nycmermaid | Entries tagged with gigs

I just had to post this here too. It's a great reminder of a fantastic evening, a legendary band, and a truly bitchass chick. (This girl was lifted out of the pit when Billie Joe asked if anyone knew how to play Jesus of Suburbia on the guitar. This is no small feat as the song is 9 minutes long.)

I wish the pre-song part was on here too. I loved the moment where Billie Joe was like "Do you really know how to play this song? What key is it in? Okay get up here."

After 2 shows and a trip to Scotland, I have finally come around to Frightened Rabbit. It often happens with me that no matter how much I'm told that a band is good, I will only come around to them when I am ready. Which is usually fairly late in the game. I'd say after seeing them twice (once last week) and hearing 2 people say it's *the* band to listen to while traveling through Scotland, it's pretty late. My feelings about the Bowery show were that it was just okay, and the only songs I enjoyed were the more upbeat ones that I remembered hearing on shuffle on my mp3 player ("Old Old Fashioned" and "Keep Yourself Warm"). Then, after the show, I decided to give it another listen. Without even really meaning for it to be, the album's been on repeat ever since. Then, listening to it today while at work (yes, at work, on a Saturday), I finally really *heard* the words of "Backwards Walk," and upon feeling my stomach emotionally implode with empathy, felt the need to announce that yes, Frightened Rabbit is pretty feckin' awesome. And even though I wasn't listening to it while traveling through the Highlands, when I hear "Floating in the Forth," I can see the mountains and the frost-covered trees, and the signs pointing to the Forth Road Bridge. Better late than never.

At 12:30 pm on a Tuesday, I just discovered that grapefruit juice and lemoncello makes a great cocktail. At times I like this I can't help but feel a great affection for my place of work. :) My boss brought in a vat of salsa dip that her sister-in-law made. It was essentially sour cream and cream cheese with some olives and a little salsa for flavor. It was delicious, and now I feel like spending my lunch break at the gym. :b

Futureheads at Bowery tonight!!!!!! I haven't been this excited for gig since I don't know when!

No, that's not a philosophical question. I'm just too damn good of an employee. Everyone who I tell that Nathan is at MOMA right now while I am sitting at my desk with no work to do says I should cut out early. I told Nathan to call me at 4. It's 9:58 right now. That's 6 hours away. Waaah. And he doesn't have a phone, so I can't call him.

What is it with this weather? I shouldn't complain, right? It's been great conditions for walking around the city, which I've been doing a lot of lately. But I'm supposed to go cross-country skiing in the Catskills in 2 weeks and it doesn't look like it's going to happen, because there's been no snow and it doesn't look like any is coming. I guess I'll just have to put that money toward something else and concentrate on that. And concentrate on my kayaking trip in February, though a tropical getaway seems a little less imperative when you're not wading through snow. (Note to weather gods: Please don't do a repeat of last year and have the only winter snowstorm on my birthday! My flight leaves the next day!)

Last night we saw a band called The View at Mercury Lounge. It was a very atypical Mercury Lounge experience since it was an early show (7 pm) and when we got there at 7 the place was already quite crowded. There were no other bands before or after (unless you paid again for the later show). The View look like a bunch of scrappy Scottish 15-year-olds. Sara and I were surprised at how young they looked. They spoke with the kind of Scottish accent that might as well be a different language. Overall their set was fun. A few songs seemed a bit choppy, like they could do with some more practice, but others I really enjoyed. We were out of there at 8:10 and home by 9. Very atypical for a gig night, but it was nice in that Nathan and I got to have a relaxing evening together at home. Wonderful, actually.

Current Mood: bored

Not much to say about the Daily Show concert other than it was a huge disappointment. I could go into detail, but I hope

vejgurl will have some witty commentary about the event, because I'm too tired. The bands were disappointing (other than the Mountain Goats, who were interesting in a college-town coffee house sort of way) and the comedians most woefully unfunny. The only exceptions would be John Hodgeman (the "PC guy") and John Oliver, who, in comparison with the dreadful acts by Samantha Bee and Jason Jones, were the only thing that justified the price of admission. I wish I could get a tape of Oliver's routine, actually. I think Nathan would have loved it (it was very mocking of America and our current administration, from the British point of view -- very lefty and the kind of thing Republicans would hate!).

Denise came with me, but after an hour of unfunny, not-ironic-enough music and "comedy," she said she didn't feel well and she left. I feel terrible because she drove all the way down into the city for this show. None of us knew what to expect from it really, but the logic was "Hey it's the Daily Show, it's got to be good!" Well, not so much. Jon Stewart, who even lives in the area, couldn't be troubled to put in a live appearance. What, you host the Oscars and suddenly you can't even wave to the riffraff anymore? I think last night was a good example of why the Daily Show is really as good as its writers and not its correspondents.

I left right after Ed Helms's band's bluegrass/metal rendition of "My Heart Will Go On," which on the comedy scale rated maybe a 5. Actually no, I left after Jon Stewart's taped "contribution" which, after sitting through a nightful of dreck, felt like an insult. I didn't even bother to stay for Superchunk. I had lost all hope at that point that things would get any better or that there would be any worthwhile surprises. As I walked down the street, other people who had left were complaining about how bad the show was (Samantha Bee in particular -- I like her and really expected more). But I'll just have to remember the evening for John Oliver and the Mountain Goats, I guess! And remember that at least the ticket proceeds went to charity.

Current Mood: gloomy

I ended up going to the show by myself last night, and I'm glad I did. I have seen few shows where everyone in the place was dancing and having such a great time. From the crazy drunks crowd surfing in the front to the teenagers moshing in the middle (in the biggest mosh pit I've seen in awhile) to the people dancing around in the back by the bar, the whole place had such a great fun energy. It's a typical complaint that New Yorkers don't dance at shows, they just stand and watch, but not at this show. During the break before the encore, I went to get my coat from the coat check ($4 an item and they tried to charge me for both my sweatshirt and my jacket - ugh) and when I came back upstairs, I stood in the back and watched them do "Black Friday Rule." Everyone was jumping and dancing and SMILING like you don't often see New Yorkers do. I only knew a few songs by Flogging Molly, but they played most of them, and it's really the kind of music where you don't need to know the words (though it's always more fun when you do) or even the songs to appreciate it because they're all in the same genre of punked-out Irish trad. I enjoyed them much more than Dropkick Murphys, who seem to have a much more teenage Warped-tour following and are more punk, plus the Murphys are Boston Irish-American and Flogging Molly is more directly Irish (though the Murphys do have bagpipes, always a plus). Flogging Molly is more like Black 47; the lead singer is also a redheaded transplant from Ireland, and their musical political rants are about Irish politics and the woes of growing up Irish Catholic. And there's a chick in the band who plays fiddle and tin whistle and things, which is cool. But they rock like the Murphys do, and it's a great show for jumping up and down and dancing and just having a great time. I'd love to see them again.

And the heavens were even kind enough to rain out the Met game so I didn't even have to miss that -- yay!

Oh and I forgot to mention, I got there in time to see most of Bedouin Soundclash, the opening band, and I liked them. And between the sets, they played some bits from a new comedy show that's going to be airing on Fuse (who sponsored the night) called The Whitest Kids U Know. It was pretty funny and nice to have something fun to watch between sets, a time that is usually tedious and boring.

Current Music: Flogging Molly - Rebels of the Sacred Heart

I feel I should give a review of my weekend, though I'm feeling lazy so...

S'MAC: It was good, of course! I had the Spanish one with manchego cheese, shallots, and fennel. It was interesting. Next time I think I'll do the build-your-own mac and cheese.

Mew/Secret Machines/Bloc Party at McCarren Park Pool: The pool is a cool venue for concerts. I recommend. Though it was pretty much agreed that the place would be even better if they lined the bottom of the pool with that same squishy matting they have in playgrounds. There's still paint peeling from the ground and it looks like it would be a really unfriendly place to fall down onto. Which is exactly what a few crowd surfers did, heh. And the whole pool venue makes for a lot of silly jokes: "Everybody out of the pool!" Or, possibly quote of the night, Kele Bloc Party: "It says no diving. Fuck that shit." (After which he proceeded to get down from the stage and bridge the "moat" to the audience, though he didn't actually jump in -- he knew better.)

Mew was great but they only played 4 songs! We think it's because they let us in late and they started 15 minutes late. Granted their songs are long, but 4? And no "Apocalypso," WTF? I feel even more sorry now that I missed them at Hiro Ballroom last Wednesday. They need to come back. And Secret Machines were...YAWN Machines, I thought. Bloc Party was great but I was surprised that they only played 2 new songs (or at least it was 1 new song and 1 I didn't recognize), and no "Two More Years"! It's been over a year since I saw them last (in NYC) so you'd think they'd switch it up a bit, but no. Oh well, it was still fun. When they came back on stage for the encore they brought Super Soakers which they shot at the audience. I was in front of Russell, who had a little squirt gun, which just made him look even more like a little girl (ittie bittie mantitties!). :)

Then on Sunday I did work, made an amazing fruit salad (secret ingredient: rum!) and talked to Nathan, who left this morning for a week-long bicycle trip around the Isle of Lewis with his brother. They're driving up to Skye, leaving the car in Uig and taking the ferry to Lewis. I am way way way jealous. And I'm going to have to give Nathan grief when he gets back because he once told me he had no interest in going to Scotland when I proposed that we go there on vacation. Yeah, whatever! :P!!!!

It's been a week of hard work and hard partying! I'm so wiped today. Tuesday's office party was so-so. It was in a nice place, but the food wasn't very good and there were so many people there that I felt a bit overwhelmed. Wednesday, I went to see Melissa Etheridge with Denise. She's a strong woman who knows how to rock, but a lot of her songs are about really heavy, even disturbing subject material -- hate crimes, terrorism, cancer -- all very important and relevant stuff but there was a point that I was like, please sing about something nice and light, like a broken heart! :p But it was a good show and I'm glad I went. Unfortunately I left brown beaded cardigan in the Theater at MSG. When I realized it I could have gone back for it, but my feet hurt and I was tired and figured it would probably end up at the MSG lost and found. Well it hasn't. Either someone helped themselves to it or it just got thrown out (or it's still there under a seat, who knows). Well if someone kept it, I hope they enjoy it. Now I have to find another mid-weight brown cardigan to wear when it's cold at work.

Then last night

em_kraz had another going-away party, at a bar after work (called Snafu, it was a nice place), and I went to that for a little while. I was so exhausted when I got home, I got barely any work done. I made dinner and watched Labyrinth while lightning flickered outside. I went to bed at 10:30. But then I woke up at 3 wide awake. So the hour I gained by going to bed earlier I lost. :p

Tonight Emily and I are trying out the new macaroni and cheese restaurant, S'MAC. If it's good (and I don't see how it could not be), I will gladly go back with you,

cynima!

Oh and I still have no cable. :P!!!!! The guy's coming tomorrow morning to (hopefully) fix it.

And my boss just asked me if I want to come have margaritas with some office people after work today (that's 1 pm!). It's been a hard drinking week, I really don't need any more. And I need to save money. Been spending like a sailor. Is that the right expression?

Last night I went to the Scissor Sisters show with

albauk, and I thought it was pretty fantastic, but the big goings-on of the evening was a very Cher-like woman sitting up in the VIP section of Bowery Ballroom. We noticed a lot of people looking up in that direction and so we looked too. There was a woman there who resembled Cher an awful lot, and it would definitely make sense to see such a major gay icon and 70s music queen at the show of a popular 70s-sounding gay band. She was also dressed quite, er, slutty, which would also make sense. But she looked just too good to be Cher! Yeah I know she's probably had plastic surgery up the wazoo, but I'm still not entirely convinced it was her. Even when we were looking up and she looked down on us with a "knowing" smile, which made her look A LOT like Cher, I won't be sure until Brooklyn Vegan or Page Six or something confirms it. There are just so many Cher lookalikes out there, you know?

Either way, it was still fun, and the Scissor Sisters are great fun live. They played a lot of new stuff, but also a lot of stuff off their first album. I really liked some of the new stuff, like one song called Kissin' Off or something like that, and one very danceable tune called "I Don't Feel Like Dancing," which ironically got more people dancing than any other song of the night. They tried valiantly to get the New York crowd to dance, but New Yorkers just have an aversion to dancing, even at a show like this one, which was surprising. The big Sopranos-esque guy in front of Shosh and me had no problem dancing though, and taking up lots of space doing it. :p Shosh now has a girl-crush on Ana Matronic and rightfully so. That woman knows how to work it. Thank you for coming to the show with me,

albauk!

[Update: It has been pretty much confirmed that that was indeed Cher!]

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Scissor Sisters

Alex Kapranos, from last night's performance of "The Fallen":

"Who gives a damn about the profits of BEST BUY?"

L.M.A.O.
(Those of you who aren't familiar with my troubles with Best Buy won't fully get this.)

But WOW. Now that I have seen Alex "on," I see what people were talking about how the Fuse show was a bit "off." That man is one rock star master of ceremonies. When he leaned into the crowd, I reached up and touched his hair. :p I don't know what made me do it. But he just has this "I am a golden god" rock-starness about him, it was like I wanted just a little of his energy to rub off on me.

The Cribs were great too, though there was no spilled beer or blood in this show (is that good?). Death Cab was okay. I've decided I like listening to them on record more than I like them live in a big hall. DCFC is kind of a personal, introspective experience for me and so hearing them in a big hall wasn't quite as moving. And I think Ben Gibbard sounds better on the record. Maybe I'd like them better live if they were acoustic and in a small room?

But Franz. WOW, Franz. Take.Me.Out.

Current Mood: satisfied
Current Music: cable alternative station

It's rumored to be snowing, I'm hopped up on caffeine, I have errands to run but I'm too lazy (is that an oxymoron?).

Bronson Arroyo hit his first career home run today! Go Bronson!

And I have Scissor Sisters tickets (say that 5 times fast)! I may even have an extra one (depending on if

albauk decides to go). Phoenix is also playing in May. Anyone interested in that one?

Leeds festival tickets just went on sale, and the servers for every ticketing site are jammed. Last year it took weeks before the festival sold out, so I really didn't feel the need to buy my ticket immediately, but then the bill came out and I got all excited and

albauk brought up the good point that more people might go this year since there's no Glastonbury. I finally got through on the Ticketswitch site, put in all my information, credit card and all, hit the process payment button and got a friggin error message. Now I'm really pissed. I don't mind going back and doing it later, I just don't want to end up buying two tickets!

And then, in the midst of all this..."Pop singer Madonna announced the dates of her new "Confessions Tour" on Monday - and promised to turn the world into one big dance floor." I'm trying to see the New York date on her website, but of course, that's jammed too.

Arctic Monkeys were AWESOME. Quite a change from my review of the Mercury Lounge show in November, I know. But this time their show was everything it was hyped up to be, IMO.

I can't believe I even bought a t-shirt. :p

And then we went to Tiswas where there were guest DJs from England, according to

albauk. And as she said in her entry, they were the Best.DJs.Evarr.

AND I ran into Ilya Magazinin from high school. Ha.

We danced till the early morning hours. Spent a little too much money, but damn, it was worth it!

Current Mood: satisfied

Franz Ferdinand is all about getting me on television. ;) Last night marked the second time I've gone to be a part of a Franz Ferdinand televised appearance. I've only ever been on television in connection with one other artist, who will go unmentioned right now...:). Could it be that Franz is really good about letting their fans know about these things, or that they do more things with their fans? For such a popular band they certainly seem to be some of the most accessible, friendly musicians I've ever seen. And oh yeah, they rock too. :) My experience being a Franz Ferdinand fan has been sort of backward, I admit. I liked some of their songs but it took me quite awhile to really get into them. Then one day last summer, they had an open call for fans to be in a video they were shooting, and I just happened to have the day off. So I spent the day on a set watching them film and just generally wander around and talk to fans. I think I may be a bigger fan of Alex, Nick, Bob, and Paul than I am of Franz Ferdinand. I guess that makes me little but a shallow rock-n-roll groupie, but I can live with that. ( Read more... )

Shosh and I left to get food after the show (which got out at about 8:30, good time) and didn't wait for the band, and I must say it was kind of a relief to not feel we needed to. See, I'm not really a groupie, not all the time...:b

But I felt it would just be wrong to say nothing about how effing AMAZING Battle was on Friday night. Wow. As a live band, those boys do not disappoint! And we're seeing them again tonight, yippee!

And I really liked Arctic Monkeys on SNL Saturday night. Yes they still had the whole obnoxious, bored attitude going, but I have to say I chuckled a bit when Alex called out a man in the audience for yawning in the middle of "A Certain Romance." Shosh thinks they were just as good as they were at Merc Lounge when I didn't like them, but I think a lot of times, my mood really affects how much I enjoy a band or not. Or maybe it's that I've been listening to their music more recently. But I liked it, and now, despite the Monkeys' attitude problems, I am looking forward to the show in a couple weeks.

I am so thrilled - my last freelance project (for the moment) is now done! This means I can actually do whatever I want when I come home from work, and not feel guilty for not working on it. Speaking of things I can do... knitters: what would you do with two skeins of worsted-weight cashmere?

Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: Arctic Monkeys

Mwahaha, the Editors pre-sale tickets sold out in a flash but I got 3! Even if I may have ended up paying a little more for them...but if Editors are still as popular as they were last time they came around, this show will sell out in a flash too so anyone who gets tickets will end up paying fees anyway. And they're stupid will-call tickets, but that's not such a big deal to me - I like having ticket stubs and all, but don't totally need them.

Out of curiousity, I went to the good old Carling fest rumors site that I checked so religiously all last summer, and saw this:

Feb. 8: I'm told NME says
headliners- franz, muse and pearl jam
second headliners- kaisers, arctic monkeys, flaming lips
unknown stage- dirty pretty things and racounters

Pearl Jam! No, I haven't really been a fan for about 8 years, but that is the kind of band I would love to see headline Leeds festival. I used to love Eddie Vedder, and still do, if only in a nostalgic sort of way. I know my decision whether or not to go to Leeds again this year won't really be based on who's playing, but it does tip the scales toward going...

I am so excited because Mirrormask is finally in theaters! I heard about this movie what seems like years ago (it was, ha ha); it's supposed to be in the spirit of Labyrinth, done by the Jim Henson Company and written by Neil Gaiman. I can't wait to see it. Who's coming with me? It's at the Landmark Sunshine Theater. Who knows if it will be released any more widely than that. The reviews are mixed, but I don't care. EW gave it an A-. But I have to see it regardless.

I wasn't able to get the new Fiona Apple CD yesterday because stupid Best Buy (and they are evil and stupid) sold out of it. They only had 10 copies to begin with! It'll be on sale there till Saturday though so I'll go back every day till they have it. The good news is that Fiona's touring and she'll be at the new Nokia Theater in Times Square on Dec. 11 (Sunday). Tickets aren't on sale yet but

cynima, do you still want to go?

Last night

cocoquette and I went to see Athlete both at their Virgin Megastore performance and at their show at Bowery Ballroom. They were really great, particularly at the later show (acoustic Athlete is a bit sleepy-making, but once they got plugged in they rocked more than we expected). There was a good crowd at the Bowery show, but most of the people there looked to be college-age types and damn were they ever loud. As in, during a quieter song, you could hear a steady drone of loud conversation going on. How rude! The girls next to me were particularly bad, saying things like "I love this song!" and then proceeding to talk all the way through it! I think they were drunk. Idiots. But they didn't ruin my enjoyment of the show. Athlete played a good mix of songs off their two albums, including "El Salvador," "Half Light," "New Product," "Wires," "Westside," "Tourist," and "Yesterday Threw Everything At Me."

Current Mood: excited
Current Music: Athlete

I know they say that it's good to wear earplugs at loud concerts. My attitude is more "Earplugs are for wimps." But I have to admit that I could have used them last night. Between the pounding industrial club music of Warren Suicide, rocking out in front of the stage to Nine Black Alps, and

albauk having to yell directly in my ear to be heard...well if this keeps up I fully anticipate a substantial hearing loss by the time I'm 40. ( Nine Black Alps at Rothko )

A teaser, these are some of the best pictures taken with my cheapy disposable cameras. They're not very good quality, but it's something.
( Read more... )

First of all, happy birthday to my LJ-challenged partner in crime, Denise! (Is watching the WB a crime? It's usually more of a punishment.)

On Friday I went out to see Stupid with Emily. They totally rocked, as always. I even loved their new stuff. I also got to meet Emily's new(ish) boyfriend, Martin. He is the perfect Emily guy. I think she is finally starting to calm down and actually enjoy him. One of my friends, happy with a guy? Is this the Twilight Zone?

Yesterday I finally sat down and watched this week's Smallville, because Denise said it was the Gayest Episode Ever. It was. :-)

Last night I went out for the celebration of

cynima's birthday.

albauk has written a good comprehensive account of a fairly uneventful evening. She did, however, leave out the part where yours truly decided to stand on a table and in so doing, flipped the table, and everyone's drinks, upside down, which put a prompt end to the festivities. If I was at all drunk when I made the decision to walk over the table, I was sober by the time my ass hit the ground. Everyone was very nice about it though.

sixtylemurs, I have no idea why your jacket smells like beer. Go murder some broccoli.

Off to do work. And earn some money. To be socked away for a Caribbean cruise for my birthday.

P.S. Ballantine Ale is damn good stuff!

Current Mood: optimistic
Current Music: Blondie - Denise

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nycmermaid

November 2013

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Just a very bad wizard.

Entries tagged with gigs

Stephanie rocks the Green Day show

It's not cause I'm trendy, honest

Walking backwards, with nothing to say

Why am I here?

The Daily Show concert blew superchunks

Flogging Molly

Weekend Review

My very busy week

Hey, that woman looks like Cher.

I just have to write this one down

(no subject)

Concert overload!

I had a great Saturday night

On TV with Franz, again!

Lame attempt at a music post

concert stuff

Mirrormask, Fiona, Athlete...

Nine Black Alps

Some trip pics

Birthdays birthdays everywhere