Wednesday, February 27

Live: No Age & Liars @ The El Rey - 2/22/08

So, the 22nd day of February finally arrived, and with it came a show that I'd been looking forward to since December. Knowing how things tend to go in LA, I rolled in a bit after 9:30 hoping to settle in a few minutes before No Age took the stage. At first I thought I had missed them, but moments later the curtains spread and the duo appeared. The crowd tightened up a bit and the set began.

Now, I'd been listening to Weirdo Rippers for awhile, and actually missed out on seeing No Age a few months back, so I had very high expectations for their performance. Fortunately, they just killed track after track, running through all of the hits plus several songs from their forthcoming LP. Everything was spot-on, and Dean Spunt's one-two drum/vocal combo was golden. I was rocking out, the punk kids in the pit in front of me were off the hook [and by kids, I mean kids--earlier I had seen one of them text "can you pick me up around 11?" to his mom], and (as you can see above) Randy Randall's axe ended up in the crowd, clawed and pulled by a ton of people before being returned to him in a less-than-original state. Definitely superfun and not to be missed. Look for their full-length Nouns on Sub Pop in May.

Liars took the stage next and proceeded to entrance the crowd with a mix of meditative selections as well as their more direct tracks from Liars. Angus Andrew, despite a recent back injury, delivered a performance worthy of his role as frontman. Liars are the real deal, and Andrew & Co. made sure everyone in attendance knew it.

Pics of both bands by Sung at Losanjealous.

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