come for the music, stay for the dancing

last night, s and camp (my roommate) and i went to see the mars volta in concert. i have to admit (and i sincerely apologize, mars volta fans from whom i stole the experience, as this was apparently a sold-out show), i was not particularly well-acquainted with their music. in fact, despite the fact that s worked on their album this summer, and by worked i mean helped out in the studio while they listened to tracks and got stoned (oh yeah, that's right, my boyfriend had to get pizza for omar and cedric), i had really not ever listened to their music. but i love going to concerts, especially of artists i don't know very well. i feel like it is a totally different way to get to know new music; better than downloading, you get an experience, a feeling, in addition to new songs. plus i love being a part of a crowd at a concert, excited to hear what will come next, always surprised, always pleased. so, the mars volta. they played at terminal 5, which is a very cool venue, kind of industrial, without feeling dirty or scary-hip. there was no opener, just some el mariachi-esque horns as they entered the stage in the dark. they pretty much never stopped playing either. it was a lot to take. we had stationed ourselves on the top level at the very front, with a bar to lean on and a perfect view of everything. the volta (which i guess i am cool enough to call them now) are probably the most energized band i have ever seen live. they never stop playing, never stop moving. that was by far my favorite part. and cedric is insane. i mean, probably totally insane. his dancing is best described as "child sex marionette". in that, like a child, he acted on every impulse, including climbing the amps and the bongo drums and the other performers, he crawled through omar's legs as he played guitar, he crashed the cymbals and threw his mic around. then he would do these overtly sexual hip thrusts and shimmies and weird belly-dancing come-hither arms. but mostly he just looked like a puppet being thrown across the stage, arms and legs jangling, stumbling and stopping and jerking and going. it was incredible. and he was so damn skinny, probably because he never stops moving. ever. the only time i didn't see him move was after he jumped off the amps and walked offstage, only to emerge moments later down in the front of the audience. (then he pulled the mic into the audience with him and sang from there.) it was incredible. also, he had enormous, poodle-y girl hair. omar looked like a robot on fire, jerking around the stage while playing guitar, stiff and full of bursts of energy.

i could have watched them for hours, but unfortunately we had to work this morning, the both of us. i think they played another hour after we left (s: "didn't they know we were gone?"), but i was sleepy and still fighting this cold-that-will-not-die. also, it was absurdly loud, to the detriment of the wall of noise they were trying to create. we caught the train home, cuddled in the corner. (i need this boy to get a day job, so we can have more nights out like this. i really like my boyfriend a lot, like a lot, and i hate that he works most nights. i am more selfish about time with him than anything else.) on the f train home, a man got on with a guitar and played a heartbreaking, quiet, simple, spanish-english version of a song i always loved singing back in my church-goin' days. it was such a peaceful end to the noisy night. at 10:55 pm, we just barely missed late night and the train let us out at our stop. we giggled the whole walk home, my s and i, arm in arm down the street.