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This was the first time I've seen VNV Nation live (and the first live rock show I'd been to in several years, somehow). I was thinking "concert" when I bought this ticket, though Irving Plaza is a "no seating" venue, so you either stand on the dance floor, or line the balcony and stand more quietly. I was down on the dance floor, but it was crowded enough that I found myself periodically jumping up and down, then landing a few inches off of where I'd meant and either crowding into someone or getting my feet tangled.
I had fun, but less than I'd expected: a lot of what I like about VNV Nation is the lyrics, which in the live show were often covered by the instruments. (I have the feeling that much of the crowd could have sung along to the entire thing, not just the songs the band asked us to, so it mattered less to them.) If I do this again—and I may, the next time they tour—I'll time things to arrive during the opening act, not well before, to save my energy for dancing to VNV Nation. I also think I would have enjoyed myself more if I'd pre-ordered the album the tour is supporting, and had it by mail in time to listen before the show; I picked up a copy last night, along with one of the tour t-shirts (they also had tank tops, hoodies, etc.)
The openers, And One, were okay to dance to, but didn't grab me beyond that. They began their set by announcing "From now on, this is German territory", and the crowd seemed cheerful about that because it meant they were about to sing; I was left thinking "we won the peace, that time" [for large values of "we," obviously, but some of the names that came to mind were Truman, Marshall, de Gaulle, and Willy Brandt]. It also reminded me that I may have been the oldest person on the dance floor (no way to be sure, in either direction). The random people near me in the crowd were friendly, including a couple of conversations that basically were someone apologizing for bumping me while dancing, and me saying things like "it happens, I'll try not to bump you."
I got home late, by my current standards (about 1:30); maybe not by those of the people I overheard after the show discussing whether they were going clubbing.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cattitude was happily asleep, of course. [He also likes VNV Nation, but wasn't up for standing that long in a crowd, so I only bought one ticket.]
I had fun, but less than I'd expected: a lot of what I like about VNV Nation is the lyrics, which in the live show were often covered by the instruments. (I have the feeling that much of the crowd could have sung along to the entire thing, not just the songs the band asked us to, so it mattered less to them.) If I do this again—and I may, the next time they tour—I'll time things to arrive during the opening act, not well before, to save my energy for dancing to VNV Nation. I also think I would have enjoyed myself more if I'd pre-ordered the album the tour is supporting, and had it by mail in time to listen before the show; I picked up a copy last night, along with one of the tour t-shirts (they also had tank tops, hoodies, etc.)
The openers, And One, were okay to dance to, but didn't grab me beyond that. They began their set by announcing "From now on, this is German territory", and the crowd seemed cheerful about that because it meant they were about to sing; I was left thinking "we won the peace, that time" [for large values of "we," obviously, but some of the names that came to mind were Truman, Marshall, de Gaulle, and Willy Brandt]. It also reminded me that I may have been the oldest person on the dance floor (no way to be sure, in either direction). The random people near me in the crowd were friendly, including a couple of conversations that basically were someone apologizing for bumping me while dancing, and me saying things like "it happens, I'll try not to bump you."
I got home late, by my current standards (about 1:30); maybe not by those of the people I overheard after the show discussing whether they were going clubbing.
cattitude was happily asleep, of course. [He also likes VNV Nation, but wasn't up for standing that long in a crowd, so I only bought one ticket.]Tags: