M (m) I (i) A (a) M.I.A.

so i skipped the arcade fire last night and checked out spank rock and m.i.a. at the fine line. i figured that there was a better chance of the arcade fire making their way back here someday, since who knows how long the m.i.a. bubble is going to last?

spank rock was great: two great djs plus one hypeman/laptop runner plus one rapper who looked like steve urkel = tons of fun. great old school rap stuff in the vein of sugarhill gang, but you know, updated for the kids. fun-loving electro stuff and the recommendations of my two friends from new york were well-heeded.

m.i.a. was up and down. or rather: down and up. she and terry, her hype, er, woman had the flu and the first bunch of songs weren't so impressive. the stage decoration was hot though, and i appreciate the effort to put up a giant m.i.a. banner and some flags and especially the prom-quality palm tree. thanks to "rock and roll easter" jesse for that observation.

it was sold out, so people were nipples-to-shoulderblades all over the place and generally m.i.a. just didn't seem to be connecting. it didn't help that with her thick accent we couldn't always tell what she was saying when she asked how we were feeling. we shouted anyways, but something was off.

then, she played "10 dollars" which is, along with "bingo" and "hombre" (neither of which were played, to my dismay), the bangingest cuts on the disc and the place just exploded. suddenly, everyone was moving the right way, and by the time she got to the chanted call-and-response of "what can i get for 10 dollars? ANYTHING YOU WANT!" the crowd was hooked. she jumped up on the speaker and held the mic out over the assembled and eveyrbody testified. from there on in it was great, and she brought people up on stage during the chanted outro of "galang" and then ... it was over. far too soon, and i didn't stick around for an encore.

so: first pretty much what i expected, and then amazing, and then over too soon. a pattern you may be familiar with.