My Dream Concert, Other's Nightmare

You can make your own fake tickets at says-it.com. It's a kick in the pants.

Dinosaur, Jr. Reunion at the Ottobar

Tonight, I was at the Ottobar to see the reunited Dinosaur, Jr play. It was a real throwback to the early 90's.
Opening up was a band called Mouthus, on the Ecstatic Peace label. They were loud; their sound was droney feedback- pretty cool, but the sound levels drove a lot of the crowd to the bar in the back.
So, the original lineup of J Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Murph recently reunited and they are now touring. It was pretty cool seeing them play again, but man do I feel old. Mascis' hair is all grey now, and Murph looks like a PE teacher. They still play pretty amazing though.
Their sound hearkens back to my university years - man, I swear I saw some of the best shows in college because most of the bands were a helluva lot better back then, too. I really forgot about the musicianship of Dinosaur, Jr. until last night, and it was indeed impressive.
I'm sounding like an old codger now, but dagnabbit, it's true. I can't wait for the Touch & Go Anniversary show in 2 weeks!

Eight Planets in Our Solar System

So it looks like Pluto is no longer one of the planets of our solar system. It's been downgraded now to a dwarf planet. It's now in a class of objects including Charon, Ceres, and Xena(?!).

The Only Reason to Watch Showtime's Brotherhood

The show is okay - but for city politics, I prefer The Wire; for crime families, I prefer The Sopranos; for marijuana, I prefer Weeds.
Regardless, you can't deny how much this show fulfills Annabeth Gish lust. I even watched Steel to see her.

Beirut at Warehouse Next Door with Curtains & Get Him, Eat Him

Wednesday night, I went for the first time to a space called Warehouse Next Door near the DC Convention center to see a current favorite band of mine, Beirut.
There has been a lot of blogging buzz with them, and when I got to the club at 7:30, an hour before the show was supposed to open, there was already a line.
The show ended not even letting in until 9:30 - 2 hours! By that time, the line was around the block. I got into the small space which had a capacity for only 140, and there had to have been twice that number waiting inside.
First up was Curtains, a band featuring Chris Cohen formerly of Deerhoof. They had a fun psychedelic sound that reminded me some of the Red Krayola with Art & Language. Not as Communist or as wacked out though.
The second act was Get Him Eat Him from Providence, RI - they were a high energy band with a dork indie rock sound. They were really fun. I swear the bassist looked 12 years old.
Beirut was amazing live. Lead singer Zach Condon sounds a lot like Rufus Wainwright- a high tenor- beautiful. The backing band was filled with energy when they played with him - they included an accordion, several horns and reeds, a violin, a cello, organ, drums, and several ukeleles. The whole group were really tight, and they even played a few new songs during the set which had most music from their debut record Gulag Orkester.
The encore consisted of two gypsy tunes. The crowd got totally into the show. It was worth the painful wait outside to see them.

The Apex in Baltimore

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Louis Moholo-Moholo, Zim Ngqawana, and Ernest Dawkins at An Die Musik

Last night, my friends Andy and Melinda from NYC came into town, and Andy recommended we go to see South African jazz drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo in his only East Coast tour date this year. He was playing at local free music/jazz/classical space, An Die Musik. He was accompanied by another African jazz musician, saxophonist/pianist Zim Ngqawana (you click when saying his last name) and saxophonist Ernest Dawkins.
The show was amazing- the three musicians all had a lot of control and restraint in their improv that less experienced players often lack. Moholo-Moholo was awesome- he was a frakin' samurai on the drums. I loved his facial expressions when he played- he reminded me of the shogun assasin and Zatoichi.
Ngqawana (click) was pretty amazing blowing various saxes - soprano, alto, and baritone, as well as on the piano and singing. Dawkins was also entertaining - my favorite part was when he laughed as he played his saxophone.
Yet another cool show in this great space for avant-garde shows- no mics!

Watch Miss Teen USA 2006

In support of my peeps, I will be watching Miss Teen USA 2006 Tuesday night.
Some of you might know of my friend Alex from Vegas- he used to provide me with the hookup at the formerly great record store Big B's. Well now, he's on to bigger better things, but he informed me that his stepsister, Georgina is in competition this year, representing Miss Teen Nevada. He said he will be in Palm Springs in person to see this spectacle himself. Good luck!

Celebration, Low Moda, and The Beach House at the Ottobar

Last night's show was a cool demonstration of the local Baltimore music scene at the Ottobar.
Opening up was The Beach House, described by many as shoegazer, but I think it reminds me more of the Moonpix Cat Power record. This was my second time seeing them, and I really like these guys. Singer Victoria's voice is nice to hear, she's got a raspy-smoky-nasal timbre. They are releasing their record on Carpark Records in October.
The second band was Low Moda, a band with a postpunk kind of sound. I was impressed by the last time I saw them, but it was cooler to see them on a stage with a/c working. I really like the viola sound accompanying the staccato guitar riffs in their sound.
Headlining was Celebration, a local act who released an album on 4AD last year. They have a fun no wave kind of disco sound, and a lot of energy on stage. I liked that they had no guitars - only an organ, drumkit, and sax. Singer Katrina was really fun onstage as well.
Go Baltimore music!

Alison from Project Runway

Did anyone notice on last night's Project Runway that Alison was shown getting out of bed? Wakka wakka. It's a show straight guys can enjoy as well!

The Wire cast at The Soundgarden

I stopped by my record store, The Sound Garden for new cd/dvd Tuesday and lo and behold, members of the cast and crew of The Wire were there signing copies of the new season 3 discs. All proceeds went to the Ella Thompson Fund
Above is Sly and me.
This is show creator David Simon and Herc.










Here's Proposition Joe!

Return of the Blog

Sorry about no posting for the last week. I was cut off from the internet world and escaping the east coast heatwave in the Canadian Rockies. Sure, I could have blogged from up there, but didn't feel up for it. Now that I am returned to the urban grind, new blog posts will be coming.