PRAISE AND MOURNING
Praise
Two times I've gone to see the band "The Nude Party". The first time was successful.
The Nude Party is a rock band from Boone, NC. Their music has a lot of classic rock instrumental stylings with some lyrics that go out to the edge. They do seem to make some fairly frequent trips up North to let us hear their great sounds, and I was successful in seeing them on my first attempt. I saw them do a great show last summer, back on August 31. They were the headliner at a very late middle-of-the-night show at Williamsburg's Baby's All Right. The show was high energy, and the venue was just the right match. It was a good evening; I felt I had to go see them again.
Here is a sample of their music. This is "Poor Boy Blues" from their January 2016 album, "Hot Tub EP":
The Nude Party has more shows coming up soon, on June 1 at Metro Gallery in Baltimore, and July 5 at Rough Trade in Brooklyn. In the meantime, here is the click to the band's Facebook page: The Nude Party on Facebook (CLICK HERE).
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6/27/20 UPDATE :::: OOPS! The band has removed that song from their site. Just another element to show that everything related to that night was a bust!
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Mourning
Yes, I did go to see The Nude Party twice. August 31 was a great show, and I wanted to see them again. So I had my hopes up when I saw they were coming back up North a few weeks ago. They would be doing a show at the new "Elsewhere" venue in Bushwick on Friday, April 6. I did manage to go there after work. When I read that Elsewhere was a creation by the same people who ran Williamsburg's Glasslands, one of my favorite venues, my hopes were raised even higher. I was sad to see Glasslands close. I loved the place because of its high ceilings and spacious layout. Even if a crowd came out, there was still room to roam around and see the band from many different vantage points. The ceiling was so high, it even allowed for a small balcony around part of the room. A few notable acts that I had seen at Glasslands were "Slothrust", "Wild Yaks", "The Belle Game", "Boyhood", and "Graveyard Lovers". Great nights!
So I can't say how disappointed I was when I arrived at "Zone One" at Elsewhere. The attributes that I liked about Glasslands were missing here. The room was small with what seemed like a ceiling way too low. It was cramped right from the beginning. I've gone to house shows where it's been crowded, but I wasn't expecting that here. Different expectations going to a venue as compared to going to a show in someone's house basement. And different expectations going to a place created by people who previously had one of the best venues.
They also seemed to bring forward the only attribute of Glasslands that I didn't like: no draft beers, although can't be sure. After I saw how tight and cramped the place was I only gave the bar a quick look but didn't buy anything; the vibes I was starting to get was that I wouldn't be there too long.
This was starting to get me in a bad mood. I was also disappointed (my fault) because I had not checked out the other bands in the lineup as thoroughly as I usually do. Turned out I wasn't into the other bands as much as I had thought, and I wasn't liking the room itself and I wasn't in the mood for bottled beer. I couldn't visualize hanging out there for another couple hours before the The Nude Party even started. Too many reasons not to stay; I decided to cut my losses and leave. Never did hear The Nude Party the second time. That will have to be in the future.
I've been writing about my music experiences for several years, with very few negative writeups. I guess these last few paragraphs could be considered a mini-rant, mourning the loss of the great Glasslands and pissed that the new invention is not an adequate replacement.
