Nine Fantastic Days of Shows in December

December 22, 2004

Seven days in a week. Eight days of Hanukkah. Nine days of shows in what was a hectic and magical week in the life of concert loving New Yorkers. From December 11th to 19th, the Pixies played 8 times, Broken Social Scene 3 times, Joanna Newsom twice, Ted Leo twice, and Scissor Sisters once. Throw in TV on the Radio, Smog, Rachel Yamagata, Bella Lea, Kimya Dawson, and more for good measure.

If you want to make this post even longer, you could mention that Yo La Tengo was playing their 5th of 8 shows in a row on December 11th, and that Calexico had just finished two shows, which came after the final three NYC Guided by Voices shows ever, BUT the post is about to be long enough, and anyway, the YLT shows were technically in Jersey.

By day (bold means I was there):
11th – Pixies/TV on the Radio & Ted Leo
12th – Pixies/Datsuns & Ted Leo & Ida/Kimya Dawson
13th – Pixies/Mission of Burma & Broken Social Scene & Junior Boys
14th – Pixies/Broken Social Scene
15th – Pixies/Le Tigre & Broken Social Scene
16th – Pixies/Reid Paley & Joseph Arthur & Kiki/Herb
17th – Rachel Yamagata & Kristin Hersh
18th – Joanna Newsom/Smog/Weird War & Pixies/Mike Watt & Pixies/Kristin Hersh & Bella Lea
19th – Joanna Newsom/Smog/Weird War & Scissor Sisters

New York City always has a ton of shows to choose from. That’s nothing new. It’s just rare that the combination turns out exactly like it did in the list above. Like CMJ, you can feel the musical excitement. It forces music addicts to set priorities, make decisions, compromises, and possibly forego sleep for a while.

I know. You’re thinking, “What kind of problems are these? We’re at war, people are starving, and Sony won’t release Fiona Apple’s album.” I think about those things too, but forget about that for a second. This post is not about those.

In the end, I really messed it up. I had so many Pixies tickets, that selling extras became a second job. After thinking I would make at least 4 Pixies shows, I went to one. I didn’t get Ted Leo, Kimya, or Kiki & Herb tickets because I thought I’d be at the Pixies. I ended up missing them all. And the worst of all – I completely forgot to go use my Rachel Yamagata tickets when Friday came around. That’s ok. It was 100% for charity. I wish Bella Lea had chosen another week to play their first show in NYC, and although I hate missing the Scissor Sisters, Joanna Newsom in Bowery Ballroom beat Scissor Sisters in Hammerstein by a long shot. Junior Boys at Joe’s Pub would have been cool, but also no contest with the option of Broken Social Scene.