The XX is easily one of my favorite bands at the moment, and one of the best new bands in recent memory. That being said I was even more bummed when this show kind of turned to shit.

On entering the beautiful hotel the first thing i noticed was that the place was already over packed and the party had just started. I made my way to the bar to top up on some party fuel before exploring my surroundings.

It was 12 fuckin’ bucks for a vodka cranberry (editor’s note: Welcome to Manhattan!). However the music was good and at this point there was still some room to move, so we headed for the dance floor.

On the way in to the main room I spotted my man here rocking the Capricorn T-shirt from Fall 09!

The crowd was stylish, the girls were hot and it was just about 1am when The XX was said to be taking the stage soon.

At this point the place is well beyond capacity and the ‘roided out staff watching over the crowd had now decided to take it upon themselves to thin the heard by becoming the biggest assholes they could.

Finally The XX took the stage. They set up in a small part of the space that had been kept dark the entire night. I unfortunately ended up all the way in the back and couldn’t see a thing. I did manage to at least get a picture of the band setting up, but other than that I stayed pinned to the back wall for about 3 songs which albeit a bit low, still sounded great. But i kind of hit my breaking point with the crowd by that point and decided to cut my loses and head out.

As I was leaving the cops were entering. You can’t tell from this picture but there were probably about 5 cruisers and 2 undercover cars swarming the scene.  Hopefully The XX’s show in 2 month at Webster Hall will go a little bit smoother. This was kind of a shitty way to end their long run of CMJ shows. If you haven’t heard The XX yet I recommend giving their new album a chance. This is one band that deserves all the hype they’re receiving. And if you don’t believe me, check the Bloglin review from a few months back.