Mad updates.
So for the first time in a very long time, I'm home, alone, with nothing to do. I was briefly at Sarah Galbavy's party, but decided that I'd rather be home alone for a little while for a change. So here I am. Now let's update... I've got my iCal up and running and everything.
I went and saw the White Stripes with my father on July 24th. At Madison Square Garden. I had seen them at Irving earlier this summer and I was afraid this show would have to be disappointing in comparison. Not the case. They absolutely owned the place and I loved the whole thing. Really quite an impressive performance. I paid $60 to see them there, $30 to see them at Irving... and I'd see either again in a heartbeat.
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground / When I Hear My Name / Jolene / Hotel Yorba / Cannon / Icky Thump / Do / Death Letter / In The Cold, Cold Night / A Martyr For My Love For You / I'm Slowly Turning Into You / I Think I Smell A Rat / Wasting My Time / 300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues / You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told) / Fell In Love With A Girl / Ball and Biscuit // Blue Orchid / I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself / Little Ghost / We're Going To Be Friends / Little Bird / Catch Hell Blues / My Doorbell / Seven Nation Army / Boll Weevil
Little Ghost alone was worth the ticket price. And Jolene was so well performed I cried a little bit. SIDE NOTE: I've begun getting emotional at shows for the first time ever. Don't know why.
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The next night was TMBG at the Bowery again. Night 2 of 4. Phil Mazzullo was the TMBG virgin of the night. We waited on line a lot of the day and I bought pizza for everyone. This night was 90's themed... let's take a look:
How Can I Sing Like A Girl? / The Cap'm / James K. Polk / We Live In A Dump / Upside Down Frown / Dig My Grave / I Palindrome I / I'm Impressed / Take Out The Trash / Spider / Snail Shell / Phone Calls from the Dead (Frank Bogart from Columbia Records) / Why Did You Grow A Beard? / Careful What You Pack / Dead / XTC vs. Adam Ant / Withered Hope / Letterbox / The End of the Tour / Damn Good Times / Minimum Wage / Destination Moon / Whistling In The Dark / Put Your Hand On The Computer / Fingertips // Birdhouse In Your Soul / They Got Lost // Twisting / The Mesopotamians
1st time ever hearing How Can I Sing, Dig My Grave, Spider, XTC, Whistling. This wound up being the only night of the 4-week run without any horns. Didn't detract from the show at all... kicked just as much ass as always. Opening with How Can I Sing Like A Girl? was a total shock.
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So this is turning into a run-down of shows... as always. Whatever.
I stopped writing at this point and now I'm starting again at a later date. Sue me.
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We saw They Might Be Giants AGAIN on Saturday, July 28th at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. It was free and since I'm always willing to drive, off we went. It was PACKED there and we were sorta close to not getting in... but we did, as we always do. We sat way off to stage left, almost behind Linnell, which was strange. They weren't as loud as usual because of the casino on all sides of them. Here's a setlist:
I'm Impressed / Take Out The Trash / Alphabet of Nations / Damn Good Times / Asbury Park / Upside Down Frown / Upside Down Frown / XTC vs. Adam Ant / Phone Calls from the Dead (Eleanor Roosevelt) / Snail Shell / Birdhouse / New York City / Withered Hope / Spider / The Cap'm / Meet James Ensor / The Famous Polka / Letterbox / Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head / Istanbul / Mesopotamians // Experimental Film / Computer / Twisting // Doctor Worm
Chelsea Graham's 1st TMBG show. Hooray for her. Craig and Monsen came as well. On the way home we stopped at Denny's and the PEZ factory... officially making it the best trip ever. Super great time.
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The next day was Rock The Bells festival at Randall's Island with Monsen. This show started off being one of the absolute worst concert experiences of my life. Let me explain. It was drizzling a little when we arrived, I didn't bring a poncho and they were not allowing umbrellas inside. So I thought a little rain wouldn't be too bad. I was wrong. We walked in and went straight to the main stage to see Pharaoh Monch and then Talib Kweli. By the end of Talib's set, I was so freezing cold that I couldn't stand it. I was soaked straight through all my clothes and it was just the worst feeling ever. I should also point out that for some reason the main stage area of this festival was separated from the rest using barricades that allowed single-file movement from the main stage area to the main festival area. You can imagine the backups of people this created. It was unreal. So I left the main area with Monsen (who was quite dry under his poncho) looking to buy a poncho or umbrella and a new shirt. But there were no ponchos or umbrellas to buy. NOTHING. And I didn't want to buy a shirt unless I was sure I could keep it dry, so I didn't bother. I found a tree that protected me from the rain a little, and just stood underneath it with my arms crossed for over an hour. I missed Mos Def because of this, which was really lame, but survival became priority. My tree had me positioned in front of the Paid Dues stage, where I saw Brother Ali instead, who was quite good. Eventually the rain stopped and I moved away from under the tree. Thank god the rain stopped when it did, because I was VERY close to abandoning the whole thing and just waiting in Monsen's car for the show to be over. It was so miserable. But it got better. I got some food and then went back to the main stage during Cypress Hill's set. They were TRULY one of the worst things ever... but we got through it. Then came Public Enemy who were very good, but their band was a little weird. Then came Wu-Tang Clan. At this point we got REAL close to the stage, and watching them from there was quite amazing. They did I Like It Raw in memory of ODB and Method Man and Ghostface did a rendition of Da Rockwilder. Crazy awesome. Last of course was Rage Against The Machine, who most of the crowd were obviously there to see. There were some real hip-hop fans in attendance, but I'd say at least 75% of the crowd were white guys who only cared about Rage. Kinda sad. But the RATM set was nothing short of amazing. I had heard great things, but they really blew me away. I don't have an exact setlist, but I know they played Bombtrack, Killing In the Name, Bulls On Parade, Testify, Guerilla Radio, Calm Like A Bomb, Sleep Now In the Fire, People of the Sun, Bullet In The Head, Freedom, and more.
After their set, they STILL hadn't moved the barricade. In fact, there was no security to be seen. So what do a whole bunch of angry RATM fans do? They rip down the fences and run through. It was scary and intense being herded through that crowd... felt a lot like that part of War of the Worlds where everyone's trying to get on the ferry. Really horrifying. Eventually, we made it outta there. Weird day.
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Then comes Ben Kweller!!! At Southpaw!!! Sha Sha night!!! The next day!!!
I drove in with Craig, Keith, and Chelsea, and we got there mad early. 1st ones there. Lots of waiting that day. Monsen and Kelli and Diana arrived later. This show does not require much description. It was amazing. It was my 2nd time seeing BK and he was MUCH better than the 1st time. All of Sha Sha and then he encored with On My Way, Sundress, and Penny on the Train Track. On My Way was Craig's request. Amazing. And I should point out that the opener, Tim Fite, put on an awkward and relatively unimpressive show. But I've listened to his music since the show, and I'm now quite a big fan. Tim Fite all the way. Maybe not live though. It was more disappointing because the other 2 BK full album shows had Adam Green and Jeffrey Lewis opening. So I was a little annoyed that I was seeing this weird guy.
I also recall that between Tim Fite and Ben Kweller they played the self-titled Violent Femmes album almost entirely through (they cut at the end of Gone Daddy Gone). It was the most fun I've ever had waiting for an act to go on. Craig and Keith and I sang those songs like we came to hear them.
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The next show was (surprise!) TMBG. August 1st. This was the horn extravaganza show. And it definitely was quite the extravaganza.
Mr. Me / Dirt Bike / Metal Detector / Working Undercover For The Man / Museum of Idiots / She's Actual Size / Whistling In The Dark / Doctor Worm / In The Middle (w/ Robin) / Doctor Evil (w/ Robin) / Bee of Bird of Moth / Phone Calls From The Dead / Snail Shell / Spider / James K. Polk / Istanbul / Take Out The Trash / Withered Hope / With The Dark / Turn Around / Ant / Put Your Hand On The Computer / Birdhouse / Bed Bed Bed Bed Bed / Spy / Mr. Tambourine Man / Purple Toupee / Maybe I Know (John & John only) / She's An Angel
Truly one of the best shows ever. And I have the mp3 recording to remember it by. Really reminiscent of the 1st Irving show I saw. Good memories. She's An Angel as the closer made me cry. Just a brilliant, brilliant show. Except for The Last Car opening... that was a little crappy.
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According to my calendar, Kaitlin had a party on the 2nd. I vaguely recall this. The most vivid memory being Matt having to drive my drunk ass home. I guess it was fun.
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August 5th. Free shows at McCarren Park Pool. Love 'em. We went in to go see I'm From Barcelona and Blonde Redhead. We being Craig, Laura, Kelli, Me, and Chelsea. The line was enormous when we pulled up (after getting lost) and we were afraid we weren't gonna get in. And yet we got in, and it looked like there was nobody there. We walked right up to the stage for I'm From Barcelona who were WONDERFUL. Truly amazing. It was such a great show. We stuck around and saw the beginning of Blonde Redhead and then left because they were a little mediocre. And we were still so into I'm From Barcelona that it just didn't seem as good. We went to Permanent after which was always a great time and then came home.
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One more TMBG show to report. August 8th. Finishes up the Bowery Residency. Which was amazing. But this last show was my least favorite. Here's the setlist:
Robot Parade / Mesopotamians / I'm Impressed / Take Out The Trash / Upside Down Frown / Spider / The Cap'm / John Lee Supertaster / Don't Let's Start / Older / They Got Lost / Fingertips / Phone Calls From The Dead (Jerry Orbach) / Shadow Gov't / Ana Ng / Careful What You Pack / Doctor Worm / Famous Polka / Puppet Head / End of the Tour / Computer / Damn Good Times // (w/ Horns) Mr. Me / Ant / Particle Man / She's Actual Size / Museum of Idiots / Withered Hope // Bed Bed Bed Bed Bed / With The Dark
A great show as always, but not as inspired as the other 3. Nothing to complain about though. Oppenheimer opened and I really enjoyed them. I should check them out.
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August 12th. Junior Senior. SoundFix records in Brooklyn. It was a free thing that we went to real impusively. Me Craig Keith and Chelsea. They played 6 songs... Shake Your Coconuts / Can I Get Get Get / We R The Handclaps / Chicks and Dicks / Good Girl, Bad Boy / Rhythm Bandits. They were only supposed to play 4, but the crowd who was surrounding them pretty much insisted they continue. Since they couldn't get off the stage, they obliged. It was terrific.
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And other than those shows, I spent all my time making zombie movies, abusing substances, and making music while my family was away on a vacation. It was an interesting month. And now everyone's up to date. Great great great. Loves ya!
I'm off to the airport.
Current Music: High School Musical - Everyday 
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