Editors | Mercury Lounge | 1.20.2006

It was the hottest ticket in town, with a long line of people outside hoping for a chance to get in, but it didn't really feel that crowded inside the Mercury Lounge. Maybe it was because the crowd was one of the shortest I've ever seen there (as opposed  Go-Betweens' who average 5'11'') so I had a perfect view of the stage even though I was three-quarters back from the stage. (They were also working on the floor and was standing on this temporary floor they had down which put me another three inches higher.)

I like Editors plenty, though their debut album didn't make my Best of 2005 list. It is a little disconcerting how much, at first, they sound like Interpol but singer Tom Smith is a much better vocalist than Paul Banks, letting in lots of emotion. He is also quite intense on stage, slashing his guitar around constantly. The Interpol comparisons actually melt away when you see them live. There's no detachment, no icy coo, no silly goth dude with a holster. In a word, Editors rocked it. Hard. And the crowd totally went bonkers for them. Bananas even. Especially for "Munich" where I was almost knocked down by some girl stampeding to the front of the crowd when it started.

The best songs for me were the Chameleons-esque "All Sparks" and the intense "Fingers in the Factories," which finished the show. Not sure why they bothered bringing out a keyboard for Smith to play when it's only used on one song ("Camera"). It was a little too Coldplay, visually. And I'm hoping they expand their sound for album number two. After the show I asked my friend Dorrit what she thought of the show. She said "Well I liked that one song." What song was that? "You know, the one song they kept playing the entire set."

But it's a good song.

Here are a couple Editors mp3s...

• "All Sparks"
• "Fingers in the Factories"

And here are mp3s of some bands Editors sound like -- that aren't Interpol:

The Chameleons - "High as You Can Go"
Easterhouse - "Out on Your Own"
Big Country - "Harvest Home"

If they had a blog, they were there: BrooklynVegan, Stereogum, Chris' Music Snobbery, Village Indian,

Picture swiped from Mediaeater's Flickr photostream

Comments

[toby]

bradley's almanac has mp3's of their boston show -
http://www.bradleysalmanac.com/2006/01/mp3s-editors-in-boston.htm