Last night was the first of three shows at Terminal 5 in NYC for the Raconteurs and their opening band the Black Lips. This was my first experience at the new venue Terminal 5 located on 56th and 11th on the west side of Manhattan. I went in not having high expectations since for the most part the venue has gotten sub par reviews. I can tell you after leaving the show I was extremely disappointed . The two positive things about the place were the abundance of bars and bathrooms. Beyond that the sound was crap! The sight lines are just putrid. If you aren’t on the floor in the center or on the railings of the balconies then you don’t see sh*t and did I mention the sound……it disappeared into the depths of the cathedral like ceiling. This place was once a dance club and should have stayed one.
The show itself was not disappointing. The Black Lips out of Hotlanta were up to their usual antics eating their own spit and playing the psychedelic garage/punk rock they are known for. I thought they had great energy and were pretty much what I expected. They played for about 35 mins.
The Raconteurs tore it up as usual. This was definitely the tightest show I’ve seen them play. I saw their first US show at Irving Plaza and again at Roseland on support of Broken Boy Soldiers in 2006 and can say they blew away both of those performances. Jack White and Brendan Benson were at the top of their game playing their bluesy styled rock jams. The new material off of Consolers of the Lonely was amazing and further proves it to be one of the best albums of 2008. Jack White never disappoints and always puts on a great show. They played for about 1 hour and 40 mins. If it wasn’t for the embarrassingly horrible poor excuse for sound that that place produces and the horrible sight lines then my experience would have been amazing. Thank God it was a great band or I probably would have walked out. All in all a good show. 7/10
