Now that the semester is finally over, I would like to share my amazing experience at the Ratatat concert. Mind you, I heard about Ratatat a few years ago but I never got around to playing them until sometime this academic year when a few of my friends would play the songs and I would find out, repeatedly, that it was just another song by Ratatat. After getting their discography and enjoying my winter break with calming electronic music, I was quite excited to see that Ratatat were coming to town!
Needless to say, it was like one obscure crazy dance party. It all started with Black Pus, Brian Chippendale’s one-man project that had amazing bass but was still a bit odd for my taste. While I admire the skill, I couldn’t help but think that this was on the fine line between noise and music, and at times it would feel like I was just enjoying noise. Still, the skills do matter, since it turns out Brian did drums on Bjork’s Volta album! How cool is that?! I highly recommend checking out something by Chippendale at some point.
After that came Tussle. Unlike Black Pus, this was a four-piece band, with electronics and bass, so no wonder they had the cutest mellow sound ever! I think I like to view Ratatat more like Tussle than I do as Black Pus, but then again, Black Pus and Ratatat both can have mad beats. Either way, all the acts seem to work together.
Finally, Ratatat came on stage. While I realize I paid money to basically see visuals and take part in a massive dance party, I was glad I did because now I know that if I ever have a get together, I can totally play Ratatat to liven, and even mellow out, the mood. It was sort of cool to see Evan Mast of Ratatat (I was on the side where he played the most) sometimes smile and notice the energy. They did not play One, which is probably my favorite song, but the excitement for Seventeen Years, their first single, sort of made up for it. Some of the other songs included Lex, Loud Pipes, Mumtaz Khan, and Bird Priest. Wildcat, another favorite of mine, was also performed and that was also quite awesome! I do think they could have talked a bit more but overall, I think it was definitely worth it.
Sounds like a really fun show. One of my friends keeps telling me about Ratatat, I don’t know them all that well, but I can tell I’d enjoy them. I like Track One, even though the video looks like I could have made it, maybe that’s the idea… Congrats on being done for the summer, any other shows on the horizon?
Isn’t school out? Shouldn’t you be blogging like an unemployed person? I meant that figuratively.
Reasons for not blogging that much: my work study ended when my classes ended, so it has been hard checking out concerts now. I saw The Fixx and Ska Face (local band) yesterday but I am so unfamiliar with either band that it was sort of pointless to try to write about them. Also, lack of new music, other than when I rarely manage to check out blogs, such as yours.
As for Ratatat – Track One, I don’t think that is an official video, haha, so I am sure you could have made a better video :p I recommend 9 Beats if you want to check out just one album by them, since that is my favorite Ratatat album.
I saw Ratatat recently – one of the worst concerts I’ve ever been to. I could have been just as entertained playing the tracks on winamp with a good visualization. All the music live sounded just the way it did from the studio. Oh and it was short as hell. And the encore was garbage.
I can completely see how that would be horrible in a concert but then again, I usually go to concerts for the overall feel. There are some people who have beyond-amazing concert appeal but that only makes me like the concert even more, rather than being the default standard.