Cut Copy @ Red Bull Air Race Terminal, 5.1.08

In continutation of my new daily habit, I worked, went home, fell asleep, woke up and was out the door. On Thursday it was to Downtown for Cut Copy. I saw all the warnings about getting there early and how Cut Copy blew the tent off at Coachella, but c'mon. This is San Diego. The concerts were poorly promoted and Modular Records themselves weren't even allowed to say that Cut Copy was playing until after Coachella was over, though it had leaked a little.

I quickly and easily found parking downtown and made my way to the venue, where a 60+ year old security woman looked in one pocket of my 5 pocket bag and let me in. I was surprised they didn't ID check, but quickly realized there were two 21+ designated areas, but the show was all ages. It was 8:45, there was no line, and 4 times as many people could've easily fit into the space. Hey Red Bull- whatever you spent on promotion? Yeah, you should ask for your money back.

Coming from advertising, I was shocked at the small crowd. Coming as a music lover, I was glad I had no problem getting to the second row 3 minutes before the band came onstage after saying hi to a couple friends. I was also excited to test out my new camera with all the pretty lights.




Personally I really enjoyed the set, but I have to agree with CatDirt that it seems a little silly for a band to tell the crowd, "OK, here comes the buildup. Are you ready?" but I guess us San Diegan head bobbers weren't dancing enough so perhaps they thought they needed to help us out.





It was my first time seeing the band, though they've been to town a few times (Beauty Bar and on tour with Franz Ferdinand) and I'd have to agree with indie blogger nation that they very much have a New Order sound and feel to them. I stayed on one side of the stage for most of the set, but toward the end made my way to the other side where I bumped into CatDirt and CDW and then proceeded to make my way to the front without bumping anyone as people were retreating back into the 21 and up areas, making a clearing along the rail.





It was a fun hour of my life, and I'm happy that companies with huge marketing budgets can put on free events like this, but I wish that when they did, they tried to understand San Diego a little better. We're not LA or New York, we'll never be Seattle, Portland or Austin, but we have our own vibe and if they took the time, they could better market their events to reach more people and people would actually come because of the sponsor and their reputation for killer events and not in spite of them.

Click Keep On Reading for a YouTube clip I took of Cut Copy.