A couple nights ago I saw We Are Scientists and Arctic Monkeys at the Warfield with Jessica. (She took all the photos.)

It was quite an adventure just getting there. We got stuck behind a fresh accident on the freeway before we could exit for our usual In-N-Out Burger in Mountain View. After sitting for at least 15 minutes in traffic to go just the 3 miles up the road, we finally exited and got to wait another 10 minutes in the Drive Thru line. Then, traffic was a little thick for another 10 minutes or so back on the freeway, once we started going the right direction. The Northbound on ramp to 101 eluded me after buying our burgers. We actually made it to the city about right at 8:00, when the show was supposed to start. We saw Mike, Jessica’s buddy that we were meeting there, right away. He had snagged a good standing spot on the first level up from the floor.

We Are Scientists came on at 8:30 instead of 8:00 so we did just fine with time. I think they play better when they are an opening band. When Jessica and I first saw them they were opening for Bishop Allen to an almost nonexistent crowd at the Independent more than a year ago. They blew us away at that show.

I thought their playing the other night was at that same level. The crowd was not theirs; they were mostly there for Arctic Monkeys, so We Are Scientists had to play that much harder to make an impression. Most of the songs bled together through waves of distortion and feedback (the kind of stuff I love; reminiscent of Nirvana performances). Keith was at his finest, flailing about and molesting his amplifier with his guitar to produce some wonderful noise. His microphone and stand did not get off scot-free either. By the end of the set they had been abused just as well.

They played every song from With Love and Squalor without branching out to older material or anything else. Still, the songs from The Wolf’s Hour EP are my favorites and so I’m glad that 4 of them are on the new album and are staples of their live set.

As for Arctic Monkeys, I had never even heard their music before the show. I thought they were a pretty good band. Most of their songs are loud and fast paced. They really exploit having two guitarists and it adds quite a bit to the music. Their songs are catchy, but at the same time I think that were I to listen to them frequently they would become tedious and repetitive. The crowd really loved them. Lots of hopping up and down was going on. A pit even broke out once or twice. To me, they put on a good show, but I wasn’t blown away or anything.

[shamelessly cross-posted here, here, and here]

technorati tags: livemusic, warfield, rock, wearescientists, arcticmonkeys