Based on a co-workers' recommendation (insert shout out to Laurie Ortiz), I verbally committed to check out their concert last Friday at a hybrid concert venue/bowling alley: Brooklyn Bowl. As we all know, a verbal commitment to a $5 show in a different part of town is worth...well...about five bucks. However, after spinning a few tracks the days leading up to the show (and a planned trip to the Brooklyn Brewery beforehand), I was truly excited to check out Wakey!Wakey! on their home turf. In the end, they delivered a 4-star show and I couldn't be more thrilled with my first concert experience in New York City/first trip to Brooklyn.
The truly ironic thing is that Modest Mouse was playing an outdoor concert just down the road from the Brooklyn Bowl on the East River front. I have wanted to see Modest Mouse for about 2 years and an outdoor concert with the Manhattan skyline as the back drop would have been a must-buy ticket for me. In fact, some of the people we met at the Brooklyn Brewery were heading in that direction. Insert irony #2: The first I heard of the Modest Mouse concert was about an hour before it was scheduled to start. Had I heard about it a month before, I would have been a ticket holder. Instead, Modest Mouse was sold out and my $5 verbal commitment was taking me to the Brooklyn Bowl. I was tickled with jealousy toward the guys heading to the river front.
God smiled upon me that evening friends...
After only 4 songs, the Modest Mouse concert was canceled due to significant lightning activity and an incoming thunderstorm. Cut to view of me at that point: Standing in a nifty bar...dry, comfortable, waiting through a below-average opening band, holding a fresh Bengali Tiger IPA. Not too shabby at all.
You could say God smiled upon Wakey!Wakey! that night as well. In fact, lead man Mike Grubbs was eloquent enough to recognize that fact: He literally thanked God and welcomed dozens of Modest Mouse fans (mostly identified by the wearing of a backpack) that had rolled into the venue looking for some drinks and live music. They received exactly what they were looking for (unless they thought $6 for a craft tap beer was too pricey...it most certainly is not).
Wakey!Wakey! delivered a delicious set and even treated the crowd to what they called an "unplanned" encore (I know what you are thinking, but I am 70% sure it was unplanned). After the show, I had the chance to chat with Mike and his new drummer (with the band 2 weeks, could have fooled me). It was all over their faces...they just had a really good time. It is an absolute pleasure to see a newer band truly enjoy a live show, displaying an aura of excitement after just killing a set.
Since that night, I have been rocking their debut disc Almost everything I wish I'd said the last time I saw you... And rocking it at an unhealthy frequency. Feel free to join me by streaming it online: Wakey!Wakey! Site
This is the section of the post where I could start breaking down the elements of the songs and giving reviews on specific pieces/moments of the album. I won't subject you to any over-explained details, leaving you only with that chorus that I woke up with in my head this morning:
"I don't wanna let you down, I don't wanna let you down...just when fire could take this town."
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