Constant sorrow

If Cash were still alive, and if he got it on and knocked up the soundtrack to O' Brother, Where Art
Thou, and if their illegitimate bastard child played out in the obscure-ish artsy bars of St. Louis, it would sound so much like Elemental Shakedown that they'd be out of a gig and would have to go back to their day jobs. Lucky for them that hasn't happened, so they get to continue doing their thing. Lucky for us, too.

PS: Random country-folk cover of Robert Palmer's Addicted to Love? How awesome / hilarious. Ahhahahaha. So entertained.

Ole, ole ole ole

So. Went to see some rock music tonight. You know how I do.

The first band... What can I say? That reinforce every gut reaction I have about opening bands. It's like in a kung fu film, when you kill some kid's father, and he wants revenge. But you're a master, so you gotta be like, "No. Go and train for ten years, then come see me again." It wasn't that they were bad, really (except of course for the parts where they were, in fact, bad), it's just that they needed practice. At times they seemed unsure of themselves. And if you want to be a rockstar, gosh darn it, you have to OWN it. But, bless them, they tried. And isn't that enough? The answer of course is no, it isn't, but I'll give them points nonetheless.

Headlining were some Irish dudes I didn't know, and I was only there to see them cause I'd scored free tickets. The Coronas was their name, and I walked in expecting nothing. I quickly realized that they indeed had something. My first clue was the first song, which it seemed I'd heard before. Still, I took my time and played it safe, hoarding my best dance moves carefully. I let them do a few more while I figured out what they were about. As it turns out they are about rockin' Irish music, and I'm real glad I went in spite of it all (that being going solo, and a six mile roundtrip walk in the rain cause I didn't feel like biking). I toyed with the possibility of starting the dancing as the floor was wide open, but elected not to so as to save myself from embarassment. I kind of regret that decision as I missed my shot to show my conviction, though I more than made up for it later. Four girls that had a table up front jumped up for some song they knew, and I'd thought they'd snatched my thunder... But lo, they and the rest of the crowd that jumped up only danced for the one before becoming timid again. The time was mine. And I had a target. I saw that the not-lead-singer guitarist was quietly working his butt off, to the point that he was soaked with sweat, and I felt that deserved a bit of recognition. So. I sauntered over and stood right in front of him (he didn't see me). I took one foot, and brazenly put it up on the stage (he didn't see me). He played his little heart out, and I let loose. I worried that I was in over my head, but there was no turning back at this point. I am committed. I have to see this through to the bitter end. Nevermind how self-conscious I feel... as if I naked and on display, dancing with myself. Miraculously, somehow it all worked out in the end. Didn't go so far as dancing with any of the pretty girls there, but I did warrant a mention by the lead singer, and got a compliment on my moves talking to him after the show. I'll call that a win.

Other highlights:
~Seeing a guy on a bike huffing and puffing up a hill (one I know well, mind you), randomly yelling encouragement at him out of the night, his sense of semi-recognition that I was probably a cyclist on foot and not a jerk or weirdo, and his definite recognition as he passed and I could see the problem was he rode a fixie and said something to that effect.
~The first post ever entirely from a phone (sorry if there are typos and junk, I can hardly see what I'm doing), and still getting in music references even though I am without a computer.

One of four (thank you)

You know how when you're in a new car, and it's got that wonderful new car smell and feel? I have that feeling right now, only it's about a band. I love new band smell.

Canasta. Oh, Canasta. There was a lot to like about this show, and it all starts here. I first noticed them before the show started and before I knew who they were. There they were, sitting off to the side of the room, quietly, as if nothing at all was about to burst forth. "Hmm. Christmas sweater." is what I thought to myself. Then, slowly, there were more. "Apparently there's a theme on. I wonder why no one told me?" Not that I am particularly fond of Christmas sweaters, or even happen to own any. Heck, it's not even like I'm all that big on Christmas celebrations on the whole. But still, maybe it would have been nice to know ahead of time, Canasta. Maybe there could have been a memo. Anyway. I'll certainly give them that they had their own thing going on, and that's what being an indie band is all about: doing your own thing, independently. No matter if what you look or sound isn't mainstream. In this case, the look was ridiculous (hey Canasta, the Griswolds called, and they said quit pinching stuff from their closets) to the point that at times I was overcome. Couldn't even look at them. Just had to turn away and laugh. The sound, however, was superb. And infectious. From the start of the first song, they made the crowd come alive. And when I say "crowd" I really mean just one guy, but he danced so intensely that he made up for everyone else. I went up and danced along, couldn't leave him up there alone and unchallenged, but you knew that already. Canasta totally owns doing their own thing, with the musical prowess and the vocal chops to do whatever they want, and do it well. This included a completely rearranged rendition of a Christmas song that was so infused with their style of awesomeness that I couldn't even tell you what it was, and a wonderful cover of Elton's "Bennie and the Jets" that makes me wish I could take them home with me, or at least borrow the lead singer's voice to bring out to karaoke sometimes.

Canasta - Mexico City

Jon Hardy and the Public is everything a typical indie band is not. If The Man had a band, this is what I would imagine they'd look and sound like. Guys in ties and suit jackets + a girl in a dress. Competent guitarists + keyboardist + horn section, but lacking a vibrancy, or urgency, or energy, or soul. I mean, don't pull out a baritone sax if you don't know how to use it, kay? Go home and listen to some Tower of Power, then come back and we'll talk. The shame of it is had I not known what was to come from the next two acts and been unexpectedly blown away by Canasta, I probably would have liked them just fine. Some of their songs were in fact perfectly danceable, but if I stopped to wander away from the stage and talk to someone I didn't feel like I was missing much. I suppose I can give them one more chance to prove to me that they can rock, but they better bring it.

Elsinore was originally scheduled to be the headliner; due to an unfortunate incident involving a drunk driver after a show in Columbia that put the drummer out of commission the band had to drop out, but lead singer Ryan Groff stepped up to go solo for the remaining dates on the tour. Having seen Ryan perform with Elsinore countless times I felt I knew exactly what to expect, and it turned out I was pretty much dead on: soft spoken guitar, beautiful singing and masterful whistling. Ryan's got a pretty little voice, easily one of the best I've ever seen live, and he knows how to hypnotize a room. Without the band behind him it makes for a much mellower sound, which made quite the juxtaposition next to the other acts in the lineup. Such a change in the energy flow between bands is potentially a huge buzzkill and the kind of thing I'm rather particular about, luckily Ryan is supremely awesome. It's quite possible he's a minor deity, or more likely some sort of wizard. Despite the absence of the band, at times I could almost feel their presence and danced along to the energetic parts of songs just as if they were there. About the only thing that was surprising was his magical looping pedals, which I'm pretty sure he used to layer his whistling over itself. Magical Masterful Looping Whistling sure is a mouthful, and it's quite an earful as well.

With four bands on the bill I was quite afraid that the sets would be frustratingly short, and most importantly that I wouldn't be able to dance properly to Jumbling Towers (it's nice to jam along with songs you know). It's even fun to jam along with songs you don't know (they put out a new EP that I don't have yet), especially when the new man in the band is dancing up on stage. Now that's what I call exciting.

Bonus: After JT finished the sound guy turned on some music while the crowd made its way out and the band packed up. I thought it was likely some old classic rock band I'd not yet heard of because they started fifteen years before I was born, but it turns out they'd come through St. Louis just last week. Mental note: Mount Carmel might the best thing since Grand Funk Railroad. Further investigation required.

Everything's comin' up Cooley

Once upon a time I was spoiled in having a guaranteed good show every week. Mondays were for Madahoochi. Times were good, and music was plentiful. But then, tragedy strikes! Two members of the band packed up and moved to Florida, and life became cold and dark. Where ever would I go to get my jam on? There was no one able to fill the void that Madahoochi has left in my soul. Luckily it turned out all was not lost, as the band still gets back together to rock the house every few months. It's not quite the same as those good ol' days at what became my regular bar among the regular fans, but it is enough to get me by while I search for a replacement scene. Last night it was time for Cooley & Company at the Bottleworks. I have to admit that I went in with low expectations; not because of any failings of the band, but rather the limitations of the space. I feel that it is really not well set up in a way that is conducive to large crowds of frenzied dancers as the stage / floor area is fairly small. I planned to go anyway, of course, as I have to take my Madahoochi where I can get it. I only invited a few people, as I was feeling lazy and discouraged, but somehow it turns out that things then started going my way. First nearly everyone I invited then invited people of their own in turn, and some of those people invited people, until there was a great big degrees of separation mish-mash of friends. It enabled me to be quite more of a social butterfly than I was anticipating. I also bumped into a few guys I know from other shows, so I ended up feeling pretty darn popular. Then in the midst of my fluttering about I somehow found myself with some prime dancing real estate when the Taco Guy moved out of the way to deliberately open a space for me to dance directly in front of the stage. I couldn't let the opportunity pass me by. I proceeded to do my thing, which is to dance like no one is watching, only apparently people were watching cause girls started commenting on my moves*. It didn't register until the next morning that these comments were also a type of opportunity and that maybe I could have talked to them. That would have required a situational awareness that I simply do not have. I continued on, oblivious, dancing and fluttering the night away, deftly moving along to the music and dodging the girl who little by little dropped her drink. Extra dancing on the encore song, when they killed the place with a James Brown cover. Nothing like a funky jam ftw.

*Also, I had a lady comment on my shirt. I couldn't come up with anything cool to wear, so I thought I'd just throw on a t-shirt from this band Public Property that played with Hoochi one time. Usually I am against wearing band shirts to shows, but I decided this time I didn't care, plus they're kind of related. Two or three guys there noticed and commented or nodded as well, in the realm of "hey, I know that band." And you know, talkin' about bands? That's something I can deal with. But ladies askin' me if I really am public property? Um... don't exactly know what to say to that. Gotta be careful going out wearing anything the least bit risque. Mental note: only bring out the Cuddle Slut shirt when I'm feeling extra thick-skinned and sassy.

Pieces of a man

In a fit of musical exploration I went to the Pageant last night to check out some bands I've never heard of. This is perhaps a bit uncharacteristic for me at this particular time of year as I tend to go into hibernation mode in Fall and Winter, but I was helped by the fact that we have relatively balmy weather and that I acquired magical tickets. Score two for the good guys. In the forty-eight hours or so preceding the concert I did a little research on the bands in question to make or break my decision on whether or not I should actually go, and it turned out to be rather enjoyable, though not entirely what I expected.

Headlining the gig was Wolf Parade, who definitely represent themselves much better live than they do recorded. Listening to a smattering of tracks from their latest two albums I judged them to be just so-so, but they upped the energy level quite a bit on stage. Sadly it was not enough to encourage more than a few sporadic and intermittent dance moves from the crowd, but having no expectations I found it enjoyable.

The show stealer, however, had to be the opening act of Ogre You Asshole. I picked out a video at random and it happened to be one of their best songs. I don't know what it is these guys do to my brain, but I like it. Going in I was more excited about seeing them than Wolf Parade. Other than one frantically dancing guy the crowd never really warmed up to them - maybe because it was early? - but for me it was pretty special walking in just as they started my current top pick of their songs. They finished their set with one I've not yet heard but I for sure need to listen to - the bass solo was especially awesome, it's hard to believe anyone can play a bass that fast using a pick. I also did not mind getting Kei Mabuchi's autograph when he walked up and sat down right behind me. Does it qualify as being a fanboy moment if I've been listening to them for two days?

Japanese guys! In a box! Playin' music and havin' fun with confetti. At least the video isn't game show-inspired.


That's the good news. The bad news is I'm having a near-existential crisis over the state of organization of my music library trying to figure out how to file this properly. In what language do I title the albums and songs? Japanese with Japanese characters? Japanese with Chinese characters? Japanese using the Latin alphabet? English translations of Japanese? I am not helped by the fact that I've found the file names and metadata and general info vary between using ALL FOUR of these. Arrg... Ultimately, I feel the best compromise between authenticity and function is to use rōmaji, but I don't necessarily feel good about it. Order... need order... order which keeps me from going to pieces.

You think you've got me figured out

Last night I stepped out to see some old favs at the Firebird, where a good time was had indeed. Headlining the show was adopted band friends Elsinore fresh off the release of a spanking new album Yes Yes Yes. They hail from Champaign, but they've been coming to St. Louis so long they're practically local. As always, lead singer Ryan Groff was masterful with use of his powerfully sweet voice. Notable stops on the rest their tour are at Lincoln Hall in Chicago on Friday, August 20 and the Strutt in Kalamazoo on Friday, August 27. I suggest you take a listen and think about going to check 'em out if they're comin' through your town. I'm already waiting for them to come back again.

Moving backwards through time leads us to Jumbling Towers, one of the thankfully long-lasting local indie rock acts. Too many good local bands have fallen, cut down in their prime by whatever circumstances make bands break up. Where I used to have a stable of St. Louis bands to choose from, with someone playing a show practically every week, now there are so very few. Keep on trucking.

And last we come to those that played first. Opening things up was Dear Vincent, a band of complexities. The only group I can think of offhand with so many layers of instrumentation is Lost in the Trees. Dear Vincent doesn't quite have the depth as Lost in the Trees - and this is hardly a fair comparison to make considering Lost in the Trees is an indie rock orchestra - but they've definitely got a lot going on. I'd say there's reason to go see them again just for the sake of picking apart some of the different sounds that they used, as I'm sure I missed quite a bit. It just so happens that they play some pretty decent music. They sure restored a bit of my faith in opening bands and did a good job of getting the crowd warmed up and into the show. It also happens that the drummer is a cyclist. And that sometimes he follows me around. I bumped into him twice today while I was out and about. It was strange.

My only complaint about the evening was the lack of crowd participation. I've seen folks get into the groove in a rather serious way at both Elsinore and Jumbling Towers shows, so I figured the two of them together would produce some epic indie dance action. Plus Dear Vincent was so good starting things off I had high expectations. Alas, it was not to be. Maybe there was something off about the energy level of the place or of the bands, or the length of the sets (personally I felt like they were a little short). I did my best to hold it down on the dance front, and kept up the fight solo, front and center through two whole sets, but things did not jump off as I had hoped. And boy, do I feel self-conscious about it after the fact. Dancing like no one is watching while everyone else is dancing is one thing, but doing so while the whole crowd just sits back and chills is something else entirely. Obviously they can see you, cause there is no where to hide!

A whole mess of sound

At least the spirit of music isn't dead in the Loop. For four days in September 9oish bands will descend onto the neighborhood for a festival of epic proportions. Well, epic for St. Louis, anyway. The PLAY:stl fest runs the 15-18, though it remains to be seen how this will compare to the RFT Showcase. The low, low price of $20 gets you in to see all this glory. I'll admit it's a good deal, but that's versus a simple five spot for the RFT. And this thing is sponsored by Sam Adams. Again, I have to admit that it's a good beer, but we've got plenty of good beer a lot closer to home. I'm not convinced this is not a plot masterminded by Joe Edwards. Now that the RFT deal has moved elsewhere he's free to make a bunch more money off of anyone wanting to see a pile of bands in the Loop? Just a little wild speculation, though it remains to be seen what the real story is. Now that the schedule is up there are a whole lot of bands I don't know... but that could be good! If they're cool, what an intense period of new music discovery it would be. Most notably I see Art Majors are playing, been looking forward to seeing them for a minute. Might be worth checkin' out...

Music gets down in your soul, makes you want to lose control

Last night I stepped out to see Robert Randolph and the Family Band courtesy of some free tickets I lucked my way into (thus continuing the tradition of going to see RR for zero dollars). I have to say that the energy level was a bit lower than the last time I saw them perform, and that was a little disappointing. I like my music lively so I can dance to it, but things didn't really pick up until the encore. All and all, it was still a good show. The highlight has to be the covers they played: Dylan's "Maggie's Farm" (which was originally made known to me through the version done by RAtM), Jimi's "Foxy Lady", and a sort of cover / mash-up of "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" by The Temptations and "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga. Fun stuff. Love that pedal steel.



Next up, a series of Color Me Katie-inspired posts.

It's Showtime!

Woah... whoever made this music video watches way cooler movies than I do. Here I thought I was doing with Death Race 2000. Clearly I ain't seen nothing yet... So very glad these kids are coming to do their thing at the club this weekend. I am all over it.

Chicagofalcon

Chicago land sure gets a lot of good funk... somebody'd better start working on that magic bike tube.

The Budos Band @ Chicago Folk & Roots Festival, July 10

Caribou w/ the Budos Band @ Millennium Park (which I am supremely jealous of, btw; someone should be nice and give it to me), July 12

Living a lie

Actually, St. Louis has plenty of good shows. Why, this weekend there happen to be three gigs in two days that I'd love to get myself to. Friday night is looking particularly interesting, with Lojic @ The Pageant and We Landed on the Moon! @ The Firebird. The former doesn't play much here these days, but I've been going to see them since I was a young buck, and they've got a new album out that coincides with the kick off of their Midwest tour (aw yeah, they still know where they're from). WLotM! is a much more recent find, but they sure know how to rock the house, and are generally upstanding and awesome individuals. Tough choices. Sadly I just took my time machine to the shop, or this whole situation would be much easier. Both of these bands are definitely worth checking out, and it kills me that their St. Louis tour dates conflict. My current hope is that their set times don't conflict as well, cause I will surely attempt an unprecedented double-header concert night. You only live twice, right? I'll rest when I'm dead. It's not living a lie if you're not living at all.

Chicagogorillas

Reppin' the Midwest with some of the best from Chi. Man, Chicago is a beast when it comes to hogging on some good shows*. I'd liken it to 98 pound lightweight and a silverback competing for the same bunch of bananas. There's just no contest. I'm maybe gonna have to move there or something. New news out this week on stuff going on in the Animate Objects family. Actually, though I've been listening to them for a while now (that's some good underground / conscious / eclectic stuff there for you, if you didn't know) I didn't know there was an AO family. Just took a listen to some of S Squair Blaq, The Square Black Frames, Sonar Soul and Danya and the Fail, and that is some underrated hotness right there. Generally I use last.fm as a gauge on where an artist falls on the popularity-obscurity scale; these are so far towards the end that I'd have to label them "bands that don't even exist yet". So good, though. And the greater family as a whole is pretty busy in the next few weeks with shows and listening parties and all sorts of friendly goodness.

Couldn't do this right without putting some links in, aye? Start here to put some sounds in your ear. Then when it's seeped in real good and deep, jump over to look at the tour dates (both of those I'm listing below are FREE, by the by). If you don't want to get up and go, I suggest you get yourself to a doctor. You might be dead.

June 19, Chicago, IL, S Squair Blaq w/ Animate Objects, Takin It to the Streets @ Marquette Park

June 25, Chicago, IL, Animate Objects"High Notes for Low Fives" listening party @ Lokal

Five bucks, five bucks, five bucks

Whooo/ugh. That's the sound my body makes the morning after having fun at a kick ass show, but one which also kicked my ass. Partied it UP last night at the RFT Showcase, and though I had some reservations it definitely turned out to be a win. As I awaken, recover, and put the pieces of myself back together into some semblance of normality, I figure the best way to make sense of things is to do a run down of my own awards. You know, for posterity.

Best Bar: Hair of the Dog is what I would have to affectionately call a "rough in the diamonds". What concerned me most about the showcase's move from the Loop down to Wash. Ave. was the areas lack of pure venue spaces an overabundance of upscale snooty places. (More about that shortly.) HotD, on the other hand, is the kind of bar that wants you to come in and make yourself at home, no need to worry about taking off your shoes or spilling things on the rug. It's lived in. And they have shuffleboard!

Worst Bar: Lucas Park Grille - I've been out to the Showcase for a few years now, and like any good festival the beauty of it is the carefree come (and go) as you are vibe. This place was way too highfalutin. The first clue was the hostess asking people just ahead of us if they had reservations. Then the patio where the bands were meant to set up had almost no space for folks coming in to watch the bands; most of the tables in the place were set up for diners. That would be fine, if you want to be a restaurant. If you want to be a venue (even for a day), be a venue and let people come hang out. If you want to be a venue AND a restaurant, that'd be fine with me too, Cicero's and Blueberry Hill both have a system down with separate spaces to suit your tastes whether it be eating or rocking out. There are many different right ways to arrange things; this was an example of the wrong way.
Honorable mention in this category goes to Lola. The space is fairly new and nice, but I'm turned off by the fact that they also seemed to not have a sense of their own identity. I think more people were there to eat than to hear music, and I didn't really get the feeling that the music revelers like myself were welcome. Also the waitress with the frou-frou artsy trendy hairdo did not excite me. I just want to go to a bar for some tunes and drinks, not look at you attempt to be a runway model. (I didn't think of it until just now, but she kinda totally reminds me of Helen Strangé from Boomerang.)

Best Band to Get Me in a Dancing Frame of Mind: The Dive Poets came along at just the right time. Their set was the first at a venue as opposed to an outdoor stage, and being inside / in the evening it had finally cooled off enough for me to start drinking. I miss the fiddle, but they still brought it.

Best Band I've Seen Tons of Times: Jumbling Towers, how I've missed you! I used to kick it at their shows fairly often way back in the day, but it's been quite a long time. They rocked some new shit, they rocked some old shit, and I rocked my shit all over the floor right up front. People came in and packed the place during their set, which was great, but no one was dancing! That just wouldn't do. So, me being me, I scooted my behind up to the stage to help with the motivation. I only made small strides with the folks who were up there, but I did find a few possibly old school fans who knew their songs. Definitely going to have to get back into them.

Best Band I've Seen Tons of Times, But Missed: The Feed.

Best Band I've Never Seen: The Monads - Going to see them was a hard choice. They played at the same time as The Feed, and in this case I elected to go with new-and-potentially-awesome over tried-and-true-goodness. I wasn't sure to make of them while they were setting up. Upright bass, banjo, electric violin, giant bag of beach balls... Okay? They turned out to be real lively. I could see myself getting ragin', footstompin' drunk to this band in a good ol' Irish bar. ...if only I could find the perfect Irish bar in which to do it. The floor is open to suggestions.

Best Band I've Still Yet to See: Art Majors played after Jumbling Towers and I heard a little bit of them, but by that point I was tired and tapped out. It'd been a long day, and I no longer had the ability to properly cleanse my aural palate to differentiate between bands. It didn't help that no one in the crowd was into them enough to start moving, that might have convinced me to stick it out a bit longer. Gotta make a mental note to see them properly at some point.

Best Band for a Funky Good Time: Teddy Presberg kills. Literally. I saw someone drop to the ground of a funk attack, and I don't think they pulled through. DOA. Funkamedics could not resuscitate. The man is cooler than anyone has any right to be. My name is Teddy Presberg, and I'm gonna lay some riffs with this guitar in my lap for a lil' bit, izzat okay witchoo? Yes, please, Teddy. Gimme some more. And who else could pull of playing a show barefoot in such a shiny new bar? (He was at the aforementioned Lola) Bonus points for his man maiming folks with the bongo / drum solo funkassault.

Biggest Letdown Band: UG Project - From what I'd read about this group's style and genre-bending, I was really looking forward to something interesting. I ended up only catching maybe the end of one song at the end of their set, but my snap judgment from what I heard was underwhelming.

Best Friend: I didn't go very far out of my way to promote this thing ahead of time, and so did not attempt to bring a big crew down to check things out. I suppose it could have been fun having a pile of people to hang out with, but it also would have been a logistical nightmare. Almost seems better to go solo, or nearly so. I did invite Julie, who was awesome enough to come down, hang out, and pretty much follow me around to whatever band I wanted to see. I think she had a good time, so things worked out well for all parties involved.

Update: Official fotoes.

They don't want music

RFT Music Showcase! Tomorrow! So excited! So many bands coming that I would like to see. So many, in fact, that Ima make a spreadsheet (cuz I'm a nerd). The question is: Should I go see old favs, or explore potential new goodness? Oh, the pressure...

Two enthusiastic thumbs up

Thing 1. Janelle Monáe + Erykah Badu @ the Fox Theatre on June 9. :-O. WANT.

Thing A. This video makes me want so many things. New shoes. New pants. New moves. Janelle Monáe, I think I love you.

The correct answer is TIME MACHINE

I sure do wish I had bit more wiggle room in my schedule this weekend.

Thing 1 that I'd like to check out is City Sound Tracks, this music festival event type jobber being hosted by... Trailnet? Metro? Alls I knows is, BANDS are playing, soma which I LIKE, half of it is in my NEIGHBORHOOD, and I'm BUSY for most of the day. Drat. Maybe I'll wander over and check it out, thought, since I could literally (okay, practically) fall out of bed and land in front of one of the stages. Who knows, might find something good.

Thing A is People's Settlement: Stand Up! Stand Together!, this ongoing protest dealy happening downtown. From what I can tell the event is kind of anti-everything. By which I mean there are a selection of groups involved speaking out on a wide variety of issues, so anyone with any sort of interest in political action and change can most likely find something they agree with. I sure hope they're not actually anti-everything, cause that gets real old pretty quick. Still, nice to see folks being passionate about something. Don't get enough of that these days.

The Juan Maclean - No Time

Space tourist

Janelle Monáe is steppin out. The closest she comes to the Lou is is Chicago. How come they get two shows? Lucky sons a guns... Sure wish I could make a run up there to see her do her thing. I didn't get this before from listening to her, but watching this video I suddenly feel like I'm looking at something put out by Outkast. And I like it. Girl's got moves. Crazy moves. That reverse Moonwalk thing? Yes.



03.15.2010,The Black Cat,Washington DC

03.17.2010, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA

03.18.2010, Johnny Brenda's, Philadelphia, PA

03.21.2010, Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco, CA

03.22.2010, Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco, CA

03.23.2010, Viper Room, West Hollywood, CA

03.24.2010, Viper Room, West Hollywood, CA

03.29.2010, Schuba's Tavern, Chicago,IL

03.30.2010, Schuba's Tavern, Chicago, IL
03.31.2010, Varsity Theater, Minneapolis, MN

04.02.2010, St. Andrew's Hall, Detroit, MI

04.05.2010, Smith, Atlanta, GA

04.06.2010, Smith, Atlanta, GA

04.09.2010, Joe's Pub, NY, NY

04.10.2010, Joe's Pub, NY, NY

Alright, it's gig time, what t-shirt am I gonna wear?

This weekend I stepped out to the Firebird for what turned out to be a perfectly awesome rock show.

We Landed on the Moon!: The flexibility and energy of this band is amazing. It is of course always great to hear someone playing some good music, which they surely did, but what really got me is how much fun they have doin' their thing. It's infectious. But not like "oh noes! I am disease-ridden!" More in a good way. Like, there has been an outbreak of rock n roll. People everywhere are coming down with it. Symptoms include smiles and wild dancing. Pleased be advised there is no cure; the only available option is to let the disease run its course, so if you find you are suffering the effects of this illness please report to the front of the stage for treatment.

Blind Eyes: What can I say about them? Local band, three white guys in standard arrangement. I was not wowed. I'm not knocking the idea of three white guys in a local band, mind you. I can think of at least one such group that has always impressed. But them... I believe I heard someone refer to them as "Bland Eyes", and that pretty well sums it up. My attention was not grabbed by the complexity or energy of the music, or by the depth of the lyrics. I did think they had a slightly interesting sound with their use of a blues guitar in a rock band, but it wasn't strong enough to stand out and make up for the band's overall shortcomings.

Elsinore: And speaking of complexity... I don't have any of their records, but I've now seen Elsinore a good three or four times. They're not local, but they come through St. Louis somewhat regular. It's only at this last show that I'm beginning to understand how much they've got going on in some of their songs. Somehow they managed to blend a beat that kicks with something as beautiful and sweet as a sea breeze. It's only because of their lead singer, I feel, that they are able to pull this off. The rest of the band is fairly adept as well, but it's he who really brings it all home. I was of two minds, torn between wanting to dance around and just bask in the music; ultimately I settled for dividing myself in two and using each half of my body to do both at the same time. The stage presence wasn't quite as strong as I've seen it be in the past - the last time they came through the lead singer was cracking jokes and bantering back and forth with the crowd - but I'm more than willing to forgive that as they were on day 28 of 28 of their tour.

But wait, there's more! Have some video goodness...





When I die, I sure hope I don't have pie all over my face...