Washington DC – So many unexpected occurrences at the Active Child/M83 show on October 28 at the Black Cat. Of all the concert venues in DC, I feel as though I know Black Cat the best, but this show threw me for a loop. In the first place, it was my first concert flying solo. In the second place, the audience was super male-heavy. I don’t know if it was just the weekend for bromances or if the two artists appeal to guys, but either way, coming from a city where women usually dominate the scene, I was a little taken aback (but not complaining!).
Actually, one of the many men in the audience ended up making me a new friend when his conspicuously greasy curls forced a long-time fan of Active Child to ask to share my floor space because ‘that guy’s hair is soooo gross and it keeps touching me.’ I spoke to
the girl for a while and she proved a wealth of knowledge about the opener. She told me the group is heavily inspired by the lead singer’s (Pat Grossi) days as a choir boy – which helped explain why the set crew was setting up harps as well as other, more standard instruments, such as keyboards and drums. Her enthusiasm got me totally pumped to hear Grossi’s classically trained voice, which sounded good in recording but promised to be even better live.
Unfortunately, after that pleasant first encounter, we were faced with a second unexpected incident: technical trouble. Although Active Child was supposed to take the stage at 6:30 (for the early 6:00 show), they didn’t start playing until closer to 7:00. I’ve never seen the Black Cat crew have trouble setting the stage, so I’m not sure where things went wrong, but the keyboardist could not get his sound right. The set-up ended taking so long that Active Child only got four or five songs out before they had to leave to make sure M83 got on-stage in time to keep the late show on track.
I wish the band had been able to rebound from the incident better. They sounded amazing and Grossi’s voice is seriously hauntingly beautiful. The sound of the band is great too. Sadly, it didn’t seem as though the group members really recovered from their delayed start, and they almost seemed to be scowling at the audience the whole time. I’d love to see them again when things are going more smoothly. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed their tracks, especially Way Too Fast and Playing House.
Active Child – Way Too Fast by AU Magazine
M83 took the stage around 7:20 and just rocked it. Their lights were awesome and they kept the banter to a minimum, instead focusing on pumping out song after song. Perhaps not surprisingly, Midnight City really got the crowd going, as did We Own the Sky. I was surprised by how young the group members looked – to me, their sound comes off as really mature – the product of experienced music-makers. Very impressive.
Between the two bands, they managed to sell out Black Cat for both early and late shows – so I can’t imagine anything but great things from both acts in the future. I’d highly recommend seeing both if you have the chance!
Midnight City by M83