Oct
Posted on 7th October 2005
Time for a quick rock show review…
This past Wednesday night I saw Bob Mould play at Irving Plaza. I was really looking forward to it as Bob has always been one of my favorite musicians. Husker Du (the picture above is from when the band was still together, in case you didn’t know. Dammit) is one of my favorite bands and I also really dig Sugar and most of Bob’s solo stuff (Sorry, Bob- I really tried with “Modulate” but just couldn’t do it. I appreciate your balls for trying something different though.).
I showed up at Irving Plaza a little earlier than I had hoped. I didn’t feel like seeing an opening band so I tried to time it so I’d be walking in right as Bob hit the stage. Unfortunately, I got there just as the opener, Copeland, was attempting to warm up the crowd of mostly dudes in attendance. Copeland reminded me of an emo version of the Gin Blossoms, and I mean that in the harshest of ways. I will admit, however, that my disdain for the band was influenced in part by the fact that I just wanted to see Bob play. I don’t think I would be a fan of Copeland under any circumstances, but I doubt I would always feel like throwing rocks at them, as I did throughout pretty much all of their set on Wednesday. (NOTE: If any fans or actual members of the band Copeland are reading this right now, it’s nothing personal. I didn’t like your music, but you seemed like a bunch of nice guys. It just wasn’t my cup of tea as they say. And being a musician myself, I know it’s never nice to read that someone doesn’t like your music. For example, check out this write up of my band Valley Lodge. They pretty much say we suck except for our one song ”All Of My Loving”, which they admit is pretty awesome. Anyway, I guess what I’m trying to say is that if we ever do meet face to face, I’d be happy to buy you a sandwich, a bag of chips even. You’re on your own with the beverage though.)
After Copeland left the stage, Irving Plaza began to fill up with even more dudes and next thing you know Bob took the stage. Joining him in his rock assault were Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty (who is, like, one of the best drummers ever in my opinion), keyboardist Richard Morel (who is Bob’s partner in Blowoff, and bassist Jason Narducy from Verbena, whom I couldn’t help but be really jealous of because I would love to play bass and sing backups for Bob Mould if I ever got the chance.
It was good to see Bob rocking again as it was just a few years ago that he swore he was putting the loud amps away for good. I’m glad he changed his mind though because- as mentioned previously in this diary- I firmly believe in the importance of rocking out as much as humanly possible at all times- especially when you’re Bob Mould. It was also great to hear Bob play Husker Du and Sugar songs within a full band context, something he has also never done outside of either of those bands to my knowledge.
I can’t remember all the songs Bob played, but from what I can remember the set included “The Act We Act,” “Changes”, “A Good Idea,” “Helpless,” “Hoover Dam,” and (though I could be wrong about this last one) “Your Favorite Thing” by Sugar; “Chartered Trips,” “Could You Be The One,” “I Apologize,” “Celebrated Summer,” “Makes No Sense At All,” “Whatever,” and maybe some others I’m forgetting by Husker Du; and “See A Little Light,” “Egooveride,” “High Fidelity,” “Underneath Days,” “I Am Vision, I Am Sound,” “Best Thing,” “Circles,” and probably some other ones from his solo albums too.
It’s always nice to hear someone break out the hits from a more than twenty year career. It help remind you how they got to stick around so long in the first place. I will end this review not unlike an elementary school student might end a book report: If you want to hear great music played by great musicians, you should definitely go see Bob and his band play if you get the chance. (You should by all his records too, even “Modulate,” if for nothing else than the cool packaging.)
On a side note- and as is often the case with rock shows- there was an organization (LifeBeat, I think) giving out free Trojan condoms at the show. It’s always good to spread the safe sex message, I (and they, I would assume) say (People see a rock show and they feel like boning. It’s just how these thing go). It was interesting to see the array of condoms they had for the taking- regular lubricated ones, condoms for his and her pleasure, and then condoms that were just for her pleasure (I guess the dude in that situation is probably happy enough to just be boning in the first place). I’m always amazed that there is a necessity to make a variety of different condoms. You’d think the whole penis/vagina or penis/anus combo would be enough to keeps things exciting. Kids today….
Oct
Posted on 4th October 2005
This past Saturday night was pretty solid as far as rocking people goes. The mayhem started on the early side when my unstoppable rock band Valley Lodge and I jumped into a taxi and took it from our underground rock hideout in Chelsea to Juvie Hall in the Village, where we were set to play a couple hits on Sara Schaefer’s popular chat/variety type show “Sara Schaefer Is Obsessed With You.” The show was sold out, which was especially good for us since we prefer to rock as many people as possible at all times. Given the small space and all though, we had to rock in a “stripped down” fashion so we didn’t blow people’s asses out too much. John and Phil played out of little amps and I played acoustic guitar. Griff- who plays drums for Heather and was filling in for Rob, who was away doing some sort of secret agent type stuff- played a mini-drum set that doesn’t pummel as much as a normal set usually does when played by someone with cold balls of steel. All four of us sat down in chairs too in an effort to add to the stripped-down type vibe we were kicking out. I even crossed my legs a couple times during the performance. You can get away with that sort of thing when you are a badass. I wouldn’t recommend it if you are just some kind of totally normal person who doesn’t make a habit of kicking ass at all times though.
Things got a little crazy right before our performance on Sara Schaefer’s show when I accidentally broke an empty Teany bottle, the delicious tea made by the popular musician Moby in his spare time. The bottle made a big popping sound when it exploded on the ground and I think most of the people in the crowd thought it was some sort of crazy pyrotechnics we had planned out beforehand, but really it was just me breaking a bottle on the floor by accident. Pyrotechnics or not though, it sort of added to the sense of unbridled chaos we like to get going at our performances.
We ended up playing two hits- “If It Takes All Night” and “All Of My Loving” on Sara’s show. I think my microphone might not have been or something while we played, but it seemed like people generally had their minds blown by our awesome yet sensitive rock power. Not a dry seat in the house.
After playing on Sara’s show, Phi, Griff, and I headed back to our Chelsea rock hideout to grab the ammo for the Heather show later that night at Arlene’s Grocery. It’s always fun playing more than one rock show in a night, kind of like playing a double-header in baseball or something only with a lot more potential for hardcore boning. No, not really, but it’s still fun rocking as much as possible whenever possible.
Our show at Arlene’s was pretty rocking. The crowd was decent but not overwhelmingly large, which is to say that I wish like 40 more people showed up. On the namedropping front, my new close personal friend Kyle Gass from Tenacious D and Trainwreck came to the show and rocked out, so that was cool.
Since this was my first real show with Heather, I was slightly nervous because I wanted to make sure I rocked balls and shredded effectively and all that sort of thing. My shirt was a little too tight, but other than that things seemed to go pretty well. I only wish they didn’t make me carry all of the equipment afterwards. They tell me it’s character-building and for my own good and all that, but I think there might be some sort of hazing going on. No, just kidding- those guys know better than to mess with a badass.
Oct
Posted on 4th October 2005
This is a photo of my friend Justin. Last week, he was riding his bike home really late at night (and presumably drunk) and flipped over the handle bars. As they say in medical circles, he messed himself up pretty good. I realize it’s not right to delight in the misfortune of others, but you have to admit- it can still be pretty fun sometimes. Nice work, Justin!
Oct
Posted on 3rd October 2005
Just when I thought dairy-based products could not be pushed any further, I stumbled upon the above product at one of the delis in my scenic Brooklyn neighborhood. I’ve been wondering for a long time now when I might be living in a future age and now here it is slapping me around like a bitch and giving me milk that tastes just like the popular 3 Musketeers candy bar. Finally- the magic of milk and nougat in one delicious and convenient beverage. There is also milk that tastes like the popular Milky Way candy bar and even milk that tastes like a Moon Pie. I’m guessing that one will have more of a cult following. You should probably check the expiration date on the Moon Pie-flavored milk before bringing it to the counter. I’m just saying.
I didn’t end up buying any of the 3 Musketeers-flavored milk because I was too busy reevaluating the world and my place in it immediately after I discovered this exciting new dairy product there on the refrigerator aisle of the deli, but I’m totally thinking about getting one next time I go back there. And I probably shouldn’t be bringing this up right now because your head will probably just explode after reading this, but there is some other product made by the same people that allegedly tastes just like the popular Starbursts candy. I know, I know- holy sh*t. Anyway, good luck trying to drink a regular glass of milk after reading this. What are you f*&king Amish or something? Get yourself some 3 Musketeers-flavored milk today! By the way, if anyone from the company that makes the 3 Musketeers-flavored milk is reading this right now, you can totally use those last couple lines for your new ad campaign if you want. File Under: It’s the least I could f*&king do. Am I right?
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