For anyone that follows the downtown late night scene and all it’s on-goings, you most definitely have heard of The MisShapes crew. Comprised of three beautifully-togged youngersters with one dream (getting people to dance), the trio generate so much buzz that hip magazines, local newspapers, webarazzi, and snickering bloggers would have nothing to write/post about if they were suddenly to go into hiding.
3/4ths of the reason I decided to go to that Annie riot last week was to represent in honor of the dear Geo and Greg (2/3 of the MisShapes crew) as Geo was hosting and Greg was spinning. I’ve known Greg quite a long time now–we met one day four years ago on a line outside Virgin MegaStore in Union Square. I will never forget the reason I started talking to him: It was because he was eating cereal out of a real bowl, with silverware.
Needless to say, I’ve become so proud to call him one of my friends, and my admiration for him only grew more as I watched/listened to him spin one pop-a-licous record after another. From LCD to S.T.E.F.A.N.I., not a dud slid past the ones and twos. It also made me realize I don’t know anything about dance music, but I leave that to the professionals.
Upon your first look at him, Geo looks like he might be the type that’s too-cool-for-school, with his perfectly groomed hair and his avant-garde fashion front, but if you’ve ever talked to him, you know he’s quite the opposite. I will never ever forget the sound of him screaming “HEAAAAAAAAARTTTTTTTTBEAAAAAAAT” at Annie over and over–despite the fact that he was two feet away from her. It was a delicious display of unabashed excitement for music, a virtue that seems to escape so many posers that come to shows nowadays. I’d much rather have someone screaming in my ear for the band to play one more song than someone yawning that the show sucks. If only all party promoters could be as genuinely interested and enamored by the talent they present to the stage!
I’m sorry if I made anyone sick with my fawning commentary about Greg and Geo, but I’ve just been reading a lot of New York Times Style section and New York magazine, and in a lot of stories young trendy people always come off as being so freaking vacuous and dumb. I’m not sure if it’s the biased perspective of the writer, or a lot of these people are that stupid. (Probably a little bit of both.) I just wanted to take the opportunity to give some real life examples of folks who are both stylish and have substance. There’s hope out there for all of us.
Music of the moment: “Blue Orchid,” The White Stripes; “The Rat,” The Walkmen; “English Girls Approximately,” Ryan Adams; “It’s All Over but the Crying,” Garbage
Watching: “First Day of My Life,” Bright Eyes. Dir: John Cameron Mitchell
Uh-oh! Looks like someone has NME-itis! (That means writing overly enthusiastic reviews in the hopes of making something that isn’t very exciting into something “newsworthy.”)
