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I GET WET TOUR 2002
Bowery Ballroom - New York City - March 26, 2002.
Myself and a crowd of about 500 others gathered to witness the birth of the United States' new rock superstar...and
he's a friggin' dirtbag...surrounded by five other friggin' dirtbags. His name is ANDREW W.K. and he came to party
hard (well that's what his song says, so it must be true, right?).
Just to give you a little background, The Bowery Ballroom is a small venue on the Lower East Side of Manhattan
where a lot of today's current megastars will play right before they explode into superstardom...and some will even
play there after they've been thrust into the celebrity stratosphere. For instance, KID ROCK played that room right
before "Bawitaba" hit big on radio and MTV. R.E.M. and U2, as well as the SMASHING PUMPKINS have also played that
room...and as will be the case with ANDREW W.K., they'll never play a room that size again anytime soon.
The band took the stage at about 9:50pm with the first track off I Get Wet, "It's Time To Party"... a
minute-and-a-half-long anthem about...what else? Partying. That song was followed by a dozen or so other tunes
that had about as much lyrical depth as a puddle of spit...but that's exactly why people loved it. In a time where
most rock bands are singing about how pissed off they are, and opening up a vein while sitting in a bathtub, ANDREW
W.K. wants to thrash around like a monkey and sing about partying 'till you puke...and yes, "Party Till You Puke"
is one of the tracks on I Get Wet.
Just to give you an idea of what the scene was on the tiny Bowery Ballroom stage: Andrew is in the center,
sporting a white undershirt, faded blue jeans, and sneakers. Flanking him are THREE guitarists (most, if not all
of which were recruited by him from Florida death metal bands after he was signed by Island/Def Jam), a bass player
with a shorn head and enormous sideburns, a keyboard player who looks like he just got off work at the sanitation
plant...and a drummer, who thank God, is buried behind a mountain of Yamaha drums and cymbals (rock on!
woo!)....everyone in the band is bouncing around like a gorilla on speed through each one of the three minute-long
fist-pounding anthems (and three minutes is being generous; I'll bet you anything most of them timed out at about
2:40 each)...with Andrew in the middle, banging his head full of straight black hair and thrusting his fist in the
air..all the while staring at the ground, growling into the microphone about partying, drinking, and
puking....what's even more amazing is that he didn't punch one of the hundred or so kids who were jumping up on
stage and diving back into the crowd while he was up there thrashing. Andrew seems completely at home with twenty
fans on stage singing along with him and his band. Only when it got to the point where the kids on stage
outnumbered the band and were threatening to knock the guys off did security step in and toss some kids off.
Andrew W.K. also knows that any good rock show needs confetti cannons and hundreds of falling balloons (that might
actually be in a manual somewhere), and they have to fire into the crowd at regular intervals so that we all now
we're in the middle of a boozed-out monkey fest.
Also at this show, I am happy to say, I saw the return of rock and roll chicks. I was starting to panic for a few
years there because these grunge and alternative bands all but killed off the hot chick contingent at rock shows
(Nirvana and Pearl Jam, I'm looking in your direction). Throughout the crowd were several examples of little
hotties in tight leather pants and belly shirts, wearing just enough make-up to cause every guy in the room to
drool all over his shoes.
One notable sighting was James Iha, former guitarist for SMASHING PUMPKINS. Thanks to Ben for spotting him amongst
the gaggle of women who were surrounding him. I think the guy who won the last SURVIVOR was in the crowd too, but
we can't be sure.
Whether or not Andrew W.K. can sustain this party-rock revival of his for more than one release remains to be seen,
but if the impact he's had overseas is any indication of what's to come, we could be in for many more years of
anthems like "Party Hard" and last night's crowd favorite, "I love New York City"
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