Lifehouse: Tuesday Night Gig

I decided before I came to New York that it was going to be three months all about saying YES.

When I got a call from my friend Kelly at lunchtime asking if I wanted to go and see a Lifehouse gig that evening there was only one answer. I actually misheard Kelly and thought she said Lighthouse (as in Lighthouse Family). I was quite surprised as a) I thought they had long disappeared into obscurity b) it wasn't her thing. When I realised she said Lifehouse I was still none the wiser and had to resort to Google.

I walked to the gig at the Roseland Ballroom passing Time Square, Broadway, saw steam coming out of manhole covers and a fire engine with sirens blazing come out of its station and force its way up Eighth Avenue. It was a microcosm of all the impressions you have of New York.

We had dinner in an Italian restaurant on Eighth Avenue before the gig and arrived at the start of the second warm up act Matt Nathanson. I wasn't a massive fan of his music, but he was a sparky character and quite amusing to watch.

Then came the headliners! Lifehouse, I learnt, are American soft rock band. There music was quite good, but it was the atmosphere that I will remember most about the night. The audience were really passive. There was no dancing, moshing nor the usual crowd surge forward when the band started playing. There were even some people sitting down! We were standing about half way back, without being crushed, in air conditioned splendour. As Kelly remarked we could have been listening to their CD in our own living room.

There were big cheers at the end of each song and I think the audience were enjoying the music. The question I want answered is this: was this a typical US gig?