David Bazan (Pedro the Lion)

Back at the Social, Anti-pop’s big advertised headliner for the night, David Bazan (formerly known as Pedro the Lion) had already taken the stage.  Having really dug the studio recording of his recent album Fewer Moving Parts, I was eager to hear how it would translate live. My excitement was then overshadowed by a crowd that had grown thick with individuals so into their/his music it was difficult to politely weave my way (w/ big ass Canon in hand) through it without getting looks of disgust. 

I kind of felt like a lot of the fans in the audience had been taking some of his lyrics from the song “Selling Advertising” a little too seriously.  “You are so creative with your refuse of what other people do, how satisfying that must be for you…I know it’s hard to be original, in fact nothing scares me more…If it starts to get you down, just pretend that you don’t make your living from selling advertising…Then if you get tired of making tapes for free, you can always start a band with me, or anybody.”

Well then!  There are a gazillion guys in town that could’ve done what he did.  Write some clever lyrics, record an exceptional album, get on stage with an overwhelmingly loud Fender and come across as cool and relevant as Bob Mould really did come across at last year’s Anti-Pop panel session.  That’s not to say that Bazan isn’t a genius in his own right, but there’s nothing like a big sigh to cap off the night from a staff member at the Social to remind us all that it really was just another Wednesday night in Orlando.