LimeWire Music Blog

I really don’t know where to begin: I was fully aware this show wasn’t going to be mellow but I wasn’t prepared for what was waiting for me. The sold out Biltmore was heating up for Andrew W.K., who was in town to start his Crazy Canadian Summer solo tour. After an earlier in-store record-shop performance a few blocks away that caused the crowd to fall out onto the street, everyone seemed pretty pumped for the night’s show. As Andrew’s keyboard stood alone under a spotlight, the crowd got closer and closer to the stage until they could breathe on it. This really didn’t help when he finally walked out and every person stampeded forward to touch the main man and make the front row fall flat-faced onto the stage.

Andrew — fully kitted out in his trademark white jeans and white t-shirt with printed blood around the neck — began to thrash his head and fists in the air while his long, brown hair stuck to his face. He continuously told us he wanted us all to “party hard” as he sung to a backing tape for the whole set, which included “I Love NYC,” “Ready To Die,” “I Get Wet,” and “Party til You Puke.”

The show took a turn after that (for the better in some respects). The front row couldn’t hold back the crowd any longer; people were hanging from the speakers; sweat dripped on to the floor, causing us all to lose balance and slide around while the whole stage got trashed and the crowd clawed at the side barriers to try to get a glimpse of the chaos. No one seemed to care as they all piled on top of each other to get closer to Andrew and pull at his shirt and grab any body part they could reach for. Whether you were in the crowd or not, there is no denying what an insanely intense show this was, nor how Andrew W.K. still makes us wet and causes us to party til we puke. (I couldn’t help the pun).