It’s my first, and apparently last, Pop Roxx. Pop Roxx was a 3 years running monthly party playing a mix of ‘electro-rock-indie-new wave-goth-mod-bastard pop’ music, with buzz bands playing a set somewhere in there. Upon walking in to an empty, cavernous club at 10p, it is apparent why this party might be over. Dead clubs are sad, but it does pick up throughout the night, though never to the level of Bootie or other shows. Pop Rocks candy litters the bars and table tops. Project X is inexplicably playing on the screen in the background…that’s a little sad and serious for visual fodder, dontcha think?
Hanging out in the lounge, people watching reveals that this crowd may not be immigrant’s target market. There are glow stick dancers, cyberpunks, goths, pop princesses- but very few rock ‘n’ rollers milling around. But, this show is about bringing in a new audience.
immigrant has recently released 2 news songs on their myspace page, and this show is a break from writing to test out their new material so far. They start off their set with ‘Direct Sunlight’, where it appears that Mr. Mustachio isn’t happy with his monitor, and I don’t think he ever gets it properly corrected. The next song was new- ‘Moments After Takeoff’- I liked it recorded but it felt a bit low energy live, probably because they were concentrating on making it work. Another new song debuted- not one on myspace and you can see my youtube of it below. This was followed by one of my faves, ‘Idiot Smile’, but then one of my least faves, ‘V.I.P’. Between songs, you can hear the loud techno seep downstairs from the Lounge, which felt a little odd. Before launching into the other recent myspace release ‘Glass Throne’, lead singer Graham decides to remove his shoes- going into the comfort zone, I guess. He seems a bit annoyed by the distracting marquee displayed in the room that advertises upcoming shows and that there is food available upstairs. “I know every fucking upcoming show now”. He mentions something about burritos, then launches into the finale song, ‘Wrecking Ball’.
It wasn’t the best immigrant set I’ve seen, but this is to be expected with new material. The girls were dancing, and they kept the attention of the crowd. I’m looking forward to what sounds like it will be a great sophomore album, albeit a little slower paced, but still grounded in their special brand of rock.
Setlist:
Direct Sunlight
Moments After Takeoff (new)
Duske
? (new)
Idiot Smile
V.I.P.
Glass Throne (new)
Wrecking Ball
new song
wrecking ball
OVERALL: 7.5/10
immigrant performance: 7.5/10
venue (DNA Lounge): 7/10
crowd/scene: 7/10
value ($10.00/ticket): 7.5/10
memorable: 7/10
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