Friday, May 25, 2007

Good Morning Campers

Hey there....
I have decided to start this blog in a complete abandonment of my other (far more thoughtful) blog "Sound Opinion". My plan (thus far) for this one is to make it an abbreviated and slightly more personal version of Sound Opinion. So in the spirit of brevity....here's the weekly recap.


This week at the Pabst, we had Omaha Nebraska electroriffic band, The Faint. In addition to sharing a record label with Bright Eyes guru Conor Oberst in Saddle Creek, Oberst was actually at one point a member of the band, prior to his fame.

The Faint was absolutely intense & personally i really enjoyed what i saw of the show. The Faint performs with these giant screens & tons of moving lights onstage. The level of production that they carry is generally reserved for much larger bands, but i guess that's part of their thing. One other interesting item is the fact that the band specifically states in their rider that "The Stage & House must be as dark as physically possible" It really showed through in the show as the band has this presence of being almost these hidden, shadowy figures that are really just another special effect in their show. Still a reallly cool show to see if not altogether, completely intense.

We were sort of understaffed on security that night & one of our guys was pretty MIA altogether (even though he was present) & things were a little more "active" than i normally look for in our standing room area. One sort of entertaining/scary/weird incident. They had pulled a guy out with blood all over the front of his face (something i quite frankly see less than you would think, working in a concert hall)


We asked him what happened & he explained "Dude...I was like just minding my own business & this guy comes up to me & says 'outta my way motherfucker' & i was just like 'fuck you' & he was like 'outta my way' and took a swing at me, which i blocked" (....as he says this, he throws up a mock kung-fu move that looks like he nearly warded his assailant off with the skill & wit of say...chuck norris)...he then says "And then he took another swing, i blocked it & the motherfucker headbutts me right in the fact & i was like...fuck...i'm fucking bleeding...& he fuckin took off"

In the mean time, his friends are next to us sort of claiming to plot revenge. I said "Ok, nothin like that's happening tonight. do you have a ride to the hospital or do you want me to call an ambulance" & he says "No....no ambulance...hey can you look at my mouth? I think i lost a tooth"

I agree, he opens up &....ewww, sure as day, the kid is missing his left front top tooth....

His friend showed a mild amount of protest about missing the concert & i told him..."look dude, you want a refund on your ticket? is that what this is about?"....which turned out to be what it was about & he got his buddy into the ambulance.

the icing on the cake is, tooth kid says just as they're leaving the theater "I'm going to have my dad's lawyer call you in the morning!!!"

....whatever

anyhoo.... a couple of interesting finds this week & one total excellent record.....

OWN THIS RECORD NOW!

The National-"Boxer"
Man....when did I miss these guys? I had Alligator & liked it ok, but this disc is one of those that the moment i popped it on, i knew it would be amazing from the opening notes. Like sort of a rocking leonard cohen, The National's Boxer is introspective, dark & laid back, while being a completely brilliant record. Somehow, The National achieves an incredible personal, inspirational tone to the album without over emoting & this in all reasonable accounts is probably one of the best of the year so far.


Other Stuff
Voxtrot-"Voxtrot"
I still kinda don't get Voxtrot (or maybe i do & maybe that's the problem). Through the 3 eps from last year, they were mostly pleasant pop that was neither offensive nor particularly remarkable, although for some reason, people continued to prop them up. Voxtrot's full length is about the same. I guess it's good, listenable pop, but unless i'm completely missing somethings, it's good but not great.

Kathy Diamond-"That's Miss Diamond To You"- Much to the dismay of my office mates, i downloaded Kathy Diamond off of eMusic this week. It's sort of like a cross between early madonna, sly & the family stone & a healthy dose of 80s synth-dance-party thrown in. I'm not saying early madonna was any good...but this sure is an interesting record. Occasional spots where the club lyrics & blatant spectacle is a little irritating, but overall a very interesting & enjoyable listen. plenty of funky, disco inspired grooves that makes Kathy Diamond a very fun & interesting artist.