Originally uploaded by katdlr.

I went to a concert at Central Park last night to see Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, with opening bands Takka Takka and Architecture in Helsinki. The show was dynamic, the bands all sounded amazing, and best of all, I got to go backstage! I got to go to this show courtesy of my friend Julie whose boyfriend is the drummer for Takka Takka. These three bands are on tour together for the next few months.

Takka Takka has only played nine shows (in their current line-up) but you wouldn’t even know it since they sounded obscenely tight and crisp. In my opinion, their sound is reminiscent of early R.E.M. with dashes of They Might Be Giants and The Proclaimers with some indie-folk influences thrown in. Very different and unexpected. And their drummer Conrad rocks!

Takka Takka live!

Architecture in Helsinki is an (8-member) Australian band whose sound is very eclectic and quirky. They remind me of The B-52’s for some reason, (as well as The Rapture), with a lot of electro and folk-pop thrown in. They had a lot of energy and you can tell they had a great time onstage –almost as if they were throwing a party. They were a lot of fun!

CYHSY is a well-known band but I haven't really listened to them. I’ve only heard their songs briefly, but remember liking their melodies. These guys sound amazing live –their songs really come alive onstage (and listening to their album on CD does not do them justice). Their music is very upbeat, happy, and makes you clap your hands (really). How apropos, no?

I had a very fun time backstage taking photos of everyone. But the problem with being backstage is that you get the view of a lot of people’s backs!

A view of the stage	The guys of CYHSY take the stage

A view of the show from back stage:

Ah, the crowd!

Chilling after the show:

I didn’t really schmooze with anyone since I didn’t want to be a poser and act like I knew all about the bands (which I didn’t). However, I did go around and told band members that they played a great set. I was more of a fly-on-the-wall taking candid pics, but then this jerk made a comment about me being a “shutterbug” so I stopped taking pics after that.

In any case, it was great to see the inner workings of a big concert. It made me all wistful and pretend that one day, I could be up there complete with roadies and everything! I also got to meet some really cool people (like the members of Takka Takka, a singer from Architecture, and the drummer from CYHSY).

The last time I scored backstage passes was at a Metallica/Guns-n-Roses (combo) concert when I was in high school. But we only had limited access and didn’t actually see much action (we just had access to the catered food and not Lars Ulrich). So this was quite cool indeed.

Special shout-out to Julie and Conrad for making it all happen! Thank you!

Labels: music