Andrew W.K. To Release "Party Bible"

Someone better review this book for me:

Musicians Writing About Musicians, Eh?

http://thetalkhouse.com/about

And unlike the 33 1/3 series, it's mostly musicians I care about including Andrew W.K., Robert Pollard, Melissa Auf der Maur, Flying Lotus, Richard Hell and Bowie. Duff McKagan also writes about KISS which appeals to at least a few people I know ... Check out the latest read which is by White Lung's Mish Way on Waxahatchee.

I Got Wet with Andrew W.K., Pt. 2

March 3, 2012
The Venue 
Vancouver, British Columbia
 
Having known Andrew W.K.'s sold-out show at the Venue was the inaugural show in his first ever global tour, in support of his biggest album, and his first tour with his full band in years (all eight-ish members including his wife musician, fitness instructor, clothing designer and back-up singer Cherie Pourtabib, A.K.A. Cherie Lily), I and everyone else in attendance that night knew we were in for one hell of a special show. As if all three kick-drums' reverb during soundcheck alone, which made my clothes flutter, didn't tell me that.

And we were correct. I never saw so much stage-diving at one show before, not even the last time I saw Andrew W.K., and the Rickshaw Theatre, where that show took place, has a bigger stage. Yet, it was at the Venue where people just PILED onto the stage, filling it to absolute maximum capacity, tumbling and flopping head-over-heels, somersaulting backwards and often getting surfed up by the crowd and tossed onto their necks. It didn't take long for my sweater, which I'd rested on the edge of the stage in front of me, to transmogrify into a stinkin', beer- and water-logged rag.

The first person who jumped on stage mooned the crowd; thankfully, it was a hot girl. Like with a lot of people who jumped on stage after she did, Andrew asked her her name and got everyone to chant, "HI, [WHATEVER THEIR NAMES WERE]!!!" He also got the crowd to chant "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!" to at least three people, even though after the first person, everyone else seemed like they were just bandwagoning. Although, who knew if that first person wasn't bullshitting either?

There were also a lot of obvious first-time divers which was totally awesome, especially since the crowd was very supportive of them (literally) and didn't tear them apart. That there were people of all shapes and sizes and of all kinds of dress, including three guys in full-on banana suits (although SIGNIFICANTLY less bros than last time when they seemed to have made up the majority of the crowd) was a further testament to the show's all-inclusive environment.

Friction burns, minor bumps and bruises in the usual spots and miscellaneous body parts grinding into my back like surprise unlicensed massages were par for the course. Actually, I was surprised I didn't end up in worse shape, considering I was constantly crushed against the rib-high edge of the stage, sometimes to the point where I couldn't breath; there were a few moments when I thought I was going to crack my ribs for sure.

Speaking of physical harm, the only serious moment during the show came briefly when an audience member found a 6x3-inch plank of wood with four long nails sticking through each corner. He picked it up off the floor and handed it to Cherie who donned an "Oookay, hold on a second" look on her face and handed off the piece of wood to stage personnel. The night definitely could have gotten ugly, although no one but the four of us seemed to have noticed.

After the show, I jumped on stage and nabbed both of Andrew W.K.'s set lists (one was for the I Get Wet portion of the show, and the other was for the rest of the set). However, as I was leaving, I ended up giving away both of them. I never thought I'd do that, not even for a pretty girl. But I gave them to a couple of nice guys just because, well, they were nice guys. If by some chance they've Googled the show and are reading this post, cheers to both of yas, Brady and John.

I considered going to Andrew's DJ set at the Biltmore afterwards, but I heard it cost between $10 and $15, and I'd already spent a lot on the shirt pictured in this post, so I decided to go home instead and replenish all of my burnt calories (believe me: there were a lot of them).

Maybe it was because I was sober this time and was thus able to take in and remember more of the show, and I caught Andrew's entire set, but his show at the Venue definitely seemed longer than his show at the Rickshaw. (And maybe his show at the Venue was actually longer; I didn't keep track of the time at either show.) In fact, his show at the Venue was long enough that during the last few songs, I didn't have the energy to do much besides lean against the stage and watch and soak in the big, fat, onstage audience/band lovefest in gleeful awe (I'd hardly slept before working at 6:30 A.M. that morning, and then I ran errands all over town until it was time for the show). And if I didn't have it in me to go full throttle anymore, it was the least I could have done.

That being said, and even though Andrew played with his entire band this time instead of as a solo act, and his show at the Venue featured the feverish crowd interaction that was lacking at the Rickshaw, overall, I'm not sure I had as much fun the second time around, if only because I was far more conscious (and therefore cautious) of my surroundings, mainly making sure didn't eat another foot or get elbowed in the face by the extra rowdy crowd. But that being said, the previous time I saw Andrew W.K. was one of the most fun shows I'd ever seen, so saying his recent show wasn't as good wouldn’t take much away from it. Really, my only complaint - so minor, it's almost not a complaint at all - is that while the Evaporators played their Andrew W.K. collaboration track "I Hate Being Late (When I'm Early)," Andrew didn't join them on it. Nope, there's never much to complain about with Andrew Wilkes Krier, especially when Nardwuar is involved.

I Got Wet with Andrew W.K., Pt. 1

March 3, 2012
The Venue 
Vancouver, British Columbia

Andrew W.K.'s breakthrough album I Get Wet turned ten years old, this past November, and to celebrate, he kicked off his first ever global tour two nights ago right here in Vancouver.

Opening for Andrew W.K. was beloved music guru and local scenester Nardwuar the Human Serviette's garage-punk band the Evaporators. Nardwuar is good friends with Andrew, having interviewed Andrew several times, performed with him several times, released a split EP with him and cut a track with him before, so it was really no surprise that the Evaporators opened the show. They were everything I expected of Nardwuar's quirky (understated) personality and more: random costume changes including a sparkly helmet with the Canadian flag on it: check. At least temporary shirtlessness and off-putting amounts of body hair on a less-than-centre-fold physique: check.

Costume-changes and partial nudity weren't the biggest highlights of the Evaporators, though - not by a long-shot. The audience hoisted both Nardwuar and his keyboard into the air during "Your Instrument Does Not Affect Me" while he played it in an outstretched Superman position. He even straddled his keyboard for a while as the audience kept them suspended in the air, and the more fanatic audience members risked generous amounts of Nardwuar's-ass-in-their-faces in order to rabidly mash the keys from below.

Other highlights included the Evaporators having covered 60s German garage rock band the Monk's "Higgle-Dy Piggle-Dy" and something I've never seen at a show before: Nardwuar ran through the crowd during a super-extended version of "I Don't Need My Friends To Tell Me Who My Friends Are," getting - sometimes imploring with his hands clasped - everyone in the audience to crouch down on the floor and not continuing until everyone was crouching. Meanwhile, the lights had been brought down; the band was revving the riff until the band and everyone else in the place jumped up all at once and moshed while shouting the chorus, lights now blinding: "I DON'T NEED MY FRIENDS TO TELL ME WHO MY FRIENDS ARE!!! I DON'T NEED MY FRIENDS - ..." and then back down on the floor ... We did this a few times before the band kicked it into overdrive for one final climactic blowout.

As fun as that little crowd-control experiment was, the best parts of the Evaporators' set were undoubtedly 1) when I got kicked in the face by Nardwuar while he was crowd-surfing, and I ended up picking a few hairs from his gorilla-boots out of my mouth and 2) when Nardwuar gave me the list. Onto my wall it goes, along with my little treasures from Male Bonding and Broken Social Scene.

Short and sweet, the Evaporators were, but they were only a small taste of the mayhem to come.

There’s Fun, There’s the Time of Your Life, and Then There’s Andrew W.K.

November 26, 2011
The Rickshaw Theatre
Vancouver, British Columbia

Spurred by news of New York party-monster Andrew W.K.'s upcoming I Get Wet tenth anniversary show on March 3 at the Venue, I decided it was time I got my ass in gear and finished recapping his show at the Rickshaw Theatre at the end of last November.

My roommate at the time and I arrived at the Rickshaw just as Andrew was starting the second song in his arsenal of keys-and-guitar-driven party metal (so said the guy working the door). My roommate went to get us drinks while I tore through the crowd to get as close to the front as possible; surprisingly, my roommate, who ended up pounding both of our drinks because we got split up, ended up finding me in the mayhem.

Andrew W.K. was, in many ways, the epitome of a great show: a place where and time when complete strangers can get together and for an hour or so are best friends in the world because they're all there for the same thing: their love of Andrew W.K.

Andrew W.K. was another one of those shows where people could go completely limp without worrying about collapsing onto the floor and getting trampled to death because they're squished between equally sweaty bodies in a gigantic, hoarded, soggy mess. With zero energy required to remain upright, I was able to completely focus on enjoying the show as I floated in a nearly weightless state, swaying back and forth as the audience churned as a single sweaty organism.

I was having enough fun (and drunk enough) that I would have jumped on stage and maybe even crowd-surfed (likely not though). But as hard as I tried, I just couldn't push past the two or three people in front of me. Also, a guy named Steve beat me to it. Lucky dog. Considering I almost lost my glasses twice just by having been in the crowd (they cartoonishly bounced around my hands as I madly tried to grab ahold of them), it was probably a good thing I didn't jump on stage ... I'm so hardcore. I felt just like Milhouse when he was forced to evade a fed by jumping down a dam:



My roommate always imagined me at shows as Milhouse after Milhouse and Bart saw Spinal Tap:

"... Heeelllp ... Help! ..."

I've rarely had as much fun at a show as I did at Andrew W.K., yet I hesitate to call him the fifth best show I've ever been to, if only because his set seemed really short and maybe because he fell juusst slightly below my expectations: he actually wasn't as social with the crowd as I'd expected, he didn't have a full band, and he had an unnecessary, at times annoying hype-man. I forget his name and don’t care to look it up, but I believe he was the night's opening act.

Maybe it was the alcohol that made Andrew's set seem so short, but overall, I didn't mind too much because the show was so much fucking fun - so much fun that I was almost immediately able to get over my disappointment that all he had on stage was a dinky keyboard which he played to pre-recorded tracks.

I, unlike my roommate who'd never heard Andrew W.K. before I played some of Andrew's songs a couple of hours before the show, had high expectations, and despite the show's shortcomings, it was still one of the most fun concerts I'd ever seen. That certainly says something about Andrew Wilkes Krier's showmanship. I can't imagine how fun his upcoming I Get Wet tenth anniversary show is going to be, especially since he'll be playing I Get Wet in its entirety with his entire band, and Vancouver staple/music guru Nardwuar the Human Serviette's band the Evaporators will be opening. PARTY HARD!!!

Two of My Heroes Did A Song Together? No Way!

Way:


Iconic Vancouver music-reporter and musician Nardwuar the Human Serviette, with his band the Evaporators, cut a track with Andrew W.K. for an upcoming compilation called Busy Doing Nothing by Mint Records (out March 6).

A Cramps T-shirt, DFA Records T-shirt and Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! vinyl on display in this video. Could I have expected any less awesomeness from a collab between these two? SWEET!

Matt and Kim, Andrew W.K. and Soulja Boy - "I'm A Goner"

I meant to write about this latest instalment in Converse's annual Three Artists One Song series as soon as I heard it, but it got backlogged by every post I made since summer.

I don't like Soulja Boy or Matt and Kim, but I thought Andrew W.K. alone would have made "I'm A Goner" worth listening to. Plus, I'm always pretty optimistic about collaborations between drastically different artists, even if I don't like everyone involved. Such was my mindset going into last year's kick-ass Three Artists One Song track "All Summer" by Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino, Kid Cudi and Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij.

YouTube user WK For President pretty much sums up my thoughts on "I'm A Goner" and Matt's explanation that they were trying to create the ultimate summer party-song:

"Not nearly enough Andrew WK. This is too chill to be a party song, I'm not too sure what your parties look like... I can't shotgun to this."

Indeed. I'm not a big partier, but even I wouldn't put on this song at a party. And I don't know what's up with Andrew W.K.'s voice here (he sings higher than usual), but I know I don't like it.

Oh, well. Here's to next year.

Hi ho.

This Is Like the Best Cover Art Ever.

Well, not really. Not even close, actually. But it's still really damned cool, mainly because it's Andrew Wilkes Krier (could I have expected any less from him?). The "Party All Goddamn Night" EP was released exclusively in Japan in March of this year. I haven't listened to it yet, but I definitely will soon, because I may be seeing him at the Rickshaw Theatre tonight. The show promises to be another sweaty, beer-fuelled mosh-fest of joy and, knowing Andrew's inclinations towards motivational speaking, inspiration. Party hard!