[phlipcam video daily double] Lights and Glasser live @ the Middle East
Here are a few things I learned last night at the Middle East, the Central Square site of two pretty fan-fucking-tastic electronic music shows: Canadian synthpop pixie Lights (in the downstairs) and Los Angeles tribal folk-pop project Glasser (on the up and up).
- If you want to feel old, hit up a Lights show. I didn’t even reach the sectioned-off booze area before I got Dirty Old Man itchy, expecting Chris Hansen to serve me a screwdriver at the bar and tell me where to sit. Had I brought my 13-year-old girlfriend I might have felt more comfortable, but she was busy at home painting pink stars on her face and snorting glitter in anticipation for Throwed’s Lady Gaga theme night, which would take over the club later on. And because of Throwed, it was an early show for Lights, so I entirely missed the opening band, Pedobear in Heaven.
- FACT: I don’t care if Lights is the female Owl City and her shows make me feel sketchier than a grandpa without pants, I genuinely enjoy her music. She also cleans up real nice and I don’t feel guilty about "stalking" her along 6th street in Austin during SXSW.
- Moving upstairs where the adults were, I quickly realized that Glasser’s Cameron Mesirow is A-list legit. Now performing with a full band rather than singing over GarageBand beats, Glasser’s sound falls somewhere between Bat For Lashes and Bjork (whatever, music journalist here we go), and Mesirow’s voice is straight-up captivating. Honestly, I hadn’t heard Glasser before last night -- I rolled up to see current Phoenix MP3-of-the-Weekers Avoxblue, which opened the show in grand, ethereal pop fashion, and had a mild curiosity about Miami/NYC dudes Violens -- but have now been playing Ring on a loop all day and expect to see this joint plastered all over hipster Best of 2010 lists next month. Are people over Florence & the Machine yet? Because this is better.
- The cocktails at the Middle East are stronger than the club gets credit for, and Wednesday certainly can’t pretend to be Saturday after Tuesday suddenly becomes the new Friday.