Trying to take it slow is no easy task when you live in the land of sin. With the heaven’s pissing on Manhattan all of Friday, I was ready to stay close to home. It was my belief that Blockbuster would be the key to my success. After sifting through the previously viewed DVDs, my decision was made and my Friday night, for all intensive purposes, had been 86’d.
Kyle joined me in my avoidance of phone calls and perpetual couch commandeering. We watched an amazing baseball game between the Yanks and Shit Sox. The Yankees managed to snag that game in dramatic comeback fashion, but they blew the Saturday game and got destroyed yesterday. Around 11pm Kyle inquired as to what was happening later in the evening. I mentioned a party in Brooklyn and a show at Rothko. Since we’ve diligently played the Shout Out Loud’s Hurry Up Let’s Go 7inch for the past few months, Kyle was able to excite me into going.
With the rain subsiding, we hit the street and walked into The Blue Van’s set. From what I recall, TBV played a fantastic set of organ driven blues rock. The entire group was incredibly tight and they even had a few people dancing, (Jess if you read this, I think I saw you up front). They didn’t produce anything new or earth shattering, but I would definitely advocate paying a cover charge to see this band because bottom line, they were a lot of fun to watch. They have a solid Rhythm and Blues base with some Scandinavian rock roots.
During changeover Kyle and I managed to sneak back to 186 for a quick knifer (one of the last few, but that will be explained later). We got back in time to throw back a couple more drinks before the Swedish 5-piece took the stage. At this point I was fairly drunk, but here are a few things that stood out. Their drummer has serious chops. He really grounds the band with his ability. His only problem is that he looks like Moby and had some huge veins bulging from his dome. If you get past that and focus on his Max Weinberg like skills, you’ll do fine. As far as the rest of the band is concerned, you can hear Marr riffs and Robert Smith vocals with some serious Rentals like keys/Moog layered on top.
Later that evening Kyle and I were discussing the two Swedish bands we had seen over the past two nights and all Kyle had to say was, “The Hives suck. Put that in your damn blog.” That sums up my feelings as well. Though their set wasn’t the tightest, get down to the Mercury Lounge to see the Shout Out Louds give it another go tonight at 8:30pm.
Kyle and I stuck around and listened to Melody Nelson spin some Franz and Ratatat, but we were too drunk to stick around. So much for a night off.
After a good 10 hours of sleep, I joined Oveis, Adira, Builder and Beach for some brunch at Essex. Have you been to this joint yet? It’s got the Hawkins swank at the Belin price. The brunch special is 14bones, but it comes with three cocktails and coffee. A few of us got the same dish which was sea scallops topped with a potato pancake and eggs all on bed of greens. Can you spell delicious? E-S-S-E-X. Even though the service was far worse than most I’ve experienced, the food and drink certainly made up for it.
We stopped by 186 following brunch, but I parted ways with the kids and walked down to the East River Amphitheater. Why didn’t anyone tell me the ERA is a pain in the ass to get to? The walk was ok because I haven’t gone that deep in my neighborhood before, but it just seemed like the river was so far away. I met Sivan, Karen and Andrew during Sea Ray's set which was decent. It’s really difficult to pay attention to outdoor shows. At least my wandering mind seems to think so. Noah showed up during change over and we slugged back a couple tall boys before the Natural History took to the stage. Derek’s days with the band are numbered so if you get a chance, go see his last show at Southpaw this Thursday. Don’t worry, the Tepper boys are pressing forward with their Elvis Costello doused brand of angular rock.
Noah and I decided to skip out on Ted Leo for no apparent reason. On our way back to the house, I popped into Guild the Lily to say hello to Paul who was manning the fort on Saturdays. Hawkins was in there tooling around and visiting with Paul. We parted ways and went back to 186 where Kyle was sitting around embracing the day with blood shot eyes. Noah and I, being 12 year old kids stuck in young adult lives, decided it would be best if we toilet papered Builders room.
We spent a few minutes wrapping his loft in TP when I shut the door wholly unknowing that the lock was on. After a minute or two of nervous laughter we tried to open the door with a steak knife. We had no luck with it so I took the doorknob off. We were still not having any luck when Kyle used his expert burglary skills to pry open the lock. At this point we thought, “Fuck Builder’s Door,” so we decided to up the ante with some rolls of paper towels. His room was covered, the door was fixed and our internal trouble makers were appeased.
Later that evening, the three of us made way for Lit where These Bones were playing around 9pm. We got there early in hopes of free drinks, but we were misinformed by another patron that there were no free drinks so we went to Fish Bar for some cheaper booze. A couple drinks later and we were back in the basement and saying hello to Sarah, Christie, Sean M and some others. Even though Sean Bones kept saying they were covering Velvet Revolver songs, those in attendance were treated with a kick ass set of These Bones goodies and a Nirvana cover. They keep getting better. I wish someone would swoop in and take this band to their waiting space at the top.
I ditched out on the Lit crew and joined Builder, Oveis and Beach for some SHRIMPS! at Boca Chica. Following dinner we cruised through the apartment (again) for a quick knifer. Josh discovered his nicely wrapped room and tore it all down. He proceeded to stuff all the paper goods into Kyle’s room. Check out this picture of Josh right before he threw all the TP on Kyle’s loft.
We made it over to the Bowery with enough time to grab a drink before the Dirtbombs took the stage. Mick Collins took the stage clad in his wrap around dark shades. He was the only guitar adrift in a sea of rhythm that included two bass guitarists (eww, that sounded like a parent) and two drummers. This combination made the whole show fairly eye catching. If you don’t know Mick Collins by now, check your history books. He is a Detroit mainstay who played with the Gories before forming the Dirtbombs. They play some old soul covers and a number of originals. They are one of those bands I’ll be seeing when I’m 35 years old and in need of a drunken head bob, (different from the metal “bang” sense of it).
Sunday was a strange one. Hawkins wanted to get some Dim Sum (is that how you say it?) so I cruised down to Chinatown with him. The joint we stopped at was completely absurd. It was in a huge banquet room where they sit you at a big round table and cart food around too you. The problem is that you can’t tell what anything is just by looking at it and the people piloting the carts don’t speak a lick of English. Hawkins managed to grab us some good grub, but I could barely eat with the people at our table discussing last nights episode of Fear Factor on which contestants had to eat “tons of bugs.” They were also extremely racist, but who can blame them, the fake tits and shitty accents proved they had to be from Jersey or central Long Island.
This was how I actually spent my morning, but I had managed to convince Noah and Sean that Hawkins took me for messages and blowjobs. Granted, the latter may have been more welcomed, but I don’t know how I would react to paying for sex. With any luck that will be tested in the future.
Hawkins and I took some time to catch up at his new pad on Ave B. This kid is flossing it hard. We have decided to make another bet so please don’t tempt me with any sort of smoke prior to September 1st. Afterwards, Oveis, Noah, Sean, Tumbleweed, Daylen and I met up at Beach’s for some Barbeque. There was as much meat on the grill as there was in his backyard. We finished up what we could and called it a day. My weekend off was anything but a weekend off.
On a side note, check out Dogs Die in Hot Cars next week at the Mercury. They are playing with the Features and Morningwood. We got to taste their record yesterday and it was mighty delicious.
September 9th Franz Ferdinand will be playing the Roseland Ballroom, but that coincides with the opening of the NFL season. If you can hook me up with a ticket I will refrain from tackling you.
6 Comments:
Big jay,,,lets put our differences aside and agree to disagree...ok, I'm burying the hatched. What do you say???? make love not war???
yes. love not war. i'm for it. i just wish i knew what the hell you are talking about.
Oh my bad,,,I'm talking about our disagreement we had........I don't want to be a f-tard anymore....I want to make-up and not brake-up any more....
I absolve you of your sins.
are you allowed to do that? I thought you have to rock the holy clothe???? Does this mean like run dmc said everything you touch turns to gold??
look guys, it's all about positivity, not negativity, cause were strivin' for longevity. scat turdly
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