thanksgiving stabby, pt. 2

al & the transamericans, 11/8/08, mexicali blues

al & the transamericans, 11/8/08, mexicali blues, teaneck, nj


Short review: Al & the transamericans were fun, I've seen them much better- this was a very very mellow show. Mexicali Blues is cool and occasionally gets great acts & performances. Any venue that serves frozen margaritas is fine by me- but it occasionally feels weird as a venue: the lighting is kind of cheesy and the room just feels too big sometimes (high ceilings maybe?). Still not sure why. The 1 long set seemed slightly strange and there was some jewish girl screaming hebrew* at al all night which was pretty odd too.

Always nice to see/hear Gordon Stone & Kirk Juhas (Al and Vinnie of course and Eric their bass player is great, but I still missed Teep).




Oh and there was an unfortunate 16 year old with no rhythm kind of spazzing out right in front of the stage which was slightly hard to bare witness too. She seemed nice enough and was totally into it, but the music she was dancing to (maybe her head gets xm?) didn't seem to have anything to do with the music that was being played by the band in front of her at that very moment (and I doubt there were any drugs involved). Truly odd, indeed.


Let's give it 7 HUZZAHS. There was something too quiet about it for me (not because my ear filters were in).




*typically Lisa deafens us with her shrieks of, "I LOVE YOU AL!" (yes, he hears you)

thanksgiving stabby, pt. 1

thanksgiving cheer...

this headline caught my eyes because it almost perfectly captures my holiday experience. much like this guy, after thanksgiving i feel like i've been drunk, naked, tasered, & arrested. even my dog is hiding. is today over yet?


i'm officially going skiing next year instead.

w: back on the sauce.

The insanity of the Presidential Election kept me so busy I had almost forgotten how much I enjoyed making fun of George W. Bush. Almost.

At a Peruvian ceremony W. imbibes the traditional drink bestowed upon guests despite being "sober" since the age of 40. Hmm...

A "pisco sour" is a drink made of brandy, lemon, egg whites, and regional spices. Sounds to me like one of those shots designed to make people puke, like a "cement mixer".


W's having no trouble throwing back that pisco sour. He's a pro.

How long before W. is pictured blowing lines off a Filipino hooker
wearing a Dick Cheney mask at a cock fight? ... Not long I hope.

Oh shit... that wasn't long at all. He's smoooooov.


Good luck with that shit, Laura.

thanks to gullo for the head's up on the article...

black crowes, 10/27 & 10/28/08, hammerstein ballroom, nyc

black crowes, 10/27 & 10/28/08, hammerstein ballroom, nyc, ny


It's been a few years since I last caught the Black Crowes at the Hammerstein (specifically, the run that included the Easter Sunday '05 White Show) and if these shows were going to be anything like that of '05's, I had to be there. Well, they were good but not quite AS good as those shows- fuck, I still had a great time. I held off on buying tickets for these cuz they were like $50 and decided that if I were to go, it would be because the tickets fell into my lap. Well, did I get a scorching hot McDonalds coffee lap full of extras! The Crowes who had added another 2 shows to the run (including Halloween) had to cancel those two extra shows cuz of shitty ticket sales ($50 ticket, anyone?) but let ticket holders redeem their tickets for the Monday/Tuesday shows, which would at least help towards a full house. Happy me, our tickets were in Mezz 1 both nights = short people can see.

NIGHT ONE (MONDAY): Erika and I ended up busting a move right against the railing and the boys (Baumy and Sir Stoutus) rocked out on the steps right in back of us. Clear view all the way. First night was pretty mellow, I was slightly disappointed that on a Monday night when you basically resign yourself to the rest of your week being painful, but you rock out anyways cuz that's what rockstars do--- well, I was disappointed the Crowes didn't make it completely worth my while to have the rest of my week suck. Just as the set started really rockin' they were done ('Soul Singing'/No Speak No Slave combo is about as much of a musical religious experience you can get- much like moe.'s 'Four' from the 6/15/08 Governor's Island show- good stuff), the encore, "I Dig Love" was okay but my friends who are hardcore Crowes fans were freaking out cuz they haven't played it since (according to the CrowesBase) 2001. Fucking geeks*. Really would have appreciated a 2nd song for the Encore but it was a no-go. Fortunately we were rip-shit wasted and had to head over to a bar to sober up. Erika poured a pint of beer on Stout's crotch and we upset the bartender. How's that for a Monday night? That's how we roll.

("no speak no slave" 10/31/05- i did not take this footage)

NIGHT TWO (TUESDAY): There was some pain involved but I worked through it. Down: 1 Stout, 1 Erika. Up: 1 Kochman, 1 Greek, 1 Monica (J.), and 1 Thriller. In which we find ourselves on the same exact spot at the Mezz 1 railing as the first night, with the addition of 3 drunken crazy people to the right of us who eventually were removed by security for being drunk & crazy, & not so discreet about their affinity for smoking. So Greek and I pounced on their spots (only fair) to continue our own rockin' out. I thought the setlist was more rockin' Tuesday night (Baumy disagrees, but he's a fuckin' hippie, so he can suck it), Twice As Hard, Welcome to the Goodtimes (I'm sure Crowes' peeps use a code for that like WttG), My Morning Song. We got 2 encore songs including the Band's, "Shape I'm In", a nice standard- Ominous Seapods are amongst the many bands who cover this, with Ted "Tigerbeat" Marotta** on vocals. Totes awwwww.

the drum head has a pic of george w. bush on it.

I could have done with 2 sets each night (I was prepared for it) but maybe I'm spoiled with that shit. Black Crowes, 10/27 & 28/08, Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC: 8 HUZZAHS! Gotta be honest, I've seen 'em better, but they were still an ass-kickin' Southern rockin' good time and will most definitely see them multiple times in the future. Chris Robinson is the consummate showman & oozes rock sexiness onstage, I love dancing along with him. Rich is pretty sweet too. Yummy.

MONDAY NIGHT
Wounded Bird
Gone
Walk Believer Walk
Hard To Handle
Sister Luck
Whoa Mule
My Heart's Killing Me
Let It Be Gone
Miracle To Me
Descending
Downtown Money Waster -> Jam ->
Mona (1st time played) ->
Take Off From The Future ->
Thorn In My Pride
Oh Josephine
Soul Singing
No Speak No Slave
- encore -
I Dig Love

TUESDAY NIGHT
Movin' On Down The Line
Black Moon Jam -> Black Moon Creeping
Twice As Hard
Another Roadside Tragedy
Girl From A Pawnshop
Locust Street
Girl From The North Country
Here Comes Daylight
He Was A Friend Of Mine
Welcome To The Goodtimes
God's Got It
Forty-Four Blues
My Morning Song
Jealous Again
Goodbye Daughters Of The Revolution
- encore -
Sometimes Salvation
Shape I'm In

SLIDESHOW!



*shhh.
** brain fart correction courtesy of the Bourbon Cowboy

YMSB w/ Fishman, 10/10/08, Nokia Theater, NYC

yonder mountain string band ft. jon fishman, 10/10/08, nokia theater, nyc, ny


I've dug these guys every time I've seen them, no matter if it was a festival or a plain ol' headlining show. My former office-mate wouldn't let me listen to bluegrass out loud and (I think it offended her Jersey sensibilities) as such, if she had gone to this show she would have collapsed in a fit of string-pickin' overload. I on the other hand, loved it. The fact that Jon "Henrietta" Fishman is playing drums for them this tour only sweetened the deal.


Love 'em, rockin' bluegrassy good time. Will definitely keep seeing them and I'm a sucker for a rockin' hoodie, so I got a phatty dank YSMB lined american apparel one from the merch table. It's perfect for those freezing days in the dark edit cave.

Yonder Mountain String Band- with or without Jon Fishman. 9 HUZZAHS! BLUEGRASS IN THE BIG CITY, Y'ALL! (and of course, mad love for the Nokia Theater**, one of the better venues in NYC these days!)

SETLIST
set I
1.intro
2.casualty
3.dawns early light
4.good-hearted woman
5.country boy rock and roll
6.happy to be here
7.lifes to short
8.idaho
9.deep pockets
10.fastball
11.this train
12.free to run
13.damned if the right one didn't go wrong
14.jon fishman intro*
15.ramblin' in the rambler*
16.two hits and the joint turned brown*

set II
1.out of the blue
2.must've had your reasons
3.midwest gospel radio*
4.east nashville easter*
5.crow black chicken*
6.boatman's dance*
7.my gal*
8.fine excuses*
9.how 'bout you*
10.king ebenezer*
11.angel>follow me down*
12.crowd
13.steep grade sharp curve*

*w/ jon fishman

listen to the show!


download the show!

gallery and SLIDESHOW!


** on the line getting into the theater there was some chick laying on the sidewalk in a puddle of her own puke-- PATHETIC (even funnier than that is that it was at the front entrance of my old office building, right next to the revolving doors). her "friends" were asking people for water and some retarded girl hands over her nalgene bottle for ol' pukey to contaminate. ugh that's just fucking wrong. there's a time for charity, but more importantly, there's a time when you put your do-gooding aside in exchange for common fucking sense. if her friends gave a damn they would have taken pukey home or maybe not let her get into that sort of condition to begin with. know your limits, kiddies!

lucinda williams w/ buick 6, 10/3/08, wamu, nyc

Lucinda Williams w/ Buick 6, 10/3/08, WaMu Theater, NYC, NY


I was super excited to see Lucinda Williams for very first time on the Little Honey tour. I missed her last time she was in NYC and wasn't gonna let that happen again. Gabe and I met up for a slice of pizza before heading over to the WaMu theater (first time I've been there... I think- weird vibe.) and I got to hear his "worst date EVER" story. Lemme tellya, it was a doozie featuring a duck pond, flip flops, the Connecticut Turnpike, and a nip-slip. If he ever posts the story on his blog I'll be sure to post a link.

Regardless. Lucinda Williams. The woman has been queen of alt-country since before "alt-country" was a buzz-word... Back when alt-country was just "rock 'n roll". She was absolutely fucking brilliant. We were all the way back in the nosebleeds but still loved every second of it. Inspirational. This show made me want to take my guitar out, put on a fresh set of strings, and rock the fuck out. Also my cowboy boots. I wonder if they still fit?

What surprised me most was the crowd. Everyone was sitting for the entire show, at no time did I see anyone get up to git down. Also, I expected to smell at least some weed. Nothing? Jesus, you tri-state urban country folk are fucking lame. I haven't seen that many high-waisted tapered acid washed jeans since... ever. EVER*. Startling indeed.

Lucinda Williams at the WaMu Theater: 9.5 HUZZAHS! Girl, rock on with your rock self! Venue was a little too uptight for me but I ain't holding that against her. Marty saw her at the Egg in Albany later on in the week-- from the front/center. Marty's an asshole.

Was too far away to take pics, but here's a sample of her work.



*I have never been to the Texas State Fair

bush: "regrets, i've had a few..."

All Hail President Barack Hussein Obama

Bow down, fuckers!

Ladies and Gentlemen... It's finally over. The road getting here was stressful, sleep deprived, adrenaline boosting, rage building, drug addled, and altogether balls-out. However, it's time for one President Obama to kick this country's ass into gear.

Just an aside- something that has been bothering me is all this "only in America" talk, because does ANYONE else remember South Africa? Not just a black man--- a black former political prisoner took the reigns over there, so- lest we forget, please recall that one*.

But I digress! PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA. I get chills**, do you? Its pretty awesome. What did y'all do on election night '08? I couldn't contain myself and it being such a stressful 8 years leading up to this, I needed to go out and blow off some steam. STEAM. A few of my friends felt the same way and I had a glorious plan. First we would down some drinkies. Craig went with the very appropriate El Presidente- the beer choice of voters everywhere.

From Election Night '08

Then, the most important part of said plan, we headed over to the one place someone can always turn to for fun on a Tuesday night and that is, SWEET, at the Slipper Room, with your pantstacular host Seth Herzog.

From Election Night '08

It was a fun election themed (following the returns)/Seth's bday show, featuring Kristen Schaal, John Mulaney, James Adomian, and Nick Turner- who gave us a fly on the wall perspective of what the DMX interview with XXL magazine (re: who is Barack Obama) was like, which featured these doozies:
Are you following the presidential race?
Not at all.

You’re not? You know there’s a Black guy running, Barack Obama and then there’s Hillary Clinton.
His name is Barack?!

Barack Obama, yeah.
Barack?!

Barack.
What the fuck is a Barack?! Barack Obama. Where he from, Africa?

Yeah, his dad is from Kenya.
Barack Obama?

Yeah.
What the fuck?! That ain’t no fuckin’ name, yo. That ain’t that nigga’s name. You can’t be serious. Barack Obama. Get the fuck outta here.

You’re telling me you haven’t heard about him before.
I ain’t really paying much attention.

I mean, it’s pretty big if a Black…
Wow, Barack! The nigga’s name is Barack. Barack? Nigga named Barack Obama. What the fuck, man?! Is he serious? That ain’t his fuckin’ name. Ima tell this nigga when I see him, “Stop that bullshit. Stop that bullshit” [laughs] “That ain’t your fuckin’ name.” Your momma ain’t name you no damn Barack.
Anyways it was eye-opening. Seth's mom, always entertaining, read us an open letter she wrote to Sarah Palin... John McCain stopped by, he sounded pretty agitated.

From Election Night '08

and then Barack Obama won the 2008 Presidential Election. And we partied.

From Election Night '08

A bunch of us flooded across the street to Epsteins to watch the speeches on the big screen over the bar- they had opened up the window/doors and a crowd gathered round the sidewalk too. It was all very awesome.

From Election Night '08

Oh and then there was a motorcycle on fire which can only be attributed to civil unrest... but the FDNY and po'po' came and put that shit out. Actually it was funny cuz all us onlookers were standing there taking pictures and the first time it dawned on me that maybe someone should put it out was when the FDNY came and sprayed it down with some extinguishers. oh yeah... I guess we could have put it out... It's hard to extinguish massive fires while simultaneously taking pictures.

From Election Night '08

Revelers filled the streets.

From Election Night '08

It was pretty awe inspiring, and smiles all around.

From Election Night '08

I for one welcome our new leader and wish our new President-Elect and the rest of us lots of luck. Additionally, the names of those who voted for McCain/Palin should be printed in local papers around the country so they can be all be put into stocks in the town square and publicly administered a soup-can-to-the-nuts.

Oh and when I got home at 1:30am, my Obama t shirt in it's mailing envelope sat on the table waiting to be opened.


Good timing, douchebags. Good timing.

SLIDESHOW!




* did that sound racist? that wasn't supposed to sound racist. it was supposed to sound funny.
** good chills

from the gates of hell... from the gates of hell.

"harmless" space junk makes big splash!

my beef with barack.

Barack Obama has my full support and can count on my vote Tuesday, but it is not without some beef. Back in September I wanted to make a donation to the campaign- my very first financial contribution to any political campaign*. On 9/14/08, I donated the best way I knew how- I bought a t-shirt. As a t-shirt aficionado, I knew the right one the second I saw it on the official Barack Obama Store** site. A classic charcoal grey with the sun-rising (like the dawn of a new day) O for "Obama" logo- twist my arm a little more, President B. Rock.


Since it was a great shirt and I was contributing to the evolution of mankind, I didn't mind spending $25 on the t and $8 or more on shipping fees. What I did mind was that 2 weeks after I ordered it, I still hadn't gotten it. Customer support's voicemail was full and the receptionist was forced to take hand written messages and try to sort them out. 2 weeks later I received an email from them saying my shirt was on back order and would ship as soon as it was back in stock. The next day it came in the mail. Except that it was the wrong size. So I called back and left another hand written message. Eventually I got a call, they would mail me a return postage label, then I could send the wrong shirt back, etc. Anyways, it's erev election day (if you will) and I never got my fucking shirt.

Barack... Dude. Who the hell is running your store? Talk about bureaucracy, I hope this isn't some small example of things to come- because I need affordable health care. Sitting in an office and putting t shirts in a box isn't fucking rocket science. You could have hired a floor full of stoners to do it out of their dorm rooms and they would have pulled it off- you gotta pass the post office on your way to the 7-11, man.

But there are other ways I could show my support. Take for example this go-getter at a Jay-Z/Diddy attended Obama Rally on Monday in Miami.
One attendee, 36-year-old Rebecca Vaughns, said Election Day would be especially sweet for her. The Miami resident, who was wearing a black Obama T-shirt and had a likeness of the nominee shaved in the back of her head, said she had been saving a giant chocolate "O" in her freezer for months, waiting for Nov. 4.
I just wanted a t-shirt.... so, perhaps tomorrow I will make my own t shirt out of green glitter puff paint and get a blue donkey tattooed on my left ass-cheek or drink margaritas and end up wandering off to an election night comedy show. You see that? I can't get too mad at the guy, the workers in his store may be retarded, but Barack Obama supports the Arts.



* While Greenpeace is not a "political campaign" I once gave them $1 for a cool sticker at a Phish show and got a lifetime of mail that was hopefully printed on 100% post-consumer content- but definitely burned fuel in transit.
** there's already a clearance sale! jews, jump on this!