"yo what button do you have to hit to skip this track?"

so there we were, the douche, the superstar and the recently legalized girlfriend, at Citizenfest '04. after seeing way too many people on line outside and in the club that were totally not on my list of must-sees in the remainder of my lifetime, the show began. actually, after seeing people i'd prefer to never see again on line outside, followed by an anal intrusion by webster hall "security", and then seeing more people i'd prefer to never see again once inside, we waited...and then the show began.

i guess it was close to 11p when the two german boys and their computer, collectively known as wolfsheim (that's pronounced VOLFS-hime for those who don't understand that the german language does not allow for a *sh* sound), took to the stage. the show was a good mix of new songs (which i don't own) and fan/club-floor faves.

some history - the douche and i flew to germany for DOOMSDAY in august 2000 to see these guys in dresden (yes, there was a skinny puppy reunion at the festival, but we were already investigating the trip before we found out that fact). this was back in the day when he and i would take over any venue that was lucky enough to have us show up. and dresden, berlin and munich were no exceptions to that fate.

was i impressed by their first performance in nyc ever? no. was i entertained? sure. thoroughly. the boys got smart in the past few years because they took a page out of de/vision's book by adding a live guitarist and drummer to the tour. oh...did i say de/vision, i meant depeche mode (but i actually hate dm mit drums...definitely prefer dm sans drums - i can argue this with frank til i'm blue in the face). they used the new live act primarily on the new stuff but added it, appropriately i feel, to some of the older tracks that really rocked out with the live feel of real drums. case in point was 'heroin, she said'. if you know the track, you know the chorus has a great breakbeat type drumline - normally lost when using synth-drums, but powerful with an actual person behind a kit.

other highlights, for me, included 'lovesong' (not a cure cover), 'sparrows...' and 'real'. the point in the show which made me want to walk out was, of course, the final song of the evening...the last song of the second encore...a song which apparently "gives them touble in germany" - 'once in a lifetime'. i used to pop for this song like it was martin l. gore singing an acoustic 'dressed in black' at jones beach. but watching the citizens on parade as they recall the song from their like-new copy of metropolis' release of spectators (four years after the album came out, fyi)...i was almost disappointed. it was an obvious closer...but still left me with an awkward, uncomfortable feeling - very similar to the once i received walking into the venue by a mark phingers-esque looking cro-magnon bouncer. indeed.

all in all - a fun evening. i learned a few things that night. i learned that citizens can find true love, if you look for it in a basement in franklin square, li. i learned that a good talking to could instill the fear of god in someone. and most importantly, i learned that i never want to attend another citizenfest again.