yikes. I was at the grocery store today, feeling goofy for being the only one there who wasn't in costume... so, I see this girl in the produce area of the store. she looks like an average, everyday college girl. the back of her shirt said, "McCain/Palin 08". then, she turns around and has a comically huge pregnant belly. i thought it was part of her costume, so I say, "Bristol Palin?"
man.
she shot me the most pungent stink eye in the history of dirty looks. she sneered, "no." then, she turned and walked away.
way uncomfortable.
it would've been an awesome costume, though.
she has to be having twins or something. it looked unreal.
I was late to the show. I missed the comedy and the opening band. But, I was there to welcome my friends home from a long, grueling tour.
When I showed up, around 11:00, the parking lot across from Opolis was nearly full. Wow! And, there were a ton of people milling around in costume outside the venue. As I approached, I only recognized one face in the crowd. Wow! Is this the new crop of OU freshmen? Are they really this into music? I hope so! It was a different crowd. Very few familiar faces. And, these kids were pushing their way to the front to see the band. Rather than be upset that these punks were pushing me around, I figured it was a good sign that they seemed to care about the music. At least half of them did. The other half spent the entire time outside. Oh well, you can't win 'em all. Nevertheless, this was one of the best, most enthusiastic crowds I've seen for Evangelicals in Norman. Hopefully, it's a sign of things to come this year and for at least a few years to come.
Evangelicals came home with a very tight, very intense set that's been honed to perfection from nearly two months on the road. They kicked things off with Bellawood, which is probably my favorite song from their usual set. When Josh Jones sings, "There's a monster, inside of me", you can see in his eyes that this is not melodramatic posturing. Josh is a born showman. He's fantastic as a frontman. But, there's something very real about what he gives you from the stage.
After the opening tune, they plowed through fantastic versions of most of the songs that I saw them playing this summer on tour. After Paperback Suicide (another personal fav), things got creepy, though. They played a cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' I Put a Spell on You, that was tailor made for a creppy Halloween show. It's probably the "heaviest" song that Evangelicals have ever played. Having recorded a version of this song last year that was sort of pieced together, it was pretty great to see how they interpreted it as a band. This song was fucking huge.
Skeleton Man and Halloween Song rounded out the spooky jams for the evening, before the band closed with Another Day. It was a great night. A spectacular homecoming from one of Norman's most prized musical treasures. And, a fitting occasion for their return.
It's truly scary to see how much better they get every time I see them.
I'll admit that I'm getting a little sappy about this election. It really feels different this time. I feel like electing Barack Obama really will set our country in a better direction. This video has just about every celebrity ever, telling you in a very humorous way, why you should vote. Please watch and enjoy. And, then go vote next Tuesday.
You should go check out this new song at Perez Hilton's site. I'm not interested in hosting any bootleg mp3s, so give Perez the clicks and go check it out over there.
I'm finally getting around to blogging about this show. I've taken a few days to let it all sink in. It was truly a special moment in time that I fell lucky to have seen.
I was already coming back from Connecticut through Chicago, so it didn't really cost me anything to get there. And, I was lucky enough to be able to stay with friends and borrow one of their cars to drive to the show. So, all told, this experience only set me back $12.50 for the ticket to the show.
It was a packed house at the Bottom Lounge, a 400ish capacity club just outside of downtown Chicago. It was off the beaten track enough that I was able to find free parking easily within a block of the venue. Nice.
When I got in, everyone was sitting on the floor in front of a movie screen. I don't particularly like standing up for hours upon hours, so the sitting thing looked good to me and I surveyed the floor for a nice spot to sit.
They started with the film, Major Organ and the Adding Machine. It was a "silent" movie, accompanied only by music from the project of the same name. It was really cute. A sort of psychedelic story for children, it looked to be a blast to film. The sound during the film was fantastic, so I started getting excited about how the bands would sound.
I got excited too soon. Once the bands started, the sound constantly fluctuated between passable and downright poor. The collective had somewhere around 12 to 15 musicians taking part. There were two drum kits, two keyboards, a bass amp, several guitar amps and a half dozen or so microphones for vocals, horns, strings and singing saw. It was a lot of inputs to keep track of. I don't know why they didn't bother to bring out a sound engineer to make this stuff sound better. I looked back at the crusty, jaded house engineer and he just looked frustrated, pissed, and confused. And, it showed in the sound. Hell, I'd have volunteered to go out with them and run the sound for free, just to be a part of the circus!
Anyhow, the sound aggravated me, because I'm deeply in tune with that shit. But, it certainly wasn't bad enough to be distracting or ruin the show. In the end, I could hear most of what was going on. Anything that I couldn't hear enough, I was able to fill the gaps with my memories.
I got into the whole Elephant 6 thing a little late. But, I did happen to be turned on to Olivia Tremor Control around the time of Dusk at Cubist Castle. It was a very influential album at a time that was very important in my life. So, while everyone there (including me) was hanging on every single sighting of or inference to Jeff Mangum, I was really, really excited to see OTC.
I heard lots of old favorite songs by OTC, Apples In Stereo, Elf Power, Circulatory System, and the Gerbils. I also heard a lot of songs that I was unfamiliar with. To be honest, I didn't enjoy any one more than any other. It was more about the experience than about hearing my favorite songs.
The vibe onstage was so fucking amazing. I'm not religious at all, but god bless Julian Koster for putting this thing together and for seeming to be one of the sweetest, most enthusiastic people I've ever seen on a stage. I was really touched by his child-like joy.
Total time for the show, including the movie, was about 4:15. That's a long time. But, it really kinda felt like you were a fly on the wall when all these people would get together and play songs for each other. It didn't feel like I had paid to see a performance. It felt like I had paid to be able to quietly observe a special, intimate evening of friends enjoying and encouraging each other for as long as they could hang in there.
The Elf Power stuff was pretty great, too. I've become a pretty big fan of that band. I think that I enjoyed the feel of their songs much more with the E6 collective band than I did with the Elf Power touring band when they came through town this year.
One band that I hadn't heard before, just totally blew my mind. That band was called Nana Grizol. I LOVE THIS BAND! Theo Hilton, the main dude in the band, gave a really inspiring performance. He reminds me of Conor Oberst or John Darnielle singing for an Elephant 6 band, with the bratty enthusiasm of Josh Jones. You should really check out this band. Top quality, indeed.
I could go on all day about the show and the performances. Hell, it was 4+ hours. That's a lot of stuff to talk about. But, I'll just sum it up by saying that this show made me feel young again. Not so much in that it reminded me of being a younger age... But, it reminded me of a time when I had a younger spirit. And, it showed me that you can still embrace that younger spirit, even as you move on in years.
I'll leave things with a miracle capture from a YouTube video of Jeff Mangum's performance of Engine with Julian Koster. It was a very dark video. But, I just got lucky to catch a camera flash where you can see my face. It looks like my head is growing out of Jeff's right ear!
They ended the show with everyone taking the stage for Circulatory System's great song, Forever. "We will live forever and you know it's true, know it's true." Julian let us know that it's ok if we sing along. But, it wasn't happening. Jeff Mangum was on stage and everyone was clearly fixated on him, trying to make out his voice in the crowd. How do I know that every eye in the place was trained on Jeff Mangum? After a few times through, he motioned to the crowd to join in. And, all at once, the entire building was singing. It was a pretty powerful moment. Eventually, the band started slowly walking off stage. Jeff grabbed an acoustic guitar and Julian grabbed his saw and bow. As they made their way to the center of the audience, the song continued. "We will live forever and you know it's true, know it's true." As they took their position the audience executed a perfect fade. It was glorious. And, just as they started tuning up for Engine, the d-bag house sound guy brings up some crappy house music in the P.A. He was promptly shouted down, and the guys delivered this performance:
McCain got in a couple of zingers. But, the laughs just didn't add up, much like the electoral college for him.
What is funny, is the detachment from reality exhibited in the comment section of the YouTube page for this video. Those poor, under-educated fools are gonna have a miserable future ahead of them.
I seriously laughed my ass off at this. Very funny stuff. For a minute, I thought, "well, look at ol' Johnny Mac. he's laughing! he's got a good sense of humor!" Then, I saw him laugh at the Facebook joke (that he COULDN'T POSSIBLY have understood) and realized he's just laughing for the cameras.
I guess he's really pissed. I thought that they SNL sketch was fucking hilarious. C'mon Marky.... They didn't even really make fun of you that much. How 'bout you leave your Boston mook roots behind and laugh about it?
The lyrics are kinda cheesy. But, it's funny. The video is funny. And, honestly, by the end of the song, I was tapping my toe and digging the horn lick.
I'm in Connecticut right now visiting Krystal. She's in the middle of some intense work here and will be gone Sunday through Friday nights for a few weeks. So, this weekend, I came up here and we're gonna go to Vermont for the weekend. Leaf-peeping and cheese tasting are on the itinerary.
If you're planning to break into my house while I'm gone, to steal my gear or pet my kitties, you'll have to get through this dude first:
The leaves that I saw when I flew in over Hartford were absolutely amazing! There were still a lot of green grass pastures (that or I just flew in over one of the largest golf courses in the world). But, the trees are the brightest red, orange and yellow! It was beautiful.
I can't wait for the drive up to VT. We've got GPS and a few iPods full of good travel jams. I'm looking forward to a driving trip. Krystal and I have such busy lives lately. It'll be nice to just sit for a spell and get some good hang time. We're staying at a B&B in Jamaica, Vermont. I'm not a big B&B kind of guy. I don't care much for lace and "country" style anything. But, it's about all they have for accomodations and it's a roof over our heads. Sounds like it's gonna be cold up there! I'm gonna walk to the mall in Milford, CT today and buy a scarf while Krystal is at work.
We'll be back to CT on Monday morning and then I'm going to Chicago on Tuesday for the Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise tour's stop in the Windy City. There are rumors that Jeff Mangum will show up and maybe play something. He joined them in NYC and sang some BGV's on an OTC and a Elf Power song. We'll see. I'm stoked either way.
I guess I better get out of bed and get on with my day.
John McCain has been a perfect example of the vast distance in the generation gap currently creeping slowly across time. The internet is honestly the demarcation point between old people and the new generation. Hell, I barely made it. I didn't have more than a couple of computers at my high school. But, I caught up eventually. My parents did, too. But, the generation just a little older than my parents (who are admittedly pretty young to have a 34 year old son) seems a little reluctant.
McCain can't use the internet. He doesn't use e-mail. Can you even imagine that?
And, now, AC/DC has decided that iTunes and digital downloads are just some passing fad designed to get someone (other than them) rich:
In a not at all surprising twist, the newest AC/DC album, Black Ice, which is sure to be craptastic, will only be available at Wal Mart and Sam's Club. Because if anybody is in it "for the love", it's Wal Mart!
Now that Palin has been found to have abused her power as Governor in Alaska, the McCain/Palin ticket is the first in American history in which both candidates were found to have violated ethics standards before a national election.
McCain, of course, for his role in the Keating 5 savings and loan scandal in the 80s and Palin for her abuses of power related to the "Troopergate" scandal.
Bravo! I wouldn't expect anything less from the modern day Republican party. At least neither of them were ever community organizers!
Seriously. Take a look at these videos. Now, I'm sure that we could dig around and find plenty of examples of liberal activists acting like fools. But, these are just the average, everyday voters that are turning out to these McCain/Palin rallies.
This is pretty alarming. These people are clearly detached from reality. And, they're like a wounded wild animal. They're dangerous.
Enjoy:
Get a job! Go to Russia! You commie faggots!
European Socialist!
It really blows my mind how immature and petulant and disrespectful the McCain/Palin supporters are to the Obama/Biden supporters. It's both laughable and sad how the Obama supporters seem so interested in having a discussion and actually talking about issues, while the McCain supporters will just rattle off a few key words that they don't understand and then laugh with each other and turn their backs.
"Obama is a terrorist!" "ACORN is responsible for the financial collapse!" ?!?!?! "Is Obama American? I don't know what he is. Just listen to his name!"
I can't help believing that this is the result of an intentional dumbing down of an entire population of people in a deliberate attempt to create a society of easily-marketed-to robot droids who will never really question anything.
When Obama and McCain debated last week, I remember that the pundits claimed the result of the debate was a tie. Funny, I thought, because I had watched the debate and thought that it was clear that Obama was the victor. Sure enough, a couple days later and the conventional wisdom is that Obama mopped the floor with ol' Johnny POW.
Look at editorial pages all across the country today, and you'll be told that Sarah Palin either tied or beat Joe Biden in last night's VP debate. But, polls of people who actually watched the debate indicate that Biden won easily. I read one such editorial piece on CNN.com today. I was so frustrated with this idea that by managing to not fall over, Sarah Palin somehow won the debate, that I was looking for the comment section to express my dissatisfaction over this editorial piece. When I scrolled through the comments, it was clear that I wasn't the only one who thinks that this propping up of Palin is fucking bullshit. I decided a comment was unnecessary. The people are not this stupid. The only polls I've seen that indicate that Palin won the thing, were polls from Fox"News" and The Drudge Report. Big fucking surprise there!
My frustration is NOT with the 30%ers who will declare victory for Palin because they're so moronic that they still think that Bush is doing a "heck'uva job". My frustration is with these fucking "pundits" who work for the mainstream media, who clearly understand that this woman is a fucking moron, but they're propping her up because a close election means more viewers for their networks. They're getting punked by the polls. Americans seem to be (miraculously) making up their own minds about what they're actually seeing in these debates. It seems that the people aren't interested in having blowhards at the MSM tell them how they should feel about what they just saw.
I'm still predicting an Obama/Biden win in November. And, the closer we get, the more I'm convniced that we're looking at a landslide of epic proportions.
Looks like we're about a month away from the next Scar Party show, which will be the first with the full band. We're really excited about this show. It will be the start of something big. And, we're really thrilled to let you in on our little secret.
I'll be more forthcoming with details in the next week or so. But, be prepared! Nov. 7 is the date.
I'm just amazed that Sarah Palin has managed to make George W. Bush look pretty intelligent and capable by comparison. I mean, at least GW grew up around politics and world events. Sarah Palin seems as if she never even really considered most of these issues until she got the call from McCain and people started trying to train her and teach her what to say. She seems blissfully ignorant about pretty basic world events.
Ever since the first Scar Party show a couple of weeks ago, I've been really excited about what the future holds for this project. Playing a show by myself and trying to make an interesting production of it, really gave me some confidence in what I'm trying to do with this band. It was also nice to have both Scott and Colin, who will be the drummer and bassist respectively, at the show to offer their support and also to see how high I wanna set the bar with this band. I really have high expectations.
We had our first full-on band practice for Scar Party today. Man... This 3 piece band is waaaay more fun to play with than that silly sampler. In fact, I can still use the sampler with the band. It's like having a fourth member that plays sound effects! I feel like this band is gonna sound really incredible. It's a pretty large sound for a 3 piece band.
We start recording next week. I'm also working on some video stuff that will probably be seen spilling from a projector at our shows in the near future.
