Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Red Sox vs Angels

4/23/08
Sox 4 Angels 6
In Attendance: Paul

5 months out from surgery and on the day of his first successful scan, I couldn't have been any happier than to be sitting next to Paul at the ball game on a beautiful evening. 


Not much more to say about this game than that. 

Beisbol

Well it is mid-80s and sunny today, and I am finally ready and excited for baseball season to be here. For some reason I've been apathetic about it so far- Never really feels like baseball season when it is 40 degrees out, and kind of felt like the season just ended (even if I did like the ending). Anyway, it's especially exciting this year for three reasons:

1. I managed to get four games in
Conigliaro's Corner. These $25 seats were built last year so that regular people could get into Fenway (of course, it's about 0.05% of all the seats in the stadium, but that's another story), and are "scalper-proof"- you pick them up at a dedicated ticket window, and a security guard watches as you walk straight into the ballpark. They're real back-busting steel bleachers but provide one of the best views in the house, perched on top of the right field roof. Best of all they have a practically dedicated bathroom and beer/concession area, so there's no waiting for either of those things.

2. I'll be making my first excursion to Shea Stadium in over 10 years. It is huge and ugly, but I have a soft spot for Shea and will be sorry to see it go. It was the first ballpark that I ever went to, and the only one for about the first half of my life. I grew up with a family of Mets fans and despite my growing allegiance to the Red Sox over my past nine years in Boston, the Mets will always be my team. (And before someone asks as they inveitably do, yes I would root for the Mets against the Red Sox if they ever played in the world series again). I know this truly disturbs many of my friends, but I am at peace with it.

3. I'll finally go to Yankee Stadium. I've never been to Yankee Stadium simply because I really don't like the Yankees. But I need to see it before it is gone, so I'll be heading to the Bronx one weekend this summer as well. 


Add to this a few Rangers games on my next trip to Texas and a visit to Camden Yards when I (hopefully) make it to Baltimore this summer, and it should be a good year for seeing some games. But most of I'm just happy to know that every night for the next six months, I can sit down on the couch (or at a bar, or put on the radio) and find a baseball game. 

Monday, April 21, 2008

Man Man

With: Yeasayer
4/12/08, Paradise Rock Club
Boston, MA
In attendance: Fletch, Steve

I realize that the following opinion puts me in the minority of basically everyone who cares about such things, but man oh man was I bored by Yeasayer's opening set. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for mid-tempo proggy-world music-type stuff. Maybe I drank too many of those super cold bottle/can hybrid beers and it affected my brain. Maybe it was the super-psychedelic show being projected behind the band that I think I last saw used on a 1994 HORDE tour (OOOOHHHHH, a giant blinking eye!) Or maybe I was just aware of the complete ass kicking to come in the next set. But they did nothing for me. 

Man Man were another story. I last saw them open for Modest Mouse last year and they completely overshadowed the headliner. This band is completely insane and unlike anything I've seen before. Of course, every article written about them contain the three same names (Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, Captain Beefheart), and those are fair comparisons, but there is much more going on here than just rehashing already-made sounds. The new record rabbit habits makes that quickly clear. But as good as that album is, this is a band that really needs to be experienced live.  Drums, keys, pots and pans, marimba, trumpet, sax, and anything else that was nearby is fair game by any member of the band at any moment. 90 minutes of compete chaos- the sold out crowd who mostly stood still for Yeasayer turned into a giant bouncing mass of people being led by 5 crazed carnival barkers dressed in white.  An absolute blast that I would implore anyone to go see live as soon as possible. 

I tried to find a video online that would best approximate what this is all about, and this one seemed to come closest despite the cruddy audio. 



Saturday, April 19, 2008

Wilco, a Bird, and some Zappa


Wilco has announced a few more dates for their summer tour, and while I was initially apprehensive about the prospect of driving two hours on a Wednesday to Tanglewood to see them, they just upped the ante by adding Andrew Bird to the bill on 8/12. How could I not go to this show? Wilco's is basically my favorite band on earth and Andrew Bird blew me away the last time I saw him. Plus, if past shows are any indication, Andrew Bird will be sitting in for a good portion of Wilco's set. 

Anyway I'm incredibly excited for this, and it gives me a reason to link to Steve DePino's excellent photos from the New Haven show that we went to in February (the pic above is his, the rest are at his blog here). 

Best of all, I heard from Gamera on Wednesday and he let me know that a week earlier, Zappa Plays Zappa is coming back to the Hampton Casino Ballroom. We went to the show last year with only a vague notion of what to expect and left the show staggering not only from the (literally) 100+ degree room, but three hours of complete Zappa musical insanity. So we'll be meeting up once again this year on the strip of surreal depravity that is the Hampton Beach boardwalk for some more musical acrobatics. Looking like a very good week for live music.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Langhorne Slim

With: Jennifer O'Connor, Hymns
4/10/08, Middle East Upstairs
Cambridge, MA
In Attendance: Fletch

I first saw these guys at SXSW, and basically caught the set by chance. We had walked to Waterloo Park since it seemed to be the easiest place to see some bands with the kids. We found a shady spot under some trees, and next on the bill was Langhorne Slim. Never-nude jeans shorts notwithstanding, I was sold pretty much immediately. 


The album has been on constant rotation ever since, one of my favorite things that I've come across in a long time. But it is so much more restrained than the full-on throw down that happened Thursday night. These guys are seriously tight and they know how to work up the crowd- I honestly don't know if ever ever seen such an enthusiastic crowd (even the band seemed a bit surprised by it).  Found this video from the show, I think it sums things up better than any description of mine:


Certainly not the typical "disorganized line of people" that you run into at shows...

Monday, April 7, 2008

Imagine my surprise...


...when I opened up the new Vineyard Vines catalog and found a picture of myself in it. Actually it wasn't a surprise at all- I think three different people had told me about it by the time I actually got one in the mail, but kind of weird nonetheless. 

Anyway, I was not in Key Largo at a sailfish tournament, but in Baltimore for Chris and Regan's wedding. The groomsmen had all received personalized Vineyard Vines ties (mine has democratic donkeys) and the photographer suggested the pose. Somewhere along the way, it made its way into the new catalog. 

Granted, it is not quite as random as the time I opened up Sports Illustrated and found a picture of myself at the Red Sox World Series parade (and not even close to as weird as when my good friend Steve got called out in People magazine for being a TV star's first valentine), but I got a kick out of it.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Gary Louris

With: Vetiver
4.1.08, Somerville Theater, Somerville MA
In attendance: Kristen


If there were any justice in the musical world, Gary Louris would be sitting pretty, making music in a cribs-style home recording studio and going on reunion tours with the Jayhawks to make a few million whenever he needed it. Or, at the very least, he would be playing to better than a less than half-full Somerville Theater, as he did last night. Of course there is not a lot of justice to go around when it comes to those who actually manage to make lucrative careers out of making good music, and Louris will be the first to acknowledge that. Read any interview with him and he seems genuinely perplexed, sad, and bitter that the Jayhawks never really made it big. And rightly so- at their peak the Jayhawks were a great band, basically pioneering the alt-country movement and just on the cusp of blowing up but never quite making it there. Even after Mark Olsen departed, Gary stayed on and continued to put out some solid Jayhawks albums, taking the reformed band in directions far beyond from the original countryish sound.


But the Jayhawks are officially broken up, and it doesn't look like they will be getting back together. Since the break up Louris has done just fine as a producer and songwriter, but luckily he is still making his own music as well. 


For the couple hundred dedicated fans there last night, the show, in support of the new album Vagabonds, was excellent. Louris dedicated about half of the show to the new album, and the other half to some of the old Jayhawks favorites along with some Golden Smog songs. I’ve seen the Jayhawks a lot over the years, and as much as I hate to say it, these songs sounded as good as they ever have, maybe even better than they sometimes did with the Jayhawks. Same went for his album- it's taken awhile for it to grow on me, but it completely came together live. 


Most of this is owed to Louris- his voice is still in top shape and he is clearly underrated as a guitar player. But a lot of it had to do with the stellar backing band, Vetiver. They opened the show, and then backed up Gary for his set. They reminded me a lot of the Sadies backing up Neko Case- completely solid, and completely unassuming despite being a band that you would want to go see on their own. Their album is streaming at their website, I would highly recommend it.


Links: 

Gary Louris

Vetiver