Poptarticus

Britt Daniel and Spoon are in town so inevitably I have been doing too much fantasizing. As in, will I walk into The Vine and he will be there? Or, will I walk into the Waterfront Bar and he will be in there? Or, will he be at the Raveonettes show at the Casbah?

The real question is: would would I do if he WAS at one of those places? Catastrophe averted; Britt Daniel was not at The Vine, or the Waterfront, or the Casbah yesterday.

Even without Britt’s non-appearance it was still a great night. I love the Raveonettes and I think I especially love Sune Rose Wagner. Everyone stares at Sharin Foo but to me Sune is infinitely more interesting. I fell in love with Sharin Foo when I saw the Raveonettes in 2005, because from afar she was this punky ice goddess who looked like she would be happiest putting out a cigarette on your neck with the heel of her shoe but last night, she was all shy and sweet (”is it OK if we play some new songs?” How nice of her to ask.)

On the other hand Sune let loose with the most insane reverb I have heard in a long time and had the most penetrating stare… at one point he stared straight at me for the longest minute and eventually I had to look away. It was pretty hot, let me tell you.

This is kind of dark but it is a very good representation of the show last night. It was a great show with an adoring (though somewhat obnoxious) audience.

After the show, Sharin Foo was working the merch table! Mark’s friend Claire, who came to the show with us, got her picture taken with her. Like I said, so nice. No sight of Sune there though.

Onward. Guess what today is? SPOON AND INTERPOL DAY. I am pretty stoked, though the place they are playing looks hella massive (a football field? Krikey).

I’m hoping to smuggle a couple of these in. A single serving of Pinot Grigio in a Tetra Pak. Awesome!

I am still reeling from that show - the absolute best thing about youtube is that you can relive everything without even having a camera of your own.

Also - this was Arcade Fire’s last song before the encore - and after they left the stage the audience kept singing the ooo ooo until they came back on.

Sigh. Good thing I am seeing Spoon and my man Britt on Sunday. Otherwise this week would be looking mighty bleak.

How the hell do I even begin to write about Friday night and the Arcade Fire show at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley? I have been sitting here starting a sentence, and then erasing it, then sitting a while, then trying again. The problem is, shows like that defy description. How do I tell you, the reader, about my complete and total ascension into some kind of altered state where I could barely contain myself? I was shaking, I was floating, I was screaming. For an hour and a half, I lost myself.

In other words, it was a really, really good show. It was better than a good show; it was one of the best nights of my life.

It’s really weird that I lived in San Francisco for fifteen years and the Bay Area for over twenty and this was the first time that I ever saw a show at the Greek Theatre. I don’t know why - could be that I really just don’t care for Berkeley too much, could be that there was never anyone I really wanted to see there. So Friday, on the way over from the city, I was sort of in the dark about where we’d sit and how it would be. So I sort of took this zen attitude that whatever happened, happened, and that no matter what it would be awesome. Still, I made Colleen get to Berkeley at 6:30 and we were in line before the doors even opened. Once in, I was totally stoked - what a fantastic place to see a show! Way better than the Greek in L.A. All the people in front of us went straight to the pit, while we snagged seats in the very first row of the hard, steep, concrete seats to the left of the stage. I am 100% sure that I was the only one there that had a “Point Loma Pointers” butt cushion. One of my oldest friends, Angie, and her husband were coming to the show so we saved a couple of spots for them and then I went out in search of wine.

Here is one weird thing about the Greek Theatre in Berkeley - or maybe it’s not so weird, since it IS BERKELEY after all. They have cocktails, but they are made with some weird Korean liquor that is only 20% alcohol. Yick. Also, the wine? Yick. But I got two glasses and we tried to drink them. I got about two sips down and then I was like, fuck this and I went out on a search mission. Somewhere in that cool space, I was sure, there was a better glass of wine to be had. Sure enough, I climbed up to the very top of a hill and way in the back there was a little hut selling halfway decent Pinot Noir! For the same price as the swill. Here is another thing I loved about our seats at the Greek - on the wall in front of me, there were two extruding pipes that were perfect cup holders. I don’t think that was the intention, but it worked for me. Thankfully when Angie and Eli came, she knocked over the glass of Bad Wine that I had put there, therefore I did not feel guilty about not drinking a seven dollar glass of swill. It was on the ground, where it belonged. After I had my first cup of Pinot I went back up and got two more and put them in my two pipe-cup-holders. I was good to go.

Meanwhile, the Greek was filling up, but not nearly as fast as I thought it would. I mean, this was a sold out show, didn’t everyone want to get there and get the best possible seat? I guess not. I was really, really happy that I was in the front row looking over the sea of heads. Looking around, I was absolutely sure that this would be the Best Crowd Ever, way better than an L.A. crowd.

The openers, Electralane, were good - four chicks and lots of feedback. I couldn’t sit still though. It’s hard to sit still when you are about to see one of your favorite bands. All the people behind me were having no problem however. I think they were there more to have a picnic then to see a band. Hmmm.

When Arcade Fire finally hit the stage, the pit - which was packed with several thousand people - erupted, and I was instantly on my feet. The band opened with Black Mirror and for the next four songs I was almost could not cope with the emotions that were running through me. After Black Mirror they played Keep the Car Running and No Cars Go, and between each I had to take really deep breaths because I was shaking uncontrollably from adrenalin and some kind of crazy frenzied joy. That band is SO GOOD. I’ve seen them before; I’ve read about their shows a gazillion times; I listen to them at home all the time, and they still managed to virtually lift me up and throw me down over and over. It was crazy.

Regine then sang Haiti, coming out with her signature jerky eighties dance move thing she does, and she just completely annihilated me. She sang the fucking roof off of that song. It was about now that I looked around and I was the ONLY PERSON STANDING UP. No one else was standing up! It was really weird. I made my friends stand up - well, not Colleen because she was a) jetlagged and b) had a cold and c) still came with me despite a and b. All those other people? They were lame.

After Haiti I managed to come down a little and this is good because I think I was at risk of a music induced epilepsy attack or maybe a stroke. The show had a bit of a slow time and when Regine sang “In the Backseat” I decided I hated the rest of the audience in the stands. They were TALKING. Talking, during that quiet, magical beginning of In the Backseat! What are you doing here, people? I tried hard to tune out the voices and listen only to Regina’s plaintive wail, and I felt connected to her when she raised her voice higher and higher until the assholes could not be heard. My tenuous connection to reality was kept from breaking by the guy behind me asking his friends if they wanted more cherries. They brought me back to earth, the fuckers. For a while, anyway.

The band played on; they were everything everyone has ever said about their live show. Energetic, enigmatic, and incredibly talented. Still, I was the only one standing (except for Eli and Angie, and everyone in the pit) until about 3/4 through the show, when they played Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) and I looked back and there was a little pocket of people behind me standing up and dancing. I am still unsure how it is even possible to sit down during a show like that. I was practically making an indent in the concrete with my heels. Everyone in the pit made up for the slackers in the seats - they were dancing, surging towards the front, screaming (as we all were, I think) the lyrics; and when the whoo hoo whoo hoo woohoo part of Tunnels kicked in, I do believe all the Arcade Fire fans at that show went absolutely ballistic. It was, is, a moment that I will never forget.

They ended the set with a brutally awesome Rebellion (Lies) and I think I finally blew my voice out on this one because I was screaming so loud. I am almost crying now, thinking about it; the thousands of people jumping up and down in the pit, the band playing their hearts out, and the heavy mist falling on my flushed face. It was time for the come-down, and going this high there was bound to be a brutal one.

The encore: Cold Wind, a beautiful and slow song and then Wake Up, and I was very sad because I knew it was over. I wish every night could be like that. I really do.

I’m so lucky though. Yesterday I woke up feeling like I was coming off a drug trip and my body was sore from jumping up and down on a concrete slab, but I got to hang out with Colleen and my friends Sue and David, on a lovely Saturday afternoon. And now I am with my sister-in-law Carrie and my nephew Ryan. I have a bit of a sunburn and a wine buzz. And I had the great fortune to be a part of Arcade Fire’s audience on one almost perfect night. I am the luckiest person in the world.

Tomorrow: Arcade Fire at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley!

This is awesome:

I won’t be up that close, but just Being There will be oh so sweet, after the Berlin Fiasco. I think as a preventive measure I didn’t allow myself to think about tomorrow’s show too much. Now that it is almost here, I am walking a line of euphoria and the happy kind of nervousness. I didn’t even go out this week ’cause I was afraid I’d break the spell.

So then… off to the land of falafel and NIMBYism… it’s totally worth it this time. More Saturday.

Excuse me for one minute while I get this out of the way.

AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Whew. Had to do that, thanks for listening.

I have to say that recently, I have been, well, unexcited. Unexcited about writing in this blog (as you can probably tell), unexcited about music (except for the new Wilco which I basically have been playing non-stop because I’m too disinterested to take anything out of it’s case), unexcited about work, life, etc. Something has been missing; a spark, an obsession, also (and this is really starting to get to me a little here at the beach) the sun.

Now though, everything has changed. THE NEW SPOON RECORD HAS BEEN LEAKED. Before you get on my case for listening to it six weeks before it’s release, let me just tell you that a) me NOT listening to it is akin to going off wine for a couple of months (in other words, impossible) and b) I went to the Spoon store and preordered a copy of the CD as well as a T-Shirt and a Hoodie to the tune of eighty bucks. Guilt assuaged.

So I’ve got it now, way early, and here is what I think: No Joke, This is an Awesome Record. And I am not just saying that because of my Britt Daniel obsession and insane love of this band.

On my first listen I had a sort of anticipation that almost put me over the top. I’ve been reading Lolita for the gazillionth time and I can only guess that it’s the same sort of anticipation that Humbert Humbert felt on that first night alone with Lolita… kind of a weird comparison I guess, but I feel, well, alive again.

Wanna hear it? Then go here. Gratitude.

Yeah, it’s called “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.” I forgive them. Have a nice weekend, all.

I am quite exhausted today, this fantastically beautiful Friday the 13th. It is killer out there. But I am tired and for good reason - last night Shins show at SOMA.

Let me get this out of the way right away. I hate SOMA. I hate it with a passion. I don’t care what history this club had in the history of punk rock, whatever happened in the 80’s or 90’s is over, and NOW THIS PLACE SUCKS. I cannot reiterate it enough. SOMA is a disaster waiting to happen. I foresee that in the not so far future, something really bad is going to happen there - a fire or a round of gunfire by a teenage girl (because they only search the boys, not the girls when going in) and people are going to freak out and die. Seriously. The place is a death trap. Plus it smells like an airplane lavatory. It is freeking disgusting and an affront to humans. If Spoon plays here on their tour, well, I will do something very rash. Very very rash. Don’t worry I won’t like, try to smuggle a gun in there. But I will be totally and fully bummed if I ever have to see a show there again (which I will.)

Rant over, and moving on, doors opened to the last night’s show at seven PM and I made Mark go with me at FIVE to secure a place in line. The reason being, there is only one way I could do this thing and that was to secure a place on a little ledge on the side of the venue. The only way to secure said spot was to get there really early. So we got there and Mark went to the new Phil’s BBQ and got some food and we sat there and ate it and talked to two teenage girls and a 32 year old bald music freak named Dave. We also had a little wine and it went by really fast. As for Phil’s, which is sort of a big deal here right now, I can say this: the meat was really good, but the fries and coleslaw sucked. I can’t really complain though, as I ate it sitting on the ground in front of a picture framing place in a strip mall off Sports Arena Boulevard.

Then it was seven o’clock (!) and we were in. I quickly secured my spot on the ledge, telling Mark over and over “you will thank me for this, later.” He wasn’t so thrilled about the getting to the venue so early thing despite the BBQd ribs and wine. However, thank me he did, because we stood up with maybe fifteen other lucky people on the ledge and looked over a crowd of 2300 people crammed into a hot, stagnant space.

The opener, Viva Voce, was pretty cool - Mr. Happy Pummeling My Drums and Hot Chick With a Double Ax. Moments of brilliance, moments of tedium. After a bit I went to the bathroom and security did not want to let me back in the door from which I came. They were like, it’s too crowded. I was like, MY FRIENDS ARE RIGHT THERE. I would have been oh, so pissed if I had waited four hours to get a spot and then had to give it up because I had to pee. But they let me back in eventually. Fuckers.

Finally, the Shins come on. The setlist is no surprise to me, somehow. They open with Sleeping Lessons, which is fantastic, but right then we notice a fucking CHILD right below us. As in, a Ten Year Old. The motherly chick next to me immediately lifts him up to the ledge, which is fine except for, WHO THE FUCK WOULD BRING A TEN YEAR OLD TO SOMA. I’m all for youth and music, but at some point this all-ages thing fails to make sense. It’s like throwing a child into a war zone or a mosh pit. So now I am stuck with this kid who cannot cope standing right in front of me. I felt bad for him. I really did. It was LOUD (which I love.) It was HOT. We were standing on a LEDGE. The poor kid kept rubbing his ears and fanning himself desperately as I got more and more irritated. Finally Mark traded places with me and I began to really enjoy the show.

I saw the Shins a few years ago at a much smaller club called Canes and at that time I was shocked by the size of the crowd. That show was good - not great - but the Shins have really embraced their new-found Zach Braff inspired fame. Their new record is awesome, and the live show last night was really, really great. James Mercer isn’t the most animated dude, and drummer Jesse Sandoval looks to be on many hits of valium, but it doesn’t matter, because they sound fantastic. James Mercer has the most incredible voice and he manages to hit these crazy notes, even in a lame-ass place like SOMA. Pretty remarkable.

My favorite though, my absolute favorite who I am totally in love with at the moment, is Dave Hernandez. Homeboy is a crazy good bassist, and a super fun guitarist, and also he is totally In The Moment and having such a great time that it is hard not to smile when you are watching him. I love watching musicians who really and truly live for that moment of being on stage, and this guy is one of them. Put some blue eyeshadow on him and he is a New York Doll, put a leisure suit on him and he is a Bay City Roller, it doesn’t matter, he belongs on stage, and his energy last night really got the crowd going.

And it was an incredible crowd. From my vantage point looking over all 2300 heads, it was pretty awesome when at the end of the night the entire crowd was just SCREAMING for more. I dug it, while the poor ten year old rubbed his ears in horror.

There is some killer and recent live Shins on youtube right now. This one is especially aweome. And Sunday, I’ve got an encore in L.A.

It’s almost summer which means: time to start obsessing about Britt Daniel again.

New record coming on July 10, and secret shows will be played. If there are any within a 400 mile radius of me, I am there.

Wilco will be streaming their new record, Sky Blue Sky, again tomorrow… head over to Wilcoworld and check it out. The hours are:

2 pm - 2 am GMT
10 am - 10 pm EASTERN
7 am - 7 pm PACIFIC

and 1 am - 1 pm AEDT - Monday
(Yo Lisa, check it out.)

I love that Wilco does this stuff. They are awesome.

I never wrote about February 9th’s Sparklehorse show at the Henry Fonda Theater in L.A. It was the last night of one straight month on the road, and when I got home, well, I didn’t really feel like writing about much of anything. If it had been some mind-blowing show a la Eels I might have been forced by experience to write about it, but it wasn’t. It was merely a good show, and especially good for people like me: the People Who Love Mark Linkous.

Mark Linkous IS Sparklehorse. He’s this sort of quiet, mellow, introverted, mysterious, enigmatic, tripped out genius. His records are, at the same time, scratchy and harsh and lush and gorgeous; his songs are discordant lullabies. He’s a studio guy, a loner, a dude who probably won’t be looking for a blow job after a show. (Not that I know of, but what do I know? Maybe he is totally looking for a blow job after the show.)

I saw Sparklehorse in Germany once, and it was a quiet and mellow show, so quiet and mellow that on the night of the L.A. show I almost wanted to drive straight home instead of stopping in L.A. But I couldn’t help myself, so stop I did.

The show was, well, like the one in Germany, with an adoring L.A. audience who all love Mark Linkous. It only lasted an hour, but there were moments of true beauty and I was very happy I went in the end.

The reason I bring this up after all this time is, Bradley has the Boston show up on his blog, and listening to all the songs again is bringing it all back. It is really great stuff - check it out.

Is it just me, or is this year flying by?

My brother Tom, who moved to Berlin last month, now has a myspace music page. I find this pretty humorous, as even though I am an internet junkie I would never have a myspace page. That’s what I have this website for, I guess. I can have a page AND control it. Plus, I can see all the sick and twisted things people search for in my site. And I never have to invite anyone to be my “friend.”

I guess if I were a musician I would have a myspace page and I encourage all you myspacers to head to Tom’s page and sign up to be his “friend.”

In other news, the new Arcade Fire record is out and it is dark and deep and crazy. Kind of sags in the middle a bit, but it’s pretty epic. I have also heard the new Wilco , and as you all know I am sort of a freak about Wilco, so of course these are Happy Times for me. What do I think? It doesn’t have the harsh creativity of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot or the orgasmic reverb of A Ghost is Born, so at first I was, well, unsure. It’s one of those records that grows on you, slowly, and I am starting to really love it. After a while you start thinking about how it will sound live.

So how will it sound live? AWESOME. It’s sounding more and more awesome even as we read.

This morning I got an email from the Lollapalooza people and they were selling tickets for sixty bucks for all three days; even though I can’t really afford it I tried to buy a ticket. So I got in the waiting cue and waited, and waited, and waited. After an hour I gave up. Oh well.

Myspace. Giggle. Tommy must have a lot of time on his hands.