A free show at Cake Shop with a midlevel band is clearly the recipe to an exciting night out. I arrived at Cake Shop very early, at nine, content to eat a cupcake and read my book for a few hours (probably what I would have been doing at home anyways). Turns out, the people watching was way too great to get any reading done. While Wooden Shijps leaked out of the loudspeaker, a stream of people came through Cake Shop’s doors, increasingly having to fight their way over to the door person to ask when The Soft Pack was going to go on. While the back was crowded but manageable, filled with early birds relaxing before the rush, the front of the room and the bar were more clogged than Liz Lemon’s arteries. I hear that there was a line outside, but I’d say it was already up to capacity by 11. Around midnight, they relieved us of the sardine-can effect and we all streamed downstairs, greeted by a happy-looking Soft Pack doing a quick line check. They launched right into a 45 minute-or-so set, even as people were still making their way down to Cake Shop’s basement. Much like the new album and this supposed snowstorm today, it was a fun, tight set, but no way was it going to live up to the crowded anticipation that grew upstairs. Like I said about the album, nothing new, but still a really tight set of rock songs. I was having fun, but as I looked around, everyone seemed fairly miserable. I started doubting my enjoyment of the new record. Maybe it was because we had been so packed upstairs? People were frazzled? Sure, the band isn’t exactly the most excited punk-ish act around, but they’re practiced and fun. By the end of the set, which was filled with most of the songs off of the new album, it seemed everyone had warmed up. There was some dancing and bopping along, and the band seemed like they had a good time. Was it an epic night that people will be talking about? No. I guess it had that potential, but it was just a really fun, short show for the people who managed to get there early enough to see it. Photos and my favorite song from last night below.
The Soft Pack:
MP3: “Answer To Yourself” – The Soft Pack
