Here's the story of the Rollins Band/X show in Chicago: first, every tollbooth on the interstate between Madison and Chicago was under construction. Warren and I had more than enough change for tolls, thank goodness. I had my google directions to the House of Blues, and Warren had the gps fired up. Its a good thing we had both, 'cause the gps got confused when we hit downtown Chicago. LOL The HOB website said that doors opened at 6. In what part of the known universe does that mean that the music starts at 6:05??! There were supposed to be two opening bands; Sevenshot Screamers and Riverboat Gamblers. We had arranged to meet Paul for dinner before the show at a Thai place across the street. When we got to the show at 7:20, Rollins Band was already half over! Gahhh! We lost Paul right away, but we got right up by the stage (house right), in front of the stack. This time I brought my earplugs, but Warren didn't. Its 8 weeks later, and he still is hearing buzzing.
We were going to try finding my internet buddy, Sandman, at the show, and it turns out I was standing right behind him.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Thursday, August 24, 2006
State Fair, here I DON'T come
This summer has raced by. I have spent only about 2 days total on the Terrace since May. That is so irritating! It's my own fault for taking two classes, working two jobs, and doing the internship. I was going to go to MN for the first day of the State Fair. Brave Combo is playing for the first 4 days, and there's always a new food on a stick. Plus there was seeing my friends Angela and Kathy! Sometimes leaving MN seems like a mistake. But the library school program up there is so expensive (and takes about 5 years).
I did get to see the 'As the world burns' tour twice, though! Once in Mpls with Kathy, and once in Chicago with Paul, Warren, and James. The Mpls show was at the Fine Line, which was OK. It was the first time I'd been there since the fire. I went to class, then drove 5 hours to Mpls for the show, which finished at midnight, then drove the five ohours back to Madison for class the next morning. Ick.
We were able to get right to the front with no problem. The opening band (Riverboat Gamblers, out of Denton) was really good. The lead singer is insane. Think Iggy on meth. He was crawling all over the equipment, up onto the outer edge of the balcony, etc. The poor security guy was run ragged trying to feed out mic cord to him, yet keep it from stranging the crowd. When the singer got back by us he fell off the balcony. Landed flat-assed, legs sraight out ahead of him, and never missed a note. Cerebrospinal fluid doesn't normally like tht kind of handling, so I'm assuming he had a massive headache the next day. LOL
The change-over to the Rollins Band went really fast! They are using a minimal crew this tour. Mike did a lot of the set-up. This is the old Rollins Band, Mach 2, with Sim, Chris, Melvin, and Theo on sound. The only sound issue with the RB was that the volume was so high you couldn't make out the words. If I'd brought my earplugs, that wouldn't have been a problem. The crowd was enthusiastic, and sang along even if they gave Henry shit between songs. It was more like they felt an obligation to give shit than really felt any animosity though. Henry looked like an angry monkey with his eyes all bulged out. For a while it looked like he might have an anurysm right there. Good thing I'm a First Responder! Their set was an hour, and was mainly older stuff with only a few songs from CIAB. They did 'Starve' which made my night. Then they did 'Liar', a song they had said they'd never do again. That was disappointing, but it was popular, and at this point they need to reestablish themselves on the road. So its understandable. The set is very tight, since they are in the sling seat, but it inhibits t heir jamming. Sometimes the show felt canned. Not that they didn't give it their best, but it was not a good situation for them. I look forward to future shows where they might be the headliners again. Quite frankly, I went to two shows because I suspected they might implode while on the road.
X was the headliner, and they were great, as usual. Sometimes I think Exene only owns one dress. We were right in front of Billy Zoom, who does this weird thing of trying to catch the eye of every audience member. I looked away, and when I looked back he was craning around trying to capture my eye again. At first I thought I was imagining it, but my friend Kathy got the brunt of it. If only John Doe did the same thing. Oops, I forgot; we now must always spell that as John Doe, with the word 'swoon' behind it inside pointy brackets officially (i haven't figured out how to make the brackets appear on screen yet. HTML, you're pissing me off!~). He's such a cutie! His solo stuff is amazing. I guess they re-released 'For the Rest of Us' as 'For the Best of Us' this summer. Hmmm. Anyway, they were everything I had hoped for. Then the moshing broke out. Even though we were at the corner of the stage, we cought some shoving. Some beer amatuer spilled his Sam Adams into my ear and down my whole left side. Great! Now I have to worry about tbeing pulled over by the cops, even though I only had a diet soda. After the show we went back to retrieve the car only to find out that the new Library parking ramp closes at 10 pm.Why would they do that?? Anyway, we happened to see the security gurad and he showed us where the late retrieval entrance was. Whew!
I'll post later on the Chicago show. Suffice it to say, I hate the House of Blues.
I did get to see the 'As the world burns' tour twice, though! Once in Mpls with Kathy, and once in Chicago with Paul, Warren, and James. The Mpls show was at the Fine Line, which was OK. It was the first time I'd been there since the fire. I went to class, then drove 5 hours to Mpls for the show, which finished at midnight, then drove the five ohours back to Madison for class the next morning. Ick.
We were able to get right to the front with no problem. The opening band (Riverboat Gamblers, out of Denton) was really good. The lead singer is insane. Think Iggy on meth. He was crawling all over the equipment, up onto the outer edge of the balcony, etc. The poor security guy was run ragged trying to feed out mic cord to him, yet keep it from stranging the crowd. When the singer got back by us he fell off the balcony. Landed flat-assed, legs sraight out ahead of him, and never missed a note. Cerebrospinal fluid doesn't normally like tht kind of handling, so I'm assuming he had a massive headache the next day. LOL
The change-over to the Rollins Band went really fast! They are using a minimal crew this tour. Mike did a lot of the set-up. This is the old Rollins Band, Mach 2, with Sim, Chris, Melvin, and Theo on sound. The only sound issue with the RB was that the volume was so high you couldn't make out the words. If I'd brought my earplugs, that wouldn't have been a problem. The crowd was enthusiastic, and sang along even if they gave Henry shit between songs. It was more like they felt an obligation to give shit than really felt any animosity though. Henry looked like an angry monkey with his eyes all bulged out. For a while it looked like he might have an anurysm right there. Good thing I'm a First Responder! Their set was an hour, and was mainly older stuff with only a few songs from CIAB. They did 'Starve' which made my night. Then they did 'Liar', a song they had said they'd never do again. That was disappointing, but it was popular, and at this point they need to reestablish themselves on the road. So its understandable. The set is very tight, since they are in the sling seat, but it inhibits t heir jamming. Sometimes the show felt canned. Not that they didn't give it their best, but it was not a good situation for them. I look forward to future shows where they might be the headliners again. Quite frankly, I went to two shows because I suspected they might implode while on the road.
X was the headliner, and they were great, as usual. Sometimes I think Exene only owns one dress. We were right in front of Billy Zoom, who does this weird thing of trying to catch the eye of every audience member. I looked away, and when I looked back he was craning around trying to capture my eye again. At first I thought I was imagining it, but my friend Kathy got the brunt of it. If only John Doe did the same thing. Oops, I forgot; we now must always spell that as John Doe, with the word 'swoon' behind it inside pointy brackets officially (i haven't figured out how to make the brackets appear on screen yet. HTML, you're pissing me off!~). He's such a cutie! His solo stuff is amazing. I guess they re-released 'For the Rest of Us' as 'For the Best of Us' this summer. Hmmm. Anyway, they were everything I had hoped for. Then the moshing broke out. Even though we were at the corner of the stage, we cought some shoving. Some beer amatuer spilled his Sam Adams into my ear and down my whole left side. Great! Now I have to worry about tbeing pulled over by the cops, even though I only had a diet soda. After the show we went back to retrieve the car only to find out that the new Library parking ramp closes at 10 pm.Why would they do that?? Anyway, we happened to see the security gurad and he showed us where the late retrieval entrance was. Whew!
I'll post later on the Chicago show. Suffice it to say, I hate the House of Blues.
Monday, July 10, 2006
you hear the bitchin' so my friends don't have to.
Things are piling up pretty quickly here. I have my two part-time jobs, and have been taking a cataloging course on-line. Starting next week, I'll be adding in an on-campus course as well. Plus I need to create my poster for the SAA meeting in DC in three weeks, get the exhaust system replaced on my car, and take my cat in to the vet to get his weird hair loss checked out. I volunteered to work up in Mpls this weekend for the Day of Music, as a way to see all my old friends up at the Hall, and to hang out with Kathy (she's becoming my best friend which I'm sure would disconcernate her. is that a word??). And I'm in charge of herding my fellow workerbees at the Conservation Lab into an outing to APT before one of them leaves for a year abroad. Then there is following the Rollins Band all over the midwest, right when classes are wrapping up. I have been waiting for almost 10 years to see this incarnation of the band play out, and they'll be opening for X, but in my mind I'm dreading the timing of it all. If they came thru here just one week later... There's just too much stuff packed into the next month. Its like when there have been no good shows in your town in months, and then there are five you want to see all on the same night. I hate that!!!!!
When I was in my 20s this kind of overload would have been no problem, but now in my 40s I just don't have the tolerance for it that I should. Growing older is for the birds. Sometimes I think coming back to school was a mistake. In my old life I had finally reached a point where things were paid off and I ws making headway towards having nicer things. Whatever possessed me to leave and go back to school? And in library science, something I have zero experience in? It would have been nice if the school had said up front, 'Look, without a history background, you will never find an archives job, no matter what we say to the contrary later.' The only good part of it was that I sold my house before the housig market balloon deflated. Of course, I'll never be able to afford a house again...
Ok, I think I've gotten some of the badess out of my soul for a few hours. Thanks for tuning in..
When I was in my 20s this kind of overload would have been no problem, but now in my 40s I just don't have the tolerance for it that I should. Growing older is for the birds. Sometimes I think coming back to school was a mistake. In my old life I had finally reached a point where things were paid off and I ws making headway towards having nicer things. Whatever possessed me to leave and go back to school? And in library science, something I have zero experience in? It would have been nice if the school had said up front, 'Look, without a history background, you will never find an archives job, no matter what we say to the contrary later.' The only good part of it was that I sold my house before the housig market balloon deflated. Of course, I'll never be able to afford a house again...
Ok, I think I've gotten some of the badess out of my soul for a few hours. Thanks for tuning in..
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Stupid fireworks...
No, not really. it's just that Warren is out of town, and most of my other 'friends' (fellow students) are married or whatever. No-one is available to just hang out and see the fireworks. While there are a lot of things I'll do alone, doing something super-social like ooh-ing and aah-ing at fireworks is NOT one of them. Could I look any more pitiful? Well, probably.
On the plus side, I got my homework for cataloging done early and have already printed out the readings for the coming week. And I hit the Farmers Market for some sweet berries and a wonderful hanging tomato plant. also, got my bike washed, and locked to the railing downstairs. There is no way I am going to spend another year hauling it up and down the stairs every day! it's not like its a lightweight 21 speed or something. That puppy is HEAVY! Fingers crossed that none of the neighbor kids decide to mess with it.
Finally rented 'Enron: the smartest guys in the room"; Those guys should be gutted and fed to lions.
I picked up a copy of the book, "Return of the Bunny Suicides" by Andy Riley when I was at the Half-Price books dumping my unwanted books. It is hysterical. Line drawings of bunnies finding ingenous ways to kill themselves. Perect for the kids! LOL
Also, I've become addicted the show "Spaced" on BBC America. It stars the guy from Shaun of the Dead, Simon Pegg (sp?).
Aah, the weather is prefect, despite the fireworks set-back. Time to hit the porch with next weeks' readings and a drink with a bendy straw. oh, bendy straw, is there nothing you can't make better??!
Let's listen to some vintage Rollins Band, in honor of the boys reuniting and touring this summer. Yay!!!!!!
On the plus side, I got my homework for cataloging done early and have already printed out the readings for the coming week. And I hit the Farmers Market for some sweet berries and a wonderful hanging tomato plant. also, got my bike washed, and locked to the railing downstairs. There is no way I am going to spend another year hauling it up and down the stairs every day! it's not like its a lightweight 21 speed or something. That puppy is HEAVY! Fingers crossed that none of the neighbor kids decide to mess with it.
Finally rented 'Enron: the smartest guys in the room"; Those guys should be gutted and fed to lions.
I picked up a copy of the book, "Return of the Bunny Suicides" by Andy Riley when I was at the Half-Price books dumping my unwanted books. It is hysterical. Line drawings of bunnies finding ingenous ways to kill themselves. Perect for the kids! LOL
Also, I've become addicted the show "Spaced" on BBC America. It stars the guy from Shaun of the Dead, Simon Pegg (sp?).
Aah, the weather is prefect, despite the fireworks set-back. Time to hit the porch with next weeks' readings and a drink with a bendy straw. oh, bendy straw, is there nothing you can't make better??!
Let's listen to some vintage Rollins Band, in honor of the boys reuniting and touring this summer. Yay!!!!!!
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Hey, kids! I'm just back from a five-week archives internship in North Dakota. The folks were great, but it was a learning experience. What did I learn?
1. I am totally addicted to the internet, and five weeks with limited access is brutal.
2. Even though I grew up in a small town, I could never live somewhere as small as Bismarck again.
3. I can make friends more easily than I thought.
4. Some people (yeah,m i'm talking to _you_, Music Director) should be punched in the head. End of story.
5. There is only one VW dealership/repair place in all of ND, and it isn't in Bismarck.
6. There really _are_ only 7 authentic people in the world, and the rest of us are just clones.
7. I worry too much.
8. The Lawrence Welk Homestead site, while far away, is worth the drive. If you go, take the $4 tour! It's worth it, even if only to hear little old ladies talk like my grandma. Plus, there's a sweet giftshop!!
More later.
1. I am totally addicted to the internet, and five weeks with limited access is brutal.
2. Even though I grew up in a small town, I could never live somewhere as small as Bismarck again.
3. I can make friends more easily than I thought.
4. Some people (yeah,m i'm talking to _you_, Music Director) should be punched in the head. End of story.
5. There is only one VW dealership/repair place in all of ND, and it isn't in Bismarck.
6. There really _are_ only 7 authentic people in the world, and the rest of us are just clones.
7. I worry too much.
8. The Lawrence Welk Homestead site, while far away, is worth the drive. If you go, take the $4 tour! It's worth it, even if only to hear little old ladies talk like my grandma. Plus, there's a sweet giftshop!!
More later.
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