by Abel Horwitz
Daily Lobo
Andrew W.K. throws the kind of concert that is quickly on its way to being legendary. Everyone who attended his Nov. 21 show at the Launchpad is now aware that Andrew W.K. is, without a doubt, the best live act in the world.
The formula for the show went like this -- find a small venue and charge the bare minimum for concert tickets, get two virtually unknown bands to open and hope the fans will also like these groups and finally, perform a high-energy show that takes the house down.
The show opened with The Spits, a half-Slipknot, half-Ramones group and later was Most Precious Blood, an incredible heavy metal band that got the crowd pumped.
From the beginning of Andrew W.K.'s set, the show had a furious pace and high energy. One of his fans, who had been following his tour around the country, described it the best.
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"You ever run so hard and so long that you felt like you were going to pass out? Well, that's how you feel after seeing Andrew W.K.!"
Going through his album, I Get Wet, Andrew W.K. and other band members who are as crazy as he is, make it obvious that they're having fun, and made damn sure the audience was having fun as well.
They pulled people up on stage to sing with them and other times people would just run up to sing their favorite song. They threw water bottles, guitar picks and anything else that they didn't need for the next show out to the audience. It was sad knowing that the reason the Launchpad wasn't full was because another amazing live show, Lords of Acid, was down the street at the Sunshine.
For as great as the concert was, and for someone who has recently been shoved into the MTV world, Andrew W.K. was down to Earth, humble and grateful the entire time. The band was just as amazed that people would come to see their show, as the audience was stoked to see them.
After the show the band walked into the tour bus and a crowd gathered outside waiting for autographs. The band members walked out and spoke to the crowd about how great it was that people came to the show and how blown away they are because of their recent popularity. They were happy to sign anything that someone shoved in their face.
Andrew himself came out, sat down and signed everything that people wanted him to sign. He went so far as to write everyone a personalized note. He brought out candy bars when someone said they were getting hungry.
This band is as much about the fans as it is about the music, and fans and will do anything for it. This is a band where all the members are nice guys. This is a band where all success is fully deserved. This is the Andrew W.K. show.
