Review: Still Remains 10/3/05

#35
October 3, 2005
Still Remains
Underminded
The Ottobar

I missed Aiden and this was their last stop on this tour. Actually I don't think I missed anything - a bunch of dudes wearing make-up...no thanks. I could actually see this band getting pretty big though, but it's not my thing.

Sadly, I did manage to catch Underminded. Musically I thought they were OK (hardcore/metalcore) but their singer was so obnoxious. Ugh.

Finally, for the 4th time: Still Remains. You know I have a hard enough time identifying them on a normal day and bringing a different singer really doesn't help. They were all wearing make-up too (hopefully only in tribute to Aiden). Those chicks from the afternoon Haste the Day show were there - although they were more appropriately dressed this time. [BTW the Return the the Pit guy has some awesome photos of Still Remains...so apparently I am the reason mine all look like ass]

Having been in all those other venues last week just makes me love the Ottobar even more.

Coheed Week: Sept 27 - 30, 2005

Do you realize that I've now spent more than 24 hours of my life watching Coheed on stage? And that kind of fanatical devotion can pay off bigtime...

Coheed Week 2005
9/27/05 House of Blues, Atlantic City, NJ
9/28/05 Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ
9/29/05 Club Zoo, Pittsburgh, PA
9/30/05 Newport Music Hall, Columbus, OH

Atlantic City: My 21st Coheed show. Not a bad drive from DC. I forgot that AC is where all the streets are from in Monopoly. Unfortunately I didn't get $200 for passing GO but I also didn't go to jail, so I guess it evens out. The Showboat was actually pretty easy to find since there are signs for all the casinos and it's at one end of the boardwalk. Special thanks to the woman at reception who upgraded me to a 23rd floor suite. I find slot casinos totally depressing and I'm too poor to play table games. But I was bored and had time to kill so I spent $5 playing the Tabasco slots (where I won 70 cents) and lost $5 to the Kenny Rogers Gambler machine. I guess that one only pays off in NOLA. The HoB restaurant was good though. Somewhere there's a workroom of monkeys churning out all those faux New Orleans decorations. Maybe Target will do a line of those someday...
So anyway, the show. Since I'm not a fan of mewithoutyou, I didn't actually go into the venue until Dredg was up. They were the one opening band I thought I would like and I wasn't disappointed. Kind of ambient-rock; it reminds me of Interpol, Codeseven, Verbal. Their singer plays a weird slide guitar thing on a table with a pair of pliers. One girl in the front was dancing like crazy during their whole set (while everyone else stood around like assholes). Next up the Blood Brothers, who (like several other underfed bands full of hotties) hail from Seattle. I didn't like any of their songs that I heard online (and the album I bought last night is also meh), but I did enjoy their stage show because they're freakin insane. It was crazy. Not as a crazy as HORSE the band, but in a very similar vein.
HoB closes the curtains between sets so you have no idea how long the set break is going to last because you can't really hear the sound check either. It lasted a pretty long time though because we got to listen to an entire Infectious Grooves album (which was awesome but not what I paid for). HoBAC is pretty different than HoBLV - in AC the general admission area is huge and concrete floored and less expensive while in LV there are mostly upper level seats and the GA area is small and more expensive. The drinks were really expensive though (also, why is water more expensive than soda or gatorade?). Coheed has a huge stage set with giant window-things (from the comic/graphic novel) and a big winged guillotine (see album art). They also have a crazy light show (which they're apparently not too keen on because they can't see anything on stage). The band comes on stage to a backing track recording of Keeping the Blade and starts the show with Claudio playing the 12-string portion of the his double-guitar on Always & Never. Then they break into the heaviest song on the new album, Welcome Home. Claudio switches to his regular style guitar for Ten Speed (which is rapidly becoming one of my new favorites). Rest of the set: Delirium Trigger, Apollo I: The Writing Writer (another of my new favorites), Once Upon Your Dead Body, Favor House, Mother May I, Wake Up, Suffering, Everything Evil, Willing Wells I, II & III, and the encore was IKSSE and WWIV: The Final Cut. The keyboards on The Suffering remind me of when Meatloaf plays the piano in Rocky Horror. The sound was kinda fucked up during most of their set - the backing tracks were too loud and Travis' mic was too. It was good to see the kids in the balcony rocking out (not like in LV when people threw stuff at me for standing up).
After the show I hung around the HOB bar in the casino with some drunk chicks, Josh & Dave from Coheed, Mark from BB, and Derrick the merch guy for Dredg. It's weird that there was basically nothing going on in the casino and there's apparently only one bar in the Showboat.

Starland: I hadn't planned on going to this show but Josh said he would hook me up (in fact, he yelled at me for buying tickets for the other shows). I hate hate hate driving in NJ. I did manage to get the car washed while I was lost though. I had very nice detailed directions from Starland's website (with landmarks and everything) but I still got lost because signage in NJ is horrible (which you'd think I'd be used to living in DC, but no). Anyway, I found it pretty early in the day and there were kids in line at 2 in the afternoon (I think doors were at 5:30 or 6). I had trouble getting ahold of Josh and ended up calling Kwame (who's number has been in my phone for two years) and having to go into a very long explanation of who I was and how I got the number. Eventually I caught up with him and he gave me a pass. Hung around with the lovely Miss K from Kingston and met Mrs. Todd, who was also very nice. Had a short convo with Claudio about hair products and high schools. I got to watch the special Concert for Hurricane Relief acoustic Coheed performance from the side of the stage (one of my many lifelong dreams fulfilled). I was trying to find the set list because all I remember is The Trooper (which was awesome!). They did play a couple of the new songs, which they'd never played acoustically before. Mic's acoustic bass is badass. After the show I chatted with MP, Chuck and Pete (who once lived in Moscow too). Claudio hung around outside for a long time signing breasts and other stuff. Even Travis was fairly chatty (for him). Some stupid girls kept yelling that they "love Todd" by which they meant Mic (Josh had to correct them, which was pretty funny). Dave was scamming on some trashy chicks (or vice versa, I wasn't exactly watching them). A good time was had by all.
Here are some photos that I didn't take because I was too lazy to go back to the car and get my camera.

*Crazy overnight drive to Pittsburgh*

Pittsburgh: *with apologies for the double superlatives* I got a very very nice hotel room in Pittsburgh (I love Marriotts...) and sold two of my tickets to friends of the front desk guy R. G hitched T & I a ride over in the Marriott van (since he works there too). Chuck hooked me up with a photo pass and Pete let me in the back door so I was able to watch all four bands from next to the stage without touching the riff-raff (no offense). Club Zoo was apparently Metropol back in the day (for those of us from PA). Dave said it looked like someone took the blueprints and folded them origami style before beginning construction. Due to the shape of the club the barricades didn't reach all the way across the front so the security guys had to physically restrain one side of the crowd. I have to give it up to them, because damn.... I met the very very nice Gentleman Jim (who has tattooed Coheed and has sat on the drum riser on stage in London). [and yes, I was trying to pick him up...because, a burly bearded neck tattooed man who loves Coheed, where have you been all my life? Seriously. Call me!] I don't know if it was because I hadn't really slept or eaten in two days or the show was just that good but I just sat there all teary-eyed during most of the set thinking about how this was the greatest day of my entire life. The only other time I remember feeling that way was at the Nashqband shrine in Bukhara. Intoxicating but not in a chemical kind of way. Afterwards we all went to Primanti Bros. for drinks and cheese fries and etc. Shout out to the IUP guys who were photographing/videoing during the show and gave me a ride back to the hotel and changed some of the manual settings on my camera. I think I left the poster Jim gave me in your car (no biggie - I have another one).

Columbus: Not a bad drive to Columbus at all. Before the show I printed some of my photos from the night before. I gave the Blood Bros. ones to Mark so he can look at himself when he's in his bunk. Got a sweet parking spot, even though I had to sit there for a while until the first hour on the meter ran out (several other cars were ticketed and I saw three people get towed later on). The venue was right across the street from Ohio State University's main campus and I think the show was sponsored by OSU. I am soooo glad I didn't go to a big 10 school. I can't deal with all the drunken Greek types. Ugh. At one point some obnoxious girl took over my spot in the upper balcony and would not shut up about going to some bar and then ran into the camera while I was taking pictures, squashing my nose. Good thing she left after that because don't think I wouldn't throw down for Coheed (if you're going to talk about how boring the show is, just effing leave already...). I did meet some really nice kids from Cincinnati who gave me the lowdown on Halloween there (since I'll probably be there for work then). They signed 'Favor House', which I thought was really sweet. Oh, and Three Evils was played instead of one of the Willing Wells. I didn't feel like hanging around afterwards so I got my goodbye hugs and took off (I had to get out of that neighborhood - Friday night frat parties, drunk chicks yelling at me when my weekly allottment of drunk chicks had aready been far exceeded...). I only managed to drive about 40 miles before I decided I should just stay at a hotel for the night. The drive back on Saturday wasn't really that bad. Beautiful weather the entire way. I took a great photo of a big pumpkin patch that I passed.

Other random stuff:
-I had an excellent italian sub sandwich from some gas station in OH
-I also had an excellent sandwich at Primanti brothers
-Only one of the sandwiches I ate in Jersey was excellent...
-I did grope Chuck, but it was an accident, I swear
-the Showboat does have poker - both on the casino floor and the House of Blues poker room (where you can either play for a $10 or $40 buy-in)
-Thank you! to anyone else who was nice to me and I forgot to mention (I'm still pretty tired)
-number of new winshield cracks=2
-total miles driven ~1380

Update from the road: Coheed Week 2005

Coheed week 2005 is off to an auspicious start. A one-hour-plus set in Atlantic City followed by the drinking of expensive drinks with Josh, Dave, horny girls, etc. Awesome!
Josh hooked me up with a pass for last night's Concert for Hurricane Relief at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville NJ (home of Skid Row, dontcha know). I got to watch the acoustic set from the side of the stage....which is one of my many lifelong dreams (ala Homer).
Overnight drive from NJ to PA via various turnpikes - I've spent around $30 on tolls at this point and there will be more tolls tomorrow. In case you were wondering, I did sleep in the car. It's actually not that bad in the backset (w/pillow and blanket) and the front passenger's set folds almost flat (so it's actually better than being on a plane). Today I managed to not get severely lost in Pittsburgh (yet) and I finally got a chance to check out the Andy Warhol museum (which was so cool - there was a special exhibit on his work with the Rolling Stones, which obviously correlates to my various Coheed fantasies). I just got totally sucked into this beauty store called Ulta (it's like Sephora). I only went in to buy some kind of chapstick and to check it out and ended up buying a bunch of Urban Decay stuff because it was buy-one-get-one-free plus I got two free Urban Decay products for spending $45. It's like a money-sucking vortex, it is. Tonight I'm going to stay in a nice hotel - I wish I could remember my Marriott rewards number (actual card lost in Jordan) - I think I should get a free night at this point. Plus I can walk to the club from the hotel. Also, I did get myself a famous Primanti Bros. sandwich and only lost one fry to the floor (although a lot of the 'slaw fell out on the paper).
So, tonight - da Burgh...tomorrow I/we conquer Ohio. Plus tonight I get a photo pass. Thanks guys!

Good Claudio, I'm embroidering for you star IV: Volume one from needle and thread to my front pocket

I present the updated crown jewel hoodie:

New Coheed album stream on MTV.com

Stream the whole album and see if you can stand 'The Suffering' in context...

Here's my first impressions:
track 1 - Keeping the Blade - awesome - minimalist rearrangement of both album intros
track 2 - Always and Never - interesting - apparently that's Claudio's neice laughing in the background - to 'get it' you need to read the comics
track 3 - Welcome Home - already released as a single - where's my double guitar?
track 4 - Ten Speed (Of Gods Blood and Burial) - for some reason I'm thinking that this was an old song they re-did...it definitely reminds me of something (and I don't want to say Bon Jovi, but that's honestly the first thing that springs to mind) [also I have apparently been listening to this since January as a bootleg from the 92 cent show (that I missed because I was in Seattle, thanks a lot FFAF)]
track 5 - Crossing the Frame - more of a 'classic' Coheed song along the lines of BRS or AFHA (yes, Virginia there are handclaps...)
track 6 - Apollo I: The Writing Writer - see above (replace handclaps with 'whoa-oh' part) - this is where the album title comes into play
track 7 - Once Upon Your Dead Body - I like this one - it has spaceship noises :-)
track 8 - Wake Up ...and stick a fork in my ear - similar to TLATG - ugh
track 9 - The Suffering - I do like it better in context (especially after suffering through Wake Up)
track 10 - The Lying Lies and Dirty Secrets of Miss Erica Court - see track 6
track 11 - Mother May I - Claudio just used the word 'premise' in a song...
The Willing Well suite:
track 12 - I. Fuel for the Feeding End - nice bass line...[minutes later] is this still the same song? When will it ever end?
track 13 - II. Fear Through the Eyes of Madness - hey, remember when I figured out that 21:13 was Aqualung?
track 14 - III. Apollo II: The Telling Truth - oy, gevalt! Didn't we already listen to this part?
track 15 - IV: The Final Cut - ah, that is what this song is called...I have video of this from the Central Park show. I like this but I liked it better live. No outro track - just sounds and junk from track 2

So this time I actually received my pre-ordered CD and the free t-shirt. I was going to put IV on the pocket of my crowning hoodie but I don't have any red embroidery thread (how the hell do I not have red?)

Overall: it's a lot more 80's/poppy/"radio rock" that I would normally care for, but on the whole I like it. I can't wait for AC/da burgh/Columbus and whereever I may roam in two weeks.

[Don't click on this article - it's the worst POS since that one press release. Linked only for my reference]

Review: Haste the Day 9/10/05

#30
September 10, 2005
Haste the Day
Stars Turn Cold
Malice Vitality
Ottobar

Since this was the last day this month where I don't have to work at one or both jobs, I took the opportunity to check out Haste the Day again and run a very important errand in Bawlmor.

Malice Vitality is a 5-piece metal outfit from Southern Maryland. Nice to see that the money spent on your instruments isn't going to waste. I thought they were really good for being so young. I think their stage presence could use some work, but again they were really young. If I ever form an all-star redhead metal band, I can use their singer. Also, might I suggest a less stupid and easier to remember name? Maybe 'Intoxicated Lucifer'....

Stars Turn Cold are quite a bit like Haste the Day, sound-wise and looks wise. I thought they put on a great set. For some reason it seemed like they didn't play as long as the first band.

Haste the Day, back again. I don't think I have much else to say about them. I hope Jimmy is feeling better. At one point he invited everyone to yell out something - including how we feel about Brennan's beard. These kids were the only ones dancing... It's weird to go to a show in the middle of the afternoon.

Ay yay yay yay, Bury Your Dead

Review: Bury Your Dead + The Haunted 9/8/2005

#29
September 8, 2005
Shadows Fall
The Haunted
Bury Your Dead
Gizmachi
Recher Theatre, Towson MD

So apparently Bury Your Dead and The Haunted can play 'Bury Your [fucking] Dead' on the same stage and the universe doesn't implode or anything. Oh, and get well soon Eric! If human saliva was good for treating burns....oh, uh, so the show went as follows:

I don't know what a Gizmachi is but it's very loud. I read somewhere that they were discovered by Slipknot. Anyway, they're from Orange County NY, which is apparently not totally devoid of musicianship of various kinds. Musically it's kind of like Into Eternity was eaten and digested by a nu-metal band in an institutional brown shirt. I thought they were pretty OK. Their drummer was awesome and the bass player has a big ol' neck tattoo, so you can't go wrong with that.
2.5/5

I'm still so excited about The Haunted that I forgot Bury Your Dead played second. Anyway, Mr. Neck Tattoos (Eric) is out of commission because he "burned his face off" [my initial reaction to this was *shaking head and sighing* 'boys']. The girl at Ritz Camera will be so disappointed when I print these photos and he's not in there (her reaction last time: 'whoa, that guy has a lot of ink'). Anyway, very short set but still awesome even one man down. BYD always gets the crowd into a mosh - although it was a fairly small crowd due to the fact that Madball was over at the Ottobar (tough choice for me too, although I've seen Madball at least a dozen times though I still have a crush on Freddy from my own NYHC days plus they are/were Tshaka's favorites). The highlights: pink sombreros and switched instruments. The lowlights: none. I love going to the last show of a tour - it's prank night!
5/5

I feel like I've been waiting all my life to see The Haunted, even though I was only apprised of them by Death Metal Roze and {insert clever nickname for SH here} sometime last year. Although I seem to recall one Mr. Ian 'MTV' Robinson espousing their wisdom back when I had MTV2 as well. My neck still hurts today from headbanging. They pretty much only did songs from the first album and the latest one and they didn't get to play nearly long enough. I can't wait to see them again with Meshuggah. Oh Mr. Haunted you are perfection. Shadows Fall's singer came out for a song and there was some naked BYD drummer action going on as well, but I don't really know what that was about. I need to learn Swedish. Is it OK to have your own band's name on your pants?
5/5

Uh, Shadows Fall. How the hell do I know so many of their songs? Those are some crazy dreds, white boy.

Random stuff:
-obnoxious kids yelling crap before the show started
-I still think the Recher looks like the stage for an elementary school play
-Baltimore has a tattoo museum (how apropos)

Mining Metal Hammer's September issue

Guess who is #9 on Metal Hammer's Top 10 Battle Metal Lyrics? 6 inches of beard...mmmm...beards

Look who gets a positive review and a blurb in the magazine-within-a-magazine Incoming!

Also, the free cd 'Battle Metal II' is awesome (anything with Dragonforce and/or Maiden-esque songs about trolls is always good, though). This seems like the perfect type of music for me to obsess over next (esp if GAIBS IV: VI FFTTEOM doesn't pan out...) There are endless wardrobe possibilities too

And of course there's another pointless article on FFAF which is why I always buy this stupid magazine in the first place (I got another Britmag which has pictures of Matt playing the guitar (!) with X's drawn over his eyes (?)

[Completely unrelated things that are on my mind today: There was a Battle Metal I and I wasn't informed? I saw Beardo's girlfriend on Saturday night (although I guess it could have been just a date (expensive date); just found out his birthday is the same as my greatest crush evah); BvS and The International Noise Conspiracy; some woman on Dr. Phil who hasn't left her house in 5 years and yet had a foxy husband (haven't met any hot men in my house); stupid Dr. Phil just redeemed himself by playing this 'Omen' type music over a piece about this woman who is afraid of birds - it's so awesome when he actively makes fun of his guests whom he's trying to "help"]

Upcoming for October

Perhaps I am too excited about the following:

Mon Oct 3 Still Remains w/Curl Up & Die at Ottobar
Tue Oct 4 Still Remains w/Curl Up & Die at stupid Jaxx
Thu Oct 6 Anthrax at Jaxx
Fri Oct 7 Turbonegro at Sonar
Sat Oct 8 Meshuggah w/The Haunted at Jaxx
Sun Oct 9 Funeral for a Friend w/Anberlin at Sonar
Mon Oct 10 Turbonegro in Philly
Wed Oct 12 Dillinger Escape Plan at Ottobar
Thu Oct 13 Chimaira at Jaxx
Fri Oct 14 Three Inches of Blood in Allentown
Sat Oct 15 Three Inches of Blood on the Island
Mon Oct 17 Terror at Ottobar
Mon Oct 24 River City Rebels at Sonar
Wed Oct 26 Bear vs Shark w/Fear Before the March of Flames at Sonar

Dead Sea Monsters

Above - a rather choppy Dead Sea (there was quite a breeze coming from the East). The Dead Sea really is just so beautiful. On the Jordan side, there are only three resorts and not much else so it's not crowded or anything. We had a wonderful dinner outdoors overlooking the water and watching a French belly dancer. I think I may have smoked too much hubbly-bubbly (I haven't smoked anything in over a year so, ugh). I think the Dead Sea Marriott resort is one of my 'must-see' destinations.
Tomorrow I plan to sleep late and go out searching for musical instruments. I might go to the Roman ruins in Jerash, but I'm not sure yet.
Also, I've turned the comments back on (after getting a bunch of spam comments) - you don't need to register but there's an extra step if you want to leave a comment

More foreign swains

So I'm back in Jordan...this is the second thing I never thought I'd do twice this year (the other being Def Leppard, of course). Anyway, not having a great day today - couldn't sleep due to horrible pain in my shoulder and then I lost my wallet this morning. I'm online trying to find the telephones of the credit card companies. Getting a new driver's license is going to be the biggest hassle when I get home though. At least I took out my car registration and other documents like that.

So on to the swains...I still have an incredible facination with the white dishdashas worn by the lanky, bootylicious men of the Gulf states (really, don't ask). I also have been talking more with our friend Khalid (also known as ubiquitious Matt) and today I met a Palestinian/Cherkess guy...tasty. [I'm not going to post them, but I have pictures of both and I'm trying to get Hasan into the cult of Coheed - I gave him a cd today]

All right, I guess I'm going to go cancel my credit cards and watch more tv. Since I was up all night in pain I did manage to catch up on my movie viewing (finally saw that 'Dawn of the Dead' remake -much quicker pace than the original, though I missed the bikers) and I saw my favorite Welsh hotties' new video (for 'Monsters') on MTV Europe

Thurs - I'm off to the Dead Sea - photos coming soon. I've been yelled at a couple times today now by our consultant and I need to sit there with my walkman for a while...Ah, Coheed...eases the pain...

Review: Verbal 8 18 2005

#28
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Verbal
Thao Nguyen
DC9
Photos!!!

Verbal - we already know these guys....famous Frank, infamous Bill, and Dempsey. Opening with a new song - taking a chance. That's what they're all about. Another fan commented on the more verbal nature of the newer Verbal songs.

Thao Nguyen - Frank's protégé of sorts, of the female singer-songwriter persuation. This was her cd release show. Not really my thing, but I think she's really talented and all her songs are very personal. Lots of guest appearances for her set.

DC9 is far superior to most small venues in DC. I should probably go there more often...they have all my favorite kinds of beer too.

Review: Bear vs Shark 8 17 05

First check out my horoscope:
A romance could flourish nicely and so will you when your Venus ruler is in Libra, back home where she belongs. Although the goddess can increase your allure and social graces, it is expansive Jupiter in your sign that'll heighten your chance of experiencing a story-book kind of love. Since Jupiter lends considerable support to idealistic Neptune, a person or project that took center-stage in March, when they last formed a favorable trine, reclaims its prominent position. The benefits are mutual, but not long-lived. Carpe diem.

#27
August 17, 2005
Horse the Band
Curl Up and Die
Bear vs Shark
At All Cost
Look What I Did
random local bands
KC's, Fredericksburg VA
Photos!!! More Photos!!!

I guess part of this show was a Combat Records showcase in preparation for the now-defunct Hellfest (Oh well, I couldn't go anyway....)

Briefly (since it's 3:30 am and I've got to sleep and do a bunch of stuff tomorrow):

random local bands - pretty good

Look What I Did - I dozed off and woke up to find that they were all shirtless...ew. Weird men who scare me need to stay fully clothed. Musically it reminded me of Nirvana a little.

At All Cost - I thought they were great. Hard rockin, heavy shit. I'd definitely check them out again.

Bear vs Shark - Mike thought it was their worst show of the tour. They did seem a little off, but it was still enjoyable. Photos and stuff will be up soon. I am expecting the mail...

Curl Up and Die - sounds kinda like FBtMoF. Matt (hey, I remembered your name!) is hott. I got some photos of them too.

Horse the Band - unfreakinbeliveable...put Dillinger Escape Plan, Guns 'n' Roses, the singers from The Black Dahlia Murder, Bane and River City Rebels, and an old skool Nintendo or Atari in a blender - serve over ice. I don't know how to describe them *chocolate* go see them *chocolate* you won't regret it *chocolate*

Other:
-Poker
-Rifts
-Rolling a 20-sided die to see if Nickelback is Derek's Rift's character's favorite band (intentional shout-out?)
-some girl with a pierced upper arm (WTF?)
-Hot&Spicy Cheez-Its
-big ups to Ms. E and Mr. S
-Marc was homecoming king?

And now it's time for 3 Ridiculous Questions with the Bass Player. This week's guest is Derek from BvS. Post-question comments from Mike of BvS.

MoS: If you were a terrorist, what would your demands be?
DBvS: I would wish for animals to be free and for people to stop making rash judgements about terrorists.
post-commentary from Mike - that sounds good

MoS: Cookies or cupcakes?
DBvS: Cookies
post-commentary from Mike - what? that's all wrong... [I agree]

MoS: Who would you pit against Curl Up & Die in a ladder match?
DBvS: [he didn't know what a ladder match was, though] Sepultura
[Mike didn't know what a ladder match was either]

Review: 3 Inches of Blood

Weekend of Blood, part II
#26
August 14, 2005
Chimaira
Six Feet Under
All That Remains
3 Inches of Blood
The Recher Theatre, Towson MD
Photos!!!

Mmmm, oh baby....OK, I think I'm OK now...or possibly not

Due to yesterday's traffic nightmare and the fact that I really had nothing else to do all day, I headed up to Towson early and explored their giant air-conditioned mall for a couple hours. I got some nice booty jeans and a cute top that's kind of pirate-wench looking. I also had an excellent cheeseburger at the Rec Room next door to the Recher and chatted with a couple of PA people who had come down for the show (we were all there for different bands).

So anyway, 3 Inches of Blood are fuckin awesome. I was right up front and took over 100 photos (quite a few are stalker-wall-worthy). Their new drummer is amazing too AND he's got neck tattoos. I'm not sure how I managed to keep myself together...beards, a cute redhead, neck tattoos, they're foreign...mmmm. Oh yeah, they played for a decent amount of time, even though they were the first of four bands. Included of course were my two favorites 'Premonition of Pain' and 'Wykydtron' and even 'Ride Darkhorse Ride' from Battlecry Under a Winter Sun. Oh and 'Crazy Nights' which was also awesome because I love that song too. OK I love all their songs, so what?
5/5

All That Remains were pretty much the same as last time. Oli is an awesome guitarist and what's-his-name looks good shirtless. That one other one is cute too. It was funny watching him check out some chick when he was sitting at the merch table - ah, booty shorts...
4/5

Six Feet Under...not my thing, so I decline to comment. They were cool to their fans though - taking pictures with people and stuff.

My second viewing of Chimaira and I think I was just about as tired of standing as the first time. They really put on a great show though, playing old old stuff, in-between stuff, and brand new songs. The entire set must have been over an hour. Those fog/smoke machine things really bother my eyes and lungs though. Ugh. They were also super-nice to the fans.
4.2/5

After chatting with Justin at the merch table and going to 7-11 with Jamie, Shane, and Brian, I finally found Cam to give him the 'Real Men Hit the High Notes' shirt that I made for him. I did not follow through on my threat to kidnap one of them and take him back to my basement lair, though. I was trying to figure out when I became THAT GIRL that hangs around even though I'm not like an FOB or anything (I'm still not one of THOSE GIRLS, though, thank god). I blame Coheed...
I forgot to ask any of 3IoB THE QUESTION and I forgot all about the pirate pick-up lines too. And I had a good steel-cage match question and I forgot about that too. I get all distracted by their hotness, dammit. Nothing can ever cure my thirst except for more 3IoB.

Random Stuff:
-Don't forget about Talk Like a Pirate Day (we plan to do it all day at work)

Review: Most Precious Blood 8 13 05

Weekend of Blood, part I
#25
August 13, 2005
Most Precious Blood
Ottobar

Horrendous traffic, 100+ degree heat index....It took me more than 2 hours to get to Baltimore and this show started at 4:30 in the afternoon (I arrived at 6).

MPB had already started when I walked in. The crowd was small and very lame (not that I was much help - at least I clapped and stuff though). I thought they rocked harder than last time when they were w/o Rachel. The drummer seemed off on a couple songs though.
Was I the only person in the place who got the James Brown reference? Damn kids...
5/5

Review: Still Remains 8 7 05

Hello new beardo! Haste the Day 8 7 05

#24
August 7 2005
Haste the Day
Stretch Arm Strong
Still Remains
Ottobar
Photo album

So I wanted to check out Still Remains and find out what they're all about (JC) and get the dirt on 3 Inches of Blood (they're 'sweet guys'), so I finally forced myself to get dressed and drive to Baltimore by 8:30 pm (since I can never seem to get there for the opening band anyway). Also, as you may have noticed, I finally figured out how to use the black & white setting on my camera. The b&w shots all look great too. I think b&w is better because it gets rid of the contrast with the colored stage lights.

Still Remains - I finally got confirmation that they toured last summer with Across Five Aprils, so this was my third viewing. They seem to look different every time...maybe it was just the humidity or something. I don't know. They rock though and I bumped them up a couple tenths this time.
4.6298/5

Stretch Arm Strong are old skool style hardcore from South Carolina. They put on a very energetic set and are a fun band. Plus the singer is hott.
4/5

Haste the Day are from Indianapolis and are another one of these newfangled Christian metal(core) bands. How come when I was all keen on Jesus and went to concerts with my church youth group all we ever saw was Michael W. Smith and Carman? And there weren't any hot guys either. Whatever. All I can say about Haste the Day is that they blew me away. Rock! Full-body headbanging. Crazy metal riffs. A cute bearded guy. Awesome. I will definitely check them out in the future.
4.2085/5

I was talking to the bouncers at the door about feeling old and one of them said that Coheed is 'radio rock' - have they really sunk that low and I just didn't notice? Ew.

Review: Coheed and Cambria 8/6/05

#23
August 6, 2005
Bebe
Coheed & Cambria
Aterciopelados
Latin Alternative Music Conference Summerstage NYC
Photo album

The hot hot weather gone for the weekend, I took the train up to NYC and met up with my friend BB (who can usually be found roaming the streets of Petersburg) for a free concert in Central Park. We didn't get there as early as planned but I guess it was better that way since we didn't have to stand in the sun so long. I think that without Coheed there would have been about 2/3 less people there.

Up first was Spainish pop/rock singer-songwriter Bebe. I thought she was pretty cool, although it was pretty sad that I couldn't understand most of what she said and sang until she put on a blonde wig and did some kind of anti-Bush thing with an American accent. Clearly the Spanish in the corners of my mind is not enough to actually figure out anything beyond bus ads... I did like the fact that her drummer played a wooden box when he wasn't playing the drum kit.

Is 20 times too many to see a band? Not to me (obviously) but BB now thinks I'm in some kind of cult. Anyway, I HAD to go to this show because according to the press release this was "a one time only event that is a must see for true fans." They had a special guest percussionist who was pretty cool (and was not who I thought it was going to be so...bleah) even though I don't really think he added that much. I mean, 3.5/4 of Coheed is about as Latin as I am. Anyway...
They played a great set and were much more 'on' than I have seen them in a long time. They played 3 new songs from the upcoming GAIBSIV VI:FTTEOM - Welcome Home and The Final Cut (both played at Music Midtown) and what is (according to some smarty on the Coheed board who 'knows people') the bonus track Monstar in Flames. They also played Favor House and Blood Red Summer (of course), Devil in Jersey City (the Scion-Ara theme song), and Velourium Camper I & II, which OK... I guess for a general audience that was probably a good set. I did get some video - the opener Welcome Home and the jam at the end of The Final Cut which was the closer. One thing that I was very happy about was that Josh did the 'coo coo cachoo' part on Faint of Hearts...I think the last time they actually bothered to do all the backing vocals was way back in Coheed week '04 when Mitch was playing the cowbell on that song.

I stuck around for part of Aterciopelados, mostly to keep an eye out for hot Columbian men (which there were several). I didn't really like them much - it was kind of folky Dave Mathews kind of stuff. Apparently they are quite popular though. Edited to add that I did see the Mars Volta guys (as reported on the Coheed board)...I knew that I recognized them from somewhere...

I didn't really do anything else in the city. Most of the places I used to go no longer exist and I was hot and slightly sunburned and tired. I spent a bunch of money at Ricky's (I bought yet another Loop NYC bag) and then just basically waited for my train home. Hopefully I'll get back up to the city again soon and actually plan better in the future.

Here's the money shot: Claudio at NYC Summerstage 8/6/05

Not like the movies

Combining the grand literary tradition of such short plays as 'Smells like cupcakes' and 'St. Swithin's day' with the romantic fantasy of Xenia Navarre, Murrain of Swains presents:

Scene from a Bus Stop

A one act-play starring a drunk woman on a cell phone

Late afternoon; a drunk woman sits on a bench holding a cell phone to her left ear:

[speaking into phone, loud enough to be heard a block away] I was just calling to see if you were still eating....Breadsticks and, um, buffalo wings. I still got some breadsticks right here.

[after a long pause to listen, she begins shouting - her right arm making a wild chopping motion] I'm a good mother-fucking woman, Joseph! And you're supposed to be my man! What am I supposed to do when my man...

[pausing to listen] I just love you so like I love you! So much!

Off-stage there is a crunching sound followed by gasps and 'Oh my god!' sounds

[shrieking, jumping up from the bench] Oh my god, Joseph, the bus just hit a pole!

Curtain pulls back to reveal a metrobus which has crashed into a Rosslyn map-sign and settled over a toppled fire hydrant (which is sadly not spraying into the air like a geyser, because this is a play and not a movie).