I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: May 21, 2018] Andrew W.K. 

When Andrew W.K. first came on the scene, I enjoyed what I thought of as his dopey party music.  It seemed a little one note, but it was sure fun.

Then I learned more and more about the guy and decided I really liked him, even if I didn’t get into any more of his music.

Then he put out a record of piano music (he is a long-trained pianist)  It was all instrumental and improvised and he did a Tiny Desk Concert piano improv (which was interesting if not a little disappointing).

Then some kind of strange legal things happened and he stopped making music (more or less) and did motivational speaking and went into TV.  He made the terrific show Destroy Build Destroy and my kids became fans of him (although not his music).

I thought he’d gone away but then he recently came back with his new album.  I heard on multiple occasions how amazing and inspirational his concerts were.  They were supposed to be full of joy and happiness.

I was disappointed by the opening band but was intrigued by the people around me who were talking about Andrew.  One guy had seen him 10 times and they were sharing favorite details of past shows.

Well, I was front and center when the show started, and I got some great pictures of Andrew as he sang about the Power or Partying and how Music is Worth Living For.  Andrew and the rest of his band gave 100% and within minutes he was soaking wet.

After about three or four songs I had to move because the pit had begun and I didn’t need to be a part of it.

So I moved off to the side, right in front of Amanda LePre.  She was a lot of fun to watch and I was far enough away from the pogoing slamming fans who knew every word.  There was ample crowd surfing, lots of singing along and an intense amount of good will.

His band was also a ton of fun.  I can’t find many of their names online. (I know Amanda’s name because she liked my picture of her on Instagram). I loved his bassist with his fascinating facial hair.  And his guitarist on the far end of the stage who had a really deep growl of a voice.  There was also a male guitarist in front of me.  He was a lot of fun–spinning his guitar around his neck and playing some wailing solos.

My favorite solo part came when Andrew announced that there would be a triple guitar solo and all three got to shine.

Obviously, Andrew is all about partying, but there were a couple of songs that weren’t explicitly about it. Like She is Beautiful and “You’re Not Alone” which is an impressive song about fighting internal demons.  I appreciated the few moments of calming down before it was time to party again.  Because no matter how important lyrics like

If you’re frightened
If you’re worried
You’re not alone
Hand in hand
We’ll take the step
Into the great unknown

can be to those who need to hear them, partying is also a major mood lifter.

So, having a room full of people singing We Want Fun is almost as inspirational.

At one point, he said I will now play a guitar shaped like a piece of pizza .  Which he did (not very well, it must be said)–the solo was pretty poor, but the guitar was cool.  He apparently has a taco shaped one as well, although we did not see that.

Even though he had a new album out, the majority of songs he played came from his debut album.  And that’s understandable.  What Andrew W.K. concert could go on without I Get Wet?

After the encore he made sure to introduce the partyingest band in the world  which included a drummer who was almost always smiling, the aforementioned guitarists and bassist and Andrew’s wife on keyboards (whom we almost never saw, it was so dark back there).

Andrew alternated between standing out front and singing and going over to his keyboard and dominating the songs with synths.  I was really impressed with how he could rock out so hard and so fast and still play so well–even his key slides and accents were always right on, even as he was headbanging away.

As the show neared the end, he told us it was time for the transmogrification of bad vibes into party vibes.  He was going to do a countdown to get us to the time when we were going to Party Hard.

He started the countdown at… 93!  It seemed kind of a joke at first.  But we counted down and down and what I learned was a countdown that big is like a ball rolling down hill, it gets bigger and bigger as you get near the end.  People didn’t bother counting at first, but the momentum gets everybody pumped.  By the time her got to the teens the suspense was awesome.

The show ended in frenzy of Andrew wailing his arms and generally being a sweaty mess.  Just like the rest of us.

While the show was not as life changing as I had been led to believe, it as certainly a lot of fun.

SET LIST

1. The Power of Partying
2. Music Is Worth Living For
3. Ever Again
4. Take It Off
5. Ready to Die
6. She Is Beautiful
7. Tear It Up
8. You Will Remember Tonight
9. Never Let Down
10. We Want Fun
11. Break the Curse
12. I Get Wet
13. You’re Not Alone
14. encore
15. Violent Life
16. It’s Time to Party
17. Pushing Drugs
18. Party Hard