Wild Yaks Played The Charleston

Last night started with some Big Buds at Rosemary's on Bedford. They had the baseball games on and while I don't particularly give a shit (not in non-athletic hipster way, I play/watch sports, in the baseball is a snore way) some of the people I was with were into it.

We were there until about 10:30 killing time before the Yaks went on. I stepped out to head over to The Charleston and Martin from Yaks was walking by so I asked when they were playing. He said not until 11:30 so we went back in for another Big Bud.

When we finally got to the show the Yaks were all at the bar drinking. I asked the dudes when they were going on and it turns out there was still another band before them. So it was looking more like midnight which prompted us to grab some beers and free pizzas.

After the band downstairs finished we all headed downstairs. The Yaks were plugging in and setting up. There were two additional members with them. They had a guy on sax (which I've only seen play with them once before) and a second rhythm guitar player (who looked like the neighbor in Office Space). After tuning up they started into some loud noise shit which built up and right when everyone expected a song to bust out they put down their instruments and headed back upstairs for beer. The chorus sigh of disappointment from the crowd was pretty damn funny.

About 10 minutes later they were back downstairs with fresh beers. I've seen Yaks so many times now and I have to say this was one of the best shows ever. Maybe it was because the added guitar gave Rob more freedom on the mic. Maybe it's because of the seedy punk rock basement show vibe at The Charleston. Maybe it's because I was with a bunch of drunk friends, all of us dancing and singing front and center. Maybe it's because this is one of Zach's last shows ever with the Wild Yaks.

That's a lot of maybes so let's say collectively those elements made for one hell of a show. It's a huge bummer that Zach is leaving the band but the sunny side of that is the Yaks will be able to tour more. If you want to see them with Zach I believe they have three more shows lined up before he hangs it up. Check their MySpace page for dates and locations.

Did I mention their might be a surprise guest at my birthday show? Kinda weird I would randomly mention that in this post isn't it?