Shut up and play that guitar
I don't know where to start.
It's been a busy week or so. I mostly want to post about Saturday night, since it was a good night. There's another big story that I could go through along the way there, but it's almost overwhelmingly long and I don't want to go into too much detail about it on here anyway. So I guess I'll briefly start with that and then you can ask me more about it later if you're desperate for more information.
So, someone stole $100 from my bank account. Or something like that. It's still not clear exactly how it happened (though the general idea was that they went into a bank, filled out a withdrawal slip, and took the money). I'm hoping I'll get some more resolution eventually, but right now they're still "investigating" so they won't tell me anything yet. All I know is that, aside from the money, nobody stole anything (e.g. my ID, my check card, etc) from me. So aside from a teller doing a really shitty job, there's not much explanation as to how someone who's not me could get money from my account.
The money's not even that big of a deal. It's not a huge amount and I'll get it back, so I'm kinda ok with that. The big pain in the ass was closing my account and opening a new one. It took about an hour at the bank to get that all worked out, and now I have to wait on new checks and a new check card. So I'm pretty much broke until all that comes.
The whole process was pretty bizarre, too. Like, once I realized something was wrong, I called the 800 number for stolen cards. They put me on hold for a while, then hung up on me. So I started calling banks, trying to get someone to help me. And after wasting like 45 minutes on hold with the 800 number, it was like 5 minutes to 6 and all the banks closed at 6, so nobody was particularly helpful at first. Finally I called a bank, the banker I talked to put me through to a manager, and she stayed on the line with me for like 40 minutes despite the bank being closed. And after going through the whole thing and having her help a bit, she was like "You know, I think I went to school with you." She was right. It was weird.
But anyway, on to better things.
So, this was supposed to be a busy weekend for me. And it kinda was, just not exactly how I planned. About a month ago, I bought a ticket for the Lucero show at the Triple Rock on Friday night. I also bought a ticket for the Doomtree Blowout on Saturday at First Ave. I figured I could handle two nights of concerts in a row.
So, finally, Friday rolled around. And it was snowing all night. And I hate driving in snow, stemming from some past incidents. I particularly hate the idea of driving around downtown on a snowy Friday night when bars are emptying out. So I decided to skip the show, despite the fact that I had been looking forward to seeing them for something like 3 1/2 years now.
I had a plan, you see. I didn't know if it would work out, but I figured it was worth trying. The Doomtree show was early (doors at 6:00). Lucero was playing two nights, and their show was late (doors at 9:00, with two openers).
And so, Saturday became a fantastic expedition.
The Doomtree show was good. Maybe I just have my expectations set too high, maybe I was just too worried about making it to the late show, maybe I've just grown too used to them, but it was all kind of underwhelming. I suppose part of it was that I went into it looking forward to (and expecting) hearing one song (a new one by P.O.S. that he's done the last couple times I've seen him), so I was let down when he didn't do it. I mean, there's nothing about the show that I'd really complain about, but it just didn't seem to have the same appeal that their last few full crew shows have had.
The highlight of the show, for me, was Dessa doing a couple songs with Aby Wolf who I've been dying to see for a while now but kept missing. The songs were good, and I'm totally looking forward to new albums by both of them early next year.
I picked up the DVD/CD that Doomtree released as well as the book of short essays/poetry that Dessa just put out. The DVD was fantastic, the CD was underwhelming (the P.O.S./Dosh collaboration was especially disappointing, given my expectations), but the book was everything I could've hoped for. It was mostly just polished versions of things that she had posted online before, with a few new things, but she remains one of my favorite writers. I don't know if you can buy it anywhere right now, but I totally recommend it. Anybody who wants to check it out is welcome to borrow my copy.
So the show got done just a shade before 10. I figured I had plenty of time to make it to the Triple Rock by the end of the opening set, and I still had enough cash on me to get a ticket (seeing as the advance ticket I got was for the wrong night and I don't have any way to get more cash until my new card comes). This was largely because First Ave has the decency to let you buy drinks with credit cards (and for a modest 10% fee, no less!).
I hurried over to the Triple Rock, found somewhere to park for free, and got into the show with about 3 songs left in the first band's set. That was perfect. I was there long enough to know that I hadn't missed anything, but not long enough that I had to really spend time listening to a band I didn't care about.
I neglected to mention before that the second band to go on was The Evening Rig. Although, in fairness, I think I neglect them a lot. At this point, they've gotta be one of my favorite local bands. There's nothing really flashy about them, but they're just a really solid bar band. They kinda remind me of The Hold Steady in their guitar-ing (in that they've got a singer/rhythm guitarist, and then a lead guitarist who comes across as really unassuming, but every once in a while just busts out a wicked cool riff or solo). I was thrilled to see them, and they didn't disappoint. I get the impression that they must be working on a new album, since at least half of the songs were new.
I stood next to the stage for their whole set. My left ear is still recovering. I've found that a lot of times the best place to avoid overwhelming volume is by the stage (you can kinda get in front of the big house speakers and only hear what's coming from the amps on stage), but the aforementioned lead guitarist had his amp up really loud, to the point that I would've considered getting earplugs from the bar if not for the fact that: a) I had no money left, and b) I would've lost my spot by the stage, thereby eliminating the need for such earplugs.
Between sets, I went to the bathroom. Normally mundane details such as this would get ignored. But, this one seemed noteworthy. As I walked away from the stage, they started playing Springsteen. Born to Run. I was kinda singing along as I got to the top of the stairs. I looked up and there was some drunk guy singing along as well. We kinda connected as we got to the "Strap your hands 'cross my engines" line. And then we high-fived. I've never felt more relatable in my life.
And then Lucero came on. I saw them in Kansas City like 3 1/2 years ago, and had vaguely followed them since, but they weren't really the main attraction then, so I had no idea how good they really were.
I was absolutely blown away.
Their singer/guitarist (Ben Nichols, who I'll probably refer to as Ben for simplicity's sake) was probably the most passionate musician I've ever seen at a concert. The band came across as basically a bunch of old dudes who knew how to play with a lead singer whose ethos dominated the band. The bassist and drummer were barely noticeable. The second guitarist and keyboardist/accordionist were damn good at what they did, but the show clearly wasn't about them. It was Ben's show, and the rest of the band was just there to make things go as smoothly as possible.
They played for well over an hour. A rough guess would put it at something like an hour and a half. I was so engrossed that I really have no real idea.
I can say with absolutely honesty that it was the best show I've seen in at least a few years. Maybe the best show I've ever seen. That's what passion does for you, I guess.
I can't recall exactly what they did or didn't play. I know I was thoroughly impressed by their selection. I heard pretty much everything I wanted to hear. They went between upbeat rockers and slow singalongs. Like, they literally had a Triple Rock full of people singing along with them. Like on "She Wakes When She Dreams" I got the impression that every person in the room was singing along with them. I've only ever seen that at the Matt Pryor/Chris Conley show, and this seemed a lot less "bad emo cliche" than that show.
They did a cover of "Kiss the Bottle" by Jawbreaker. I've never liked Jawbreaker as much as I aspire to. I've never liked that song as much as I did Saturday night. It was perfect for them.
I've always liked the concept of music as a way of pouring your heart out. I think they did that as well as anyone I've ever seen. They take their music seriously, while still making it fun.
I can't believe I almost missed it.
It's been a busy week or so. I mostly want to post about Saturday night, since it was a good night. There's another big story that I could go through along the way there, but it's almost overwhelmingly long and I don't want to go into too much detail about it on here anyway. So I guess I'll briefly start with that and then you can ask me more about it later if you're desperate for more information.
So, someone stole $100 from my bank account. Or something like that. It's still not clear exactly how it happened (though the general idea was that they went into a bank, filled out a withdrawal slip, and took the money). I'm hoping I'll get some more resolution eventually, but right now they're still "investigating" so they won't tell me anything yet. All I know is that, aside from the money, nobody stole anything (e.g. my ID, my check card, etc) from me. So aside from a teller doing a really shitty job, there's not much explanation as to how someone who's not me could get money from my account.
The money's not even that big of a deal. It's not a huge amount and I'll get it back, so I'm kinda ok with that. The big pain in the ass was closing my account and opening a new one. It took about an hour at the bank to get that all worked out, and now I have to wait on new checks and a new check card. So I'm pretty much broke until all that comes.
The whole process was pretty bizarre, too. Like, once I realized something was wrong, I called the 800 number for stolen cards. They put me on hold for a while, then hung up on me. So I started calling banks, trying to get someone to help me. And after wasting like 45 minutes on hold with the 800 number, it was like 5 minutes to 6 and all the banks closed at 6, so nobody was particularly helpful at first. Finally I called a bank, the banker I talked to put me through to a manager, and she stayed on the line with me for like 40 minutes despite the bank being closed. And after going through the whole thing and having her help a bit, she was like "You know, I think I went to school with you." She was right. It was weird.
But anyway, on to better things.
So, this was supposed to be a busy weekend for me. And it kinda was, just not exactly how I planned. About a month ago, I bought a ticket for the Lucero show at the Triple Rock on Friday night. I also bought a ticket for the Doomtree Blowout on Saturday at First Ave. I figured I could handle two nights of concerts in a row.
So, finally, Friday rolled around. And it was snowing all night. And I hate driving in snow, stemming from some past incidents. I particularly hate the idea of driving around downtown on a snowy Friday night when bars are emptying out. So I decided to skip the show, despite the fact that I had been looking forward to seeing them for something like 3 1/2 years now.
I had a plan, you see. I didn't know if it would work out, but I figured it was worth trying. The Doomtree show was early (doors at 6:00). Lucero was playing two nights, and their show was late (doors at 9:00, with two openers).
And so, Saturday became a fantastic expedition.
The Doomtree show was good. Maybe I just have my expectations set too high, maybe I was just too worried about making it to the late show, maybe I've just grown too used to them, but it was all kind of underwhelming. I suppose part of it was that I went into it looking forward to (and expecting) hearing one song (a new one by P.O.S. that he's done the last couple times I've seen him), so I was let down when he didn't do it. I mean, there's nothing about the show that I'd really complain about, but it just didn't seem to have the same appeal that their last few full crew shows have had.
The highlight of the show, for me, was Dessa doing a couple songs with Aby Wolf who I've been dying to see for a while now but kept missing. The songs were good, and I'm totally looking forward to new albums by both of them early next year.
I picked up the DVD/CD that Doomtree released as well as the book of short essays/poetry that Dessa just put out. The DVD was fantastic, the CD was underwhelming (the P.O.S./Dosh collaboration was especially disappointing, given my expectations), but the book was everything I could've hoped for. It was mostly just polished versions of things that she had posted online before, with a few new things, but she remains one of my favorite writers. I don't know if you can buy it anywhere right now, but I totally recommend it. Anybody who wants to check it out is welcome to borrow my copy.
So the show got done just a shade before 10. I figured I had plenty of time to make it to the Triple Rock by the end of the opening set, and I still had enough cash on me to get a ticket (seeing as the advance ticket I got was for the wrong night and I don't have any way to get more cash until my new card comes). This was largely because First Ave has the decency to let you buy drinks with credit cards (and for a modest 10% fee, no less!).
I hurried over to the Triple Rock, found somewhere to park for free, and got into the show with about 3 songs left in the first band's set. That was perfect. I was there long enough to know that I hadn't missed anything, but not long enough that I had to really spend time listening to a band I didn't care about.
I neglected to mention before that the second band to go on was The Evening Rig. Although, in fairness, I think I neglect them a lot. At this point, they've gotta be one of my favorite local bands. There's nothing really flashy about them, but they're just a really solid bar band. They kinda remind me of The Hold Steady in their guitar-ing (in that they've got a singer/rhythm guitarist, and then a lead guitarist who comes across as really unassuming, but every once in a while just busts out a wicked cool riff or solo). I was thrilled to see them, and they didn't disappoint. I get the impression that they must be working on a new album, since at least half of the songs were new.
I stood next to the stage for their whole set. My left ear is still recovering. I've found that a lot of times the best place to avoid overwhelming volume is by the stage (you can kinda get in front of the big house speakers and only hear what's coming from the amps on stage), but the aforementioned lead guitarist had his amp up really loud, to the point that I would've considered getting earplugs from the bar if not for the fact that: a) I had no money left, and b) I would've lost my spot by the stage, thereby eliminating the need for such earplugs.
Between sets, I went to the bathroom. Normally mundane details such as this would get ignored. But, this one seemed noteworthy. As I walked away from the stage, they started playing Springsteen. Born to Run. I was kinda singing along as I got to the top of the stairs. I looked up and there was some drunk guy singing along as well. We kinda connected as we got to the "Strap your hands 'cross my engines" line. And then we high-fived. I've never felt more relatable in my life.
And then Lucero came on. I saw them in Kansas City like 3 1/2 years ago, and had vaguely followed them since, but they weren't really the main attraction then, so I had no idea how good they really were.
I was absolutely blown away.
Their singer/guitarist (Ben Nichols, who I'll probably refer to as Ben for simplicity's sake) was probably the most passionate musician I've ever seen at a concert. The band came across as basically a bunch of old dudes who knew how to play with a lead singer whose ethos dominated the band. The bassist and drummer were barely noticeable. The second guitarist and keyboardist/accordionist were damn good at what they did, but the show clearly wasn't about them. It was Ben's show, and the rest of the band was just there to make things go as smoothly as possible.
They played for well over an hour. A rough guess would put it at something like an hour and a half. I was so engrossed that I really have no real idea.
I can say with absolutely honesty that it was the best show I've seen in at least a few years. Maybe the best show I've ever seen. That's what passion does for you, I guess.
I can't recall exactly what they did or didn't play. I know I was thoroughly impressed by their selection. I heard pretty much everything I wanted to hear. They went between upbeat rockers and slow singalongs. Like, they literally had a Triple Rock full of people singing along with them. Like on "She Wakes When She Dreams" I got the impression that every person in the room was singing along with them. I've only ever seen that at the Matt Pryor/Chris Conley show, and this seemed a lot less "bad emo cliche" than that show.
They did a cover of "Kiss the Bottle" by Jawbreaker. I've never liked Jawbreaker as much as I aspire to. I've never liked that song as much as I did Saturday night. It was perfect for them.
I've always liked the concept of music as a way of pouring your heart out. I think they did that as well as anyone I've ever seen. They take their music seriously, while still making it fun.
I can't believe I almost missed it.
posted by Mike at
12:34 AM
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