Beecake @ Joe's Pub, NYC 10.10.09

[eff_reality]

As expected, this gig was a bit crazier than the one in Philly. Slightly bigger venue—but only slightly—and there was already a line going out the door when we got there an hour early. But we were still pretty close to the front, and even though we didn't make a reservation, we nabbed an awesome table on the upper level, directly facing the center of the stage. I think we were just as far away as I was in Philly, but since we were just about on level with the stage as opposed to below it, it was a better view.

Which meant I had to marvel at how fucking tiny Billy is again, because I was seeing it from a new angle.

What was cool about this gig was that Joe's was running behind, so they let us in at exactly midnight, when the band was supposed to go on. We got to see them setting up beforehand. Billy looked very focused and Virgo-y, making sure everything was in check. We heard him do all the mic checks, which was, um, really sexy. He was making these tongue-clicking noises right into the mic, like he was beckoning a cat towards him. I mean, he clearly had no idea what effect it had, which made it hotter. He was working very hard, btw, crawling under the keyboards, plugging and unplugging shit.

I took some video of them setting up, but the way I timed it, it ended up just being an extended shot of Billy's ass. You could hear a lengthy exchange between me and my friend's boyfriend, wherein he made fun of me and I insisted I was innocent. Iii deleted it.

However, I did keep this.

And this.

(Oh, expensive digital camera with video function: you were so worth it.)

Then they proceeded to cover "Drunk" (!!!!), which they hadn't done in Philly. At which point, I realized that my memory card was full. So one of my friends came to the rescue with her camera, and all was right with the world. My God, was that song an experience. NNNNGGGGHHHHHHHHHH. And Billy had a *lot* of fun with it. There was much pelvic action and growling.

Billy's banter was really sweet. He kept thanking us for being there so late on a Saturday on such a cold night, etc. He offered to take us out for pizza, but then quickly retracted it, stating that he'd already had a slice of pizza before the show, but he thought of all of us. At a certain point during the show, he acknowledged the peeps who had come to more than one of their performances—glancing at me and some other fandom chickies in the crowd (heeeeeeee)—and made a joke about how he'd have to start mixing up his banter/song intros a bit so we wouldn't get bored.

I actually got some great pictures too, better than in Philly, I think, since the onstage lighting was better. For the song "Radio," Billy had us all shut off our cameras, phones, etc., so that it would be "just us" experiencing it. I know he's done that at previous shows (I think), but it still felt very special. He seems to be a bit technology-wary or technology-bitter, which I dug, since I am too. (Contrary to the amount of time I spend here on LJ.) Anyway, I opted to keep my camera off for the rest of the show from that point on, and just soak in live!Billy.

Since there were so many people and it was so freaking late—and my friends who had so kindly driven us wanted to go to bed—I didn't stay for a chatty or anything. But I did (and still do) need fic, bad. Ngh.

Also, I compressed and uploaded all my photos from both shows to sendspace. Feel free to download! (And let me know if I didn't do it properly—it was my first time!).

Tin Angel
Joe's Pub