Like Wine, They Only Get Better With Age.

Belle & Sebastian @ The Nokia Theatre 3/3/2006
Expectations / Another Sunny Day / Women's Realm / Sukie in the Graveyard / To Be Myself Completely / Electronic Renaissance / The Boy Done Wrong Again / The Blues Are Still Blue / Piazza, New York Catcher / Funny Little Frog / (Stuart sings a bit of "Don't Stop Believing" a cappella) / Like Dylan in the Movies / Your Cover's Blown / Act of the Apostle I / I'm A Cuckoo / The Wrong Girl / White Collar Boy / Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying // Simple Things (brief, aborted) / Judy and the Dream of Horses / You're Just A Baby

I first saw these guys way back in 2002 at the Hammerstein and i was blown away then...now mind you, they were a little rough around the edges, a band that was trying to get comfortable in their own skin, playing to larger crowds. the evolution continues...and on friday nite, what i saw was belle and sebastian on super happy pills. never has the band sounded so tight and so energetic. their set was so evenly paced with the new catchier tunes from the "The Life Pursuit", threw in some old faves from "Sinister", "Tigermilk", and "Fold Your Hands..." in-between for good measure. what's up w/ these curfues for shows? people were saying that they had to stop playing by 11:30...did this happen when we were younger? anyway, no longer are B&S the shoegazers of old, the whole band was jumping around, joking with the overenthusiastic audience members (i heard that stuart, the lead singer, crowd surfed the night before, WOW!)--kinda wondered how much zoloft they took before the show! they were so good that even the sexy one has become one of the converted, if only she had the endurance to stand for that long.

all in all, one of the best shows i've seen...i mean up there with those cure and radiohead shows...this one ties seeing d.Mode at the Bowery, and not by much...and only b/c we were front row. plus..."the life pursuit"...best album since "if you're feeling sinister", hands down...i say that b/c i can't stop listening to it, damn it!! just like when i first picked up a demo of "sinister" at an old CD store almost a decade ago...i'm still blown away by these guys and consider them to be the smiths of the new century. that's right...i went there.

and yes, the fanboy that i am, saw them at the virgin megastore a few hours before the show and kissed their pale white scottish asses as they signed my copy of the new album, which will be framed, of course.