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No Age and Mika Miko [Live Music Review]

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The case of the overshadowing opener


I'll admit it: I had to study for this show. Anyone who frequents live music knows exactly what I'm talking about. A band is playing nearby, so you buy an album and thrash it until the day of the gig. Hopefully, you'll know a few of the songs by then; you might even sing along. So it was with No Age.

I picked up a copy of their Sub Pop release, Nouns (white vinyl!), from my local, and quickly got my free MP3s from the label (note to labels: you MUST provide free MP3s with vinyl. It's just the right thing to do). For two weeks leading up to the gig I listened to the record at least once a day. Come the day of the show, however, I was caught off guard by the opening band: Mika Miko.

Mika Miko rock. It's like the girls from the library and the girls from the coffee shop got together and played a mix of Sleater Kinney and Chicks on Speed. Their set opening for No Age was as full of energy as it was full of off-color humor ("That guy's got boner arm!"), and I was a little disappointed that I didn't have a chance to study up for the show.

By the time No Age took stage I was exhausted. No so much by the dancing (though there was plenty of that) as by the high one feels upon "discovering" (Mika Miko have been around since 2003) a really good band. It's a bit like a sugar high: you bounce around babbling and giggling for a few minutes before the low hits, at which point you either cry or fall asleep. Usually both. Because I'd listened to so much No Age before the gig, I was able to rock out to a few of the songs. That was fun. Yet the more they played, the more the songs sounded the same--I'm positive they played both "Teen Creeps" and "Sleeper Hold" twice.

Perhaps it's my own fault. I sacrificed surprise for awareness. I wanted to know the band, and by doing so I stripped them of of their newness. Maybe next time I won't study. In the meantime, Mika Miko is on permanent repeat.

Band :: Mika Miko

Song :: Capricorinations



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Comments

Anonymous said…
Thank you for buying vinyl.

Also, my buddy Dave got 100 in the rock/pop category his third try.

Ill check these milomekocyrus gents out.

SAw constantines with ladyhawk. Awesome show. Bought a shirt and danced.
27 July, 2008
Anonymous said…
Great band great song indeed.
29 July, 2008
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