Sorry, folks. Envious that we didn’t get Columbus day off like you Eastcoasters, we’ve been forced to play hooky…
We’ll be back next week to resume the east-west rivalry.
In the meantime, maybe some of you will get a chance to see BW’s favorite LA band (shameless promotion warning), Silversun Pickups, who are playing the east coast right now:
October 11, NY: Other Music (in-store), Mercury Lounge
October 12, NY: Bowery Ballroom
October 13, Philly: Johnny Brenda’s
At least, that might tide you over until Cheap Trick plays the GW convention…
Posted on Wednesday, October 11, 2006 under Slacking Off | RSS
Jeremy, for shame! This would have been the perfect time to rattle off a short post about who’s who out here on the West Coast, so the East Coasters and Midwesterners could start to sort things out.
Here’s my contribution: I met Jeremy through Stephanie, when I taught for a semester at their college. I’ve known Stephanie for getting on 17 years, when we met in grad school at UVa. We, well, we, y’know “went out” for a few years there, broke up, lost touch, and got back in touch right about the time she moved to SoCal to teach and I moved to SoCal *not* to teach anymore (around 5 years ago). By then, Stephanie and Scott were together, and he’d moved down from SF with her. He’s her gayest and most enjoyable boyfriend ever (I could never compete). Jeremy and I truly bonded over the weekend of S&S’s wedding in SF, when we shared a hotel room and three nights of drinking. (There are many embarrassing photos I won’t share right now, but here’s one image: show tunes with Bambi, a transvestite prostitute at 3 am on the corner of 16th and Valencia. What can I say? We were young.)
Jeremy’s the real hub here, and our connection to GW through Farrell (to Bryan to Dave), so I should let him say more. I will say this, that Lisa Tremain is the one person here most directly responsible for my meeting Jen. After a long night of looking at photos of S&S’s wedding (and drinking) and discussing our adventures and mishaps in internet dating (and drinking), she turned to me as she walked out the door and said, “Get back out there, Tim.” The very next day I emailed a certain lovely lady whose profile I’d been reading and enjoying on the Salon personals. Yes, Jen and I met on the internet, yet another thing it has to recommend it (aside from the GW, oh, and Gawker).
well, here’s my report:
silversun packed mercury. (the crowd thinned out by more than half after their set.) some sound issues at first, but things evened out within the first two songs. i was standing a little in the back, enough to see the various constituencies — indie kids, sure, but i was standing behind a gaggle of frat boys, rugby shirts and caps on backwards, who didn’t know what to make of brian but love love loved nikki. they would air-bass to her lines and whistle enthusiastically after her vocal parts. you never know what the hell you’re going to encounter at a show.
everyone played great. brian’s licks were spot on. nikki was on fire. (her mom and aunt were there and she kept smiling at them, and what a cute smile she has.) christopher drummed like animal from the muppets. i couldn’t really see joe, but i imagined him fiddling away at his soundboards and keyboards and other gadgets like a refugee from grandaddy.
so viva voce, the nominal headliners. i’d never heard of them before sspu went on tour with them. they’re from portland. christian, apparently. the lyrics attest to it if you pay attention, though they carry a liberal sprinkling of “motherfuckers” and “fuck arounds,” often aimed at the devil himself. the lead singer/guitar player is hot hot hot hot hot. five hots. as nikki noted, she solos like a guy. she believes — she can’t help herself. she’s married to the drummer, who sometimes played rhythm guitar while he still kept time with a bass drum.
so brian at some point made a general call for more jameson on the rocks, and a line of clean cut guys in black leather pea coats lined up to bring him drinks throughout the evening. i was happy to be the beneficiary of the overflow. yea silversun. they’re headlining bowery tomorrow night but i have tickets for another event. :(
good night.
Tim, thanks for the background. It’s about time SOMEONE from the left coast finally stepped up. (Yeah, that’s right, I said it….)
And thank you Tim for at least acknowledging that there is a Midwest contingency–right Rachel?!? East-west, east-west, we are the SECOND city here is Chi-town-Madison, ya-know.
thanks for coming to the show bryan. it’s always a treat to see you. and thanks also to ferrell for coming to see us in philly!
oops. . .sorry for spelling your name wrong farrell.
Hey Everybody,
Congratulations go out to our very own Nikki (of Silversun Pickups), who is on the cover of the LA Weekly this week, a full-page photo of just her and her Firebird, rocking out. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like they’ve got a cover image on line, but if one turns up, I’ll certainly let you know.
um, and that was pretty kickass to watch you, n, on letterman the other night. i especially liked the post-commercial banter. “where are they from again?” “um, los angeles.” “wow, i’d like to hear more of what they can do.”
I’m bummed I missed the Letterman appearance. Jeremy told me about it, and I stayed up to watch, but fell asleep soon after the duct-tape kid. I woke up to Dave’s banter with Paul about SSPU. I sat through Danny DeVito for nothing!
it was SO awesome to see nikki on tv. we were so excited! bryan said she was even moving to the music a bit more than usual GO SSPU. Molly has a sticker on her school folder of the band; she’s probably the coolest kid in NYC right now
Natch.