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Nov. 16th, 2011
Aziatix at the Gramercy Theatre, NYC
Nov. 16th, 2011 06:37 pmAMENDMENT: LEAD SINGER ENIK LIN IS TAIWANESE; DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE OTHERS.
An enthusiastic crowd came out on a Monday night to welcome native New Yorker Flowsik and his partners in rhyme, Eddie Shin and Nicky Lee, members of the all Asian American band, Aziatix.
The Gramercy, a small, intimate venue, was packed to the gills; the crowd highly anticipating the final performance of the Aziatix U.S. tour.
The fans were mostly Asian, and, it seemed to me, an older and more sophisticated crowd than I had experienced at the Hammerstein Ballroom last year, when JYJ took New York by storm.
There were also quite a few "fan boys" present; no doubt friends of Flowsik from his neighborhood in Queens. Even Flowsik's mother was in the audience; the crowd paying homage to her.
There were two opening bands; the first a group called IAMMEDIC, an electronic pop group from Los Angeles which consists of three Korean men and one African American. The leader sported a funky, punk like hair do and wore impossibly tight clothing. At the risk of sounding like a typical fan girl, he was quite attractive. Most importantly, they had great stage presence and started the evening with a bang. Their enthusiasm rubbed off on the audience who were jumping up and down and waving their hands in the air.
IAMMEDIC was followed by a group called Open Till Midnight. Now, don't get me wrong, I love Rock and Roll; it's what I grew up on; but these boys were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm going out on a limb here by saying that Aziatix was being magnanimous by featuring local NYC talent.
Open Till Midnight is a five member band of white boys that looked like they just got done having hot wings and beer at Hooters. This does not mean, however, that they weren't good. They were very good. They commanded the stage; a really tight performance of contemporary rock music. The only problem was, their set was way too long. They played about seven or eight songs ( memory fails me), and I feared that the fans might storm the stage with torches and pitch forks like something out of a Frankenstein movie.
Thankfully, the sophisticated and mature crowd remained enthusiastic and had a great time; dancing and even headbanging just a teeny bit. The possible explanation for the long set was that MTV Korea was interviewing Aziatix backstage and they may have told Open Till Midnight to stretch things a bit.
When Aziatix finally took the stage, the audience went wild. They thanked us for supporting them and helping them to be a success. As expected, Eddie and Nicky's vocals were flawless; but it was Queen's native Flowsik, who stole the show. The rapper dazzled us with his skills on the mic, whipping the crowd up in a frenzy.
My favorite performances of the evening were Go, Slipping Away and Be with you. Unfortunately, it was over too soon; the guys didn't do an encore, but they came out a bit later to do a meet and greet. My fear of getting crushed and my instinct for survival steered me away from the throng; the memory of almost being squashed to death at the JYJ Showcase playing in the back of my mind.
All in all, it was an enjoyable evening and a great performance. My thanks to Lisa who offered me her extra ticket. Any opportunity to get out of the house and see K Pop live is greatly appreciated.
An enthusiastic crowd came out on a Monday night to welcome native New Yorker Flowsik and his partners in rhyme, Eddie Shin and Nicky Lee, members of the all Asian American band, Aziatix.
The Gramercy, a small, intimate venue, was packed to the gills; the crowd highly anticipating the final performance of the Aziatix U.S. tour.
The fans were mostly Asian, and, it seemed to me, an older and more sophisticated crowd than I had experienced at the Hammerstein Ballroom last year, when JYJ took New York by storm.
There were also quite a few "fan boys" present; no doubt friends of Flowsik from his neighborhood in Queens. Even Flowsik's mother was in the audience; the crowd paying homage to her.
There were two opening bands; the first a group called IAMMEDIC, an electronic pop group from Los Angeles which consists of three Korean men and one African American. The leader sported a funky, punk like hair do and wore impossibly tight clothing. At the risk of sounding like a typical fan girl, he was quite attractive. Most importantly, they had great stage presence and started the evening with a bang. Their enthusiasm rubbed off on the audience who were jumping up and down and waving their hands in the air.
IAMMEDIC was followed by a group called Open Till Midnight. Now, don't get me wrong, I love Rock and Roll; it's what I grew up on; but these boys were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm going out on a limb here by saying that Aziatix was being magnanimous by featuring local NYC talent.
Open Till Midnight is a five member band of white boys that looked like they just got done having hot wings and beer at Hooters. This does not mean, however, that they weren't good. They were very good. They commanded the stage; a really tight performance of contemporary rock music. The only problem was, their set was way too long. They played about seven or eight songs ( memory fails me), and I feared that the fans might storm the stage with torches and pitch forks like something out of a Frankenstein movie.
Thankfully, the sophisticated and mature crowd remained enthusiastic and had a great time; dancing and even headbanging just a teeny bit. The possible explanation for the long set was that MTV Korea was interviewing Aziatix backstage and they may have told Open Till Midnight to stretch things a bit.
When Aziatix finally took the stage, the audience went wild. They thanked us for supporting them and helping them to be a success. As expected, Eddie and Nicky's vocals were flawless; but it was Queen's native Flowsik, who stole the show. The rapper dazzled us with his skills on the mic, whipping the crowd up in a frenzy.
My favorite performances of the evening were Go, Slipping Away and Be with you. Unfortunately, it was over too soon; the guys didn't do an encore, but they came out a bit later to do a meet and greet. My fear of getting crushed and my instinct for survival steered me away from the throng; the memory of almost being squashed to death at the JYJ Showcase playing in the back of my mind.
All in all, it was an enjoyable evening and a great performance. My thanks to Lisa who offered me her extra ticket. Any opportunity to get out of the house and see K Pop live is greatly appreciated.
