OK GO, Longwave in Northampton

Wednesday, March 11, 2009:

We re-discovered the town of Northampton, MA with dinner and drinks at the Toasted Owl and a concert at Pearl Street. What a great little town, buzzing with culture.

Oppenheimer and Longwave are the opening bands. We strolled in near the end of Oppenheimer's set, and Longwave took to the stage not too long afterwards.



I really enjoyed Longwave's set, and afterwards, the lead singer, Steve, walked by us, and he pointed at me saying, "Nice shirt." I was wearing my very worn-in Albert Hammond, Jr. shirt. After approaching him to ask if his merch table would still be out after the OK GO set (since I didn't have any cash on me), I soon found out that he actually toured with AHJ as one of the guitarists - which is why he said nice shirt. This was after I said something like, "Oh yeah, I saw them open for Bloc Party in Boston back in'07..." blah blah blah as if he was just a fan of AHJ's music. I was certainly taken aback and felt a bit silly. And what a coincidence, Longwave is opening for Bloc Party in Boston next week. I might just have to go see them again...

Also met Bobby, their lighting and merch guy.

And now, OK GO



Damian Kulash - the lead singer said that he has a cameo in the upcoming Ang Lee film Taking Woodstock and tried showing us a photo of his look in the movie through his iPhone, but their video camera for the big screen behind them wasn't working...yet. See below for enlarged shot


This was quite a delight.


("What to Do" - video from Williamsburg concert on March 8th, posted by ReSastra)





They were big fans of using their confetti cannon, showering the crowd during 4 different songs. It was a fun show overall, but they played a bunch of new material that hasn't been released yet, so even though the new songs have potential, I think the crowd felt a bit disconnected as there was a lack of enthusiasm during the new stuff.

Setlist:
New Song (Shoot the Moon)
Get Over It
A Million Ways
New Song (White Knuckles)
New Song (I Want You Here)
Oh Lately It’s So Quiet
New Song
Don’t Ask Me
Here It Goes Again
What To Do (hand bells)
New Song (Damien solo)
It’s A Disaster
New Song (When The Morning Comes)
Do What You Want

Encore:
New Song (I Couldn’t Breathe)
A Good Idea At The Time
Invisible