Earlier this week, Kurt, Erik, Silvia, and I went to a Damien Jurado concert after work. I had never listened to his music before and I was a little worried about the late showtime (I need my beauty sleep!), but Erik and Silvia both gave rave reviews of the music.
We began the evening with dinner at Oaxaca Taqueria in the East Village. I've been to both Brooklyn locations and was looking forward to trying one in Manhattan, especially since the restaurant is tucked at the end of this really cute alley. Extra Place is very atypical for the city and a nice pocket of calm. Oaxaca has great food and are byob, which I love. After dinner, we hit a bar on Avenue A because we still had a ton of time to kill. I can't even tell you what the bar was called but I do know they have a 2 for 1 happy hour. Avenue A at 2nd Street, check it out.
Showtime eventually rolled around, so we headed to the Mercury Lounge and got awesome front "row" spots in the teeny venue space. The opening act was Psychic Twin. Their sound was pretty electronic and pop-y but I liked it. I think I was the only one. I would occasionally look back at the crowd only to see blank stares and hipster frowns. It must be hard to be a musician, especially an opening act. I tried to dance (more like sway to the beat) a little more after that so they knew at least one person was listening. Keep it up, Psychic Twin! You're on the right track!
After the first band packed up their strobe lights and electronic drums, Damien Jurado took the stage with a single chair and guitar. The crowd definitely responded more to him! Erik and Silvia were right. The music was great: folksy and touching and sad at times. He was soft spoken and in between songs he would tell funny little stories about his family and music and so on. He seemed like the kind of guy you want to be friends with and listen to him play music in his living room :) I highly suggest checking out his work!
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That little street 'Extra Place' was awesome! Great idea to do Oaxaca before.
ReplyDeleteIt was a great evening. Damien was awesome. Incredible voice. You and I didn't notice, but Erik and Silvia said he was just hanging outside the venue having a smoke while we stood in line! Got the feeling he's an interesting character who enjoys being entirely anonymous one moment then center-stage the next.
Also enjoyed that he played 'Texas to Ohio'.
I was wrong! The song wasn't 'Texas to Ohio'...it was 'Ohio' :-) even better.
Deletehttp://grooveshark.com/s/Ohio/36yXkQ?src=5