Mew "Special" from And the Glass Handed Kites Live at Greek Theatre Berkeley, CA August 4, 2006

In the middle of our week in San Francisco, we headed over to Berkeley with my sister, Sarah, to see Bloc Party and a coterie of opening bands. As it turned out, this was the only show we'd make it to during the trip.

Once we parked and began walking down the steep hill from the parking lot to UC-Berkeley's Greek Theatre, we could hear Mew repeatedly soundchecking a song, "Am I Wry? No," which I'd put on a mix for Emily way back when. It took hearing that to really drive home why I'd liked them so much for a brief period of time, around the same time I was suddenly big on the Radio Dept. and the Dears. When I first heard And the Glass Handed Kites it didn't have that same resonance, but it does sound good live. They did a surprisingly good job of energizing a sparse, early crowd with often instrumental material, and I was glad for the chance to see them, if only for half a dozen songs. I realized in the middle of their set that I couldn't remember the last time I saw a European band live -- the only one ever may have been Spain's Aina opening for Burning Airlines and the Promise Ring -- so I'm glad that Bloc Party brought these guys over with them.