It was about two years ago, maybe more, when I first heard of New Politics. “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah” was everything I ever wanted in an alternative rock band: No hint of that pop sound that seems to be every band’s direction. For a good while, though, I forgot about New Politics. They went on tour with a then-favorite band of mine in Sleeper Agent. Unfortunately, I missed their performance while in LA, but this past Tuesday I was finally able to catch up to the three-piece band from New York performing in their own backyard.

New Politics came to perform at the Irving plaza with openers being SomeKindaWonderful and Bad Suns. The Irving plaza itself is a great venue. It’s located in the Union Square area of Manhattan. The venue reminds me of the House of Blues in Anaheim. The main floor has entrances in the west side of the building with bars and merch area lining the outer part of the main floor. The second (technically, third) floor has bar tables and a pretty great view of all the action.

When it came down to New Politics coming on stage, they had great support from SKW who probably enojyed from cheers and clapping from the crowd all night. The setlist for New Politics was a mix of their last two albums and a couple of “throwbacks” in between. “Tonight You’re Perfect” was the first song to be played, but going with the mood of the crowd the night, it should have been played near the end. That same mood was one echoed by the many teens in the crowd. Not to overshadow the popular demographic of the crowd, but their was truly a mix of people. Standing near the doorway of the Irving Plaza in the stage area, I had a couple passionately kissing to my left, a few high school kids that may have either sneaked in alcohol to impress the girls they were with a balding 35-year-old man who knew just about every word to each song, the man’s wife who seemed like a “Bieber mom” and just a whole collection of characters.

Through it all, I don’t think New Politics did a great job of keeping everyone’s attention. Normally I wouldn’t fault them for the demo of the crowd, but SomeKindaWonderful did a badass job of getting the maxed-out venue to cheer throughout their set. It even seemed like a lot of people left right before New Politics – even more people held their hands low when New Politics asked the crowd to make noise.

I guess you could say I was disappointed or just not satisfied, but when all the signs point to it not being a great show, I can’t defend them. David literally stripped himself into the crowd of girls who were screaming for his every hip twist and drop of sweat from his abs who then clamored to his body as he surfed that same crowd. But in the end, when Soren played basically the biggest hit of the night and the cover of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” had more people alive, I can’t say “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah” to another show.