Xiu Xiu and Frog Eyes at The Gladstone Ruined

I saw Xiu Xiu and Frog Eyes at the Gladstone Thursday night, and knew something was up as I stood in line to get my hand stamped. People were being turned away at the door, couples touched each other clumsily, and fashion disasters abounded. A sick feeling crept into my stomach as I realized that this show had attracted a distinctly younger crowd than I had anticipated.

Now they couldn't have been that young, unless you can get really awesome fake IDs now, because security was almost offensively tight. The bar must have foreseen what I hadn't, because there were weird kids all high on drugs or drunk at this show.

I should be careful not to exaggerate. Frog Eyes, pictured above, were truly, deliciously awesome. The crowd was actually too subdued, at least until one audience member pushed to the front and started throwing his hands in the air, and then more kids got into it. Nothing too embarrassing, and the David Cross look-alike bass player seemed to really enjoy it.

But when Xiu Xiu started, a girl hollered at the openly gay vocalist, "I wanna have your babies!", to which he replied, "I have a really low sperm count, so sorry." A boy beside me kept yelling out song names, and then apologizing to the people around him by shaking his head and pointing to his half-empty pint glass. A girl (on crack?) kept yelling nonsensical things, rubbing her face, and gesturing oddly with her arms. When she and her friends started a mosh pit, and the show started to resemble a high school dance, I had to flee the scene.

So what was it about Xiu Xiu that attracted this crowd of misfits? My companion stated two factors: Their dark, moody, lonely songs would appeal to a younger audience, and secondly, what he called "The Internet". He argued that because music is more accessible, kids can get into stuff that they would otherwise not ever hear of. I don't know if this is why my show got ruined, but I am hoping that this "Internet" he speaks of won't ruin any more shows for me.