Normally I'm not much for slower music. It's good in small doses, don't get me wrong. But I need something upbeat. I need a little rocking out from time to time. I need to get punched in the dick by music, at least once on an album. The scene that sums me up, that Teens loves to reference, was when we were watching 500 Days of Summer a few months back, and after an hour of acoustic love songs jamming up the soundtrack, I unintentionally announced my inner monologue by loudly exclaiming "Can we just hear one song with some fucking drums in it?!?!"
But for some reason, despite being pretty mild comparative to the rest of my music, I really love The Lumineers. They have some upbeat songs, but plenty of slow ones that are still really good. We went and saw them perform on Monday night, and they were even better live. Combining the music, crowd, and atmosphere, it was one of the most fun shows I've ever been to. I never thought that being in the third row for Snoop Dogg (in 2001, when he was still cool) for $20 would ever be topped, value-wise, but seeing this band for $15 came damn close. The song 'Big Parade' was one of the 5 best songs I've ever heard live.
(Rest of the top 5 off the top of my head: 'Gin & Juice' by Snoop Dogg; 'Tom Sawyer' by Rush; 'Ain't Nothin' Wrong With That' by Robert Randolph & the Family Band; 'Whole Lotta Rosie' by AC/DC. Obviously we're factoring in the atmosphere and general level of fun in those rankings. 'Whole Lotta Rosie' isn't even in my top 15 favorite AC/DC songs, but at that concert, I saw more real-life boobies during that four minutes than I had in 18 years on Earth up to that point, so there you go.)
So from the man who brought you a Will.I.Am song from Sesame Street; MC Hammer songs 20 years after they came out; and a soccer hooligan song that makes me want to clink a mug of beer with my best mates and I can't get anybody on board with PLEASE SOMEBODY GET ON THIS SONG'S BANDWAGON WITH ME SERIOUSLY THERE IS SO MUCH ROOM.....I now officially recommend The Lumineers. Get into them. Go see them if they're in your neck of the woods; you won't regret it. I'll get you started:
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Semi-unrelated side note about Monday night: I was intending to put down a bet on the Packers that evening, and long story short, things were a little hectic after work trying to get to the concert, and I never got my bet in. We got home from the show just in time to turn on the TV about two seconds after the call at the end of the game had been made, and all hell was breaking loose. And it turned out to be a huge blessing that I didn't get that bet in. Can you imagine losing a bet that way? I would have been rioting (repeat: RIOTING) in my living room had I lost a bet off of that refereeing. Holy hell. No joke, I probably would've quit gambling for the rest of the NFL season (or at least would've skipped the Thursday night game this week before caving). Anyway, best non-bet of my life.
