What I'm Up To Tonight

So today is an uber-busy day. Actually, it only gets busy tonight but you understand what I mean.

First up, at 10 at The Iron Horse, Electric Six is playing which is AWESOME! Check out the video for 'Gay Bar' below:


As much as they will be fun I am more excited for the openers. First up we have The Coke Dares (featuring members of Magnolia Electric Co.) I wasn't too familiar with them so I checked them out on the YouTube. They seem fun and sound like a good way to open the show. Check 'em out below:


The following act is truly the reason that I am going to this show tonight. I like Electric Six and all but something about these guys just screams 'outshining the headliner from the moment they step on stage'. I am talking about Tragedy: The Metal Tribute To The Bee Gees. Read that again. The METAL Tribute To The BEE GEES. Sheer awesomeness! Check them out below:


How fucking awesome is that?!?!?!?!?

Hopefully I'll get to catch them before rushing over to The Elevens to catch Kaliis, Neal, Rich, Greg, and Alex rock socks off! Of course I'm talking about The Brass one of my favorite local bands. They blend power-pop (almost bubblegum) with some rock stylings to create a sound that isn't common in The Valley. Their shows are invariably informal and yet terribly fun. I urge people to check them out! Tonight they have the middle slot in a line-up that also features The Campbell Apartment and Beast With 2 Backs. Below you'll find a clip with TERRIBLE SOUND QUALITY! (but it should give you an idea)
Buddy System


After which I'm going to need to hightail it over to the Deuce to help celebrate Matty's birthday and maybe even sing a song. Hopefully I can make it in before the doors close but I'm feeling a little skeptical.

The show at The Horse starts at 10. Tickets are like $15 or so at the door (I'm not really sure)

The show at The Elevens starts at 10 (The Brass should be on between 11 and 11:30). There's probably a $1-$5 cover charge (again I'm not really sure)

My Weekend With They Might Be Giants (The Saturday Recap)

So a few weeks ago I stumbled across the fact that They Might Be Giants were hosting their annual free 'Fan Appreciation Show' at Mohegan Sun again. Usually they only do one show. This year they booked two (bonus!). I did a little more research and found out that these would be theme-specific shows. Saturday night was going to be devoted to 1996's 'Factory Showroom' album and Sunday night was going to be devoted to 1992's 'Apollo 18' album. Now I've been a fan of TMBG for years and years and years. 'Apollo 18' is my favorite album of theirs so I knew that I would definitely be going on Sunday. Unfortunately I hadn't been to a show at Mohegan in a few years and had no clue how early I would need to show up to guarantee entrance. Luckily 'Factory Showroom' is also a great album and I could use Saturday to help determine timing for Sunday. I sent out an open invite to people who I thought might be interested and started planning my weekend.

Saturday comes and my friend, Jared, and I begin our trek to Connecticut. Jared had never seen TMBG before but was kind of familiar with their music. I didn't even expect to get into the show and told him that beforehand. We get to Mohegan around 4. The line has about 50 people in it. We are definitely getting in. Fast forward to 8. The show begins and I couldn't be happier.

They open with 'Token Back To Brooklyn', a song they have NEVER played live before. Token is the hidden first track on Factory Showroom. I am super excited at this point waiting to hear the familiar bass riff of 'S-E-X-X-Y' which would dictate that not only were they doing Factory Showroom but they were doing it in order. Sure enough they didn't disappoint. This was the rarest of treats! They have NEVER performed this album in its entirety. I immediately texted a few other fans to point out how jealous they should be of me...

...and then they played 'Metal Detector'. Okay, so this wasn't destined to be Factory Showroom from start to finish. But at least they are going to play all the songs from the album right? Flansburgh keeps mentioning that this is the Factory Showroom show where they will be playing songs they haven't played in ages. At the end of 'Metal Detector' Flans mentions that they will need to play some "filler" as Factory Showroom is only 40 minutes long. They play 'The Mesopotamians' off The Else. I am not a big fan of this song (or this album for that matter) but it wasn't bad. Then they return to Factory Showroom for a few songs.

'New York City' always rocks. It is by far one of my favorite songs they do. This version put a huge shit-eating grin on my face. Next came 'James K. Polk'. This was the first time that I had seen this song done without the confetti cannon. I miss the confetti cannon. Still it is a great song and so much fun to dance to.

After Polk ends they start up with 'Spine' from The Spine. I have seen this song a few times and it always follows the same progression as the album, even going so far as to lead invariably into 'Memo To Human Resources'. Naturally as 'Spine' ends I anticipate Memo and start singing the beginning. To my surprise it instead led into 'XTC Vs. Atom Ant' returning to Factory Showroom territory. I have always hated this song but for some reason I really enjoyed it live tonight. They then played 'Upside Down Frown' from The Else. As I stated earlier, I am not much of a fan of this album. This song is catchy but doesn't really do it for me. I turned to Jared and told him my opinions. He responded with "I like it. It's catchy and kind of rocking." I told him that there were catchier songs that I'd rather hear and, since this is the Factory Showroom show, they should play 'Spiraling Shape' since it is a better and catchier song.

The Johns must be psychic because they IMMEDIATELY went into 'Spiraling Shape' next. I love this song and the way it goes from soft almost crooning to hard rocking. I was dancing a lot during it and singing at the top of my lungs. They followed it up with my least favorite song from Factory Showroom; 'Pet Name'. Unimpressive. They then played the only song from their self-titled debut that they would play the entire weekend, 'Don't Let's Start'. I have seen this song at every show of theirs that I have ever attended and it still rocks my socks off. I was glad that Jared got to see it.

They then played pretty standard versions of 'How Can I Sing Like A Girl' (Factory Showroom) and 'Birdhouse In Your Soul' (Flood). Next came one of the highpoints when they began playing 'Dr. Worm' from Severe Tire Damage. The horns were on point and the energy level of the band mirrored the energy level of the audience. Definitely the best version of this I have seen to date.

Next they attempted 'I Can Hear You' from Factory Showroom. Flans made the comment that tonight, being Factory Showroom night, is also proof of what happens when unrehearsed musicians attempt songs they haven't played in about 10 years. Actually the song sounded rather good.

They then played 'The Bells Are Ringing' which is ALWAYS AMAZING! I adore this song both studio version and in person. They nailed it. They then played 'Seven' from their childrens album Here Come The 123's. It was fun and cute (We Want Cake! Where's Our Cake?!?!).

Flans then introduced the band which kind of bummed me out. Band intros mean only one more song then hopefully a multi-song encore. The song that they closed the set with was 'Til My Head Falls Off' from (surprise) Factory Showroom. I was dancing like a fool at this point. It was amazing. Then the show ended...

They came out to do an encore and I realized that two songs had been ommited from the Factory Showroom program ('Excuisite Dead Guy' and 'Your Own Worst Enemy'). The problem, in my eyes, was that neither of these are good encore songs. Not to mention the fact that they hadn't played 'Particle Man' OR 'Istanbul'. (on a side note: i was really hoping they wouldn't play either of those two songs. I have seen Istanbul EVERY SINGLE TIME I SEE THEM PLAY and Particle Man usually bores me).

Boy was I happy when the drums started kicking in and Flans told us all to stand and move forward. Only one song elicits that: 'Clap Your Hands!' from No!. I clapped! I stomped! I jumped in the air! I screamed! They immediately went into 'The Guitar' which was odd because that song is from Apollo 18, the album that they were featuring the following night. Still great song and again I was happy that Jared got to see it. I assumed that that was it and then the trombonist and sax player stepped to the front of the stage. This could mean only one thing: 'Istanbul'. Jared was ecstatic. I would've rather heard just about anything else. It was a pretty rocking version of it though. (another side note: my favorite version of Istanbul occured in May of 2007 at the Horse. People kept screaming for it and they finally played it--sped up to about 5 times it's normal speed! it was something else!)

After that they left us to cheer and scream for more before coming out for another Apollo 18 track; 'Dig My Grave'. Again it rocked but I would have rather heard the rest of Factory Showroom and saved that for the following night.

All in all it was a great show. Well worth the 3 hours worth of travelling time, 2.5 hours waiting in line, and 1.5 hours waiting for the show to start. Jared had a blast and I cemented the fact that I was returning the following day.

I Must Share... T-Bird And The Breaks

i went to high school with the singer and rhythm guitar player of this band who are making waves down in Austin, Texas. their music is a throwback to the uber-cool sounds of classic R&B/funk. i urge any of you who might be reading this to check them out.

T-Bird And The Breaks website

i only hope that they'll find themselves up north for a homecoming show soon enough.

How To Best Spend A Wednesday Evening

King Khan and The Shrines are playing at the horse tonight...

The Basement has open mic at which a few of my friends will be playing...

My sister is currently at my parents' house where there is free homecooked food...




and yet, on SurfTheChannel, I have found numerous episodes of Wife Swap which, if you aren't aware, is one of the trashiest reality shows ever...

decisions decisions!

On Podcasts And Curried Goat

-i am currently listening to Ben Gibbard recorded live in May of last year. the best part of it (besides the actual music of course) is that it was delivered directly to my computer at no cost to me courtesy of NPR's All Songs Considered podcast. alongside the aforementioned concert i also have shows by Tom Waits, Devotchka, The Arcade Fire, Rilo Kiley, Gogol Bordello, The Hold Steady, and Stars (as well as a few others). the sound quality is stellar. did i mention it was free? it amazes me what you can find online. not to mention the fact that a few short years ago if you had told me about these things called 'Podcasts' i wouldn't have had the foggiest notion of what you were talking about. ah technology.

-so i spent monday with my friends Emily, DJ, and Sarah Rose standing in a line of approximately 2000 people at Leonard and Broadway for over four hours to audition for the upcoming Spider-Man musical. for about 45 minutes we were positioned in front of a small carribean cafe. the menu looked tantalizing and featured such delicacies as oxtail and curried goat. since moving on from that spot i have been intrigued by the concept of curried goat. i am almost positive that i will find myself trying this dish in the near future. i think i'm going to attempt to write-up an actual recap of the new york trip but for now i will imagine what curried goat might taste like. heck, i can't even imagine what non-curried goat tastes like....

Things on my mind at approximately one o'clock sunday morning...

-recently i was talking to someone and they had mentioned that they had begun taking photographs. they determined that this would be a new hobby of sorts. i can't for the life remember who i had this conversation with and that bothers me. was it you? wait, i think i remember who it was. either way, i need a new hobby.

-my friend Gauge is in the hospital. it sounds relatively serious. i realize that i will be spending time tomorrow at cooley dick. i hate hospitals. i do, however, truly like Gauge and am willing to put aside my distrust of the medical professions... for one day.

-i am listening to various Modest Mouse bootlegs from the late 90's at the moment. my favorite parts are the adlibbed lyrics that Isaac Brock tends to add to the latter halves of many of my favorite songs. at this exact moment i am trying to discern exactly what he is singing towards the end of 'All Night Diner' from a show in New York City, May 19th 1999.

-tonight i watched the south hadley fireworks from the parking lot of my apartment complex in holyoke. i was not the only person doing this. i sat and talked with a woman who lives in one of the other apartments. i had never met her before as i normally do not associate with the other tenants here. we talked about life in the service industry and the fact that she was getting new teeth. she thought i was 18. i knew she was in her late forties. when she began talking about her lackluster sex life i knew it was time to go back inside. doing so caused me to miss the finale. i hope it was smashing.

-i have re-evaluated my fears in life and have discovered a new one: someday i will die. maybe tomorrow. maybe 50 years from now. my fear doesn't lie in death however. instead it relates to the fact that the majority of the people i know wouldn't find out about my demise in a timely manner. i intend to share the passwords to my social networking sites/blogs/email inboxes/etc with someone who i can trust to pass on the news to the masses. i'd hate to go forgotten.

-i couldn't tell you the last time i ate soup. i kind of want to rectify that soon.

-stumbleupon is the tool of the devil. thankfully, being an atheist, i accept all tools with an open mind.

-i had a baffling dream earlier today but now i can't remember it. that's probably a good thing.

-if you are reading this and we recently discussed the 'need to talk' i urge you to contact me. i am lousy at initiating conversation. if, however, you changed your mind about 'needing to talk' expect an email from me later this week. i don't like loose ends in my life. i also don't like soup. i still kind of want to rectify that soon.

-on a scale of 1 to 10 i deem this version of 'Cowboy Dan' awesome.

-supposedly i walked out on a bar tab on friday night. i had (wrongfully) assumed that the two drinks i had before my little shindig would have found themselves on the bill for the shindig. i will rectify this soon. maybe over a crock of soup.

-i am thinking of setting up a facebook event for lunch in august and seeing how many people i can coerce to share a meal with me. i am thinking indian food. i might be down for some chinese. it won't happen until august regardless... keep your eyes peeled.

-the time is now one o'clock. i think i am done here for now.

-if you made it this far i owe you a hug. remind me of this the next time i see you.