Wakey! Wakey! @ Piano's 10/16 (CMJ '07 Day Two)

As a band you have to deal with some awful tough predicaments. You have to play shows at any time of the day while being on top of your game no matter what. You have to deal with half empty rooms, and hecklers, and a slew of other ridiculous circumstances. So it's always awesome to see a band rise up and meet the challenge.

At 12:30pm, or "8 o'clock rock star time", Wakey! Wakey! took the upstairs stage by storm. Considering their show the night before was just a drunken haze to me, their show in the morning of day two was a welcome chance to truly absorb the band for the 600th time. And the band was dead on throughout their set.

Maybe it was the free bloody Mary's, or maybe it was just the musical abilities of the band but for some reason they seemed to take their live show to a whole new level this afternoon. Mike's voice was pitch perfect, the band seemed to hit every note, and the crowd quickly grew throughout their performance as the sounds floated down the staircase to waiting music lovers below. It was the perfect storm of a performance where everything just seems to fall into place. The banter was well timed and amusing, they played the songs I've come to love, and other people were extremely receptive of the growing band.

It wouldn't surprise me to see Wakey! Wakey! come out of this week with some major buzz blowing them along until they release their debut live album.