The bowling alley / concert venue presents a quandary for the concertgoer. While it may provide an interesting environment in which to see a band, there are also many negatives which tend to detract from the concert experience. Chief among these negatives is that half the audience is there to bowl and hang out with their friends, and could care less about whatever artist is performing on any given night.
This was my first experience at Brooklyn Bowl, one of the two bowling alley / concert venues that I am aware of (Asbury Lanes in NJ being the other). I knew the place was a pretty happening location and always had a steady stream of national acts coming through. Unlike Asbury Lanes, where the bands play on a stage set up over the lanes, Brooklyn Bowl has a stage and floor set up in the back of the venue. This helped to keep most unwanted interlopers from invading my precious concert space. Unfortunately, a group of Ed Hardy / bowling enthusiasts who were at the venue this night set up their base of operations near where I was standing. They conversed very loudly during the show, presumably about various strategies to get laid. But never mind them, I was here to see a show.
Midnight Juggernauts took the stage, fittingly, a little after midnight. While the band is only a trio, they had enough instruments with them to satisfy a small orchestra. The two non-drumming members took turns switching between keyboards, guitars, basses, vocals, and even drums. While James Brown may have been the hardest working man in show business, Midnight Juggernauts may be the busiest on stage. The extremely poor acoustics of Brooklyn Bowl did little justice to the bands’ mix of indie and electro rock, and I doubt the band won any new converts that night, but I can confidently declare they are a band I will be checking out live many more times. And you should too. Hopefully at a legitimate full-time concert venue.
Included here is “Vital Signs” from the Crystal Axis and “Tombstone” from their debut album Dystopia.
Brooklyn Bowl 07-24-10
Setlist
Winds of Fortune
Shadows
Too Many Frequencies
Vital Signs
Tombstone
Cannibal Freeway
This New Technology
Road to Recovery
Into the Galaxy
Ending of an Era
Download: Midnight Juggernauts – Vital Signs (Live)
[audio: http://www.thesoundofindie.com/archive/2010/20100825/MJ-VitalSigns.mp3|titles=Vital Signs (Live)|artists=Midnight Juggernauts]Download: Midnight Juggernauts – Tombstone (Live)
[audio: http://www.thesoundofindie.com/archive/2010/20100825/MJ-Tombstone.mp3|titles=Tombstone (Live)|artists=Midnight Juggernauts]
