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The Daily Show: 10 F#@king Years On a rainy Thursday night at Irving Plaza, rock fans and basic-cable junkies crammed into the sold-out Daily Show 10th-anniversary concert. What started as an office party for Comedy Central's fake-news program became an event with performances from satirical cock rockers the Upper Crust, melancholy pop group Clem Snide, lo-fi veterans the Mountain Goats, seminal indie band Superchunk and comedy from correspondents and contributors from the TV show. Pop music attempts irony but is rarely funny, and topical humor by nature certainly never rocks. Still, the two mediums made a perfect pair, coming together for a benefit for 826 NYC, a non-profit tutoring center in New York City. While many acts were packed into the club, the night would belong to headliners Superchunk. After a video introduction (a parody of Dave Chappelle's Block Party, which featured Daily Show alum Stephen Colbert on the street soliciting for conspiracy theorist and controversial political activist Lyndon LaRouche), Boston's Upper Crust took the stage. Looking like 18th-century French aristocrats and playing AC/DC-influenced riffs, the group was an appropriate pick to begin the night. Despite the old and tired Spinal Tap gimmick, some of the songs' heavy hooks prevailed over the artifice. New York's Clem Snide then gave a hushed performance humbled by sound problems, which sparked an impromptu a cappella cover of Pilot's '70s AM-radio hit "Magic." The remainder of the set was as despondent as it was delicate. Between the live bands, the audience was treated to comedy skits from a slew of current Daily Show contributors and a pre-recorded video appearance from host Jon Stewart. Daily Show and NPR contributor John Hodgman reminisced about the first Daily Show celebration 100 years ago, when author Upton Sinclair apparently took part in a sausage-making contest. Correspondent John Oliver later expressed his concern not for whale harpooning but "whale lampooning," the act of going to the beach to heckle defenseless whales. Prolific folk/rock group the Mountain Goats offered a break from the snarky humor, their sincere and often heavy lyrical content sharing little with the comedians' onslaught of gay jokes. Singer and main Mountain Goat John Darnielle sang with a passionate, nasal voice that was still somehow soothing, at times sounding like a calmer Jad Fair. Superchunk drummer John Wurster joined the band at the end of its set, adding texture and backbone to an otherwise drumless set. Following the Mountain Goats and a brief Jon Stewart video skit in which he apologized for the Daily Show's endorsement of David Koresh and NAMBLA, Superchunk took the stage. It became clear from the noise of the crowd that the night was devoted to the veteran indie-rock band, the audience excited to catch one of its sporadic and scattered appearances. Band members broke from their respective full-time projects: Singer/guitarist Mac McCaughan and guitarist Jim Wilbur taking a break from Portastatic's tour, and Wurster parting from his obligations as Robert Pollard's touring drummer. With the agitated opener "Ribbon," the crowd came alive, jumping and jostling toward the stage. Although the Daily Show team offered no retrospectives or nostalgic throwbacks to the past 10 years, Superchunk indulged its fans with its most notable songs from the past 17 years. Hit after hit, "Detroit Has A Skyline" after "Seed Toss" (both college-radio staples), Superchunk relentlessly barraged the crowd with what could easily make up a best-of record. "This is what we would call a 'pandering' set list," joked McCaughan. Despite guitarist Wilbur's annoyance with poor tuning and fouled time structure ("That's four bars at the end, not two"), the band was in good spirits and gave a forceful performance. McCaughan displayed his patented three-foot hop, bouncing around the stage like an adolescent who had just discovered punk. The years have clearly not worn out the band. Wurster still thrashes away like a manic Keith Moon, bassist Laura Ballance still dangerously bangs her head back and forth, and even Wilbur sported some enthusiastic Jimmy Page-style theatrics, raising his hand in the air in anticipation of the next power chord. The performance continued on its assiduous pace with accelerated renditions of the hyper-schizophrenic "Nu Bruises" and On The Mouth's classic juggernaut "Mower." The heavily produced strings on the studio version of "Hello Hawk" were replaced with a cacophony of jangly guitars and pounding rhythms. To no shock, the evening reached its peak with nearly the entire hall singing along to "Slack Motherfucker." A perfect mix of comedy and rock left the concertgoers with sore ribs and throats. —Andrew Timco Suchniak |