Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine at Webster Hall in NYC

Last Saturday April 18, 2009 one of my favorite musical acts, Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine came to New York City’s Webster Hall.   What follows is my attempt to wring a blog entry out of that concert.

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The line for Webster Hall was down the block. We we’re right on the corner. A scalper with four (count them 4!) teeth was directing the position of the line while offering to buy tickets and sell them at below box office prices. When Matilda Dundee-Read asked how he could possibly make money doing that I suggested “Volume.”

Ahead of us in line were a motley gang of NY characters like the cargo pant’d baldo worrying about his pockets and the availablest dominatrix in NYC. They overheard my posit that perhaps the scalper was so eager to acquire tickets because he thought they were selling actual cheese.

The first act Natalie Gelman started the night with an acoustic set of covers (apparently Matilda has an encylopedic knowledge of songs) and originals.

-Sex and Candy
-Sweet July (an original)
-Living on a Prayer
It was at this point that I determined that she grimaces a lot.
-One Fine Day
Her biggest applause came when she announced her last song.  It must really suck to be an opening act.

After the first act a bespectacled nerd accosted me to ask what time Richard was going on which turned into a single breathed accounting of all the times he’s seen them. Fortunately I had a sidekick to whom leaned in and asked “what was that honey?” Thus scraping a barnacle of boredom off the hull of my enjoyment.

Act 2 was a hipster girl named Julia Nunes playing a bass ukulele. Her first song was unusual in that she interspersed human beat boxing with the lyrics.
-Unk – orig
-Bye Bye Bye
-Unk – orig
-Build Me Up (lots of audience participation)
-Ice Ice Baby
-Unk – orig

Shortly thereafter arrived on stage was Lounge Against The Machine and to the opening to
-Airbag
was Richard Cheese himself.  He said a couple times that this was the last New York appearance of LATM.  I also heard from a nameless attendee that he’s said this before.  I hope that the anonymous declaration is true.
-Closer (brought girls to the front.)
-Shake Ya Ass (id’d Bobby Ricotta on Piano)
-The Wall
-Brass Monkey (Walked through the crowd to the bar)
-Three’s Company theme
-Crazy Bitch
-Chop Suey

-announced Rachel Maddow in audience and changed coat
-Gin and Juice
-Shook Me All Night Long
-Smack that Ass
-Take Me Out to the Ball Game
-Me So Horny
-Don’t Cha (For the lesbians) Also sung as Bruce Springsteen, Michael McDonnell, George Takei and Bjork
-Happy Birthday
-Baby Got Back- (id’d Frank Feta on drums) (brought woman on stage to dance)
-Sponge Bob Square Pants theme
Radiohead’s Universe (id’d Charles Limburger bass)
-$5 Food Long (Yes…the Subway Ad)

-The Killers – Somebody Told Me yith Julia Nunes and Natalie Gelman
RC then performed off the cuff duets with both ladies
-Natalie – Closing Time
-Julia – Free Fallin
-My Neck, My Back
-Summertime (Sublime’s version)
-Emperors Theme
-Get Down With the Sickness
-Creep
-Viva Las Vegas

Don’t forget, there’s no better way to celebrate Spring than to donate to the American Heart Association.  Feel free to sponsor Bill in the 2009 Wall Street Heart Walk.  A secure link is to the Left.