Thursday, June 30, 2011

wish you were here


Just to brag a little about how cool my new gig is... here I am with Scary Larry (who happened to be in town this week from Cincinnati), AW and Kris Roe of The Ataris. just wish Mr/ Imo? could have been here.

And just the night before Mr. Imo? got to see one of my all time favorites, Toad the Wet Sprocket. We almost got them to come play at our place but the drive was too far despite the amount of time between shows.
Now I just need to get my booking agent to start booking more bands that I like so we can have more pictures like these, without the "push the button like this" finger.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

summer playlist

Running this new business is forcing me to expand my musical tolerance, I mean horizons.

The place has been booking a bunch of hardcore bands, and I am just not really able to hear the difference between them yet. But as the owner versus a show-goer I get to see these guys in a different light. The hardcore guys put on such a tough face, they're meant to be intimidating, and there is a lot of angry screaming. As opposed to the truth of it being they are just nice guys making music and a few bucks on the road. A few days ago one of the boys said "Yeah, I make hardcore scenester music and wear skinny jeans. I am a total poser". Mostly they are the happiest, nicest kids I meet during the week (way better than the losers who locked me out of FedEx the other night 5 minutes before closing when all I needed was a few copies) and I have a hard time believing they have an angry bone in their bodies. My other favorite observation is that even though they are "hardcore" they still stick with the music industry tendency of making sure the best looking among them is either the lead screamer (see photo) or gets the most face time. And as far as the fans go, there seems to be an awful lot of polite golf clapping going on at the end of each song. I am going to have to observe a bit more before I figure out that scene.

With my new found need to understand hardcore and all those new bands in the Alternative Press (a magazine I left behind about 10 years ago) since those are the shows coming through my place, I have been doing some research and trying to incorporate them into what I listen to just so I can get a feel for what we are booking. I put together a summer playlist the other day for a party that didn't pan out, and tired to include a few of these bands. Haste the Day came through a few weeks ago so I added them to the list. Not anything I would normally listen to but tolerable.

That said, I am sharing with you a portion of my summer playlist that I put together based on the likes of others not myself (and a smidge of hardcore included...don't hate me if you hate it, it's educational).

SUMMER PLAYLIST:

* Boys of Summer – Ataris
* My own Summer- Deftones
* Summertime Clothes- Animal Collective
*Summer of All Dead Souls – And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
* My Own Summer- Deftones
* It's Summertime – Flaming Lips
* Summer Skin – Deathcab for Cutie
* Summertime – My Chemical Romance
* Summer of Love – B52s
* Summer Girl – The Rentals
* Summertime – The Zombies
* Summer – Alien Ant Farm
* Summer Angel – Minus the Bear
*Summer Well – Interpol
* Jewel of the Summertime – Audioslave
* Summer – Shy Child
* Summer Moon – The Raevonettes
* Feel Good Hit of the Summer- Queens of the Stone Age
* Dirty Black Summer – Danzig
* Swollen Summer – The Bravery
* Summer- Moby
* Soundtrack of the Summer – Art Brut
*You’re So Last Summer – Taking Back Sunday
* Summer in the city – Regina Spektor
* Guns of Summer – Coheed & Cambria
* Summertime Rolls- Jane’s Addiction
* Island in the Sun – Weezer
* Black Hole Sun – Soundgarden
* Sunny afternoon – The Kinks
* Blister in the Sun – Violent Femmes
* Sun it Rise – Fleet Foxes
* Big Sun- Phoenix
* 100 Suns- 30 Seconds to Mars
* Wake Up the Sun- Haste the Day
* Holidays in the Sun – Sex Pistols
* Sun King – The Cult
* California Sun- The Ramones
* Sun is on my Side- Gogol Bordello
* Yellow Sun- The Reconteurs
* Don’t Look Back in the Sun- The Libertines
* We Used to Vacation- Cold War Kids
* Holiday – Green Day
* Holiday in Cambodia – Dead Kennedys
* The Holiday Song – Pixies

Happy summer!

Monday, June 13, 2011

control

I am starting to get things under control...just barely. Taking over a running business is easier than a start-up until things which were supposed to be a cakewalk turn upside down. Like when that friendly cowboy fire marshal decides to hand his job over to some nasty electrical guys who don't understand theatre lighting or how many electrical outlets are required for a rock show to go on. But I digress.

I got the men's bathroom partially painted today (black and white striped walls anyone?) and heard back from my web-designer so things are looking up. Soon I will be able to post some pictures of the new project and get you all clued in. It isn't going to be elitist snazzy, but we won't be the gnarliest place in town anymore. Things are still ultra-chaotic and my children's desire to be free-range hippie kids plus we are living in the in-laws' basement for another 2 weeks are what I find to be standing in the way of control but I am beginning to see the light. Wish me luck.

SONG OF THE DAY:

"Standing in the Way of Control" - The Gossip


Wednesday, June 8, 2011

why i am such a spaz: the hiatus

I realize I totally dropped off the face of the planet.

Not only did I pick up and move 1/2 way across the country but I am starting a new business. I bought out an all-ages club out in Boise where I used to live. The owners were retiring and as the only all-ages place if it wasn't bought out quickly it would have been shut down and that would leave a lot of kids on the street with no live music. With music getting kicked out of schools, it is really up to the private sector to keep it alive, so I felt a social and personal obligation to keep the place running.

I spent all my free time and money going to all-ages shows from the time I was 15 up until, well, honestly now, and since the stars all aligned I jumped at the chance to upgrade my status to "club owner". Right now it is all the gritty work, from cleaning out the nastiest greenroom you have ever seen to trying (unsuccessfully) to get the fire marshal to give me a new occupancy permit (I should have worn a lower cut blouse), and buying new microphones and patching the hole in the men's restroom. You know, the very un-glamourous part. Once I get our new website up I will post a link on the sidebar.

However, in a cool twist of events, The Ataris (my last post) happen to be one of the bands on my calendar for this month doing an acoustic set. Maybe if I bat my eyes and have good catering they will take my request to play "Boys of Summer".

So, bare with me as my posts will be spotty for the next few weeks while I set up shop and then move into my house at the beginning of next month.

I can't even think of the best song to describe my status right now so I will do something different. Our local record store was doing a freebie give away yesterday: a signed Peter Murphy CD cover with purchase of the CD. I thought people would be all over it, but I was the first one down. But, lucky me, I now have a CD signed by Peter Murphy and the CD was on sale for $10. Nice. Here is a great tune from his new album.

SONG OF THE DAY :

"I Spit Roses" - Peter Murphy