Sorry To Be Tardy To The Party

Sometimes I miss stuff. We all do. Don't sleep, so to speak. The point of this is that I am now a fan of Band of Horses. I avoided the hype last year, but finally got around to listening to the debut album, Everything All the Time, and I'm really impressed. I read somewhere that it can be described as a cross between the Flaming Lips and Neil Young, and I guess that could be apt. I'm not much of a Flaming Lips fan, though, and I can only handle Neil Young in small doses, but I listened to this Band of Horses album three times since yesterday. It's that good. They opened for Modest Mouse a few weeks back and I missed the show due to the fact that I thought tickets were too pricey and I already had plans to see The Rentals. I don't regret my decision, but if the shows were on separate days, and I knew then how great Band of Horses is, I most likely would've bitten the bullet and gone to both shows. Here's their video for The Funeral:




My favorite song on the album. The song and video are pretty depressing, though, but that's life. I vaguely remember catching this on MTV2's Subterranean at some point last year. Apparently it didn't wow me then as much as it does now. I hope to do a write-up on the Ayres/Catchdubs mix I alluded to in the last post some time in the near future. I enjoyed it, and I'd like to spread the word. Also, the next post will have another great video, from a group that couldn't be any more stylistically different than Band of Horses. So, be on the lookout for that.

Until Then,
Later.

M.I.A. Gives Me A Headache

In other news, I'm slightly disappointed with the new Madlib, Beat Konducta in India. I posted the preview video on here a while back, and I was super pumped to hear it since the first Beat Konducta was so outstanding. So, I throw the new one on the iPod for a fun run the other day and I think it actually slowed me down. Maybe I need to listen to it in a more subdued environment, but I just wasn't feeling it, so to speak. I mentioned before that I had a favorite song based on the short video, and I now know that the song is entitled (Variations). It is easily the best tune on the record. at least as of today.

Anyway, today I plan on a fun run soundtrack of a DJ Ayres/Nick Catchdubs mix entitled Superfriends that I grabbed from brooklynradio.net. Maybe I'll give a description in a later post.

Until Then,
Later.

Suckamufagus

So I picked the car up yesterday. Four hundred dollars later and my brakes are fixed. However, I still don't have a passenger mirror. Let's hope that doesn't set me back another couple hundred.

In other news, I finally saw the Simpsons Movie last night, since I got a free ticket in my specially marked package of the Season Nine DVD. I gotta say, it was fine. Not great by any stretch of the imagination, but perfectly serviceable. I kinda wanted to see a show at the Beachland Ballroom last night, but yesterday was my last chance to use my free ticket. And, a big F YOU goes to the Willoughby theatre that made me pay an extra quarter since the "free" ticket was only good for $8.50 and the price to get in was $8.75. I wonder if that means that this area has higher-than-average ticket prices, or maybe the people behind the Simpsons Movie were just cheapos.

The nonsensical title of this post is a reference to Riley Martin from the Howard Stern show. I recently started listening regularly for the first time since 1996. I'm back baby! In the future, these posts will probably be peppered with Stern quotes/moments/etc. I'd say that the Iron Sheik's appearances caused me to jump back on the wagon, so to speak. Him and some other regulars are gonna be at the Agora Theatre pretty soon, but ticket prices are too steep for me.

I'd love to stay and chat, as it were, but it's time to get ready for a long and eventful weekend. I'll go into more detail when there's more time.

Until Then,
Later.

Professor Murder and whatever else

So I didn't make it to the Blondes show last night. I was quite sad, but didn't feel like driving my death trap of a car to any place other than the mechanic. And since they don't fix cars at the Beachland Tavern, I wasn't there. However, I did finally take it somewhere to have it looked at, so hopefully everything turns out ok.

In other news, I mentioned yesterday that there would be Professor Murder pics today. So, without further ado, here they are:

Here's one of the band.


And here's another one. I had a wonderful time, but it had to be the first show maybe ever where I felt OLD. The kind of feeling where you might actually be the oldest person there besides the bartenders. The feeling you get when you don't want to tell the cute girl you're talking to how old you are because you're worried she'll give you a nice smile and walk away, never to be seen again. Yes, the 18-20 crowd was out in full force at the b-side Sunday night. I decided that I wasn't going to drink too much, since I got pulled over on Thursday after the Rentals show (nothing bad happened, just a f'n hassle and a half). Anyway, I had to maneuver my way around the water cooler all night since it was getting so much use from the young'ins. Plus, the band has very little material, so the set was ultra-short. But, well worth the $5. I missed em at the Ratatat show on St. Patrick's Day, so it was cool to finally see them. Good stuff.

And, I got my first comment on yesterday's post. AND, it was from someone I'd never even met before (to my knowledge). I guess that means that people might actually be reading this thing. With that in mind, maybe I'll try a little harder to make these a little more quality filled. So, since I haven't done one of these in a while, here's the tracklisting for my forthcoming fun run! In ABC order.

1. !!! - Heart of Hearts (Somebody was playing stuff at the b-side as Professor Murder was setting up. This song was heard, and it's my favorite from Myth Takes. I'm still miffed that I missed !!! at the Grog this past May. I haven't heard a lot of hype for Myth Takes, but it's one of my favs of 2007.

2. 2 Live Crew - The Fuck Shop (Mainly for the GnR intro and the Van Halen riff. And of course the filth.)

3. A-Trak - Get Em High vs. Heartbeats (Mash-ups tend to have a extremely limited shelf life, but this one's been in the rotation for a few months. Maybe it's because I'm a fan of both songs. That always helps. This and the Jay-Z/A-Ha one from The Rub's It's The Motherfucking Remix Vol. 2 are probably my all-time favorites.

4. Bobby Brown - Every Little Step (Self explanatory.)

5. Boz Scaggs - Lido Shuffle (Play this in ANY bar worth a shit and watch the place go berzerk. I'm not kidding. I was at one once and the dude behind the bar gave me the biggest smirk/head nod ever and turned it the fuck UP. Must be the woah's.)

6. Depeche Mode - Never Let Me Down Again (For my $, the best DM song ever. Peak period Depeche Mode and peak period New Order cannot be f'd with, no matter how many goofs jack it.)

7. Gil Mantera's Party Dream - Super Plus Ice Festival (The day they finally get off their duffs and play this live is the day I'll stop screaming for it at every show. GMPD is just a little more proof that Youngstown Rocks The Motherfucking Hardest.)

8. The Hives - A Little More for Little You (A little while back, I mentioned that this was my favorite song from Tyrannosaurus Hives. It still is.)

9. LCD Soundsystem - Tribulations (Until the second album came out, this was my favorite LCD Soundsystem tune. Now it's probably Someone Great. Also, Tribulations was played while Professor Murder was setting up at the b-side Sunday.)

10. Michael Jonzon - Burnin Up (One of the most played songs on the old iPod. I'd have to say that this one might be the highlight of Chromeo's Un Joli Mix Pour Toi mix CD. And's that's saying something.)

11. New Order - Temptation (Another jam played Sunday night. I think I've heard this one every time I've ever been at the b-side as a matter of fact. Not my favorite New Order song (that would be a tie between the Substance versions of Bizarre Love Triangle and True Faith) but I still like this one.)

12. Professor Murder - Free Stress Test (I was in the mood.)

13. Public Enemy - Brothers Gonna Work It Out (PE is a perennial workout favorite. It always gets me going. This one, in my opinion, is the most underrated PE song in history. However, my iPod has the version from their Greatest Hits CD, so it doesn't have the awesome intro contained on Fear of a Black Planet. Win some, lose some.)

14. Rod Stewart - Young Turks (I tend to couple this with Lido Shuffle. If you see me out and one comes on the jukebox, the other's not far behind.)

I think (hope) that's it. Let's hope the car gets fixed ASAP.

Until Then,
Later.

Return of the Blog

I really need to start writing these every day again. The pics from the Rubber City Rebels/Nimrods show will probably never make it to the internet, but they weren't all that great anyway (the pics, not the show). Anyway, here's some stuff that happened since the last post:

The Punk Rock Holocaust thing was a total bust. The guy at the Rock Hall tried to make me and Tommy pay the $20 fee to get in just to see the movies. F THAT. So we took a $2 tour of Johnny Cash's tour bus instead. Not quite as fun, but whatever. Then, since we had an entire day to kill before the New Bomb Turks, we bummed around Lakewood, checked out My Mind's Eye Records (I'd never been there before and was impressed), and went back to Tommy's to watch Three O'Clock High.

The New Bomb Turks sounded great. Since it was at the Rock Hall, I figured they'd be anti-camera. But, they weren't, and I didn't bring mine. So, no pics.

Thursday was a busy day for rock. Modest Mouse played at whatever Nautica's called now, but tickets were way overpriced (somewhere in the $25-$35 range). The Agora had a ska extravaganza that would've been the show of the year if the year was 1997. Less Than Jake/Reel Big Fish/Streetlight Manifesto/Against All Authority(?) was probably fun, but also overpriced (in the $20-$25 range). I, however, decided to go to the House of Blues to catch the Rentals. I'd been a fan since 1995, but never got to see them live. And, for my $, the day Matt Sharp left Weezer is the day they lost most of their talent. The House of Blues doesn't allow cameras, so no pics. Trust me, though, it was a good show. Best part: 2 for Tuesday was in full effect for the Rentals, so tix were about $10 after service fees and all that. Best part for me: Tommy's girlfriend Jen (author of the awesome Food Blog that matters) picked up the tab so it was free for me! I definitely owe her one.

Then last night, Professor Murder performed at the b-side liquor lounge under the Grog Shop. Some old friends were seen, dancing was done, and fun was had. Pics tomorrow. Hollywood Blondes tonight at the Beachland Tavern. I hope my car doesn't die before I get there. Let's have fun.

Until Then,
Later.

A to the Z

So I have a minute here to update this thing (finally) before I get back to work in preparation for tomorrow's festivities. The Rock N Roll Hall of Fame is doing this Punk Rock Holocaust thing all day tomorrow, and it includes a set from the New Bomb Turks. In all the years they've been around, I never got to see em, so I'm pretty pumped.

There's a lot to talk about, but I'll just touch on a couple things and maybe do a bigger update soon. And, I gotta get back to work. The Rubber City Rebels/Nimrods show Saturday at the Lime Spider was rockin, although a little overpriced. It's too bad that it'll most likely be the last show I see there, since they're closing soon. I snapped a few pics, but haven't had time to post any yet. All in due time.

In other news, I caught the TNA Hard Justice (EASILY the gayest name for any major event ever) pay per view. The finish of the main event was awful, but overall I'd say the show was worth seeing. I read some stuff on the internet that the show was so bad that it effectively killed the company, but I don't believe it. Some people are just drama queens, I guess.

And, I just got done watching this wonderful piece of film as I worked (the entire advertised video, not just the trailer):



Sometimes these shoot interviews can be a little TOO real. Let's hope this tape stays out of the hands of children. Oh, and the Rentals on Thursday. Let's have fun.

Until Then,
Later.

True Hardcore

A few posts back, I mentioned that I had a 30% off coupon from Borders and I planned to use it on either the Monster Squad DVD or the recently reissued The Freed Man CD from Sebadoh. The coupon expired yesterday, so I decided to use it yesterday on the Sebadoh disc. I decided on it for two reasons. Reason number one being that unbeknownst to me until I saw it in person, the Monster Squad DVD comes in one of those paper covers over the case that seem to be quite popular these days. Borders puts those plastic guards over their (non literature) merchandise to discourage theft, and the case tore a little of the paper cover. I like my stuff to be in 100% mint condition at all times, so my choice was made. Reason number two was simply that Sebadoh was cheaper.

The total after the 30% discount and tax came to $10 and change. I didn't want a bunch of bills, so I gave the lady $21. I was in a big hurry to get to the gym (I'll get to that later) so I wasn't paying attention when she only gave me change back with no bills. It wasn't until a few hours later that I realized I was missing a ten dollar bill. I was just gonna let it slide, but I was cajoled into giving Borders a call to straighten it out. I called em today and everything's cool. I got my ten bucks a few hours ago, and I couldn't be happier. The albums good, too. I'm never been the biggest Sebadoh fan (mainly because I never really knew anyone that listened to them when they mattered) but the tape loops and samples remind me of a hip hop record. However, this isn't the reissue I pegged as almost completely unnecessary yesterday. That'll get mention later.

The next order of business was the YMCA. In the summertime, I very much prefer to run outside. However, it was raining so I made the trip to the gym. I'm not crazy about the place, since the clientele seems to skew toward parents and their children. Not a lot of people my age around those parts. So after writing them off for years and years, I decided to give the Hives a try and stocked the iPod shuffle with the one-two punch of Veni Vidi Vicious and Tyrannosaurus Hives. The maelstrom of rock that followed was incredibly unexpected. The major conclusion that I came to after listening to the albums had to be that the major single of each album (Hate to Say I Told You So and Walk Idiot Walk respectively) are easily the worst songs on each album. Best songs (as of today): Outsmarted for VVV and A Little More for Little You for TH. That'll probably change a few dozen times as I get more acquainted with the albums. One more thing: I'll be the first to admit that I had been all wrong about the Hives. Sometimes I get surprised like that, and get proved very, very wrong. That happened with the Hives.

In other news, I recently obtained a copy of the reissue of the seminal album from MF DOOM known as MM...Food?. It went out of print a few years back for sample violations, but the new version is almost 100% intact. The only noticeable difference occurred in the last track, Kookies. It sounds like a remix, and the Cookie Monster sample is gone. The beat also sounds completely different. Needless to say, the remix is horribly inferior to the original. There are so many Fantastic Four samples and other uncredited stuff on the original that I was actually surprised that it stayed intact. I didn't get to watch the accompanying DVD, but it's not worth whatever they're charging for the album. Instead of wasting your money on the crappy reissue, why not get at me for a original 2004 version unopened! If anyone wants it, let me know and I'll make it happen. In closing, I'll post a video to watch. I'm pretty sure this one is taken from the aforementioned DVD. Here's MF DOOM in a good quality live performance of Beef Rapp:



Until Then,
Later.

A Late One

So yesterday I forgot to mention that there was (in my opinion) a better version of Motor Away than the one on Alien Lanes. Ordinarily I wouldn't make a deal out of it, but I mentioned that the superior version of Game of Pricks could be found on the Tigerbomb EP. Today I was listening to the GBV Greatest Hits album I mentioned yesterday and I noticed the different version of Motor Away. It can probably be found on one of the Suitcase compilations, in addition to the Greatest Hits album. And, I wasn't gonna put any live footage up here (despite the fact that Guided By Voices puts on one heck of a live show), but I will anyway. Most live online video has awful sound, but this sound is actually quite good. Plus, it has the some infamous Pollard high kicks & even a mic twirl for all the screamo kids. Here's Game of Pricks (the Tigerbomb version):



In other news, I just got done watching TNA iMPACT! and it was better then I had read. Generally, I hate to read spoilers about anything online, but for whatever reason, I did this week. The spoilers stated that Samoa Joe would be having an on-air affair with the wife of his opponent this Sunday on pay per view, Kurt Angle. I had absolutely no interest in seeing that, and I'm glad it didn't happen. The PPV itself actually doesn't sound half bad, and the match I'm most looking forward to would be the long awaited meeting of the Steiner Brothers and Team 3-D, formerly known as the Dudley Boyz. I talked at length about this match in past posts, so I won't rehash it. Let's just say I'm really excited to see it.

Speaking of wrestling, I came across a copy of WCW Great American Bash 1992 (with preshow!!!) recently. I literally tried to order that in July of 1992 while visiting family in New Mexico. So, over fifteen years later, I finally get to see it. Was it worth the wait? Yes and no.

Since this post is already getting quite long, the synopsis is gonna be brief. The entire PPV was built around two things: the NWA World Tag Team Title tournament and Sting defending the WCW World Title against my favorite wrestler at the time (besides Ric Flair) Big Van Vader. So the best team in the tourney, the Steiner Brothers, get eliminated in the first round on the Clash of the Champions about three weeks before the pay per view (on free TV mind you) so they're not wrestling on the show. It should be said that the first round was on the Clash and the other rounds would be on the pay per view. Then it's announced during the show that they lost the WCW world tag team belts on a non-televised event to Dr. Death Steve Williams and Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy, who also eliminated the Steiners at the Clash. So Williams and Gordy are a sure thing to win it all, right? Right. They win the whole thing and unify the WCW and NWA titles immediately, thus rendering the entire tourney meaningless. And, to add insult to injury, there's a THIRD tag belt that gets little to no mention. The United States tag team champs, The Fabulous Freebirds, get tossed right away to a Japanese team that didn't even work for WCW full time! But, Vader decimates Sting to win the World title, so that was awesome. I would have LOVED to see that live in 92, but what are ya gonna do?

So, on tap for tomorrow, be prepared to read about how I got screwed out of $10 at Borders, which new reissue is almost completely unnecessary, and my new favorite band that had a huge hit five years ago. I'll leave with another video, one that got me dancing like crazy just a few hours ago. It's by Hot Chip, the group that may have given me the show of 2006, with their song Keep Fallin' (or Keep Falling as it's called in the video, possibly from the MTV of some other country) from their first full length Coming on Strong. It's another live version, but the sound's spectacular, and this version's a lot more beefed-up than the album one. I like it. Here it is:




Until Then,
Later.

(I Wanna Be a) Dumblogger

I was supposed to have my car looked at today but that fell through. In the meantime, some work got done and I reacquainted myself with Guided By Voices. I can't decide which is better, Alien Lanes or Under the Bushes Under the Stars. I can guess the general consensus would most likely put Alien Lanes well ahead, but I'm not the general consensus.

Under the Bushes Under the Stars has one of my all-time favorite GBV songs, and, for a brief period of time last year, it was the most played song on my iPod. It's called The Official Ironmen Rally Song, and here's the video for it:



Alien Lanes had its fair share of great tunes too. Two of them were Auditorium and Motor Away. A video was made combining the two, and here it is (although I prefer Motor Away immensely over Auditorium):



In addition, my favorite track from Alien Lanes was rerecorded, and I prefer that over the album version. The song in question would be Game of Pricks, and the superior version appears on the 1995 EP Tigerbomb, and also on their 2004 Greatest Hits album entitled Human Amusements at Hourly Rates. Good stuff. They didn't film a video for that one, unfortunately. And, I probably won't ever be able to decide which album is better. But, I guess it was a good excuse to post the videos.

In other news, I watched ECW last night live from Youngstown. The new arena looks really nice, and it was cool to hear Tazz say the word "Y-Town" on national television, but it was otherwise fairly uneventful. I don't watch much current wrestling outside of TNA and last night's show only reinforced why. It's great to see Youngstown get such a big event, though, and the arena looked full, so that's great too.

And, the Warped Tour stops in Pissburgh today, and hopefully it doesn't get rained out like it did in Cleveland. I didn't go to either, but I knew people that went to each. The Warped Tour kinda passed me by a long time ago, and that's quite alright. I had a load of fun each time I went, so I'd rather remember that then go now and not have such a nice time. Let the kids have their fun, and all that.

Until Then,
Later.

Accidents Will Happen

So I was gonna write one of these yesterday, but I got in a minor traffic accident. Nothing too bad, and no injuries to either party. The other involved party couldn't be nicer/cooler and it made everything a lot easier. But, I was already in a bit of a money pinch before & this isn't gonna help matters. Elvis Costello wrote a song that describes the situation quite well. You may recognize the title of said song as the title of this post. Although not as spectacular as This Year's Model, Armed Forces was and is a great record in it's own right. But enough blabbing! Let's watch a video!



I mentioned this on MySpace last night and I'll mention it here now. When I was but a young boy, I'd get sad from time to time like all young boys tend to do. My mother had a song that she'd sing to me and it always cheered me up. The chorus to the above video is that song. I never knew the origin of the song until last night when I came across it while reading a wrestling message board. You read that right. I wanted to read other's opinions of Raw (I watched it for the first time in quite a while and thought it was quite good) and someone said that WWE Superstar Santino Marella sounded like Joe Dolce, with a link to the above video. Well, I was curious to know who this Joe Dolce character was, and to my astonishment, he was the original performer of the song I just got done describing. He's also from Painesville, and I was born in the town. So, maybe my mom knew the song that way. Who knows?

Speaking of wrestling, Smackdown! & ECW are in Youngstown tonight. I'll be watching, mainly to see if anyone I know gets on TV (and that's the only reason...). So, look out for that.

Until Then,
Later.

Blog.Repeat.Blog

I usually don't post stuff on the weekends, but this weekend's gonna be pretty non-eventful since I don't have any $. I was too busy yesterday with work and stuff, so I wasn't able do one of these. So, this post will mostly be about yesterday. Today, though, I slept in until about 2:30pm since I couldn't fall asleep until 6am last night/this morning. That's extra shitty since I didn't wake up in time to put my check in the bank so that I'd have money to do stuff today & tomorrow. Shit happens. Enough of the sob story, here's some stuff to read about:

So yesterday I jumped on MySpace and read a bulletin from The Hold Steady that they were performing at Lollapalooza and that their performance would be broadcast live for free on the internet. Now, I remember watching a webcast of Lollapalooza before, but I couldn't remember if it was 2005 or 2006. A quick glance online confirms that I watched a few bands on 07/25/05. I missed the Ponys and Dinosaur Jr. (I also missed Dinosaur Jr. in Cleveland around the same time frame and I'm still super pissed about that, since they haven't been back since and don't show any desire to want to come back), but I caught the Arcade Fire and Spoon. I was kinda on the fence as it pertained to the Arcade Fire at the time, but their performance converted me. I don't care how many idiots pontificate on the brilliance of Funeral, I'm always gonna love it. I got the new(er) one from the library a while back, though, but I never gave it a listen. I guess I haven't been in the mood for that stuff lately.

One band I'm always in the mood for is Spoon. I caught their set 2 years back, and it was shortly after they played the Beachland Ballroom as part of the CMJ thing that happened in 05. Since I'm pretty much a dork, I wrote down Spoon's setlist as I watched them online. I didn't do that at the Beachland since I was having too much fun. And, for some unknown reason (maybe because I knew one day I'd be writing this) I found the setlist without even really having to look for it. Here it is:

The Beast and Dragon, Adored
Me and the Bean
Someone Something
Lines in the Suit
The Fitted Shirt
The Delicate Place
I Turn My Camera On
Sister Jack
Paper Tiger
The Way We Get By
They Never Got You
I Summon You
The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine
Anything You Want
Jonathon Fisk
My Mathematical Mind

Quite a set. And, a lot different from the Beachland show. I seem to remember them playing the first four or five songs from Gimme Fiction in order to start the set. I don't really remember too much of their set at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh a few months back, either, but I think that might be because they played a good deal of stuff from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga and it hadn't been released yet.

So, back to yesterday, I found the site online that was showing Lollapalooza, and, to my luck and astonishment, saw that I was about to catch Ted Leo! I was very excited, since he just cancelled his show in Cleveland the other day. Let me say that, despite the fact that him and his band sounded fantastic, it seemed like the live feed took a HUGE step down from two years ago. I didn't see anything last year, so I can't comment on that. The video was beyond choppy, and after 35 minutes of his supposed hour set, the computer froze. And, bear in mind that nothing else was running on the computer but Lollapalooza. So I was miffed to say the least. But, what I did see was phenomenal. And once again, since I'm a dork, here's the setlist of what I saw:

The Sons of Cain
Me and Mia
Army Bound
Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?
Bomb.Repeat.Bomb
Colleen
A Bottle of Buckie
The Unwanted Things
Heart Problems
Timorous Me
then the connection craps out

Seems like a lot of new stuff, but as I said, everything sounded great. I just tried to log back on to the Lollapalooza feed a minute ago to catch The Hold Steady, but it froze the computer again. Good thing I didn't stay home last night to try and watch LCD Soundsystem, because it probably wouldn't have worked then, either.

Sucks that I gotta stay in this weekend, since I wanted to catch Johnie 3 and some bands at a bowling alley in the Lakewood area, but that show seems like it might not turn out that great, so we'll see.

Until Then,
Later.

Smoking Popes / You Am I / Houseguest

So here are the shots from the Smoking Popes/You Am I/Houseguest show last Saturday at the Beachland Ballroom:


We missed all of Houseguest's set, but I'd seen em enough that it was no big deal. You Am I was fine, and toward the end of their set, the singer came into the crowd to sing a song. This pic's not very good since I was sitting down when I took it. I didn't really feel like getting up and I didn't think the picture would suffer from my decision. I was obviously wrong. Tommy Teabagger's girlfriend Jen in the ponytail. The singer's to her right near the guy in the white shirt.


Here are the Smoking Popes rocking out. My camera must have some kinda flash, since it was pretty dark in there and this almost makes it look like they had all the lights on. They didn't.


I was never a fan of drum & bass music myself. I like dancey stuff, don't get me wrong, but raver stuff, downtempo, etc., never really appealed to me. Personal preference, I guess.


So at the end of the set, they ask what everyone wants to hear. I waited all night for Need You Around, but hadn't heard it yet. You may recall how I named it THE Summer anthem of 1995, with all due respect to Skee-Lo. I had heard that they weren't gonna play it, and it might be because it was on the Clueless soundtrack or some other reason, but by gosh they busted it out. It might just be the first time I ever yelled a request that actually immediately got played. Here's what the band looked like as they played my favorite song.


And Jen got the setlist. Unfortunately, I didn't get a shot of the whole thing, so Need You Around isn't on there, but I assure you that it was played. Speaking of Jen, I don't know if she'd want me to say this or if she reads this in the first place, but she got some AWESOME shots of the band. These dinky pics I took aren't even in the same hemisphere as hers. Mine are more "I was there and here are some pictures to prove it" while hers are "I can probably get paid real $ to go to shows and take pictures of rock bands." Also, I almost forgot to mention the Beachland's gorgeous bartender. I had seen her around at the last few shows I'd attended and had no idea she worked the bar there, since I'd seen her in social situations. Maybe if I ever get some nerve I'll talk to her again instead of writing about her on the internet. That's all I'm gonna say about that.

Until Then,
Later

That Tay Zonday Is Quite the Crooner

The weekend was pretty cool. I ended up going to the Smoking Popes show, but not the Waterloo Arts Fest or I Got 5 On It. The Popes were awesome though (as expected) but I'll probably wait until tomorrow to post pics. They're not really all that great, either, so don't get your hopes up.

I was fully prepared to talk about the Ted Leo show tonight at the Beachland Ballroom, but it got cancelled last night. I didn't hear about it until early this morning though (thanks Tommy). At first, I was totally pissed/bummed and all that, but it seems that his wife(?) is really sick and he had to be with her. I always held the belief that family comes before everything else, so it's completely understandable. I heard there would be a makeup show in the fall, and I hope it's on a weekend day this time.

On a much lighter note, my good (MySpace) buddy Kid Sister posted a bulletin last night about something called Chocolate Rain. After checking her page, I came across this:



Now tell me with a straight face that this isn't at least a little amusing. I thought William Hung was hysterical, though, so what do I know. Here are some more Tay Zonday vids:

Internet Dream



A killer cover of Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up


And on and on. There are a few more choice cuts up on youtube, but a search for the name Tay Zonday will help you find what you're looking for, if so inclined. I'm usually not the kinda person to jump on internet fads, but this guy's a f'n riot. The lyrics to Internet Dream alone are a lot more poignant than they'll ever get credit for being. But in another few months (weeks?) I'll probably look back on this post and wonder why I ever liked this in the first place. That's life I guess.

Until Then,
Later.