Nothing quite holds the promise of a Friday night rock show. The normal excitement about the upcoming weekend is heightened to a delicious level of expectation; we’re certain this will be the weekend and tonight will be the show! Well, maybe I wasn’t thinking that Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti would be the show but I was hopeful in spite of the so-so live reviews I’ve heard. After all, their album Before Now is easily on my best of the year charts. And it was a Friday.

In retrospect I probably should have tempered my enthusiasm, and I definitely shouldn’t have chugged that double IPA at the house before driving downtown because sometime around my third beer, while the contents of my burger from the Flatiron were digesting about as well as a brick, I began losing my Friday enthusiasm and felt it being replaced by a depressing sense of lethargy. I was feeling more in the mood for a warm glass of milk and a nap than power pop and cigarette smoke.

So I arrived at The Earl tired, but still hoping to catch a second wind. One of the great things about seeing shows at The Earl is the accessibility of the acts before the show. Whether it’s Girls frontman Chris Owens eating chicken wings on a couch or Bradford Cox walking around greeting friends, I’ve always enjoyed sneaking a peek at the performers before they take the stage.

Maybe it was the state I was in, but when I saw Ariel Pink (Rosenberg) hanging out by the merchandise stand the criticisms I’d heard about his live shows came to mind. I saw a fidgety, stooped guy wearing a tight tie-dyed tee showing the beginnings of beer belly. No matter where he scuttled he seemed to be permanently staring at a space on the floor about three feet in front of his feet. This didn’t seem like the kind of performer who could fill the stage, even one as small as The Earl’s, and when he joined the first act for a song (L.A. dream pop band Puro Instinct) he didn’t do much to change my mind.

My hopes shifted to the second act, the Memphis retro pop band Magic Kids. I’d seen them open up for Girls a while back and while they didn’t light my world on, I did enjoy their enthusiasm. Unfortunately, Magic Kids didn’t have that same energy, which the lead singer sheepishly attributed to the presence of girlfriends in the audience.

The night was quickly going down the toilet and as midnight came and went with Ariel Pink yet to play my eyelids grew heavy and I could hear the sweet whisperings of my bed in my ear. Mercifully, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti took the stage about a quarter after twelve and, once they started playing, Ariel Pink didn’t resemble the person I saw earlier. The band opened up with the funk song ‘Hot Body Rub’ and Ariel Pink jerked about pumping his fists over his head like some whacked out jazzercise instructor. His energy and ear-to-ear grin were infectious and the band was dialed in immediately- the crowd responded.

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti ran through a brisk, energetic hour long set, highlighted by ‘Menopause Man’ and ‘Round and Round’; during the later he tossed the microphone in the audience and it found the right guy because he picked up a couple of verses without missing a beat.

Ariel Pink has gained a reputation as a spotty and at times disinterested performer. I can only relate my experience and say that if he didn’t bring it, I was ready to bring my tired ass home. But he did, and while I left The Earl still dragging my feet, I did so with a smile.