opening for hugh cornwell (also known as the greatest night of my life)

one week ago, on tuesday december 10, my band opened for hugh cornwell at the sellersville theatre.

this might will definitely turn into a really long post, so get comfortable.

so we all know that i've been friends with him for a few years now, right? (part 1, part 2, part 3, etc...also this). so i knew he was going to be playing there and i had asked if maybe my band could open for them, and he said they already had an opening band touring with them (brothers of brazil) so it would be up to the theatre. i emailed the guy at the theatre and he said that they weren't looking for a third band, but thanks for asking and he would love to have us back. so that was nice. anyway, some time went by and one day i got an email from hugh that was the usual update on his life (which is way cooler than mine) and then he casually mentioned that brothers of brazil dropped off the tour, and maybe my band would like to open the show...?

i nearly died after reading that. he said to wait a few days to contact the theatre, he would put our name forward through the agent, and all that. i immediately texted my band mates to tell them and make sure they would be able to; it was a tuesday night after all. they both said yes. they both know how much i love hugh and the stranglers and i don't know if that's why they made sure it happened, or if they also realized what a huge opportunity it would be for us. either way, it was all looking good for us. in the next couple of days (by the way, it was really difficult not to email the theatre IMMEDIATELY and ask them, but i waited because he said to, and i'm sure he knows what's best) i heard from the guy i had emailed originally and he said all parties involved wanted us to open so he would make it official after i "gave him the good word." i texted my band mates again just to be sure, and they were still going for it so i told him yes, and then i emailed hugh and everything was falling into place. completely unreal. nothing like that has ever happened to me before.

anyway enough of how it happened. it happened. we emailed a bit in between, he wanted to know if i would come see him at any of the other dates leading up to sellersville, because the weekend before he had 2 dates in jersey. one in bordentown friday night, and the brighton bar on saturday. i was totally set on seeing him at the brighton back when the tour dates were first announced, until i found out my best friend's bachelorette party was that night and i might be an asshole but i'm not that much of an asshole that i would miss my friend's party. so i told him i would try for friday night, which was an acoustic show at the record collector. i couldn't get anyone to cover for me at work but once again, my awesome boss let me go because he knows what a freak i am about this guy and didn't want me to miss it. he's really the best. hugh knew i might be coming, since i didn't know until the last minute, but he put my name on the list anyway, just in case. i got there just in time for him to start playing; he was already up there ready to go. phew.

the show was really cool; first, he did one song off of each stranglers album (so, ten songs). let's see if i can remember-
goodbye toulouse (rattus norvegicus)
no more heroes (no more heroes)
nice n sleazy (black & white)
nuclear device (the raven)
thrown away (the gospel according to the meninblack)
golden brown (la folie)
midnight summer dream (feline)
souls (aural sculpture)
mayan skies (dreamtime)
someone like you (10)

and then one song off of each solo album (not including collaborations, such as nosferatu). so that was-
decadance (wolf)
forgive me but i cannot remember for the life of me what song he played off wired...
one burning desire (guilty)
the big sleep (hi-fi)
land of a thousand kisses (beyond elysian fields)
please don't put me on a slow boat to trowbridge (hooverdam)
god is a woman (totem & taboo) (ok, i think that's the song he did...my memory sucks.)

and in between each song he told the story of making the album, specific stories about each song, random things that may have inspired him to write them, that kind of thing. it was really fucking cool. i'd never seen him do an acoustic show before and i really liked it. hearing him talk about that kind of stuff is neat; some of it i already knew from reading his book but it was still cool to actually hear him telling the stories. he's a wealth of information and he also has a really good memory.

anyway- after the show he came off stage and started signing things that people had brought right away, and was getting pictures with people, the usual. he saw me and waved and as soon as he had a chance he came over and hugged me and said he was so glad i made it. it was rainy and shitty that night and the drive there wasn't fun, but it was totally worth it. then he was selling merch and stuff and i was just standing around trying not to get in the way because i knew i was going to get to hang out with him when everyone left so i didn't want to be annoying. but he introduced me to a few people and told them i would be opening for him at the sellersville show, which reminded me i brought him one of my old band tshirts, from before we changed the name. he likes the first name better so he was really excited about the shirt, and proceeded to show it to everyone and say "look at this! isn't it brilliant?" i wouldn't go that far...haha.

after everyone left, i got to have a drink with hugh and the guy who owns the record collector. and also hugh's tour manager and a couple other guys who work there. so that was pretty cool. i could listen to him talk for hours. which i guess technically i did. whatever. and i got to see the back store room with all the records the owner has listed online and stuff...it was incredible. so then i gave hugh a ride to the hotel.

ok, hang on. so my car is a twenty something year old honda and i love that car more than i love some people; it's taken me many places over the years and has only broken down a few times, but even still, it's always been good to me. it has over 200,000 miles on it so you can't blame it for having problems sometimes. that being said, it looks kind of sad if you don't know it's history. it's been backed into and smashed into a couple of times and has a few dents and weird spray paint over the rust and the lining of the door hangs out of the door sometimes because it's come unglued. so here is this legendary musician getting into my old car like it's no big deal and i'm like "this can't be happening...isn't he too good for this?" but he's not. he's just cool. and he liked my car so there you go. he invited me into his hotel room and we had green tea and he checked the cricket score and we talked. he asked about my band and stuff, and i told him about what's going on with the guys in my band and how i'm playing with another band now, too, but that i'm weird about playing in front of people i don't know really well, and that you're supposed to be friends with the people in your band. and he told me about his experiences playing with people (so like he mentioned some stranglers stuff which is kind of a big deal, since talking about that stuff is boring for him; he's been talking about a band he's not in anymore for the past 20 or so years). and how he wouldn't have been friends with the guys he plays with now if he wasn't in a band with them; the only reason they're friends is because he hired them to play music with him and they've gotten to know each other now. and he's just a really cool guy. i can't say that enough. i told him again that i was sorry i couldn't be at the show the next night, but at least i was going to see him tuesday. and he was going to see me play on tuesday too! he was as excited to see me as i was to see him, if you can believe that. i still can't.

the days leading up to tuesday turned me into more and more of a nervous wreck. i was trying to be cool about it but i couldn't. we had to be there at 5:30 to load in and the whole time leading up to it i tried to stay busy. oh and did i mention it fucking snowed like a bitch all morning, up until sometime in the afternoon? i was freaking out that it was going to be cancelled, and when i saw that it was still going as planned, then i started freaking out that no one was going to come to it because no one likes driving in snow. it was not a good feeling, but i was glad it was happening at least. so i drummed for about an hour and then packed up my stuff and headed over to the theatre. my band mates had just got there and i could hear hugh and his band sound checking. holy shit. i was like "THEY'RE GOING TO PLAY WALK ON BY TONIGHT YOU GUYS OH MY GOD," and they laughed at how excited i was. so i checked in with the manager, got my parking pass, and then we stood around for a little while until i decided i wanted to go in and watch the sound check. my bass player had to go first because i was being so weird. i turn into an idiot sometimes. anyway, they were just finishing up, everything sounded fucking badass, and then hugh must have seen me come in because as soon as they were done, he came off the stage and right to the back of the theatre. i introduced him to my band mates. and it was all happening. i was still in denial a little bit. so we were allowed to start loading our stuff in and i saw hugh wandering around while i was setting up my drums, then they all went out to dinner while we finished setting up. he said "have a good sound check, i'll see you later!" aww.

we sound checked and i thought we sounded pretty great. the sound in the theatre is out of this world. they recently upgraded everything and the guy they have doing sound there is phenomenal. we love being able to hear each other on stage. it's a great feeling.

ok, so we go to our dressing room, which is upstairs; hugh and his band are in the one next to the stage. we were up there for a little bit when i realized we didn't have a set list written out and i knew i wouldn't be able to remember what songs we were doing once we started, so i went downstairs to get paper. as i was walking back across the lobby, i saw hugh come in, so he came over and invited me to his dressing room. so i said that i was going back to mine to make up the set list. i was being SO WEIRD; like all jumpy and stuff. and he was like "are you ok? you seem a bit nervous." me: "oh, um yeah, i'm a little nervous, i guess. sorry." so he said to go take a deep breath and count to ten and then when i felt better to come to his dressing room where he would be watching cricket (of course). i never made it there. i made up the set list and then couldn't hang out with my band mates anymore because they were talking like nothing was happening and also they were being boring, and i was freaking out. i love them to death, don't get me wrong, but sometimes i just need a break. so i went down to the lobby again where i saw a guy i know, who is an usher there, so we talked and i felt a little bit better. then people started showing up and i got sidetracked talking to everyone and the next thing i knew it was 8:00 and we were supposed to go on at 8:10.

the manager walked us to the side of the stage, and we stood there talking and i was trying to fucking RELAX. then hugh heard me talking, i guess, and came out of the room to say hi and that he'll be right there, listening to everything. which is completely awesome, obviously, but also the reason that i couldn't fucking calm down. if i suck he is going to hear it and then what? ugh. i saw his bass player, steve, and said hi, he remembers me (probably as that weird chick who shows up everywhere). so the sound guy started making announcements and that's when we were allowed to go up and start plugging in (or in my case sitting down and chugging some more beer). and then we started playing. and everything was fine. the lights were so bright that i couldn't see the audience. i couldn't see hugh. i knew he could hear us, but i couldn't see him. it helped a little bit. and by the end of the second song i was fine. we only had time for five songs, and it flew by, but i felt incredible. i couldn't stop smiling. so we packed our stuff up and i had time to take my drums out to my car so i didn't have to worry about it later. i went out to the lobby and was talking but really wanted to get back in because i didn't want to miss anything. when i heard what sounded like intro music start i was like "BYE" to whoever i was talking to and ran in to the front row and sat down, where i realized i knew the guy sitting a few seats down from me. he said he felt weird sitting and i said "i'll go stand up front when they start," and so as soon as they walked out on stage we were up there. and then hugh started motioning for everyone to come forward. hehe.

so the set was a mix of songs off totem & taboo and stranglers songs. i loved t&t from the first time i listened to it, and hearing the songs live was really fucking cool. steve's bass is SO CHUNKY. i love it so much. and this time it wasn't clem drumming, it was darius from the posies. hugh was telling me in emails that darius was doing a great job and how much he liked him (except for a little mishap he had with the van...haha...it's ok it all got fixed). and i really, really love the way he plays. they were all fun to watch and hugh is very funny on stage with in between song banter and it was really just a fucking great, solid show. he said later he messed up a few times but i can never tell. also it may have been because i was on steve's side of the stage and i was hearing A LOT of that chunky bass so maybe it covered up his mistakes. hehe. ahhh it was so good. they ended with "in the dead of night" which is such a good song; it's really slow though, but groovy. anyway, i was glad they played it but it was weird song to end with. but i could see the set list and that there were three more songs to do, if they came back out. which they did. but it took FOREVER. haha. so they did "walk on by" then so yay for that. and i think the last song was "no more heroes." fuck yeah. so good. it was awesome.

i saw hugh walk off the stage and then i assumed he went out to the lobby. i started to walk that way so i could sit at the table and sell cds we brought when i was stopped by a couple of guys who were like "you were awesome! we love you! can we get some pictures with you?" and i was totally thrown off guard. i said "me? you want your picture...with me? are you sure?" and they said yeah, so i said ok. so now somewhere there are guys with pictures of themselves with me; it was such a bizarre feeling, and now i have a taste of what it's like for people who are actually famous who get their picture with people all the time. what a strange feeling! it was cool though, i was glad that people liked us. so i went out to the lobby then, and people actually bought some cds from us! so great! including the picture guys. and also the guy who was at the record collector show, we remembered each other from that, and he bought the cds as well. oh, and they all asked me to SIGN THE CDS too. fucking surreal shit. i don't even know how to do that. haha. so hugh saw me across the lobby when there was a break in his line and he waved at me. so cute.

anyway...so it cleared out a bit and he started packing up his merch, so i went over and said hi, and then turned and introduced him to my mom and my sister. he was so happy to meet them. it was totally adorable. and then i said "so, we've hung out all these times, but we don't have any pictures together, so i thought we could do that?" and he said of course. so my mom and sister took pictures of me and hugh together and they turned out pretty great. it was funny. the whole thing was still not quite sinking in yet. so they all left, and then we started walking back to his dressing room, but got sidetracked and started talking with a bunch of the people who work there, who are all really awesome. we finally walked back to the dressing room, i met darius, who is really nice, and hung out there with him and steve while hugh went out with the tour manager to smoke a cigarette.

then i gave hugh a ride to the hotel again. hehe. except i wanted to take my drums home first because i didn't want them sitting out in the cold any longer than they had to, and also i don't like driving around with them if i don't have to. they're my babies. hugh scraped off my windshield (this is the kind of thing that i just can't make up; this actually happened, and i felt bad but he insisted). ok, so i drove to my place and then he helped me unload my shit into my garage. IS THIS REAL LIFE? it totally is. that happened. fucking crazy. ok, so i drive to the hotel which is not too far, about a half hour drive. and i asked if he wanted to listen to any music and he said he would just talk to me the whole time. fantastic. he told me about who prefers kmart and target, between him and someone he tours with (i'm not telling) (but i was cracking up). and he asked what i thought of darius, so i said "he's great! i really like him a lot!" and he says "do you like him better than clem?" and i said "damn it, i knew you were going to ask me that!" and he laughed, but i wasn't off the hook. i told him the truth: "i like him better in some ways, but i like clem better in other ways." and he said he felt exactly the same way. one of these days maybe he'll ask me to be his drummer...haha. yeah right.

so at the hotel he shared his fancy champagne with me and we talked. he is FASCINATING. but what's really weird is how much he cares about my life. here is a guy who has lived an exciting, full life, but he wants to talk about my friend who's getting married, and my band, and my family, and my job; my life. my life that pales in comparison to his. but that's the kind of guy he is. he asks a lot of questions and really listens to what you say to him. he's great.

there you have it: i'm still in a daze. it's like when you're a little kid and christmas happens and it's the greatest thing in the world but it's over and then you have nothing to look forward to. well, except christmas next year. but i don't have that. i feel like i have nothing to look forward to. but it was such an amazing experience and i am so grateful to him for giving me and my band this opportunity. for real. i know some people might read this and think "so what?" and yeah, i know. i know there are some bands out there who get to open for cool people all the time. but this was a first for me, and it happened to be for not only a guy that was in one of my favorite bands of all time who i totally respect and admire, but he's also my friend. and that made it so much better.

crocodiles & wymond miles

on friday night i headed into philly to the boot & saddle to see crocodiles. i've seen them once before, which i wrote about already.

so i was really excited to see them again because i love them so much, and every album they've put out has been fantastic, and they were amazing live the first time i saw them. the opener was wymond miles and the name sounded vaguely familiar but i didn't know what to expect. he ended up becoming my new favorite person.

you know when you hear something and it just hits you a certain way and you feel like your heart is going to stop beating? that's what he did to me. something about the ethereal music he creates and his haunting voice...i don't know you guys. but it made me feel a lot of feelings. the songs were soft but heavy, loud but gentle, and i just wanted to stay there forever. i would go see him again in a heartbeat. in fact, i was so impressed that the first thing i did when i got to work the next day was look him up in our computer and purchase the one album of his we had in stock and then order everything else for myself. and i played him in the store all morning on spotify. like, went through his catalog at least twice before my boss was like "you have to listen to something else now." and apparently he was the guitarist for the fresh & onlys, who i have now started listening to and they are really fucking good too. this is what i get for ignoring new music...better late than never, i suppose.

so, you get it. i was super impressed by him. fucking christ. alright. moving on.

crocodiles!

they opened with my favorite song ("hearts of love"; i think i mentioned before that i want this song played at my funeral. that still hasn't changed) and i was really happy they played it even though i didn't have my favorite song to look forward to for the rest of the night. it's cool, they still delivered. and they have 2 more albums worth of songs to choose from now than from the last time i saw them, so i got to hear all kinds of good stuff. ahhh it was wonderful. just as wonderful as i remembered. if you haven't listened to them yet, fucking do it already! and the albums are basically what they sound like live, just a lot louder and a little dirtier. and with more feedback. they're absolutely mesmerizing and they write these perfect pop songs and everything about them is just wonderful. maybe i'm easily impressed? or maybe i just know what the fuck i'm talking about. 

so yeah. i didn't get any good pictures because it was way too dim in there, even though i was right up front. everything looked black so i stopped trying and just enjoyed myself. 

go listen to these bands. now. i command you.

jonathan richman

i was first introduced to jonathan richman by way of the modern lovers. but then, probably everybody was. when people say they don't know who the modern lovers are, i'm like "yes you do. you just don't realize it." because everybody knows this song. well, everybody except for my friend i saw after the show. i played the song for him and he was like "the christmas song? is he saying run run rudolph?" SIGH.

i've been wanting to see the man for YEARS and never got the chance, for whatever reason. i don't even know why, but i've just always missed him. stupid on my part because he's fantastic. i wasn't sure i was going to go tonight but i was at work and i was thinking about it and my boss said "if you want to go, then go." and i thought about how i would feel if i missed him again and i knew i would be mad at myself. so he let me leave early. he really is the best.

got there just in time for doors to open; he was the early show. there was another show after him: sleigh bells. ew. really? ew. so he played from about 7:30 to 9:00. and it was absolutely perfect. he is adorable and friendly and engaging and funny and charming and talented; like i said, perfect. i couldn't help being mad at myself for not seeing him before but at least i got to see him tonight. and he played all solo stuff, no modern lovers, which i was expecting. when you've moved so far beyond where you've started it must be annoying to have to keep living in the past. some bands, it works for them; most bands i go to see play old stuff and that's totally fine, and what everyone wants. but for jonathan, you want him to play his solo stuff and keep moving along and keeping it fresh. because that's what he does.

aside from all that, all i have to say is that if you haven't seen him yet, you should get on that. it's a one of a kind experience and i guarantee you will love him.

in case you were wondering: i love his album because her beauty is raw and wild. and i love this song the most. he didn't play it tonight. but that's ok. because look how adorable he is.

cherie currie

you know what's awesome? i got to see cherie currie last night in philly. i'm still really glad i saw the dickies the second time, even though it meant missing her show at the brighton, but it was cool that i got a second chance. i went with my friend ryan - the one who buys me too many drinks. so that happened. but it was cool. we had fun. cherie sounded fucking great and everyone was dancing and it was great.

then it was a dance party after with the greatest dj in the world because he played so many awesome songs. i'm in so much pain today (hangover + way more dancing than i'm used to = ouch) but it was totally worth it.

so i was at work today and this lady was asking about runaways records for her 14 year old granddaughter. she said "she's a freak about joan jett." my friend was there hanging out and had actually brought the joan jett autobiography with her to show me, and she held it up and said "we love her, too." so i was ordering some stuff for this lady and i said "i just saw cherie currie last night..." and she said "i have no idea who that is." so i said "she was the singer in the runaways." duh. she walked away and came back, and must have talked to the granddaughter on the phone or something because she told me "she said 'ew' about that singer you just mentioned." what the fuck people. ok, so you're a 14 year old girl, i'll give you that. but don't be an asshole. i love joan jett, too. she's amazing. every time someone tells me i look like her, my tiny grinch heart grows a size. but it doesn't stop me from loving cherie, too. you can't just blindly hate people, you know? what the hell. i wished the granddaughter was actually in the store with her grandmother so i could set her straight.

i got to see her sing "cherry bomb" and watch a room full of people just as enthralled as i was sing along with her and jump around like the crazy assholes we are. how can you hate that?

dickies (again) plus a psa

today was difficult in a very first world problem kind of way. i had been planning on seeing cherie currie at the brighton bar tonight for some time now. but the dickies were playing in bordentown tonight too. WHAT IS A GIRL TO DO???? well, i decided to see the dickies again. why?
1- because i've listened to them more than i've ever listened to the runaways
2- the amount of joy that dickies songs bring me is unparalleled
3- bordentown is a hell of a lot closer than long branch
4- stan lee put me on the guest list, and free is better than paying money, duh

there was a meet and greet at randy now's man cave before the show. i left work super early today to go to that. i walked in and saw stan almost immediately and he hugged me and was glad that i made it. and then leonard started to walk past us, and stan told him to hang on a minute and introduced me to him. he said "this is the good chloe."
this is news to me. i'm the good chloe! the good one. i felt pretty special.
leonard goes, "ah the good chloe. nice to meet you. put 'er there." and he shook my hand.
i don't think i said anything, just smiled like an idiot, and he walked away. oh that leonard. the one thing i would have said if my brain didn't drop out of my head at that moment? "i love your dance moves." that's it. that's all i wanted to say to him. and i blew it. oh well.
anyway, so me and stan talked a little bit. he thought i was crazy for wanting to come to the meet and greet and then go to the brighton for cherie because that was what i was thinking about maybe doing, to get the best of both worlds. maybe i am crazy, but i didn't do it so whatever. anyway, he was trying to get me to stay for the show and said "if i put you on the list would that change your mind?"
"uh...probably."
and he walked off to find whoever he had to tell to put me down. so the roadie guy came over to me with his notebook and wrote my name down. they both seemed to find it amusing that i share my last name with the first name of a well known penis puppet. which is pretty hilarious, i will admit.

the show was great. the opening bands were good. (one of them was absolutely insane, and stan loved them but was afraid they'd been upstaged by those guys, which is silly. i mean, HELLO YOU'RE THE FUCKING DICKIES. it'll be fine.) so yeah. the set list was mostly the same as the other time i saw them, same leonard jokes, same silly antics, etc. but no less fun than the last time. seriously, if you haven't seen them yet, you fucked up. i smiled the entire time they were playing. my face kind of hurts now. they're just so much fun, and the songs are funny and really good and they're all fun to watch...there is nothing to not like.

then afterwards i watched stan sign things for people and got told i look like joan jett by one of the girls talking to him, and stan butted in "cuter than joan jett." aw shucks you guys. he introduced me to the bass player and drummer as "the good chloe." apparently there is a bad one. i didn't get the story on that. when i told him i was leaving, he gave me a big hug and said he hoped he'd see me again. i hope so too.

-------------------------------------------

and now, for a public service announcement:
i have one complaint about this show, which has nothing to do with the band or the venue or anything. just this: i went to the show by myself and some nice gentleman thought that meant i needed some kind of friend/bodyguard for the night. i know you mean well, guys, when you do this. but please: don't. the hovering over me all night made me feel weird. he kept sitting next to me, but that empty seat was for stan when he wasn't off doing other stuff. at first i didn't mind. but it just didn't end. and then, because i'm too nice, i can't just tell them to beat it. so i'm stuck standing around with some dude that i don't even know that well. and when someone i don't know is just hovering behind me during the show, it makes me really self conscious. and when guys are moshing in front of me, and bumping into me? i don't need you to reach out and protect me from them. i mean, if there's a gorilla of a guy hurtling towards me, sure, jump in, because i'd go down like a wet noodle in that case. seriously though, i'm small but i can take care of myself. that's why i do this shit BY MYSELF in the first place. i got stuck standing in a place where i couldn't really see and felt like i was being watched all night. really uncomfortable. so that's that. if you're at a show and see someone by themselves, remember: that might be how they want it to stay.

the dickies

i said somewhere on here before that i was going to see the dickies at the brighton bar on november 1. i took off of work, had the whole thing planned out, etc. and then i woke up that morning in pain. and the pain was so bad that i kept barfing. lovely. aren't you glad you're reading this?  i shook it off (ie, took a vicodin and then barfed about ten minutes later) and went and took care of the dogs i walk but it was clear that something was definitely wrong. i had to call out of my other job because i was in so much pain i couldn't do anything anymore. so this thing used to happen to me years ago and at one point it was so bad i had to go to the emergency room. they ran a bunch of tests and basically told me nothing is wrong with me. awesome. it just feels like raccoons are eating my intestines for no reason. i slept for a few hours but then i couldn't sleep through it anymore and i knew at that point that i was not going to be able to drag my ass to the brighton. i was sad. and in barfy pain. it was terrible.

today i woke up and wasn't feeling the pain anymore but it felt like someone had been punching my stomach all night. i went to work and decided to go see the dickies in west chester tonight. people kept telling me to take it easy, just go home and rest, blah blah blah. that is not me. i don't go home and rest. and also i felt fine. the pain thing attacks with no rhyme or reason, so why bother trying to work around it when i never know if it'll happen or not? i might feel fine for a year before it hits me again. so i went! i did "take it easy" in my own way, which just meant no drinking and no dancing. easy peasy. the note in west chester is considerably closer than the brighton bar so that was kind of nice. but it was a weird place.

i saw my friends there that i see at all the shows i go to, and they were at the show last night and said it was KILLER. which is great, but also made me feel worse about missing it. oh well. at one point we were standing together and my friend goes, "oh did you meet stan?" pointing to stan lee. the guitarist for the dickies. who i had seen sitting near where i was standing but was too shy to talk to.
UM NO.
"stan, this is my friend chloe. let me get a picture of you two together."
so stan lee put his arm around me and we got a picture together and then he was looking at the buttons on my jacket.
"what's that say, the vibrators?"
YEAH!
"oh did they play around here?"
so i said "yeah, they were here earlier this month."
and he was like "yeah, we do a song on their new record."
OH MY GOD YES I LOVE THAT SONG. (they're on whips n furs) (also i wrote about this before)
then he was telling me how he was just messing around and not really trying but they recorded it and that was the take that they used. ha! pretty neat. i said that the whole record is great, and he said he agrees, and he really likes the one chris spedding plays. he was so nice! then he was sitting with some other people, my friend left to go watch the band that was playing, and eventually stan came back over to me and said "did you come here by yourself?" so i said yes, and he said "come sit with us!" so i did. he asked me how far away i live, so i said it took about an hour to get there, and he said i'm really brave to do that alone. i never even thought of it that way. it was sweet. then i told him about the only other time i'd seen the dickies, when they did the fiend fest with the damned and the misfits, and he said he remembered that tour, and that it was "ok." haha. i asked him about touring and stuff, then for some reason we started talking about facebook and twitter. he says he understands facebook but not twitter. i asked him if he has twitter on his phone, and he said yes, and it's an iphone which is what i have, so i knew what i was doing. i showed him how twitter works, kinda, and tried to explain it which is difficult because twitter is actually kind of pointless in a way. i was in his "connect" section because i had just retweeted something of his about the brighton show so he went to my profile and followed me. and he was like "does your phone tell you that just happened?" and i pulled my phone out and it says "slee9383 is now following you!" we both laughed and marveled at technology. so, i taught stan lee about twitter. pretty fun stuff. when the band finished, he went up to get ready because they were on next.

aside from a rather rough start (leonard couldn't hear or something, there was feedback coming out of the monitors...he was a very unhappy camper from the looks of it) they sounded great. like, oh my god. fucking great. a while ago, i was at work one day, and i was in a shitty mood for some reason or another. and there was a copy of the incredible shrinking dickies in the back so i put it on. because nothing makes me happy quite like the dickies. when ''curb job" came on, that fucking squeaky toy part, holy shit i couldn't stop smiling. that is the power of the dickies. so it was kind of the perfect show to see after fending off death the entire day before.

i don't remember the exact order of the songs they played or every single song they did, but they did: killer klowns; manny moe and jack; poodle party [with the dog puppet]; paranoid [YESSSSSSSSSSSS]; rondo (the midgets revenge); waterslide [with the blow up doll hahahahaha]; i'm stan; gigantor; attack of the mole men; if stuart could talk [can we talk about how fucking hilarious the penis puppet is? i mean for real, that shit does not get old]; banana splits; going homo; and you drive me ape (you big gorilla) which i think was the first dickies song i ever heard and made me fall in love with them, so yay for that.

i didn't get any pictures :( i was back too far and didn't want to get too close because they were getting rowdy up front and i was feeling frail, remember?  and every time i would raise up my phone the guy in front of me did the same so i just stopped trying. whatever. sorry. i have the picture of me and stan though!

this is the longest east coast tour they've done in a while so you should try to catch them before it ends. if i can make it work i might go to baltimore on tuesday to see them at the sidebar (where i saw the vibrators, awwww) and they're in bordentown on thursday BUT cherie currie (yes for real) is at the brighton bar that same night. so who knows. but i would love to see the dickies again before they go back to the west coast for another five years.

lou reed

today (well technically yesterday) i was over watching my bandmates record shit and whatever (it was actually really fun, but that's not what this is about) and i went upstairs when we were done and my sister is there and she goes "oh, lou reed died, rolling stone just posted it." i stood there like an idiot with my mouth open, not moving, and when i could finally form words i said "WHAT THE FUCK you have to warn me before you tell me shit like that."

you guys. lou reed. he died. i'm so sad.

his solo stuff, for me, ranges from pretty great to meh. but the velvet underground? now that's a horse of a different color. there are velvet underground songs that still, even after listening to them a million plus times, give me goddamn goosebumps. i'm looking at you, "pale blue eyes" and "sunday morning." and "heroin." (ALRIGHT a majority of the songs have that effect on me.) i've never done heroin and have no plans to ever start that shit, but i feel like listening to that song is kind of like doing the drug itself. so my australian that i had a giant crush on before he ever even talked to me and then he did but only right before he moved back to australia, and then he died before i ever saw him again? that guy? so we were hanging out the day he left and he had bought this live velvet cd when he was at my record store the night before and put it on so he could play a song for me. what song was it? it was "heroin." and he blasted it so fucking loud. and to this day i can't hear it without crying. or at least trying not to cry. but usually i'm listening to it at home by myself laying on the floor and crying. lame, i know, but whatever, you probably do shit like that too.

lou has a very soothing voice. it's like an old friend that you just want to listen to them talk about whatever, you don't even care, you just want to hear them talking. that's his voice for me.

if it wasn't for lou reed nothing that i love would even exist. try to imagine what music would be like if it wasn't for those guys doing their thing in new york in the late 60s. JUST TRY. you don't even know. fucking crazy.

there really isn't much else for me to say about this. i'm sad. that is all. here is what rat scabies posted on facebook about it and is pretty much the best thing i read about him all day:

I'm sad about the loss of Lou Reed, I never met him but always admired his independent take it or leave it attitude. 
Without him, there would not of been a guiding light for us snotty kids to follow. 
He was the proof that it wasn't about being anything other than yourself and you didn't need to play guitar like a member of a prog rock band to get your message and emotions across. 

Take it or leave it... RIP

bye lou. we miss you already.

breakups suck even when it wasn't a real relationship. yes this still has to do with music.

i wasn't dumped, technically, because we were never officially boyfriend/girlfriend, but a few days ago i got the "i can't be in a relationship right now" talk from the guy i'd been dating. it was mostly just his own issues and really nothing to do with me but it never feels good to be on the receiving end of that shit.

here are the reasons i shouldn't be upset:

1. he didn't know who marc bolan/t.rex was before he met me. he still doesn't really get it.
2. he can't name all the original members of kiss, let alone anyone else who was ever in the band. and forget about identifying who is who by the makeup.
3. he doesn't like the beatles.
4. we were at a bar one of the first times we hung out and he didn't know it was motley crue on the jukebox.
5. he also didn't know it was judas priest on the jukebox.
6. i could probably sum this up much easier by saying this: he usually has no idea who i'm talking about; certain names he came to recognize, like hugh cornwell, but i've had to explain who clem burke is more than once. and like when i saw david johansen, i had to say "david johansen...the singer of the new york dolls...they were a band from new york in the 70s...like a trashy glam rock and roll band...they influenced like, literally, everybody...johnny thunders? sylvain sylvain? no? ok." have you ever tried explaining the difference between bon scott ac/dc and brian johnson ac/dc to someone who doesn't know who either of those men are? how can i talk about the time i was in steve garvey's basement if you don't know why he's important? you know what i mean, right?
7. i suggested he start collecting vinyl with a nice used copy of london calling that got traded in where i work. and he said that london calling and neon bible by arcade fire would be the only records worth owning. nothing else matters. that actually physically hurt me when i read that (this was all via text or email or something while i was at work). i guess if you don't collect vinyl you don't understand, but can you imagine saying that to another person who is very proud of her vinyl collection and works at a fucking record store?

side note: yes. he loved the clash. he has tattoos on his arms symbolizing the song "death or glory." his favorite. also my favorite. so that sucks.

there were a lot of awesome things about him. like the day i went to my pain in the ass ex-boyfriend's mom's funeral and was in a daze the rest of the day. he noticed something was wrong and checked on me later which was a good thing because i left work and was just driving around aimlessly, crying, like a fucking crazy person. he didn't have a lot of money to waste on gas, but he drove out to find me and sat with me in his car and let me cry and hugged me and told me it would be ok. he also likes my cats. and my cats like him. that is a big deal. and while he almost never knew what i was talking about, he was ALWAYS willing to listen and learn from me. also, he knows a lot of weird facts about random shit and brings that stuff up in conversation which makes talking to him a lot of fun. i should have written this part first because now i'm all bummed out again. let me go back over my list...

i guess what i'm really trying to say is that i came home and listened to hurt me by johnny thunders and drank some wine my sister shared with me because she knew i was sad and now i feel a little better.

by the time the next show i'm going to comes around i'll be my usual fun unstoppable self, so look out.

ps - it'll probably end up being the dickies at the brighton bar next month.

the vibrators again, again. but this is the last time, honest.

i wrote a whole lot about this night but i'm cutting some of it out because i don't feel like the internet needs to know everything. you know? so this is the edited post, but everything i wrote is what i wrote the night it happened.

------------------------------------------

phew.

what else can i say?

it's almost 5am but i'm not really tired just yet. so i'll write about my night.

i drove my friend and i to baltimore to see the vibrators at the sidebar. mike was cool enough to put us on the guest list so all the driving kind of made up for itself. we got there and him and eddie were at the merch table, so mike came over and said hi, and then he stood and talked with us. he's still like, the nicest person ever. and super laid back.

so darrell disappeared. mike said he was outside in someone's car listening to music but when they went to look for him the car was gone. and the last band before they went on was finishing up. uh oh. mike said he's never done this before but didn't seem too worried. it's ok, i was stressed out for him. him and eddie set their shit up, then mike set up darrell's stuff, and right around 11:30, sure enough, he stumbled in the door and they all went on stage and started playing. pretty great timing, if not a tad irresponsible.

once darrell was on stage, he recognized us and smiled. and at one point he gave us a little shout out. just said something like "two people drove for a very long way to be here." it was nice to be recognized.

so, the set was exactly the same as the past two shows, but DUDE. they sound SO GOOD. darrell is like...the best addition to the band they could have made. my friend and i just looked at each other a bunch of times and were like "holy shit." it's like...completely effortless for him to play as well as he does. and he looks half asleep as he's doing it. just completely unreal. eddie is still rad as shit too, but i've already talked about that. he's just jamming away, putting everything he has into each song they do and i fucking love it. and mike is really solid too, it's a shame he's only temporary. but he's having fun with it, so that's cool.

after the show, darrell came over to talk to us. he said he was glad to see some familiar faces. i went outside with him while he bummed a cigarette off someone, but i came back inside before he did. when he came back in, he stood with us again and we talked some more. oh, and he wanted to take pictures. one of me and my friend, who then took a few of me and darrell. and then she took a whole bunch of us with her camera, and he was being such a goof, like making faces and pretending to be deep in conversation about some serious shit, as she was taking the pictures; he put my hood up for one...just really silly and so so cute. we finally had to leave, so when he said goodbye he gave me this magnificent hug and sort of shimmied up on me and then ruffled my hair. then we said bye to mike and thanked him again for being so awesome to us, and i told eddie to bring back these pants (he's on the bottom right):

that's not going to happen anytime soon, sorry guys. so that was it. we had an amazing time and i got to see one of my favorite bands 3 times on one tour. pretty fucking cool.

the vibrators AGAIN.

yeah that's right, i saw the vibrators again last night. they were supposed to play in philly but it got cancelled for some reason, so they played at some place called pennskate/pennsounds last night in allentown. some kind of indoor skate park/teen center kind of place. the flyer said the music would be from 6-9 with 2 opening bands. i had a bad feeling about the place, like no one was going to show up or something, so i decided to leave work a little early just to be safe. and i took my friend (the same one who saw blondie  and x with me) to "beef up the crowd." (i just like to say beef as a verb. try it sometime. it's fun.)

we walked in, past some very strange people (welcome to allentown), and there was eddie sitting at the merch table, all alone, looking rather morose. but that's kind of his look, i suppose. i have no idea if he remembered me from the other night, but i went over to say hi, and asked if they had played yet. he said no, there was still another band before them. which was kinda bullshit, because they ended up starting at like 8:30 because the other bands ran over. come on, dudes, it's the fucking vibrators, get your goddamn shit together and let them play on time! no one cares about you anyway. ahem. anyway, i bought some records from him (this time he had his change all ready to go, there was no embarrassing fumbling around looking for it, thank goodness) and we took them out to my car and then went back in. we watched the band play one song and then hung out in the ladies room until it was over. yes. we are those girls. and we don't care.

when that band's set was over, we ventured back out and hung out while the vibrators set up. guitar player guy (his name is darrell, so i can just call him his real name now) remembered me, but couldn't remember when he met me, so i was like "friday night, the brighton bar" and he was like "oh, yeah, yeah, right, cool. thanks for coming tonight. let me get you ladies some beers." mmhmm. we got cans of yuengling from the band's stash. pretty fucking cool. he chatted with us a bit more after he brought them out to us, but he had to set his shit up. bass player guy said a few words to us, also (his name is mike so i can just call him that from now on, too). they played until 9:30 (thank god, otherwise i would have been PISSED) and it was pretty much the same set as the other night but it somehow sounded better in that shitty little room. they KILLED IT. and aside from the guy who was either really drunk or on some crazy drugs, or possibly both, careening around like a fucktard all night and smashing into everyone, and grabbing mike's microphone away from him, it was really fun. man. fuck that guy. control yourself, you know?

after the show, my friend and i sat at a little table behind the merch table, hanging out, because we're cool, you know? and mike walks past and looks at me and says "you look really familiar." "i was at the show at the brighton bar." "THAT'S IT!" so he came over and sat with us, showed us his bloody hand (puncture wound, from a bass string, gnarly), and we talked. he was probably one of the coolest people i've ever met. just super sweet and humble and down to earth. darrell walked by and saw us so he sat with us too. but he kept getting up and coming back. he's kind of flighty. and also adorable. mike told us fun stories about the guys being on the road and stuff. he's only playing with them on this tour; apparently pete is still in the band but has trouble coming over here sometimes because of visa bullshit. nigel is gone from the band, doing solo stuff, so darrell is his replacement. and we both (me and mike) think he's a better fit. anyway, we had a nice time talking with mike and darrell, when he was actually there. and then we had to go because the people there were kicking us out. mike insisted on getting pictures with us, on his phone. which i thought was really fucking cute. so he got one of me and my friend and darrell, and then darrell took one of us with mike. and darrell wanted mike to do the same on HIS phone. and eddie walked by at one point so i said "we have to get one with eddie too!" and he was a good sport and posed for a picture with us as well. mike had me type my name into facebook so he could add me on there, and i put my number in his phone. he said we should come to the show in baltimore that's tonight, they'll put us on the list, etc.

i got a facebook message with the pictures in it (so cute! i may post them later) and he gave me his number so i can text him if we're coming.

so guess what i'm about to go do? you fucking guessed it. smell ya later, pennsylvania, i'm going to BALTIMORE.

the vibrators

it was about time for me to get my ass to the brighton bar for another show, right? the vibrators played there last night. so of course i went. because i love that bar and i love that band. also i know the one girl in one of the opening bands. i hadn't seen her band before, and they were super fun.

anyway-
so now i've been there enough times that there are familiar faces and i'm "the girl who drove 2 hours to get here." it's cool. i know i'm crazy. but they all fucking love me for it so who cares? you guys. i had such a great time. and i would have had a great time even if the band sucked. which they didn't, obviously. i hung with this dude i made friends with at the david johansen show. and he bought me 2 drinks. and then i was hanging out with the girl that i know and her husband and their friend (remember this guy because he comes back later) and the one dude who is an owner of the bar bought us a round of drinks. and then i was hanging out with the first guy again and his friend was standing with us, and HE bought me a drink. ladies and gentlemen, i had 5 beers, but only paid for one of them. i want some kind of medal for that shit. but i think getting that many free drinks is kind of its own reward. i'm not used to guys being that nice to me. shit like that NEVER happens in philly, because philly is full of assholes. long branch, new jersey, you have captured my heart. anyway, so i was hanging out with the other girl i'm friends with who lives in long branch, and she was up talking to the door guy. she brought me a cool punk cd sampler from a record label in california, since she just was on vacation there. how fucking cool? i mean, seriously, how fucking cool? these people are just the fucking best.

alright, enough of me being all starry eyed about this place. the VIBRATORS. my boss thinks he's really funny, since i requested off for the night, he told everyone that i wasn't at work because i was out buying a vibrator. ok, well, i laughed, but still. so the thing that threw me off was that eddie was there (the drummer) and he was hanging around all night, manning the merch table (remember that sad/funny moment the last time i saw them? awww) and wandering around but i noticed i didn't see either of the other band members. hmm. so when they took the stage i realized that there were 2 totally new members of the band, who i had indeed seen around all night. in fact, the one guy was even talking to me earlier. i noticed he had a british accent but didn't question it, i just enjoyed it. so here i was, finally adjusted to the new(ish) lineup of nigel and pete and then all of a sudden i have to REadjust to these new guys?? oh my life is soooo hard (that was a joke). but whatever, they still sound like the vibrators minus knox's vocals. so it's all good. and i love watching eddie play. and he sings! not all the songs. but it's still impressive; i can't do that shit. and they did "baby baby" and "automatic lover" and "yeah yeah yeah" and "whips and furs" so i was one happy little girl. they played their set, and left the stage, and everyone kept cheering and eddie was walking out to the merch table and kinda stopped right in front of me and muttered "are we doing one more?" and i gave a big old "WOOO!!" he just sorta glanced back at me, but then went back up on the stage. HA. i laughed about it. so that was that. fucking rad, you guys. go see them. even though some dude who leaned over to ask me what i thought said "it's kinda like watching a cover band, isn't it?" well...yeah. kinda. but still. it's the vibrators. so it's ok.

then everyone is hanging out and whatever after the show, and the dude that i said comes back later was talking to me, right near the merch table, and he starts telling me i should get a cd and even picks one out and i was like "awesome but i don't have enough money" and he said "oh i got you covered, don't even worry about it," and i was like IS THIS REAL LIFE? why are all you nice fuckers in jersey? goddammit. so i thanked him, we chatted a bit, etc. so fucking cool. then my friend from before was talking to me and i said i wanted a shirt but only had $10 and he said if i ask nice, eddie will probably give it to me for $10 (they're $15). so i go up to eddie and say "i really want a shirt but only have $10." "alright, which one do you want?" and just like that i got a $5 discount from a sweet ass vibrators shirt. i still love my whips and furs one, of course, but this one is WHITE and PINK. so yeah. ah fuck it, here it is:

classy.

and then the dude with the british accent that had been talking to me earlier, before i realized he was in the band, started chatting me up, so we went and stood outside together. and i think he complimented my eyes? or something. but everything he said was adorable because hello, accent. and then some dudes came over and started talking to him and i was like REALLY BROS? can't you see that we're talking? fuck you and your goddamn shit. only dudes to piss me off all night. which is ok i guess. anyway i'm probably gonna go see them again on monday so there's that.

and then my friend's friend who bought me a drink earlier drove me to 7-11 and bought me a coffee before i left because it was like 2am and i had a long drive ahead of me. 

such a fun fucking night.

oh, and they were all sold out of vibrators. no i'm not joking. they had a spot for them on the merch table. too bad, because i would have bought one and then my boss' joke wouldn't have been so funny because it would have been true.

i took no pictures. shame on me. i was too busy having fun, bitches.

pere ubu

this was like forever ago (ok, it was a month) so i kind of forget some stuff. but i saw pere ubu at the north star bar on september 11. i almost didn't go because it was a wednesday night and i wasn't sure if they'd be any good and honestly i only know like 2 songs of theirs BUT i was like, fuck it, just go, it'll be cool. and if it sucks you can just laugh about it on the way home. plus it felt like it had been a while since i went to a show by myself and i love doing that so off i went after work.

the opening band was ok, i forget what they were called. the second opening band was actually david thomas of pere ubu doing some other project. also forget what that was called and i'm too lazy to google that shit. but you guys know what i'm talking about. he was like, talking into an old school telephone over some looped samples of weird electronic music. it was fucking weird as shit but really good. oh and there was a guy wearing a chicken mask and doing interpretive dancing. so that was cool.

but fucking pere ubu, man. i guess mr. thomas is the only guy who was an original member left in the band, but since he's the singer it works. and also he has a really fucking great band put together now. i was absolutely mesmerized for the entire show. they're droney and exciting and syncopated and weird but like, the fucking best. especially for someone like me who kind of went on a whim and didn't know what to expect- this is exactly what you want to happen when you do that. get fucking blown away.

so i don't know anyone's names and i'm still too lazy to google, but guitar player was fucking great and made it really atmospheric, you know? i don't know how they do it. guitars are a mystery to me, so when someone can make it sound all fuzzy and loud and shit i get really excited. bass player was also really fucking good and she was laying down the jams and also did really cool shit. you know, exciting bass lines. not the boring monotonous shit that most bands get away with. so i loved her. then there was synth/theremin guy who was one of my two favorite people of the night to watch. he would be doing stuff, pushing buttons, and then just freak out and wave his hand around like a crazy man while he made the theremin do its thing. theremins are fucking rad and not enough bands use them. but i guess if everyone used them they wouldn't be as cool. but whatever. he was fun to watch. my other favorite? the goddamn motherfucking drummer. i just sat here for way too long trying to think how to describe him. he was fucking rad. like, doing weird ass beats that fit perfectly into the song and using alarm bells as percussion and also all of his cymbals were different brands which i find endearing. dude knew how to rock out, but also how to keep it cool when the songs would go into a quiet moment. i respect that. and then there was david thomas, who sat in a chair and sweated all night. he sounded good though, he has a very interesting voice, and he is very funny with his between song banter.

so after the show i waited around to talk, but old man thomas looked absolutely miserable before he finally hobbled away outside. i can't blame him, he looked like he was in a lot of pain, and i know what that's like and you don't wanna fucking talk to people. so i didn't bother him. but i did want to talk to the drummer, so i finally got a chance after like 15 minutes of standing around, because dudes were all shoving in front of me to talk about whatever bullshit they talk about...anyway, so i told him that he was really fun to watch, and how i'm a drummer so i like to watch other drummers but not in a judgey way, just like an interested observer kind of way, and that he was blowing me away with his fancy shit. and he said "aw, wow, i think i'm blushing!" but he has a beard so i was like i can't see it so you're good. and he asked me my name and shook my hand and then i said good night. sometimes, i can be cool with musicians in bands i respect.

here are some halfway decent pictures of the show:
(and yeah, i went up on the balcony, which i don't normally do at shows, but i loved it because i could see EVERYTHING. pictures turned out way better than they would have if i had been down on the floor)

blondie!!!

i can't remember if i mentioned it in here that i was going to see blondie, but i totally did, monday september 9, in washington dc!

yeah. so dc. i saw the damned there before because my friend lives there, remember? so i decided to see blondie there too and we could go together and it would be fun! she lives really close to the 9:30 club, where the show was, so she bought tickets and it was settled. hooray!

unfortunately things aren't always as awesome as you expect them to be and she told me a few days before the show that her grandfather passed away and the service was on monday so she was no longer able to go. she still wanted me to go and use the tickets and have fun, but i was sad for her and sad for myself that i didn't get to hang out with her. have i mentioned how great she is? because she's really great. and i miss her.

so that sucked. but i did find someone else to go with me. my friend said we were still welcome to stay at her house, left me a visitor's parking pass, etc., so we went to her house to chill out for a little bit before heading to the show. it was really nice of her to do that and it was great to have somewhere to unwind after that shitty drive. we decided to wander around and see if we could get food somewhere and check out our surroundings. the club is super close to where she lives. we started off in that direction and were just talking and whatever and i looked up to see that clem burke was walking towards us.

CLEM BURKE ALERT CLEM BURKE ALERT HELLO WHAT

i shouldn't have been that surprised to see him but i totally was. unfortunately he was on his phone; when he was right in front of us i said "hi!" and he said "hi" back but just kept walking. oh well. i wanted to actually talk to him! and see if he remembers me! and ask him why he's not drumming for hugh cornwell on the upcoming tour! and how did he get to be so awesome! so many things! again: oh well. it was still really cool to see him and i freaked out afterwards. then we just killed time until it got close to 7, and went and stood in line to get in.

oh hey, did i mention who the opening band is on the tour? it's x. yep. x. so that was really awesome.

the show was fucking great. the whole thing, start to finish, minus a few little things here and there, was just fucking great. i never got really into x, but after seeing them, i'm a believer. billy zoom is really fun to watch, and we were kind of right in front of him. their drummer is really great too. but it was hard to see exene and john doe from where we were standing; however, from what i could see, she looks fucking awesome, and sounds the same, too. they were a lot of fun. and then blondie. holy shit, blondie. i've been in love with them for many years and this is the first time i got to see them. watching clem drum blondie songs in front of me was really fucking cool. my only real complaint? the set. they played a bunch of songs off of panic of girls, the new album, which was fine, because i really like that album. it's very dancey and fun. but the rest of the set was like the greatest hits album. and i get it, i really do, i mean, that's what people want to hear, right? but what about the rest of us who listen to full blondie albums and like the songs that weren't the big hits? instead of "rapture" (i could go the rest of my life without ever hearing it again and that would be ok by me) why couldn't they have done "11:59" or "picture this" or "fan mail" or "rip her to shreds"? that would have been fucking amazing to hear. i still had fun! i'm not really complaining. i just like it when bands pull out the unexpected songs. i didn't go to hear the best of blondie; i could've stayed home and listened to that album. it would have been a much cheaper night. but yeah; finally got to see clem play along to "dreaming," which was a great moment in time for me.

oh, i kind of forgot about the most important thing: i saw debbie harry in real life. there was that time i was supposed to meet her but hugh cornwell fucked up and didn't tell me she was there and then she left. ugh. anyway, i still hope i can meet her someday because she is so cool. seeing her, on a stage, in front of me, singing blondie songs, it was a really big deal. and she looked so cute.

overall, yeah it was fun. although the fans were really annoying too. just gonna throw that out there. sorry. but it's true. except the guy who let me have his spot after i was violently shoved out of the way by some dude and his dumb girlfriend. during rapture, of course, because i guess some people only came to hear that song. which is fucking stupid. that's really it. we had a good time. i will definitely go see blondie again sometime, maybe when they play the keswick on this tour, which is considerably closer than the 9:30 club.

---------------------

ok i wrote this a while ago and i'm only just posting it now. i did not go to the keswick show and i'm trying to not be sad about it.

david johansen

i have a lot to catch up on but i'll start with this one: david johansen at the brighton bar...

which is kind of difficult because i was excited about it that night and then got less jazzed as the night went on and now i almost don't care. almost. yes, the new york dolls are one of my favorites, obviously. but, compared to the sylvain show, and i know i'm in the minority here, david just didn't hold up for me.

i know, it doesn't make sense. david had a whole backing band, who sounded amazing by the way, and he sounds pretty much the same as ever; and i do love that raspy voice of his. but there was just something missing, i guess, i don't really know how to put it. sylvain only had an acoustic guitar, and a bassist at the brighton show, but he made his performance bigger. by sharing stories and being cute and funny and stopping in the middle of songs to reminisce about something... i know that's not everyone's bag, but i really enjoyed it a lot. and if i'm gonna see david johansen on a stage singing new york dolls songs (which was most of his set, interspersed with a few solo songs) i would rather see sylvain and the rest of the new york dolls (well, the new new york dolls, if you know what i mean) up on stage with him.

besides that, yeah, it was great. it was fun. everyone else was having a good time. i made friends, etc.

oh and also i met him after the show which was not easy (and that's weird for the brighton) and he was not very nice. i don't expect everyone to be a ray of sunshine but come on man. there were only a few of us waiting around to talk afterwards, and i had brought my record that sylvain signed, and he kept trying to avoid me but there were some dudes looking out for me and they kind of forced him to pay attention to me. i ended up not saying anything to him because i could tell he didn't give a fuck. my friend offered to get a picture of us together so i said ok. it's horrible, you guys. i can't bring myself to post it. i mean, i look ok, but his face looks like it's melting off his skull and he looks absolutely miserable. it's just sad.

so yeah, that kind of marred the show for me, too. again- i don't expect everyone to be sylvain sylvain, mr. cheerful friendly nicey nice, but you don't have to be rude to someone who just paid to see you.

that's really all i have to say about that. yeah, go see him if he plays around you, it's still a good show and fun to hear those songs. but i don't know that i'd go out of my way to see him again.

alice cooper!

hey so i decided to go see alice cooper play at house of blues in atlantic city last night! i asked my favorite show buddy if he wanted to go and so i paid for tickets and he drove. hooray!

since i only recently started doing this blog again, i didn't write about the time i saw alice open for iron maiden last summer. and how i saw alice again a few days later play at sands casino in bethlehem. but those things happened, and i was happy to see that he was coming around again because he was fantastic when i saw him those other times.

last night was no exception. unfortunately, due to my show buddy not being the best at judging time and whatnot, and also with the addition of his friend and the friend's girlfriend, we ended up getting there a bit late and missed a bit of the show. i just found this set list so i can see that we missed "hello hooray," which i thought i heard last night...i guess i was right. we walked in during the second one, "house of fire." at least we got there just in time for "my" song; i call it mine but i'm sure it's like a million people's favorite alice cooper song. "no more mr. nice guy." just something about that guitar riff and the way he sings it..."i got no friends 'cause they read the paper, they can't be seen...with me." i love that pause in there. and when he goes "no more, mr. clea-he-he-hean!" it's just the best. right? i'm always right. so he did 2 songs off the new album (welcome 2 my nightmare...i didn't read any reviews of the album but i fucking love it. even the weird "disco bloodbath" song and the song that ke$ha sings on. yes i really put the dollar sign there. what. i don't know. i feel weird that i like it but i do...it's alice fucking cooper, ok), "i'll bite your face off" and "caffeine." he did both of those the last time i saw him, and he didn't do it last night but he would put on a jacket that had "new song" painted on the back, and just turn around so we could read it. brilliant, and so alice. what else...my friend was so psyched when they did "department of youth." hehe. oh and "dirty diamonds"! you guys! dirty fucking diamonds! that song is so awesome! that whole album was so good! and all the band members soloed and it was good. and, uh, "feed my frankenstein." you know he has the monster that comes out and hurls itself around the stage? it makes me feel like a child. like, that excited feeling that you get when you see a giant monster walking around in front of you. what, you guys don't like monsters? whatever. actually the night i saw alice and iron maiden, i got to see the frankenstein monster AND eddie. you have no idea what that did to me. or maybe you do?

then alice gets his head chopped off, "i love the dead," then he comes back out and they did all these covers, the doors, the beatles, jimi hendrix, the who...pretty fucking cool. followed by "i'm eighteen." no, alice, you haven't been eighteen for a long time...but it's ok because that song rules. and "poison." fuck yeah.

and then of course he does "school's out."

and i was so sad that it was over. it felt like he was playing for 20 minutes, not the hour and a half that it actually was. i was having such a good time. seriously, i hope he lives forever and never stops touring so i can keep going to see him. forever. it would never get old.

savages

so the third band in my crazy weekend extravaganza was savages sunday night at union transfer.

you guys know i'm not really into a lot of newer bands right? when i'm at work, my boss will put on new releases so he knows what they sound like, and a lot of the time i find myself going "what the fuck is this shit? ugh, turn it off!" then one night he put on something new, but it didn't sound new. it reminded me of all the post punk bands i'm into. it was angry, but without being thrashy. basically it was perfect. so i asked him who we were listening to, and he told me they're called savages, and i was hooked.

my friend had bought a ticket for this show a while ago, and she was meeting up with another friend in the city before the show, but she kept encouraging me to go. i wanted to, obviously. but i knew i was already going to see the dictators and wire that weekend and wasn't sure if a) i'd be up for it and b) have enough money. but tickets were only $15 and she started bugging me early in the day about going so i decided to do it.

the opener was johnny hostile, but we missed that set because we got food and drinks elsewhere before the show, and we got there during his set but didn't actually see any of it. he sounded awesome; i don't always like comparing new bands to old bands, but to give you an idea, it kind of reminded me a lot of suicide and a little bit of joy division. so i was a little disappointed we missed his set, but oh well.

so we finagled our way up front and waited for them to come out. did i mention that savages are a bunch of ladies? i hate when people are surprised that a band comprised of females is good; i hate when people say "yeah, they're good, for a bunch of girls." i hate it. we're all supposed to be equal aren't we? stop with that shit already. if you're a good musician, you're a good musician. male or female has nothing to do with it. however, it was delightful for me, as a female, to watch four ladies killing it on stage. it's inspiring, you know? i guess i hang around a lot of old punk dudes, so it was really refreshing.

ok. so the show. holy shit. i knew it was going to be good, but i didn't know HOW good. it started out really strong and didn't let up until they left the stage. and the singer, jehnny beth, has this really awesome stage presence. she's super intense. and she'll just stare at you. THROUGH you. and her voice is so cool. people compare her to siouxsie, which i get, but she doesn't wear crazy costumes and makeup. just black clothes and pink high heels. super short hair. minimal makeup. they all wore black and just looked cool. i didn't know who to watch. they were all so focused and into what they were doing and i didn't want it to end. it was just like...really fucking cool. my friend and i would look at each other after a song ended and just go "holy shit!" all the hype about them is completely deserved and when they come back here you better go see them.