TFC in DC: ain't that enough?

Last night was the long-awaited Teenage Fanclub concert at the 9:30 Club. It was incredible. They played for nearly an hour and forty-five minutes! Can you imagine that? There were multiple encores, supposedly making up for not being in D.C. for quite a long time (the last show scheduled for a couple of years ago was cancelled). I was pressed up against the stage near the dead center. Yeah that means the sound wasn't the best, but the view was! Aside from a little pissy word exchange early in the evening with an inconsiderate ogre (though he was short, like a head taller than my barely 5'2") that first blocked our view and then encroached on my personal space limits, the night was perfect until I got to my car and saw someone had smashed my driver's side rear-view mirror. But even that couldn't put down my high on TFC. So they didn't play "Speed of Light" even though Allie and I requested it, but I couldn't have asked for a better set. Songs From Northern Britain--my favorite album--was very well represented. It was interesting to see the band dynamics and get a better sense of things. Listening to the albums you'd get the impression that the singing/leading duties are nearly equally split, but in performance, Norman is the clear frontman. The turn-out for the show was pretty low, but it's better when the place isn't packed to the hilt. The crowd was familiar with the older songs--"The Concept" (which I've dubbed "Freebird" for its seemingly never-ending guitar solo at the end) got the loudest sing-a-long of the night.

I should note that one of my biggest fears was that they would totally suck live. Let's face it, they aren't young anymore, and after seeing The Gin Blossoms bomb out as old men, I feared Teenage Fanclub would follow suit. Thank god they didn't! They were clearly having a great time, there was energy, and they aren't ready to retire yet. They aren't the best live band, but that was one of the best concerts I've ever been to.

The Rosebuds, who opened, have a great sound. However, they are an awful live band. No one (on stage) moved a stitch. They didn't say anything in between songs except make a reference or two to Teenage Fanclub, and they didn't even introduce themselves until the end! That was a really long forty-five minute set!