Matt and Kim are awesome, 1/3 of Ninjasonik is in jail, and I hurt my back

Posted by tmushett , Jan, 2009 @ 2:45 pm

Thanks to the fact that my sister doesn’t share her brother’s lazy procrastinating tendencies and procured a pair of tickets to the sold out Matt and Kim record release show about a month ago, last night I found myself in the Music Hall of Williamsburg at the hottest show in Crooklyn. M&K’s Grand, released on Tuesday, is a synthy, punky energy joy-fest that spews out one fond youth anthem after another (I’m especially fond of “Cutdown” and “Lessons Learned“). And their live shows are known to be apeshit insane.

Our dear friends in Ninjasonik opened, but were one ninja short. Between obscene rhymes and swigs of beer, Reverend McFly broke the news that Telli “Fuck Up Your Sneakers” Gramz had been arrested for something or another and was spending the evening in jail (I’m following up to see if we can get some details on what this was all about). Not sure if he’s still in custody, but either way I found this to be a good opportunity to fuck around with Obamicon.Me. Hence:

The thoughts and prayers of Musicology are with you, Telli, wherever you may be.

Even sans Telli, Ninjasonik put on their usual spastic-high-on-Sparks-and-who-knows-what-else show, and were followed by cool sets from (I’m not fucking with you) a “radical marching band” called the Rude Mechanical Orchestra and Spank Rock.

For their set, M&K pointed a camera at the crowd and projected the video onto the screen behind them. It was a nice nod to their beloved Brooklyn scene (aw shucks, guys…) and it also made it look like they were backed by a floating black-and-white zombie army. Note the spooky scenster demons hovering behind Kim in the picture I stole from Flickr:

The set was great, happy, raucous etc. Everything you’d expect from the cutest couple in Brooklyn (Matt even brought his adorable gray-haired parents!). But it was not without its share of tragedy. Your humble blogger, swept up in the sweaty tidal wave of rock and roll, managed to crowd surf his way onstage. Other kids had done the same thing, and stage dove back into the crowd without incident.

I was not so lucky.

After waddling up to the edge and gesturing to the first few rows of bodies that I was coming, I lept, trusting that my scene, my neighbors, would be there for me. My faith in Brooklyn died that night. I am not a fat man, readers, but nonetheless the crowd split in two like the Red Sea before Moses and I landed on my back. At the end of the song, Matt noted my personal tragedy, telling the audience that if they don’t like crowd surfers, they can give them wedgies, “But when someone stage dives you’re supposed to catch them.” Thanks for the thought, Matt.

But I’m still aching. That cane I was hobbling on last week is back in use today, friends, and I’m starting to think that I might be too old for this shit.

Tags: Concerts, Crooklyn Sounds, Injuries, Matt and Kim, Ninjasonik, Rude Mechanical Orchestra, Spank Rock