Thursday, March 31, 2005
I still don't know if this is for real...
But according to Stern, and, supposedly, a messageboard post by Lance Bangs, the comedian Mitch Hedberg died sometime last night. Which, of course, is a total bummer; not only was Mitch maybe the most hilarious guy around, he was also amazingly nice and normal-seeming the two times I got to talk to him. If this is true, it's a pretty horrible loss for comedy. I know he had a wife, and I believe they might have had some kids, and so our hearts and prayers go out to them.
I got to interview Mitch in February for the Flagpole; here's the article that came out of it. It's unbelievable to think that, less than two months later, he's now no longer with us.
But according to Stern, and, supposedly, a messageboard post by Lance Bangs, the comedian Mitch Hedberg died sometime last night. Which, of course, is a total bummer; not only was Mitch maybe the most hilarious guy around, he was also amazingly nice and normal-seeming the two times I got to talk to him. If this is true, it's a pretty horrible loss for comedy. I know he had a wife, and I believe they might have had some kids, and so our hearts and prayers go out to them.
I got to interview Mitch in February for the Flagpole; here's the article that came out of it. It's unbelievable to think that, less than two months later, he's now no longer with us.
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Surely This Can't Be Sirius
I've heard a lot of good things about Sirius radio. I've experienced much of this goodness first hand, as in personally, directly, and without any sort of intermediary. But right now, thanks to the beneficence of good friend and co-worker Domenic, I am able to regularly explore the electrociting world of outer-planetary radiophonic broadcastery from my workplace desktop. And shit, this Left of Center station is flat horrificable. This has about as much in common with good college radio as Sunday School or WFNX's AlterEgo. And is this Lewis Largent dj'ing? Maybe Riki Rachtman? The voice is definitely familiar. Interpol and the Thrills and Karen O's Nike song can all be well and good, but they have little place on a station that touts itself as playing "the best in underground rock". It's about time I went back to Sirius Patriot, I think.
Haven't checked out Raw Dog Comedy yet; maybe after lunch?
UPDATE: Okay, recipe for radness: open the same Sirius station in two (or more) different windows. Massive echo/delay madness.
I've heard a lot of good things about Sirius radio. I've experienced much of this goodness first hand, as in personally, directly, and without any sort of intermediary. But right now, thanks to the beneficence of good friend and co-worker Domenic, I am able to regularly explore the electrociting world of outer-planetary radiophonic broadcastery from my workplace desktop. And shit, this Left of Center station is flat horrificable. This has about as much in common with good college radio as Sunday School or WFNX's AlterEgo. And is this Lewis Largent dj'ing? Maybe Riki Rachtman? The voice is definitely familiar. Interpol and the Thrills and Karen O's Nike song can all be well and good, but they have little place on a station that touts itself as playing "the best in underground rock". It's about time I went back to Sirius Patriot, I think.
Haven't checked out Raw Dog Comedy yet; maybe after lunch?
UPDATE: Okay, recipe for radness: open the same Sirius station in two (or more) different windows. Massive echo/delay madness.
Another Tuesday Night in the Drunktank
Last night I went to go see Crooked Fingers at the Middle East, and yes, it was wonderful. It had been three or four years since I last saw them, at the 40 Watt, and it was good to reconnect to a part of my past. Eric Bachmann is sounding more and more like Springsteen, and his current group has almost reached E-Street level proportions. There were six of them last night, including the Scialfa-like lady singer, and long-time music compatriot Matt Gentling, who stomped and lurched and wrestled with the bass guitar as if he was still rocking out with the Archers. The band was excellent, easily the best of the four different configurations I've seen of Crooked Fingers. They played a healthy smattering of hits from all four albums, and finished up with the "acoustic set on the floor" deal that Bachmann started up a few years ago. I haven't been to many shows thus far this year, but this was far and away the best so far.
Athens resident Liz Durrett opened, and was surprisingly good. I've got nothing against psuedo-folkness, and I am an enthusiast of women, and of course I have an abiding respect and appreciation for your precious "indie-rock", but for the most part the confluence of the three has always left me cold. Cat Power generally bores me, whereas Shannon Wright makes me want to grind broken glass into my frontal lobes. Durrett, though, held my attention. Maybe because she was modest, simple, and direct, with none of Chan Marshall's performance anxiety melodrama, or Wright's pretension.
A full review will be up at DOA in a few days, weeks, and/or months.
Last night I went to go see Crooked Fingers at the Middle East, and yes, it was wonderful. It had been three or four years since I last saw them, at the 40 Watt, and it was good to reconnect to a part of my past. Eric Bachmann is sounding more and more like Springsteen, and his current group has almost reached E-Street level proportions. There were six of them last night, including the Scialfa-like lady singer, and long-time music compatriot Matt Gentling, who stomped and lurched and wrestled with the bass guitar as if he was still rocking out with the Archers. The band was excellent, easily the best of the four different configurations I've seen of Crooked Fingers. They played a healthy smattering of hits from all four albums, and finished up with the "acoustic set on the floor" deal that Bachmann started up a few years ago. I haven't been to many shows thus far this year, but this was far and away the best so far.
Athens resident Liz Durrett opened, and was surprisingly good. I've got nothing against psuedo-folkness, and I am an enthusiast of women, and of course I have an abiding respect and appreciation for your precious "indie-rock", but for the most part the confluence of the three has always left me cold. Cat Power generally bores me, whereas Shannon Wright makes me want to grind broken glass into my frontal lobes. Durrett, though, held my attention. Maybe because she was modest, simple, and direct, with none of Chan Marshall's performance anxiety melodrama, or Wright's pretension.
A full review will be up at DOA in a few days, weeks, and/or months.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
mind zap 2012
This year's Mind Zap Fest, the first, last, and forever, will be held on Saturday, April 23rd, at McLaren Park, in San Francisco, California. Much will be experienced, never to be forgotten, no matter how hard you try. The Mind Zap is stroke-proof. Music by STILL FLYIN', LIL FLIP SCOLDJAH, JE SUIS FRANCE, CHICKEN ON A RAFT, and more will be tolerated. Random implements of mental deceleration will be on hand. It shall be worth it.
This year's Mind Zap Fest, the first, last, and forever, will be held on Saturday, April 23rd, at McLaren Park, in San Francisco, California. Much will be experienced, never to be forgotten, no matter how hard you try. The Mind Zap is stroke-proof. Music by STILL FLYIN', LIL FLIP SCOLDJAH, JE SUIS FRANCE, CHICKEN ON A RAFT, and more will be tolerated. Random implements of mental deceleration will be on hand. It shall be worth it.
Monday, March 28, 2005
last minute notice
Hi. I'm currently dj'ing on WZBC, and will be until 10 o'clock or so. Around 8:30 or 9 pm Fat Bobby from Oneida should be coming up to play a few songs from their forth-coming album The Wedding. There might be a little interview or something, as well. So if you read this in time, and are near a computer or a radio in the Boston area, maybe you should listen in. It could be okay.
Hi. I'm currently dj'ing on WZBC, and will be until 10 o'clock or so. Around 8:30 or 9 pm Fat Bobby from Oneida should be coming up to play a few songs from their forth-coming album The Wedding. There might be a little interview or something, as well. So if you read this in time, and are near a computer or a radio in the Boston area, maybe you should listen in. It could be okay.
let's be undecided
Some of the choices made on Prisoners of Love, Yo La Tengo’s recently released two (or three) disc greatest hits thingamajig, are just confusing. Neither of the two discs proper is longer than 58 minutes, which makes them both shorter than every YLT album since 1993’s Painful. Why make the set two-discs if you aren’t going to max out the time allotment? There’s basically fifty minutes just wasted here, almost an hour that easily could have been filled with more top-notch material, like “Nowhere Near”, “Alyda”, “My Heart’s Reflection”, or the rocking “Today is the Day”. And considering the already illogical brevity, what’s the rationale for cutting a few minutes off “Blue Line Swinger”? Or, most egregiously, including the shorter, more rocking, but far inferior version of “Big Day Coming”, instead of the unutterably amazing, trance-inducing one that leads off Painful? They obviously weren’t dealing with time constraint issues, so it’s inexcusable to omit the slow “Big Day Coming”, which, in my opinion, is one of the two or three best songs they’ve ever made. What is here is all deserving, except maybe their cover of “Nuclear War”, but there are so many other classic YLT songs that didn’t make the cut but easily could have.
The third disc gets it right, though. At 75 minutes, it’s as long as the hits discs should be. And although there are only five previously unreleased songs, there is more than enough obscure and hard to find stuff on here to satiate all but the most die-hard of YLT fans. “Pencil Test” and “Weather Shy”, in particular, are both very good, and the demo of “Big Day Coming” is a nice mix of the momentum of the fast version and the droning dreaminess of the slow one. And it’s good to hear the excellent “Mr. Ameche Plays the Stranger” again, even though one could question whether the Camp Yo La Tengo ep was really any more obscure than the Shaker single. That’d just be picking nits, though, so let’s not worry about it. About the only song I can think of that isn't on here but should be is one of those covers of "Rocket #9" they put out on that seven-inch a few years back.
Anyway, this is a fine effort, but noticeably less impressive than it could have been. It’s probably an improvement over that Guided by Voices best-of, though.
Some of the choices made on Prisoners of Love, Yo La Tengo’s recently released two (or three) disc greatest hits thingamajig, are just confusing. Neither of the two discs proper is longer than 58 minutes, which makes them both shorter than every YLT album since 1993’s Painful. Why make the set two-discs if you aren’t going to max out the time allotment? There’s basically fifty minutes just wasted here, almost an hour that easily could have been filled with more top-notch material, like “Nowhere Near”, “Alyda”, “My Heart’s Reflection”, or the rocking “Today is the Day”. And considering the already illogical brevity, what’s the rationale for cutting a few minutes off “Blue Line Swinger”? Or, most egregiously, including the shorter, more rocking, but far inferior version of “Big Day Coming”, instead of the unutterably amazing, trance-inducing one that leads off Painful? They obviously weren’t dealing with time constraint issues, so it’s inexcusable to omit the slow “Big Day Coming”, which, in my opinion, is one of the two or three best songs they’ve ever made. What is here is all deserving, except maybe their cover of “Nuclear War”, but there are so many other classic YLT songs that didn’t make the cut but easily could have.
The third disc gets it right, though. At 75 minutes, it’s as long as the hits discs should be. And although there are only five previously unreleased songs, there is more than enough obscure and hard to find stuff on here to satiate all but the most die-hard of YLT fans. “Pencil Test” and “Weather Shy”, in particular, are both very good, and the demo of “Big Day Coming” is a nice mix of the momentum of the fast version and the droning dreaminess of the slow one. And it’s good to hear the excellent “Mr. Ameche Plays the Stranger” again, even though one could question whether the Camp Yo La Tengo ep was really any more obscure than the Shaker single. That’d just be picking nits, though, so let’s not worry about it. About the only song I can think of that isn't on here but should be is one of those covers of "Rocket #9" they put out on that seven-inch a few years back.
Anyway, this is a fine effort, but noticeably less impressive than it could have been. It’s probably an improvement over that Guided by Voices best-of, though.
Weekend Exhiliration
Friday night was spent with friends in Jamaica Plain, an area that's basically Boston's version of the Mexico exhibit at EPCOT, but with Cubans and various Carribbeans instead of Mexicans, and no awesome River of Time ride. A former production manager from ABC's Wifeswap bought us a great dinner, and afterward we retired to a nearby apartment to drink and listen to music. I heard a bit of the new Oneida record, which comes out in a month or two, and it sounded pretty good. We passed lap-tops around and listened to various records and mp3s and looked for March Madness score updates. The Wifeswap guy was ecstatic over Duke's loss. Around midnight or so we caught a cab and made our way home, where I stayed up another hour or two looking over the keeper lists from my ridiculously involved and convoluted fantasy baseball league.
I wasted all Saturday on the afore-mentioned league's draft, which royally sucked, because it was the first even barely nice day in Boston since October or so, being bright and sunny and in the high forties. The draft was kind of a wash, as I failed at one of my prime objectives (get good reliable relief) and don't feel too comfortable about the other (reliable power and run produciton). I'm hoping I'll get one good season at the DH slot between Piazza and Mike Sweeney. I also ate a cajun turkey sandwich with spicy mustard and pepperjack cheese, and that, along with the copious amounts of beer from Friday and Saturday afternoon, did a major number on my stomach. This kept me from the Dead Meadow / Jennifer Gentle concert I had been sort of looking forward to.
Absolutely nothing of note has ever happened on an Easter sunday.
Sorry for the major slackage with this weblog. I'm losing interest in imposing my bad writing and boring anecdotes upon my friends.
Friday night was spent with friends in Jamaica Plain, an area that's basically Boston's version of the Mexico exhibit at EPCOT, but with Cubans and various Carribbeans instead of Mexicans, and no awesome River of Time ride. A former production manager from ABC's Wifeswap bought us a great dinner, and afterward we retired to a nearby apartment to drink and listen to music. I heard a bit of the new Oneida record, which comes out in a month or two, and it sounded pretty good. We passed lap-tops around and listened to various records and mp3s and looked for March Madness score updates. The Wifeswap guy was ecstatic over Duke's loss. Around midnight or so we caught a cab and made our way home, where I stayed up another hour or two looking over the keeper lists from my ridiculously involved and convoluted fantasy baseball league.
I wasted all Saturday on the afore-mentioned league's draft, which royally sucked, because it was the first even barely nice day in Boston since October or so, being bright and sunny and in the high forties. The draft was kind of a wash, as I failed at one of my prime objectives (get good reliable relief) and don't feel too comfortable about the other (reliable power and run produciton). I'm hoping I'll get one good season at the DH slot between Piazza and Mike Sweeney. I also ate a cajun turkey sandwich with spicy mustard and pepperjack cheese, and that, along with the copious amounts of beer from Friday and Saturday afternoon, did a major number on my stomach. This kept me from the Dead Meadow / Jennifer Gentle concert I had been sort of looking forward to.
Absolutely nothing of note has ever happened on an Easter sunday.
Sorry for the major slackage with this weblog. I'm losing interest in imposing my bad writing and boring anecdotes upon my friends.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Monday, March 21, 2005
Brief Reviews of Records I Should Have Owned Years Ago, or The Fruits of a Marathon Burning Session Whilst DJ'ing
1. Goo by Sonic Youth: Eh. Mostly boring, semilifeless murk from one of SY's occasional awkward periods. Of course it doesn't come close to Sister, EVOL, et al, but it's also surprisingly inferior to later, more assured major-label rock-hero stabs like Dirty and Washing Machine. Now that I've heard it straight through, I realize that it's not one that I've missed.
2. Upside Down ep by Yo la Tengo: A minor footnote, but a pleasant one. Basically two songs I've never heard before (the folksy, breezy "Farmer's Daughter", and the rollicking, Gun Club-esque "Out of Control"), plus alternate takes on the title track and the noise epic "Sunsquashed". Again, not the most notable YLT ep (1995's Camp Yo la Tengo might get that nod), but a worthy part of the catalogue.
3. Shapes by Polvo: Sledgehammer raga rock from '97, and the swan song from one of the most underappreciated bands of that era. Shapes sounds like the Blue Oyster Cult jamming with Ravi Shankar and Thurston Moore. Again, it's not their best work, but for the duration of a few certain tracks Polvo never rocked harder than on Shapes.
4. Self-titled ep by Polvo: Polvo's first release is worth it for "Can I Ride" alone. The eastern fixation is already noticeable, but not nearly as prevalent as on their peak releases. More straight-forward than Celebrate the New Dark Age or Today's Active Lifestyles, but mostly lacking in those records' jawdropping power and flexibility.
5. Everything Falls Apart by Husker Du: Not a fan of the hardcore stuff at all. The title track, "From the Gut", and the cover of "Sunshine Superman" are the only songs to really stand out after one listen. It's been over a decade since I've added to my Husker Du collection, and after listening to this my wariness of their early material is somewhat vindicated. I still plan on acquiring Metal Circus one day, but I'm in no hurry. Maybe not any worse than the last Husker Du cd I bought, Candy Apple Grey, which almost brought the Zen Arcade to Warehouse string of brilliance to a deadening halt.
1. Goo by Sonic Youth: Eh. Mostly boring, semilifeless murk from one of SY's occasional awkward periods. Of course it doesn't come close to Sister, EVOL, et al, but it's also surprisingly inferior to later, more assured major-label rock-hero stabs like Dirty and Washing Machine. Now that I've heard it straight through, I realize that it's not one that I've missed.
2. Upside Down ep by Yo la Tengo: A minor footnote, but a pleasant one. Basically two songs I've never heard before (the folksy, breezy "Farmer's Daughter", and the rollicking, Gun Club-esque "Out of Control"), plus alternate takes on the title track and the noise epic "Sunsquashed". Again, not the most notable YLT ep (1995's Camp Yo la Tengo might get that nod), but a worthy part of the catalogue.
3. Shapes by Polvo: Sledgehammer raga rock from '97, and the swan song from one of the most underappreciated bands of that era. Shapes sounds like the Blue Oyster Cult jamming with Ravi Shankar and Thurston Moore. Again, it's not their best work, but for the duration of a few certain tracks Polvo never rocked harder than on Shapes.
4. Self-titled ep by Polvo: Polvo's first release is worth it for "Can I Ride" alone. The eastern fixation is already noticeable, but not nearly as prevalent as on their peak releases. More straight-forward than Celebrate the New Dark Age or Today's Active Lifestyles, but mostly lacking in those records' jawdropping power and flexibility.
5. Everything Falls Apart by Husker Du: Not a fan of the hardcore stuff at all. The title track, "From the Gut", and the cover of "Sunshine Superman" are the only songs to really stand out after one listen. It's been over a decade since I've added to my Husker Du collection, and after listening to this my wariness of their early material is somewhat vindicated. I still plan on acquiring Metal Circus one day, but I'm in no hurry. Maybe not any worse than the last Husker Du cd I bought, Candy Apple Grey, which almost brought the Zen Arcade to Warehouse string of brilliance to a deadening halt.
MezEcl Radio Tonight
friends,
I'll be doing a show on WZBC again tonight, filling in for Tom Worster from seven to ten pm. I won't be playing much, if any, indie-rock; it's what they call a "No Commercial Potential" slot, sort of like a mix between WUOG's Crisis and the Unclassical Show. If you like thirty minute one-note jams and radio transmissions from deepest space you might like this shit tonight.
Oh man, how awful is that "Hollaback Girl" song? The wife bought that Gwen Stefani record back around Christmas, and very quickly we both realized that that might be the worst song of all time. The missus has come around on it, though, now claiming that it's a great work-out song. It still makes me want to destroy the very concept of sound, and that performance on SNL this past week did not do anything to change my mind.
friends,
I'll be doing a show on WZBC again tonight, filling in for Tom Worster from seven to ten pm. I won't be playing much, if any, indie-rock; it's what they call a "No Commercial Potential" slot, sort of like a mix between WUOG's Crisis and the Unclassical Show. If you like thirty minute one-note jams and radio transmissions from deepest space you might like this shit tonight.
Oh man, how awful is that "Hollaback Girl" song? The wife bought that Gwen Stefani record back around Christmas, and very quickly we both realized that that might be the worst song of all time. The missus has come around on it, though, now claiming that it's a great work-out song. It still makes me want to destroy the very concept of sound, and that performance on SNL this past week did not do anything to change my mind.
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Anybody ever listen to CNN Radio through the Internet?
I linked up about five minutes ago to listen to the steroid hearings. All I've heard is ambient crowd noise and occasional muffled jokes from whoever happens to be nearest the mic. I'm assuming it's in-between testimony, but for I know this is what it's like all the time. If so, then it's easily my favorite radio station ever.
I linked up about five minutes ago to listen to the steroid hearings. All I've heard is ambient crowd noise and occasional muffled jokes from whoever happens to be nearest the mic. I'm assuming it's in-between testimony, but for I know this is what it's like all the time. If so, then it's easily my favorite radio station ever.
click this shit to listen to Crews DJ
Apparently he's gonna be on from 10:30 until 12. Sould be sweet.
Apparently he's gonna be on from 10:30 until 12. Sould be sweet.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Movies Can Be Okay Sometimes
We watched Word Wars tonight. Alright enough, but a little dull. More effective as a companion piece to Stefan Fatsis's Word Freak than as its own free-standing entity. It's ridiculously spotty as a documentary on tournament Scrabble, but does a decent job portraying the antisocial obsession of some of the world's top players. If you've read the book you'll be familiar with players like Marlon Hill and G.I. Joel Sherman, and being able to place physical characteristics to the names helps to thoroughly flesh out the Word Freak experience. The film doesn't approach the depth and insight of the book, however, in presenting their idiosyncrasies. On its own, it's almost a failure. The missus, who hasn't read the book, was bored at times, and confused at others; the filmmakers do a poor job of explaining the peculiarities of the competitive game, and so she didn't understand much of what was happening. So basically reading Word Freak might almost be essential to enjoying this flick, and I don't know if I can recommend the movie to those who haven't done so.
Oddly enough, the only licensed music utilized are two songs by the Minutemen, "Do You Want New Wave (Or Do You Want the Truth?)" and "The Glory of Man". You can find both of those over at the Extension.
We watched Word Wars tonight. Alright enough, but a little dull. More effective as a companion piece to Stefan Fatsis's Word Freak than as its own free-standing entity. It's ridiculously spotty as a documentary on tournament Scrabble, but does a decent job portraying the antisocial obsession of some of the world's top players. If you've read the book you'll be familiar with players like Marlon Hill and G.I. Joel Sherman, and being able to place physical characteristics to the names helps to thoroughly flesh out the Word Freak experience. The film doesn't approach the depth and insight of the book, however, in presenting their idiosyncrasies. On its own, it's almost a failure. The missus, who hasn't read the book, was bored at times, and confused at others; the filmmakers do a poor job of explaining the peculiarities of the competitive game, and so she didn't understand much of what was happening. So basically reading Word Freak might almost be essential to enjoying this flick, and I don't know if I can recommend the movie to those who haven't done so.
Oddly enough, the only licensed music utilized are two songs by the Minutemen, "Do You Want New Wave (Or Do You Want the Truth?)" and "The Glory of Man". You can find both of those over at the Extension.
I Wanna Be Adored
I wasn't there, but found this pretty interesting. The first Stone Roses album is one of my favorites of all time.
check out this review of Ian Brown from last night at GAMH , former Stones Roses singer...
Within a couple of minutes the band began "Made Of Stone" once more.
Again Ian stopped and went off to have words with the monitor person.
Two-thirds of the way through the third attempt at "Made Of Stone,"
some idiot jumped up on stage and barrelled into Ian's knees, wiping
him out and sending him to the ground. Ian, understandably angry,
started kicking the idiot. And punching the idiot. Ian was joined by
his bass player. And guitarist. And drummer. And keyboardist. And
percussionist. You could say it was overkill, especially since the
idiot, laying on the stage, did not appear to be fighting back.
It looked like they were trying to kill the guy.
Up came the house lights.
Finally a couple of security guys made it up on stage and pulled the
now-pummelled idiot toward the exit to the left of the stage. Ian
wasn't done pounding the idiot, however, and continued swinging at and
kicking the idiot even as security had him nearly off the stage. One
large, blond security guy peeled Ian off the idiot. Ian and the
security guy exchanged words, then Ian tried to grab the idiot again,
and the security guy grabbed Ian again. Ian attacked the security
guy. Ian was joined in his attack by his bass player. And guitarist.
And drummer. And percussionist. AND as-yet-unseen trumpet player.
Attacked by the entire band, the blond security guy (the only security
left on stage as the others had taken the idiot away) went down, and
the entire band proceeded to punch and kick him. It looked like they
were trying to kill the guy. By the time other GAMH security arrived,
the blond security guy was bleeding from his head.
The band left the stage.
I'd never seen anything like this in San Francisco where the locals,
even at rock shows, tend to be mellow and calm, almost to a fault. I
was so stunned by the goings on that I failed to take a single photo
of the melee until the tail end, when the blond security guy was
having his head stomped by the percussionist.
During this downtime I learned that prior to the show my friend John
had been in the ticket line next to the now-pummelled idiot. Said
idiot was apparently a little out of his mind, from England, and a
huge Ian Brown fan who spent his time in line going on and on the
greatness of Ian Brown.
Twenty minutes passed before the crowd cheered the band's return. I
did not cheer. I wasn't sure how I felt about it. Ian had every
right to be mad at the idiot, but regardless of what the blond
security guy said to Ian, he was doing his job and did not deserve to
be beaten. I looked around at the cheering crowd and thought, "These
guys just beat up a guy who hadn't done anything wrong..." It was
bewildering.
Before the first song of act 2, Ian made matters worse by asking if
anyone in the crowd wanted to fight. He invited potential pugilists
up to the stage, even pointing out individuals, "You, with the
glasses, come up, I'll fight you." It was distasteful at best. The
crowd had just suffered through multiple delays -- the wat to remind
everyone that we were there to have a good time dancing around to
music was surel not to invite more fighting.
Then he took it a step further and asked if there were any members of
the security staff that wanted to fight. He repeated his question
several times before finally getting around to starting a song.
I wasn't there, but found this pretty interesting. The first Stone Roses album is one of my favorites of all time.
check out this review of Ian Brown from last night at GAMH , former Stones Roses singer...
Within a couple of minutes the band began "Made Of Stone" once more.
Again Ian stopped and went off to have words with the monitor person.
Two-thirds of the way through the third attempt at "Made Of Stone,"
some idiot jumped up on stage and barrelled into Ian's knees, wiping
him out and sending him to the ground. Ian, understandably angry,
started kicking the idiot. And punching the idiot. Ian was joined by
his bass player. And guitarist. And drummer. And keyboardist. And
percussionist. You could say it was overkill, especially since the
idiot, laying on the stage, did not appear to be fighting back.
It looked like they were trying to kill the guy.
Up came the house lights.
Finally a couple of security guys made it up on stage and pulled the
now-pummelled idiot toward the exit to the left of the stage. Ian
wasn't done pounding the idiot, however, and continued swinging at and
kicking the idiot even as security had him nearly off the stage. One
large, blond security guy peeled Ian off the idiot. Ian and the
security guy exchanged words, then Ian tried to grab the idiot again,
and the security guy grabbed Ian again. Ian attacked the security
guy. Ian was joined in his attack by his bass player. And guitarist.
And drummer. And percussionist. AND as-yet-unseen trumpet player.
Attacked by the entire band, the blond security guy (the only security
left on stage as the others had taken the idiot away) went down, and
the entire band proceeded to punch and kick him. It looked like they
were trying to kill the guy. By the time other GAMH security arrived,
the blond security guy was bleeding from his head.
The band left the stage.
I'd never seen anything like this in San Francisco where the locals,
even at rock shows, tend to be mellow and calm, almost to a fault. I
was so stunned by the goings on that I failed to take a single photo
of the melee until the tail end, when the blond security guy was
having his head stomped by the percussionist.
During this downtime I learned that prior to the show my friend John
had been in the ticket line next to the now-pummelled idiot. Said
idiot was apparently a little out of his mind, from England, and a
huge Ian Brown fan who spent his time in line going on and on the
greatness of Ian Brown.
Twenty minutes passed before the crowd cheered the band's return. I
did not cheer. I wasn't sure how I felt about it. Ian had every
right to be mad at the idiot, but regardless of what the blond
security guy said to Ian, he was doing his job and did not deserve to
be beaten. I looked around at the cheering crowd and thought, "These
guys just beat up a guy who hadn't done anything wrong..." It was
bewildering.
Before the first song of act 2, Ian made matters worse by asking if
anyone in the crowd wanted to fight. He invited potential pugilists
up to the stage, even pointing out individuals, "You, with the
glasses, come up, I'll fight you." It was distasteful at best. The
crowd had just suffered through multiple delays -- the wat to remind
everyone that we were there to have a good time dancing around to
music was surel not to invite more fighting.
Then he took it a step further and asked if there were any members of
the security staff that wanted to fight. He repeated his question
several times before finally getting around to starting a song.
Monday, March 14, 2005
MezEcl Radio
Thanks for listening on Friday, everybody, and for commenting so thoroughly. It was a lot of fun. The Spinitron play-list deal wasn't updating properly while I was up there, but it got worked out later on, and so if you'd like to see a list of what I played you can find it here. Also, if Crews, Crog, or anybody else involved in college radio is interested, Spinitron, which was developed by Tom Worster at WZBC, is available for other stations. It's pretty useful.
I'll be back on the air next Monday night, March 21st, from 7:00 to 10:00 pm, filling in for Tom. It's a "No Commercial Potential" shift, though, so instead of Athens and Triangle indie-rock hits I'll have to play an hour of some guy whacking a croquet ball with a dolphin bone, or something.
Thanks for listening on Friday, everybody, and for commenting so thoroughly. It was a lot of fun. The Spinitron play-list deal wasn't updating properly while I was up there, but it got worked out later on, and so if you'd like to see a list of what I played you can find it here. Also, if Crews, Crog, or anybody else involved in college radio is interested, Spinitron, which was developed by Tom Worster at WZBC, is available for other stations. It's pretty useful.
I'll be back on the air next Monday night, March 21st, from 7:00 to 10:00 pm, filling in for Tom. It's a "No Commercial Potential" shift, though, so instead of Athens and Triangle indie-rock hits I'll have to play an hour of some guy whacking a croquet ball with a dolphin bone, or something.
Friday, March 11, 2005
The Future Of Head, Or Why OJ Is Sadly Mistaken
Explain to me why you don't like these guys. I'm not saying that I can't fathom how anyone couldn't like something I like (a la Hillary!), but I've known your musical tastes for eight years and it would seem to me like you would be totally down.
Saw 'em last night. Let me get the only negative thing I can think of out of the way- they need to fire their roadie. The dude tuned every guitar three or four times before they played and I was getting pretty fucking bored. But here's the real offense: the dude even tuned all the guitars for the encore! Good god. I have never seen that before, or at least I've never noticed it. It kind of defeats the purpose of people clapping and cheering trying to get the band to come back out of a roadie's up there tuning all the guitars.
These dudes can jam. I don't mean "play good", but they actually jammed a lot, and most of jamming was done with their mouths. Four part harmony jams. "Let's just riff on this chord for a while and jam some sort of barber shop shit." Did it. Being in a band that actually did have four vocalists singing at once every once in a while, I can tell you that it's nearly impossible to do, especially when everyone is playing an instrument at the same time. These guys were incredible at singing. And these harmonies are happening for the vast majority of every song.
The drummer was easily the best singing drummer I've ever seen, and that includes Georgia Hubley. Georgia is one of my favorite vocalists, but she is not singing the fourth part of a four part harmony while playing all these fast songs with tons of weird fills and shit. She's a pretty straight forward drummer. The guy also felt the need to make noises every once in a while. Usually they were yips and squeaks, but one time to end a song he made a low "BRRRRRRRRRK!" noise. I was like "what the fuck was that? did the PA break?". And then the guitarist said, looking at the drummer, "what the fuck was that?" "I was trying to make an evil sounding noise." "It sounded like a duck dying." "I know. It didn't work out. I won't be trying it again." "Well, it sounded okay..." "I'm fine with it."
They certainly talked a ton, usually to make fun of each other, but they were just "having a laugh" because they'd hug each other and whisper to each other mid song. The longest talking came at the best part of the show, where they draw an imaginary line down the middle of the audience and teach one side to sing the 2nd guitarist's vocal part, and the other side was taught the bassist's vocal part. This quickly degenerated into a popularity contest between the 2nd guitarist and the bassist, with the bassist clearly winning and the 2nd guitarist getting mock-pissed. They were talking serious shit about each other, and the guitarist cut it off eventually, starting the song. The whole crowd attempted the vocal parts, with the other guy singing the main vocals over this, and it was fucking awesome. The song was Hounds Of Love.
The shit-talking elevated into the band members actually sabotaging each other's songs, or parts of songs. The next time the 2nd guitarist was the featured vocalist, the bassist sabotaged him by talking shit about him WHILE HE WAS SINGING HIS PART, IN MID-SONG. Awesome. These guys know how to impress me. Then later during the encore they covered a great Television Personalities song (they have great taste, too), the 2nd guitarist totally sabotaged the other guitarist during the quiet beginning. I thought for sure they would start over, considering the guy quit singing the part and starting talking shit back, but he kept playing the chords and they broke into the song once he was finished berating his bandmate.
Oh yeah, the last song in the regular set was called "Piece of Crap". It reminded me of Crewsin' For A Brewsin' and was a pretty good song. Go see these guys if you can. They really know how to do it.
Explain to me why you don't like these guys. I'm not saying that I can't fathom how anyone couldn't like something I like (a la Hillary!), but I've known your musical tastes for eight years and it would seem to me like you would be totally down.
Saw 'em last night. Let me get the only negative thing I can think of out of the way- they need to fire their roadie. The dude tuned every guitar three or four times before they played and I was getting pretty fucking bored. But here's the real offense: the dude even tuned all the guitars for the encore! Good god. I have never seen that before, or at least I've never noticed it. It kind of defeats the purpose of people clapping and cheering trying to get the band to come back out of a roadie's up there tuning all the guitars.
These dudes can jam. I don't mean "play good", but they actually jammed a lot, and most of jamming was done with their mouths. Four part harmony jams. "Let's just riff on this chord for a while and jam some sort of barber shop shit." Did it. Being in a band that actually did have four vocalists singing at once every once in a while, I can tell you that it's nearly impossible to do, especially when everyone is playing an instrument at the same time. These guys were incredible at singing. And these harmonies are happening for the vast majority of every song.
The drummer was easily the best singing drummer I've ever seen, and that includes Georgia Hubley. Georgia is one of my favorite vocalists, but she is not singing the fourth part of a four part harmony while playing all these fast songs with tons of weird fills and shit. She's a pretty straight forward drummer. The guy also felt the need to make noises every once in a while. Usually they were yips and squeaks, but one time to end a song he made a low "BRRRRRRRRRK!" noise. I was like "what the fuck was that? did the PA break?". And then the guitarist said, looking at the drummer, "what the fuck was that?" "I was trying to make an evil sounding noise." "It sounded like a duck dying." "I know. It didn't work out. I won't be trying it again." "Well, it sounded okay..." "I'm fine with it."
They certainly talked a ton, usually to make fun of each other, but they were just "having a laugh" because they'd hug each other and whisper to each other mid song. The longest talking came at the best part of the show, where they draw an imaginary line down the middle of the audience and teach one side to sing the 2nd guitarist's vocal part, and the other side was taught the bassist's vocal part. This quickly degenerated into a popularity contest between the 2nd guitarist and the bassist, with the bassist clearly winning and the 2nd guitarist getting mock-pissed. They were talking serious shit about each other, and the guitarist cut it off eventually, starting the song. The whole crowd attempted the vocal parts, with the other guy singing the main vocals over this, and it was fucking awesome. The song was Hounds Of Love.
The shit-talking elevated into the band members actually sabotaging each other's songs, or parts of songs. The next time the 2nd guitarist was the featured vocalist, the bassist sabotaged him by talking shit about him WHILE HE WAS SINGING HIS PART, IN MID-SONG. Awesome. These guys know how to impress me. Then later during the encore they covered a great Television Personalities song (they have great taste, too), the 2nd guitarist totally sabotaged the other guitarist during the quiet beginning. I thought for sure they would start over, considering the guy quit singing the part and starting talking shit back, but he kept playing the chords and they broke into the song once he was finished berating his bandmate.
Oh yeah, the last song in the regular set was called "Piece of Crap". It reminded me of Crewsin' For A Brewsin' and was a pretty good song. Go see these guys if you can. They really know how to do it.
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
radio campaign
Mesmerization Eclipse Radio debuts this Friday, at 3 pm, on WZBC, Boston College's community run radio station. Expect to hear some of the stuff we've written about here and at the extension. The station claims to have streams over at its site, but I've never been able to get them to work. Currently this is a one-time deal, but hopefully something regular will start up in the summer.
Mesmerization Eclipse Radio debuts this Friday, at 3 pm, on WZBC, Boston College's community run radio station. Expect to hear some of the stuff we've written about here and at the extension. The station claims to have streams over at its site, but I've never been able to get them to work. Currently this is a one-time deal, but hopefully something regular will start up in the summer.
Monday, March 07, 2005
My First Completely Wrong Prediction of the Season
Joel Pineiro will with the AL Cy Young Award this season, provided that Johan Santana does not repeat.
Joel Pineiro will with the AL Cy Young Award this season, provided that Johan Santana does not repeat.
Friday, March 04, 2005
chimps really fuckin' hate cake
This dude should've known better than to bring a cake into a monkey sanctuary.
This dude should've known better than to bring a cake into a monkey sanctuary.
St. James Davis had severe facial injuries and would require extensive surgery in an attempt to reattach his nose, Dr. Maureen Martin of Kern Medical Center told KGET-TV of Bakersfield. His testicles and a foot also were severed, Kern County Sheriff's Cmdr. Hal Chealander told The Bakersfield Californian.
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
making the commute worthwhile
This morning I saw a woman open a can of Natty Light on the Red Line, after spending ten minutes asking everyone around her if she could borrow a cellphone. Nobody responded, so she told us we could all rot in hell, and popped the top. That lady is livin'.
Two new posts up at the Extension, and a third one will follow in just a bit.
This morning I saw a woman open a can of Natty Light on the Red Line, after spending ten minutes asking everyone around her if she could borrow a cellphone. Nobody responded, so she told us we could all rot in hell, and popped the top. That lady is livin'.
Two new posts up at the Extension, and a third one will follow in just a bit.
