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NYC - We got to the venue later than I wanted to but then had to hang around for a while by the bar before they let people into the main area. We did get to talk to some sweet guys from GA who came up for the show (one had just bought a thong and camisole for his girlfriend which is how we got to talking:).

Since we got there late there was no way we were going to get close, so we headed upstairs where there was another bar and some tables on one side - all full. The tables on the other side were all roped off with signs on them that said "Seppo". But the view was great from the peon's side of the rope so we stayed there and wound up getting treated to the pre-show procession of VIP types.

Seppo (who paused to check out the Finnish flag pin I was wearing on my jacket), Bam (who paused once on the way in, checked out my husband's Maryland sweatshirt, thought he knew him and gave him a great big hello before realizing he didn't actually know him at all - cue awkward pause), various friends of Bam's (girlfriend, mother, etc) and other people who I know I recognized but damned if I can tell you who they were.

The security guys working for the band (they were at the TLA the next night) were beyond sweet - kept apologizing to us every time someone went in or out of the VIP area since they had to squeeze past us to get in there, gave me one of the posters off the wall, and sent some girls packing who had tried to push their way into the very small space we were already occupying.

The bands: 18 Visions sucked. That's about the nicest thing I can say about them. Noise and variations on noise. And their lead singer did this little strip tease thing taking his shirt off that I guarentee you no one was panting over. Ville could walk into a room, sit down and pick his nose and he'd *still* be sexier than this guy.

I *loved* Kill Hannah though and so did the other three people I was there with that night. I've decided that they're a cross between Placebo, Zeromancer, Nirvana, and Blink 182 - with a bunch more influences thrown in there, but they manage to have their own sound. Anyway, they put on a *much* better show than 18 Visions and I wound up buying their CD

HIM: What can I say? On the negative side, they played a short set and no encores. On the positve side, everything else. Even the glitches were good. At one point during Ressurection Ville's earpiece was apparently just giving him back lots of noise and he stopped singing. So they stopped the song, he babbled a bit and they picked it up again from the second verse after the problem was solved.

The rest of the set went smoothly though Ville did indeed leave the stage halfway through the set to have a smoke (something he warned the audience he would do when he first came out - people started trying to encourage him to smoke, but he said he was trying to be "a gentleman" and obey the rules, at which point they through packs of cigarettes on stage). The rest of the band just kept playing while Ville was out somewhere smoking.

The crowd at both shows knew all the songs which he seemed pleased and maybe a bit surprised at. He kept turning the mic to the audience to let us sing:) Oh, one more thing on the negative side that applied to both shows. Ville is a lot more stationary these days than he used to be and interacts with the rest of the band a lot less than he used to as well. I miss the fooling around of their earlier shows . . .

TLA - The venue was *full* of people there for Bam, which made it a bit odd. There were plenty of guys there the night before in full Bam uniform who were clearly all a-twitter when Bam walked out onto the balcony and waved down to them, but Philly is Bam's home turf so it was *his* crow d there. (Don't know how you feel about Bam, and I'm not knocking him really, but I have some *really* strong feelings about his involvement with the band, and they are not all positive . . .)

Anyway we were once again in a great position, in the over-21 bar area which is on a bit higher ground than the rest of the floor, but still downstairs, and anyone going or coming from backstage has to go by there. Ville walked by us early on (though I was looking the other way at the time and only saw his back as he passed:( and Bam came through with his entourage before the show began and went upstairs to wave from the balcony again. Crowd went nuts!

18 Visions - ditto the night before, with the added annoyance that the lead singer had seen something that Matt (Kill Hannah's lead singer) had done to good effect the night before (nice move with a mic stand:) and *stole* it!!!

Kill Hannah - another good set and afterwards they came out to watch HIM, standing next to us. They were so clearly into HIM it was fun to watch them watch HIM. Not that I spent too much time doing that. . . .

Ville could smoke this time and chain-smoked his way through the set, as usual. Once again, a great, tight, though too short set. I get the impression they're still feeling their way around these American waters and that they haven't really relaxed into being here yet. I'm hoping they're a bit looser by the time I see them at the end of the tour. Not that they were stiff, but there seemed a bit of . . . . tension maybe. Anyway, it was a completely different vibe than when I saw them at the Astoria in London. They walked out on that stage and owned it from the start - they just exuded a confidence and a sense of fun that wasn't quite there yet in these shows. Not a complaint though - just an observation.

So, there you have it :)