Hopewell at Club Midway - November 11, 2007

Click image for Hopewell photo gallery

hopewell.tv

Spindrift at Club Midway - November 12, 2007

Click image for Spindrift photo gallery

spindriftwest.com

Frightened Rabbit at Pianos - November 11, 2007

Click image for Frightened Rabbit gallery

frightenedrabbit.com

House & Parish at Pianos - November 11, 2007

Click image for House & Parish gallery

http://www.myspace.com/houseandparish

Right On Dynamite at Pianos - November 11, 2007

Click image for Right on Dynamite photo gallery

http://www.myspace.com/rightondynamite

Spindrift, A Place to Bury Strangers, & The Black Angels at Bowery Ballroom - November 7, 2007

Click image for Spindrift photo gallery


Click image for A Place to Bury Strangers photo gallery


Click image for The Black Angels photo gallery

This has to be one of the best shows I've seen in many years. I was feeling a little down before the show. I have breakfast most mornings with a bunch of friends at a little bakery in Park Slope, where I live. Our waitress is the sweetest young woman...we all absolutely adore her, and look forward to seeing her every morning. She even draws little hearts around our our total on the check (awwww). At first I thought she only did it for us...but it turns out she does it for everyone who comes in (I think?) I was heartbroken when I found that out!

Somehow (as shy as I am, I sometimes surprise even myself) I had invited her to come to see this show with me (totally innocuously I might add, although she is quite adorable!). She actually said yes. So I got tickets...the day before the show I told her I'd call to figure out how we were going to meet up. Anyway, the day of the show I called...3 times...no answer, just voicemail. She finally called me five minutes before the show...told me she'd totally lost track of time (yeah right), and that she owed me big time! I knew that wasn't going to stop me from enjoying the show...and this was certainly not the first time I'd gotten stood up (even though you never get used to it!) Well, I definitely enjoyed the show, although I would have loved to have had company...and when it comes down to it, it was her loss. I was a little miffed...but this girl is just so sweet I couldn't help but buy her an "A Place to Bury Strangers" t-shirt. Hmmm...she owes me? Call me sucker (she called me a dork...but she really likes dorks). Yeah...I am definitely a dork (but in a good way...I hope)

I did come up with a suitable way for her to make it up to me...a portrait session with her and her Jack Russell puppy Cider. When I told her, I think she was relieved (or maybe she really wants me to take photographs of her?) Anyway...I think we both win on that one. She just better not blow me off on this one ;-)

Anyway...about the show.

Spindrift sounds like a psychedelic version of of Ennio Morricone (throw in some surf guitars while you are at it). Watch Sergio Leone's film, "A Fist Full of Dynamite", drop some acid (no, I'm not advocating drug use here), and turn up the lights and heat (put the dehumidifier on "parch" setting). I almost expected Clint Eastwood (the young one) to step out from behind the stage. I think I might have even seen James Coburn and Rod Steiger sitting at the bar before the show. Better yet, track down a copy of Spindrift's "The Legend of God's Gun" available from CD Baby.

Spindrift are:
Kirpatrick Thomas - Guitar and Vocals
Jason "Plucky" Anchando - Drums
Henry Evans - Bass and Baritone Guitar
Dave Koenig - Rhythm Guitar and Harmonica
Dan Allaire - Percussion
Julie Patterson - Keyboards
Frankie Emerson - Keyboards, Guitar
Marcos Diablero - Harmonium, Autoharp, and Slide Guitar

A Place to Bury Strangers
The loudest band in New York City? The loudest band in the United States? Probably. I knew I was going to actually go and buy earplugs for this one...and it was a good investment. These guys are great...just because they are loud doesn't mean they aren't good. And the light show was intense...too bad these guys weren't around when I was a teenager (when I actually did drop acid...probably a few too many times!) because I would have been their biggest fan. I've got to go see if I can find lyrics to their songs...the music was so incredible...now I want to know what their songs are actually about. Their CD "A Place to Bury Strangers" was already on heavy rotation on my iPod for months before I saw them...so between listening to that, and what I had heard from others who had seen them live, I had an idea of what to expect. But there is nothing to compare to seeing them live.

A Place to Bury Strangers are:
Oliver Ackermann - Guitars. Vox
JSpace - Drums
Jono MOFO - Bass

I'd love to say The Black Angels sound like Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd meets the Velvet Underground, but that really doesn't do justice to them. The Black Angels have their own sound. The music is dark and droning and powerful. This is also music that could only have been made in America in the 21st century. There is also a level of musicianship (imho) that Pink Floyd or the Velvet Underground didn't have. Everyone seemed to swap instruments on different songs. Their album "Passover" is definitely at the top of my shortlist of CDs to buy.

The Black Angels are:
Christian Bland
Alex Maas
Stephanie Bailey
Jennifer Raines
Nate Ryan
Kyle Hunt

Bush Tetras CD Release Party at Crash Mansion - October 26, 2007

Click image for Bush Tetras photo gallery

I'm so glad to see the Bush Tetras back together again. In 1978 I had seen The Contortions a number of times, and was a big fan (still am) of Pat Place's guitar playing. I think the first time I saw the Contortions was with The Cramps (possibly at CBGBs, although I'm not sure, it was a long, long time ago).

I was also a huge fan of post punk bands Kleenex, The Raincoats, Au Pairs, Delta 5, and Pylon. I also spent a huge part of my disposable income in record stores (the rest went on alcohol and drugs). One of the places I liked to spend my money was in record stores...and a friend turned me onto 99 Records. I loved 99 Records, because the owner Ed Bahlman didn't seem to have the attitude that some other record store owners had...and he seemed to be a genuinely nice guy. He knew some of my music tastes, and when the Bush Tetras' first single "Too Many Creeps" came out, he told me I'd like it, so I bought it (I think I wore it out!) I saw them a number of times...they were incredibly intense...funky but so New York. Plus...Pat Place was (and still is) an incredible guitarist (and Pat Place was and is one of my guitar heroes).

Over the next couple of years...the ratio of disposable income (music to alcohol...changed to mainly alcohol). But that didn't stop my love of music...I just moved to worse neighborhoods so I could pay less rent...but things continued to get much worse for me. By 1982 I had lost my last real apartment...ended up spending some time homeless...but would always seem to bounce back. Thanks goodness for cheap hotels and friends with couches...but unfortunately those friends would always seem to get sick of my antics...and my world got smaller. And emotionally...my world got incredibly darker.

I'm not sure when the last time I saw the Bush Tetras was, but I'm figuring it had to be 1982 or 1983. Somehow I had managed to get out to Maxwell's in Hoboken...I had heard that the Bush Tetras were playing. Anyway...I ended up getting so drunk that while I remember most of the show...I'm sure I ended up blacking out...and I have no idea how I got home or what happened that night. All I remember is that the next morning I had done something awful...and to this day I don't know what that was. I'm pretty sure that this Bush Tetras show was the last show I got to until a few years later (its either this show or a Minor Threat show at CBGBs...where I was drunk again...very inappropriate I was to find out much later...I didn't know about straightedge until 20 year later!) My life really spiraled out of control over the next year or so.

Which brings me to almost 25 years later. My life is so completely different today compared to what it was then. I'm still just as much of a rabid music fan...and in my late 40s I have found much enjoyment going out to hear live music again. So I saw that the Bush Tetras were going to be having a CD release party at Crash Mansion (not my favorite place to go...I'm not particularly enamored of drunken NYU students these days). I had just finished shooting too many shows during CMJ the week before. I knew I wanted to go...and I ended up telling my friend Dennis about going to the show...and he told me he would have loved to go with me if he had been feeling better. Plus, his friend Julia had taken over bass duties from Laura Kennedy. Well, it turns out that Julia was someone I had had an incredible crush on, some time around 1986 or so. At the time...I was so painfully shy that there was no way I could ever say a word to her...and even though I think we were introduced once, I think she had no idea I existed.

I don't think I ever saw her after that...but I always remembered her (I have a pretty good memory...I think I remember every crush I ever had since I first realized I had crushes on women (well, girls at the time) in third grade back in 1966. Yeah...I know, I sound like a total dork...but I'm actually pretty happy being a dork these days. Anyway, knowing that Julia was playing bass sealed the deal...I knew I had to go. Not that I intended to actually talk to her (I'm still pretty shy when it comes to women). Plus I'm always curious to see what 20 years does to someone. When I saw her come on stage I recognized her immediately and she looks even more beautiful now than when I had a crush on her 20 years ago. I've always been in love with women's eyes (and guys to a lesser extent), and that was the first thing that attracted me to her...she has these incredible eyes (Julia...I'm sure you'll end up reading this...I honestly hope I don't embarrass you...and I hope I don't come off as a creep!) So now I proved that I am truly a dork (and have no intention of apologizing for it).

Which brings me back to the Bush Tetras. As much as I gush about Julia...the whole band really looked and sounded incredible (yes, very very happy). There was all the energy I remember...and they sound so much tighter if that were possible. Pat Place's guitar playing was better than I could ever remember it. Dee Pop is an incredible drummer (although I wished I could have gotten more photographs of him. Cynthia Slay sounded awesome. But what really struck me was how happy they looked to be playing...it was obvious that they were thrilled to be there. Cynthia Sley looked like an angel standing right in front of me, I actually got photos of Pat Place smiling...which I don't remember from any Bush Tetras show I went to. 25 years brings a lot of changes...and I'm sure the Bush Tetras have changed as much as I have...and it was a pleasure to be able to witness that. And if I didn't say it before, they are just such an important and awesome band, and I'm so glad they are playing together again.

A postcript: I did actually get to meet Julia a week later at a totally unrelated event. It took every ounce of courage I had...and basically told her pretty much what I have already said here. I felt like a total nut...but I'm really glad I was able to get over that fear, and it was something I couldn't have done even six months ago. Thanks Bush Tetras for some incredible music (I picked up "Very Very Happy at the CD party...its been on constant rotation on my iPod since then)...thanks to Julia for being so kind to me when I introduced myself, and thanks to an unnamed friend who gave me that final push to say hi.

If anyone reads this today who lives in or near Philadelphia, please go check out the Bush Tetras at Tritone in Philadelphia tonight (November 17, 2007). I would be there in an instant if I lived anywhere near. It promises to be an incredible show, they will be playing with Certain General, and Bunnydrums. And make sure you pick up a copy of their new CD "Very Very Happy" (how appropriate is that?) on ROIR Records (always one of my favorite record labels!

Bush Tetras are: Cynthia Sley, Dee Pop, Pat Place, Julia Murphy, Laura Kennedy