Thursday, February 26, 2009

the harrowing adventures of...

tokyo police club, born ruffians and harlem shakes!



most definitely in the running for the top shows of the year.
despite the fact that a girl standing near us passed out and then barfed all over the floor ... oh, and that the lights were super close to giving me a seizure.

look what i found!


i had never really given harlem shakes a listen, but i was pleasantly surprised.
they were just so energetic and good, i'm not sure why i'd never really listened to them before.
it's like being on the beach with a couple saxophones and smiling animals and one floor tom for everyone to play together.
it totally made sense why they'd be playing with tpc and born ruffians.

born ruffians were even better than i had remembered them being.
but that might be because the first time i saw them, i was outside and it was pouring rain and i had no umbrella.
haha, but really ... they were great! and oh hey luke lalonde ... adorable!







tokyo police club was wonderful of course. they're just so good and they make me ridiculously happy every time i see them.
again, as i said five months ago, they are one of the few bands who have the ability to make me excited when they play ANY of their songs because every song is just that fantastic.
they opened with a new song, and sprinkled a few other new songs in their set.
i like the new material ... a step in a new direction, but still good! i can't wait to hear the songs again.
they played all my favorites, but strangely, they didn't to "centennial," but that's alright.

setlist:
Favourite Colour <-- new song
Nature
Box
Sixties
Breakneck Speed <-- new song
Works
Cave
Paste
Nursery
New New
Baskervilles
Shoulders
Citizens
Graves
Math
Harrowing
Tesselaste
English
Juno
Be Good
------------
Cheer It on
Spark <-- new song
Train In Vain

they've totally gained more stage presence. every time i see them, they just get better and better.
oh, and that encore ... so good.









































they invited born ruffians out to do one song, then harlem shakes came out too and they did "train in vain" by the clash.
SO RIDICULOUS! ahh!















thank you, tokyo police club.
you are fantastic.

Monday, February 23, 2009

oh hello.

so, shows have been dry for the past week or so.
went to My Teenage Stride in Long Island City at The Jackson (steakhouse) on saturday, and i must say, i think i hate LIC more than i hate bushwick.
who knew that was even possible?
i'm never going back there again, unless i absolutely have to.
and it didn't help that everyone in the crowd was either 100 years old or 5 years old. awesome.

juiceboxxx @ vpoint this weekend?
i think sooooo.
juiceboxxx > life ... fo'sho.

Friday, February 20, 2009

photography project!

so ... you may or may not have heard, but i'm doing a photography project.
i need from 20-25 specimens of all ages, male and female to pose for a few frames.
in the end i'll compile my favorites from each person's shoot to have a series of "themed portraits."
i think it'll be pretty cool.
each person will pose with the same prop ... that prop being my grandfather's glasses from the 70's that i found a few months ago. but the glasses will be worn or used differently in every picture.
oh, and you get to pose in front of a glittery backdrop. i know you think that's exciting.
i know i do!
SOOOO ... if you're interested, please please please let me know by the end of the month at the latest.
i'm running low on boys, so if you're a boy and feel like doing this, i'll be forever grateful.

this could be you!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

i always manage to find pictures of myself looking really excited

at matt and kim shows.
here's one from the secret show last week.
of course, i have my arm up.
lovezzzzz you matt and kim.



while i'm here, i might as well post a few more.
here's one from cmj 2007 of me getting kicked in the head ... awesome!


and one from the "pizza factory" aka that nasty abandoned warehouse in bushwick in summer 2007.
i came out of this show with footprints on my face.


good times.

Monday, February 16, 2009

what will foals become when they grow up?

so, i hadn't listened to foals in quite a while, and just yesterday i remembered just how much i love them.
i get so tense listening to them ... but not like an uncomfortable tense ... it's like a weird kind of tenseness where you feel like doing a really long math equation, then taking a crazy nap.
they've grown in popularity like exponentially over the past year or so, and after playing a billion shows here last year up until may, they decided that the the states just aren't that important.
jack bevan claimed they'd be back in october, but um, it's february now.
they probably decided not to come back because yannis got so upset when they played maxwell's on may 7th.
goddamnit.

but anyways, i just got around to downloading all those b-sides i've been missing out on.
so good ... oh my god.
go find these:


and these:


yes, "super inuit" is a holy fuck cover.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

i love turbotax!

no, not because it's a great tax filing service (is it really? i'm not one to know ... i don't pay taxes) but because they sponsored last night's myspace secret show with lily allen and ... get ready for it ... MATT AND KIM, and trouble andrew.

it's as if they reached into my brain and picked out all my favorite people and threw them onto a stage. so good. wonderful.
we got there around 2:30 to ensure our admission and stayed on line until 7:30 ... yes, we were on line for a solid 5 hours. thankfully, they passed out free lily allen shirts, stickers and lollypops to appease us. i had no problem with that.



they herded us in like cattle. we ran down the stairs and to the door only to find yet another crowd of frustrated peole. they opened the doors like 15 minutes later and we all attempted to run up the stairs then got stopped AGAIN because trouble andrew was sound checking. he couldn't do that before doors opened?? finally after 20 minutes of being way too close to nasty strangers and ghetto-ass girls on the stairs, they let us in and we charged towards the stage and took our spots on the right side, aka matt's side, which was totally weird because i've been on kim's side every time since the first time i saw matt and kim.

trouble andrew was super cool ... but seriously, that bull horn was NOT necessary!!!
anways, he only played like 4 songs, which was sad because he's so much fun!





for an opening spot, m&k's set was a decent length. they managed to throw in a lot of my favorites, but they refused to slow it down and play "lightspeed." it was strange hearing such a silence fall over most of the crowd when they played. there were obviously only about 10 people in the crowd that REALLY liked them. all ofthem happened to be in my general vicinity.
i was ridiculously excited as usual, but i could not compare myself to the guy standing next to me. i had never seen him at a matt and kim show before, but he had definitely seen them before because he knew the drill for all the songs and when to put up his arm and when to count and everything - but he was super violent and not cool about it at all. like, i get it, he was trying to have fun but really?? did you have to hurt everyone around you?
also, a note to the crowdsurfers and stage divers last night, PLEASE DON'T DO IT UNLESS YOU KNOW PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO CATCH YOU! the large man lady fell right on my face. i would've threatened to cut her after the show if she wasn't so frightening.





























after matt and kim, i was totally parched and dehydrated and hot and sweaty and disgusting and uncomfortable, and it didn't help that the three middle-aged assholes in front of me smelled like leather and kept elbowing me and flicking their hair in my face.

thankfully, lily allen went on shortly after. she had the most adorable dress and sweater ever. she's just super cute and fantastic. i love her so much. by the middle of the set, she was a little bit tipsy and was giggling at almost everything, but if anything, she was even more fun when drunk. after she left the stage, we called her back for an encore ... yes, she did "womanizer" ... hellz yessss! so good.

i was totally sore after the show, but again, we got outside and they gave us a poster ... more free stuff! yay!

































the end.
lily allen again in april with my baybeeeeeez in npsh.