The Sounds at Webster Hall Hot beats, hot Sweds and hot pants

Thursday night started off with a bang. Unfortunately, the bang was more of a thump when Morningwood's guitarist fell off the stage right before doors. No one is really sure exactly how it happened, but it was a show-stopper for the band as the guitarist had to be rushed to the ER. Morningwood tried to make amends with the crowd, giving away a few dozen t-shirts.

The Sounds took the stage a bit earlier and treated the audience to a sexy, spitting, new wave rock n' roll romp, more than making up for the crowd's earlier disappointment. Their energy immediately took over and, in seconds, everyone was having an undeniably amazing time.



For the first few songs we couldn't help but notice lead-singer Maja's barely-there short shorts. It's possible that my friend Sonia and I were even more intrigued by the shorts than guys at the show. Sonia commented that perhaps Maja shouldn't be rocking the shorts quite that short. At first, I agreed, but as the show went on, I realized the shorts epitomized a fuck-you-cool attitude that is so apparent when you listen and especially when you see The Sounds perform. I envied Maja for her explosiveness on stage - squatting, jumping, pulsating, dancing atop the drum set and her sexy fellow Swed band mates. Maja's absolute confidence was captivating and unequivocally sexy.





See The Sounds. 'Hot and sweaty (they) just do it, do it, do it real good and give it all to you.'





*by Jordana (who is breaking out her Sounds tunes for some cardio-kickboxing inspiration)

I Had No Idea The Rocket Summer at Irving Plaza

I had no idea The Rocket Summer was just one guy. Before I went to this show a few weeks ago, I downloaded some tracks from iTunes to get a feel for the music (and decide if I really wanted to go to this)! The tracks sounded great and of course I recognized the infectious hit, “Cross My Heart.” So, bopping along to TRS’s upbeat tunes, I headed off to Irving Plaza to see what “they” could do on stage.

It wasn’t until my “i-know-everything-about-all-newish-bands” friend Michael met me at Irving Plaza’s will-call that I learned that The Rocket Summer was just Bryce Avary. This was even more impressive – one guy doing the work of four or five and convincing me that it was a well-oiled machine of a rock group!

The stage show was even more impressive. Bryce sang, played guitar, keyboards, clapped with the crowd, bursted confetti into the crowd, jumped into the crowd and enthused the crowd. It was like Bryce was throwing a massive party and we were all invited to partake in the fun and craziness of the night.

I got a chance to meet Bryce who gave me a sweaty, but genuine hug and a thanks for coming as he explained to me his thrill that Stevie Wonder’s horn section plays on one of the tracks on his forthcoming (July) release. I was also happy to do what I guess might be called a Rock n’ Roll mitzvah (if you’re Jewish) and gave two huge TRS fans (Mike and Steve) an opportunity to talk with their idol. The two teenagers were speechless as Bryce stood less than four feet away, entertaining industry folk. After ensuring them that musicians love praise and love their fans, we made our way over to Bryce. Bryce confirmed that his appreciation of his fans is endless, taking time to say hi to the boys and remembering their names.

To be honest, I left the show in the middle of The Early November’s set. After the full-force effort and rock-solid performance from TRS, The Early November’s set seemed a bit… dull!

Check out The Rocket Summer at Bamboozle on May 5th – I’m sure you can expect to experience some crowd surfing by Bryce and enjoy the party he gets started on stage.

More tour dates on MySpace and NEW ALBUM in July!

Confetti for the crowd

*Jordana