Live: Twilight Sad @ Bowery Ballroom 11.6.9

I'm an Irishman, but dammit if I don't have a weakness for the current Glasgow sound. I recently came into a wealth of Aereogramme esoterica and it brought back a wealth of personal memories that have been soundtracked by Glaswegians. Falling in love with a lesbian while dating a woman married to a gay man to Belle and Sebastian, riding out the crash and burn of both those eventualities with Teenage Fanclub, a weekend with a sexual compulsive and Aereogramme, the list goes on and on.

I'm pretty sure that I first heard The Twilight Sad through Andrew from Skyscraper. I'm much more sure that I fell for them hard and recall it being on the heels of their playing a residency at some place on Ludlow St. and my having missed them all. Good times. Ok, from the hazy depth comes a memory of having seen them for the first time on the last Aereogramme tour, but it only emphasizes the fact that it had been a shit-long time since I had seen The Twilight Sad live. I've been trying to save money for the So Hideous recordings, but allocated accordingly for this show. I swanned in just as things were about to jump off, and as The Twilight Sad too the stage, it became obvious that there is evidently some head-shaving thing going on during the tour, with Graham being one of the newer converts. Given the Gitmo-esque quality of its styling, there was some question of tonsorial intent in my mind, especially when Graham seemed far too effusive about the crowd. I gave up watching bands have nervous breakdowns on stage a while ago (at least ones I like) but The Twilight Sad was firing on all cylinders, regardless of possibly precarious mental states. Here's the set list, stolen (with the photo) from Brooklyn Vegan:

Reflection of the Television
That Summer, at home I had become the invisible boy
I Became a Prostitute
Talking with Fireworks
Seven Years of Letters
Made to Disappear
The Room
That Birthday Present
Cold Days From The Birdhouse
And She Would Darken the Memory
I'm Taking the Train Home

Like I rambled before, I love The Twilight Sad. There's something wonderfully heartbreaking about the Scottish accent that goes wonderfully with the textured rock. Graham came down into the audience for Cold Days, a move that is popular and one that I hate almost as much as the 'band plays on the floor' aesthetic. I have no quarrel with how the songs sounded, but I am of the firm opinion that we pay to see as well as hear our live artists, so that fourth wall breach is one that I wish would go far away, unless it's some old school Axl Rose I'ma kick your ass shit. My issues aside, The Twilight Sad sound good on or off the stage. They aren't the most effusive bunch, but they sound great together. The new record is called Forget The Night Ahead and it, too, is pretty great. The live show is wonderful, too. You would do well to enjoy both often.

R