peelander-z, 11/10/07, the knitting factory tap room, nyc, ny

if you've never heard of peelander-z, it's because they're not japanese, they're not american, they're not human... they're aliens. and they've been sent to earth to entertain us. on 11/10/07 they descended upon the knitting factory to play an hour long set of their trademarked madness.

we got there slightly early and had to watch some really loud and poor hairband/honky rock for a while, but peelander blue, red, and yellow hit the stage (pink was at the merch booth and working the spotlight) ready to raise some hell. they immediately busted out with 'mad tiger' and were rockin' it when about halfway through a drunk person (who feels really bad about this and has already apologized but i can't write a review of this show without mentioning this) started a chain of human dominoes that i was unfortunate enough to be at the end of and i went flying (as did my margarita) head-first into a wall. it fucking hurt. the security guy tried to get me to go outside and get fresh air, but i fucking bought that ticket 2 months earlier and had been looking forward to the show since the last time i had seen peelander a couple of years ago at the kaiju big battel- i wasn't missing a minute of this 1-hour set. i'm not old yet, motherfuckers. flash forward a couple of hours: giant bump, bag of frozen peas, a headache that lasted a couple of weeks, etc. etc. if you've ever smashed the shit out of your skull, you know how it goes (i grew up with too many older brothers- THIS TIME i stayed conscious!). incidentally, my little ear crystals got dislodged in the blow and i have to do exercises to re-distribute them now so the room will stop spinning, wheee! and yet, the world will never stop revolving around me- you see how that works? anyways, back to the music.

as far as peelander's "hits", i think they did all of them? "steak", "y.y.y.", and who can forget the lively, "hooooooooooo!!!!"? i did recognize a few of the songs. there was a tango line of audience members turned percussionists, they also swapped their instruments out with members of the audience- what they do is hold up signs asking for "DRUMS", "GUITAR", and "BASS", and people from the audience come up and play those instruments. it's a total nightmare, but it's also awesome. and what peelander-z show would be complete without a frame of human bowling? i'm not sure what the answer is, i think they do this at every show, but it's pure insanity.





1 hour is not nearly enough time for peelander-z to rock this world, they didn't even have time for an encore! the knitting factory tap room was not the ideal venue either, as the ceilings are really really LOW, and the band wasn't able to jump as high as their typical antics flow (they were hitting the ceiling when jumping/climbing on things, and i think one of them was actually pushing himself away from the ceiling when the crowd was carrying him around).



i could easily see these guys doing a big set on the mainstage or a full night in the beer tent at moe.down (though, they might need to install some laminate flooring for the bowling portion). if you hear they are landing in your town, go check them out, they are FUN, it's an experience- and hopefully they will get to play LONGER.

japanese punk rock sugar rush from eating too many cupcakes and then standing on your head for too long gwar: 7.75* HUZZAHS!

mad tiger:


*had to deduct points for the head trauma and length of show

bruce springsteen & the e street band, 10/17/07, msg, nyc, ny

i found myself uninspired write this review while also writing about bruce for the top 40 videos show. i know i know... laaaazy.

so, i attended this show by odd coincidence. at some point during the day of 10/16 i got an email saying that the music department was changing the list of top 40 videos on our show. they were taking away 2 of my videos and so i had to choose ones to replace them with. i lost a carlos santana song (wasn't his best song, didn't mind it so much) and brandi carlile's, "the story", which i had never heard before the show started and really didn't mind losing- she screeches a lot. i had landed that one in the draft in the round that was literally the "i'll choose anything that isn't avril lavigne" round. anyways, i had the fortune of them nixing those two vids, and i ended up choosing bruce springsteen (why not!? he's the boss!) and some other vid.

immediately i emailed my buddy gabe, he's a huge bruce fan and my most reliable source of bruce information. i told him that if he had any pressing questions or interesting points about bruce's "radio nowhere" speak now or forever hold your tongue. he provided me with some insight about the song and then said that by an odd twist of fate, he just found out he had an extra ticket for the next night's bruce show, and would i be interested in going? i'd never seen bruce before. the next night was gabe's 75th bruce springsteen show on his path to 100 bruce shows before his birthday next year. gabe is from jersey- i suppose all jersey boys go through this rite of passage. my first bruce show? e street band? msg? gabe? how the fuck could it get any better? needless to say i was pretty psyched.

i met up with gabe after work and we were herded into msg with the rest of the bruce fans. i have memories of bruce springsteen from when i was a little kid- my sister's best friend karen had posters of him all over her walls- when he got married (the first time) she cried. i do remember that. he's a fucking legend. i mean, it's bruce effin springsteen. not only that, but back with the e street band? the legend before me is so great it was hard to wrap my head around. without a doubt i would be witnessing some sort of history.

the show in a nutshell was like every bruce springsteen music video you've ever seen. the man and the band were rockin' it out onstage. the crowd was eating that shit up. they knew every word, they sang along. not only was bruce conducting the e street band, he was conducting the crowd. he shushed them, he sped them up, he got them screaming. it was pure showmanship. he threw his guitar (not just tossed- but THREW) his guitar over his head backwards and his guitar tech was THERE and caught it, spot-on. it was good stuff. having gabe there was essential as he was able to give me some quick insights on songs, history, musicians--- in between him standing there with a shit eating grin on his face of course. there was a sign language interpreter to our left on the floor with a light shining on her and she was signing all the lyrics to someone- proving that even the deaf enjoy the boss.

all in all it was pretty frickin' cool. i would see him again, sure. have i drank the kool-aid? i'm not so sure about that. it was more about witnessing the man, the rock legend, performing in front of me, doing what he does best- being bruce springsteen. the e street band were top notch- clarence clemons wailing, little steven rockin' it out, max weinberg pounding the skins with perfect posture- no joke. it was a really great rock show. i won't lie- at some point as i was enjoying said rock legend (gabe, don't hate me), i DID think to myself, damn, it'd be so cool right now if i was watching neil young... but, that's for another time!

and it was actually- it was a mature audience. in an odd moment, i went to pee and some woman was in the bathroom on her cell phone saying goodnight to her kids and reminding them to brush their teeth before bed... i had a flashback to not the last time, but two times ago when i was at msg to see the beastie boys, just completely FACED with some friends, aaaaaaahahahahhaa... anyways, i just enjoyed the juxtaposed moment. i suppose you had to be there.

sooooo... last minute bruce springsteen and e street band show? kickass seats? ending the show with a lovely irish ditty? gabe, you're the man! a bonafide rock legend live before my very eyes: 8.5 HUZZAHS! why not?

(oh, and at some point i realized i was calling gabe "nuts" for the 100 bruce shows thing, but realized there are bands i've seen well over 100 times, so it's okay then... neither of us are nuts... right?)

setlist: http://weblogs.variety.com/thesetlist/2007/10/set-list-bruc-1.html

paris gets the led out?

speaking of WTF???

in more 'the world is not fair' news, according to perez hilton, paris hilton will be attending led zeppelin's 12/10 ahmet ertegun benefit concert in london. the legendary slut-whore (and led zeppelin fan?) got ahold of some tickets while millions of fans like myself weren't even able to access the website for weeks on end. i made the decision if i was one of the lucky mofo's to get into the website, register for the lottery, and then actually get ahold of a ticket, that i would haul my ass over to london to witness history being made. well, that didn't happen. but i have a theory that maybe paris in the future is the one responsible for funding the real flux capacitor, gets a time machine made, travels back in time, and WAS the original mud shark girl. and THAT is how she got tickets for the main event, peoples.

slut.

can't wait for the full tour! I WILL ROCK THAT SHIT!

http://perezhilton.com/?p=10179

let's have a money fight!

in keeping with the awesome meeting we had at work today explaining the fabulous new changes to the freelance system at mtv networks, i felt it was time to take all my money out of the bank in cash, and throw it around to have a good old fashioned money fight!

MONEY FIGHT, EVERYONE! ITS MONEY FIGHT TIME! WHEEEEE!!!!

and because i have the utmost respek for the peeps in the writer's guild fighting the good fight- and since we all have the same bones to pick when it comes down to it, i just wanted to make sure everyone saw this.



i think i hear a cat in the elevator... but banksy's got a point with all those rat's, y'all.

huzzah, guildies. huzzah!