through (something I always used to do leading up to concerts, but haven't done in a really long time). That album plays really well. I always used to listen to the whole thing when I first got it. Doing that a few times over the last couple of days got me really excited for the show.

By the time I got my ticket and got in to the Wamu Theater it was already close to 8:30. The seated section had a decent amount of people, but definitely a lot of empties at that point. The floor was hardly full at all - just a relatively small bunch of people (maybe 70 or so?) all dancing like crazy right in the front. I walked around the bunch shocked at how empty the floor was. Seriously, it was less than a third full at that point. I positioned myself over towards the left/center and proceeded to get down for the remaining 10 minutes of Busy P and DJ Mehdi's set. It was awesome. I forgot how much DJ Mehdi gets into his sets. He was grinning and dancing, having a great time. Glad to see that, but so annoyed at myself for running late (but not as annoyed as I'd be if Busy P weren't deejaying here on Friday).

While they were setting up Chromeo's stuff I was taking everything in. I noticed that there were tons of young people there - high school kids everywhere. So weird, but they were totally into it. When Chromeo went on (at 8:40) they went crazy, were singing along, and yelling song requests (specifically Bonafied Lovin). They seemed legitimately into it. Good for them. They have way better taste in music than I did when I was in high school. Haha. I also realized there are several awesome pros of a high school vs. hipster crowd:

1. High schoolers appear to bathe regularly and wear deodorant.
2. They couldn't drink so they weren't wasted and flailing and dancing into people.
3. The majority of the guys hadn't had their growth spurts yet so I had absolutely no trouble seeing the stage entire time.

Honestly, all kidding aside, all of those things are absolutely true and contributed to this being a better experience than the Terminal 5 shows.

So back to Chromeo...they were very good! They played all their usual suspects (not in this order, and I am probably missing 1 or 2 songs):

Bonafied Lovin
Tenderoni
Me & My Man
I Am Somebody
Needy Girl
Momma's Boy
Outta Sight

At 9:40 Justice went on. The curtain revealed the cross and Marshall stacks set-up and the madness began with Genesis and never let up. I can't tell you the order, but they played basically the entire album (though I don't think they did Valentine!) along with some extra awesomeness thrown in - their Franz Ferdinand remix, the We Are Your Friends shout along (which ruled!), NY Lipps (which nobody seemed to know!) by Soulwax.

The crowd had really good energy the whole time. Even when the floor got more full (I don't know if it ever actually filled all the way up, couldn't tell when I looked back) there was still enough space to dance. Everyone was close b/c they wanted to be near the stage, but there wasn't the sardines in a can effect that happened at Terminal 5. You had enough personal space to comfortably get down. I wound up near a small herd of high school kids that were not annoying at all. There was only one guy in front of me and I could see past him with no trouble at all. I could see Xavier and Gaspard the whole time which I think was a critical element in having a better time at this show vs. Terminal 5 (where I was waaaay back and could only see the cross and Marshall stacks). You could see Justice getting into it, which made you get more into it. Serious fun. I think Justice had a good time too. Xavier ran out towards the end to take video of the crowd. Gaspard was pumping his fists a bunch. I like to see deejays having a good time.

They also were super appreciative of the crowd. They came out from the behind their gear towards the end a bunch to clap for the crowd and wave. Xavier got down on his fricken knees at the end to thank the crowd. Super gracious dudes.

So anyway...a dope night. Much better than Terminal 5. Wamu Theater is great. The show was worth the 70 bucks. I'll take high schoolers over hipsters any day.

Oh, and also, the sound: it was RIDICULOUSLY LOUD. I had earplugs and it was still loud and I could feel it vibrating through my body.

Obligatory cellphone camera pics!: