People Get Ready at The Mercury Lounge

13 years ago

People Get Ready at Mercury Lounge / Photo by Max Schneller

Editor’s Note: People Get Ready is one of my favorite local bands. Through most of 2011, I would leave their shows overjoyed from their lively 40-or-so minute set filled with playful guitar melodies and bouyant drum grooves dancing over beds of synths. However, I would also leave angry because I knew I would have the hooks of various songs stuck in my head for weeks.

I was thrilled when Brassland released the band’s self-titled debut album last year and that it was so well-received. I was SO pissed I would be missing People Get Ready’s first headlining show at Mercury Lounge a few weeks ago that I made our newest Alt Citizen team member, Max Schneller, brave Winterstorm Nemo to cover this show in my stead – for his very first assignment, no less. Is that considered hazing? Check out his review of my beloved Brooklyn band below. -RA

People Get Ready at Mercury Lounge / Photo by Max Schneller

Anyone watching this band perform needs to prepare themselves.

People Get Ready has a unique brand of wailing and droning that kept everyone at the Mercury Lounge on their toes. Some started dancing. Others played air guitar. No matter what they were doing, everyone was active. It felt like we were all taking part in something illicit, almost like a mob atmosphere, that same fever of energy that overcomes you when you break a law.

People Get Ready at Mercury Lounge / Photo by Max Schneller

The amount of sheer energy pouring out of these people was overwhelming. It almost seemed like a joke, at first, only because it is not common to see someone so taken with emotion – they were in another place. I’m not sure it exists in reality, this place. But I am sure they were not on that stage, at the Mercury Lounge, or in Manhattan. Some performers dazzle us with their amazing presence and awareness of the space they are in. This was different – and very welcome. With snowdrifts piling outside, it was welcome to travel anywhere else, anywhere at all.

People Get Ready at Mercury Lounge / Photo by Max Schneller

The show was a manic assault on the audience. The guitar player dropped to the ground, smashing their strings. The piano player/vocalist took up sticks and joined the drummer, creating a tribal atmosphere. This kind of performance is not seen often. Too common is the “jaded” performer, as though being over the show and audience will somehow attract attention. This performance, however, was a rage. A flame in the night. A sailor afloat at sea. A last-ditch, sarcastic wink in the face of adversity and hardship. These band members were acting as though they were vessels to an outside force. It was their duty to communicate what they were receiving – this was important. Nothing could be lost or mistranslated – this was imperative. Gather round, people. Get ready. Pay attention. This means something.