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.
