Mogwai and the Boas: Live in Cleveland, 10.04.03
Published October 06, 2003
Cleveland is a scary place. Especially at night. Especially when you're not from the area. Here is my terrifying tale of cold-hearted fear and redemption.
For some odd reason Cleveland shows start mega-late. Everywhere else venues have the sense to start at nice times like 7pm or so. Not so in Cleveland. There venues start shows around 9pm, thus guaranteeing you that you can't escape till after midnight. Another weird Cleveland quirk is that the bar charges an extra $2 if you're underage (granted, that's probably more widespread than Cleveland; however, I still gripe about it since here in central PA they don't).
I went with two friends, whom for the purpose of this review I shall call Bob and Sarah. We arrive at the venue, Beachland Ballroom, about 45 minutes before the show was scheduled to start. Of course, by the time the band started we had been waiting an hour or so. We stood in the middle of the room and talked awhile. Pretty soon, the guy standing next to us introduced himself and we started chatting. I'll call him James.
Around quarter after nine the opening band, the Boas, got on stage. They are one of those bands who are chock full of talent, but have not made any kind of name for themself in indie circles or mainstream circles alike. I saw them last year open for Wilco at Messiah College and was quite impressed. I think I was the only person there, other than Bob, who had heard of them before.
They played a six-song set. Four of the songs were new as best as I can tell, while they played two songs off their only cd, titled "Mansion". The old material is slower, quirky indie rock with some country influence. The new stuff is more rocking and definitely tighter. I am looking forward to a release of it.
An interesting note about the Boas: back when their cd was printed up the band name was "Mansion", and as a result the cd was self-titled. However, before it got released they changed the band name to Boas. As a result the cd had to be shipped with a sticker on the cover that had the band name, however, nowhere else on the cd does the name "Boas" appear. So if you see a cd called "Mansion" at a used cd store, it may just be the Boas. Check it out.
After the Boas' set there was a forty-five minute set change. We talked with James a while longer. Out of the blue he asked if we knew of any good gay bars in the area. Of course, none of us are from Cleveland so we had no clue.
The place was packed out. It was a sell-out crowd. I am not a smoker, however, I don't care if other people do. Unfortunately 95% of the people in the room were smoking all the time. There was a grey haze in the entire room. The air was mostly smoke.
- Mogwai and the Boas: Live in Cleveland, 10.04.03
- Published: October 06, 2003
- Type:
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Indie Rock
- Writer: The Theory
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I honestly didn't know it was in cleveland. I knew it was in Ohio somewhere, but I met my friend in Pittsburg and she drove from there. haha.
And yeah, I was only in the area for a few hours for the show. Would have been fun to stay a bit longer, but due to the insanely long drive time that could not be arranged. haha.
heh, I just read that story on "Bob"'s xanga page.
Nice, I would love to see Mogwai live.
I was basically just giving you a hard time - we could have said hi on the phone or something. We're about 35 miles from where the concerts are, so it isn't just around the corner, and some of us are pregnant and stuff - we haven't been going out a lot lately.
Also, whenever someone comes running at my car waving their arms at me and telling me to stop - I run them over.
...You're pregnant, eric!?
You learn something new every day...
a biological anomaly
God bless "biological anomalies"
Beam- Don't be an idiot. I said he was black. I did not say he was scary because he was black. I said he was scary because we're fuckin in the middle of Cleveland, on some dirty side road and he, a stranger, jumps out at us.
If that doesn't scare you, white, black, or purple, then you're a goddamn fool.
I do not believe you, and I don't think Beam is the goddamn fool. If his being "black," as you described him, is meaningless in terms of his alleged scariness, what in hell made his skin color worthy of mention if you don't care whether a fellow human is white, black, or purple? No, I don't believe you one bit.
Ok, if mentioning that a black man held up a a car of teens makes me a racist, then I am a racist.
I am not going to put myself on trial on a website.
And if I should not have mentioned it, I am sorry. However, i will not appologize for the experience being terrifying.
Oh, you shouldn't. I, for one, do believe that you were terrified.
No need to apologize. If the threat of violence is a measure of scariness, then his being black is very meaningful. Statistically like 7 or 8 times as meaningful.
If he forced your car to a halt, as you seem to imply, you should never roll down your window. Unless he was visibly bleeding or something like that, You should have sped off at the first opportunity.
The thing I would not worry about is someone calling me "wimp", or whatever other word came to mind, from the safety of their internet connection.
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First, I can't believe you came to Cleveland and didn't tell us you were coming!
The Beachland isn't in that bad an area - just look mean and don't make eye contact - no, I'm kidding, it really isn't bad. But great story!
I can't stand smoke anymore myself - I am likely to go out a lot more when smoking is stopped in public places like in California.