Running the Gauntlet Like a Warrior.
:: Round 1 ::
So you're wondering were I've been? I could use some cliché such as "Hell and Back", to describe the past few days of my life, but it wouldn't be fair. It's been butter since I left the office on Thursday, and in an effort to keep it going, my chips are on the table and the dice are in hand. Let me give you the rundown. Thursday was the second night of Doves at Webster Hall. Since Wednesday was a little crazy, I decided to take the outside post leaving the front door to the fasting D. It was a nice evening to be stuck outside, so I joked around with the masses while directing them into the venue. As luck would have it, my shift ended at the same time Meredith rolled up to the club. We cruised upstairs in search of a decent spot to see the show, but after running around we found the back corner to be our best option. We were joined by Sky, Rob, Mr. Midget and Daylen for the duration of the set. Doves sounded absolutely fantastic. The sound system did them some serious justice, and unlike the Bowery show, there was a bit of smoke/mist in the air so the light show couldn't burn out any retinas. I'm growing increasing familiar with their material, but I'm not in a position to give you a rundown of their set. I did recognize a heap of new songs from Some Cities, like "Black and White Town" and "Sky Starts Falling". They also opened the set with an older favorite, "Pounding", but the rest of the set was simply a dreamy mix of excellent atmospheric rock.
Enrique, Meredith and I decided to bail one song into their encore because we didn't want to be late for The Hold Steady's set at the Bowery Ballroom. We arrived as Need New Body finished up their freakish set. As a massive group of kids assembled in the back corner, poised to get drunk and have a good time while Craig Finn captivated the crowd. The Hold Steady took the stage and proceeded to play Separation Sunday from start to finish. It was an appropriate move since the show was billed as a record release show. As they blasted through some of my favorite songs like "Your Little Hoodrat Friend", "Charlemagne in Sweatpants" and "Don't Let Me Explode", it became clear that The Hold Steady will outlast the multiple bands that don't contain an ounce of the story telling talent possessed by Finn and his gang of bar stool prophets.
The encore blessed us with some of the classics from their first record. "Hostile Massachusetts" and "Killer Parties" were just two of the jams that really took my rowdiness over the edge. They gave tons of praise to everyone involved that included a big shout out to Noah and DTL. This got our beer soaked corner hooting and hollering. There was even a song titled, "212 Margarita" which I'd never heard before, but you can believe will soon be my theme song. We ended the night in the basement slamming beers without any regard for the following workday.
:: Round 2 ::
Friday was a struggle, but by 5pm a second wind caught my sails. This was fortunate because my phone rang off the hook until Hawkins and Leah picked Oveis and me up for a trip out to Park Slope. We arrived at Matt G.'s house and were treated by a suburban style backyard keg party. Matt finally turned 21 (who knew with that beard) and in honor his rents left the house for the weekend so he could ring it in with some close friends. Matt exhibited master grill skills and produced some of the finest dogs and burgers I've consumed in the outdoor setting. As some of the kids hung in the back, Leah and I snuck inside and ended up playing beer pong with Jenny and Tori. By the end of the game we were nicely toasted so we bid farewell and jumped back into the car.
On the way in, Lucy clued me into the fact that she was packing heat in the form of a tequila filled flask. I nipped on the fountain of youth while we crossed the bridge only to realize in the next few minutes that I was fairly intoxicated. After parking we hustled down to the club hoping to catch most of Stellastarr's set, but we'd run a bit late. Apparently they played a lot of material from the new record and the couple songs we heard sound like a continuation of their first effort with a bit less gloss. They came back out for an encore that included "My Coco" that had the place going bananas. After their set Lil' Beach and I managed to Culkin Enrique which pretty much solidified the evening on the positive scale of 1-to-Awesome.
The evening wasn't over. Adam decided to make an effort to move us to the Mercury Lounge were the one man dance machine, Baby Dayliner was scheduled to play a late set. This guy always seems to impress me. At this late juncture of the evening, the Mercury was a bit over half full, but everyone in the place was catching the solid gold grove the Kevin Bacon look-a-like was laying down. My plan was to stick around and try to talk him into doing a set at an upcoming Loose party, but I was so drunk and tired that the lure of 186 was to much. I went home and promptly passed out on the couch with my shoes on.
:: Round 3 ::
Saturday was epic from start to finish. It began with the roommates hanging out for a bit before Kyle and I decided to catch some brunch at our new Avenue A hotspot, Angelina's. This place is cheap and fucking amazing. Give it a shot, but don't tell your friends because it's still at the point where you can walk up at any given time and be seated. I had the most delicious bowl of fruit and granola before we settled up and headed west in search of hoodies.
After some shopping, we met Oveis back at the house for a quick hang before he took off for home. Hawkins and Christie picked me up around 2pm and we proceeded to get lost on our way out to Queens. We finally found the Bohemian Beer Garden where Dana and Jamie were celebrating their birthdays. I saddled up to Dana and we proceed to slam back Hoegaarden while kids dined on kielbasa and various other bar food delicacies. The day got a bit rowdy when the gang decided King's Cup would be a good idea. We ended up being that loud table that everyone at the garden would stare at and bitch among their friends, mostly because they weren't having as much fun as us.
Eventually Hawkins, Christie and I headed back to the city. I threw back a couple cups of coffee and got my self a sandwich so I would be in peak performance mode for the first Bright Eyes / Faint show at Webster Hall. The evening went so smoothly. Their fans are so well mannered that it made my night a breeze. By 10pm it was time for me to hustle down to 186 for a quick shower before the Loose Party at Pianos.
There are some mixed feelings about the Loose Party, but all around everyone seemed to have a good time which is what's important. I'm not going to go into much detail on the whole event, but thanks to to Amusement Parks on Fire for bring a rawkus late night set. After closing up shop a number of us relocated to Welcome to the Johnson's for some cheap tequila before last call crept up on us. Once the gates came down, Hawkins led Julia, Megan and I to some Lenny Kravitz after hours spot that was populated by some old friends from my first year of college. It was a great way to close out the weekend.
So you're wondering were I've been? I could use some cliché such as "Hell and Back", to describe the past few days of my life, but it wouldn't be fair. It's been butter since I left the office on Thursday, and in an effort to keep it going, my chips are on the table and the dice are in hand. Let me give you the rundown. Thursday was the second night of Doves at Webster Hall. Since Wednesday was a little crazy, I decided to take the outside post leaving the front door to the fasting D. It was a nice evening to be stuck outside, so I joked around with the masses while directing them into the venue. As luck would have it, my shift ended at the same time Meredith rolled up to the club. We cruised upstairs in search of a decent spot to see the show, but after running around we found the back corner to be our best option. We were joined by Sky, Rob, Mr. Midget and Daylen for the duration of the set. Doves sounded absolutely fantastic. The sound system did them some serious justice, and unlike the Bowery show, there was a bit of smoke/mist in the air so the light show couldn't burn out any retinas. I'm growing increasing familiar with their material, but I'm not in a position to give you a rundown of their set. I did recognize a heap of new songs from Some Cities, like "Black and White Town" and "Sky Starts Falling". They also opened the set with an older favorite, "Pounding", but the rest of the set was simply a dreamy mix of excellent atmospheric rock.
Enrique, Meredith and I decided to bail one song into their encore because we didn't want to be late for The Hold Steady's set at the Bowery Ballroom. We arrived as Need New Body finished up their freakish set. As a massive group of kids assembled in the back corner, poised to get drunk and have a good time while Craig Finn captivated the crowd. The Hold Steady took the stage and proceeded to play Separation Sunday from start to finish. It was an appropriate move since the show was billed as a record release show. As they blasted through some of my favorite songs like "Your Little Hoodrat Friend", "Charlemagne in Sweatpants" and "Don't Let Me Explode", it became clear that The Hold Steady will outlast the multiple bands that don't contain an ounce of the story telling talent possessed by Finn and his gang of bar stool prophets.
The encore blessed us with some of the classics from their first record. "Hostile Massachusetts" and "Killer Parties" were just two of the jams that really took my rowdiness over the edge. They gave tons of praise to everyone involved that included a big shout out to Noah and DTL. This got our beer soaked corner hooting and hollering. There was even a song titled, "212 Margarita" which I'd never heard before, but you can believe will soon be my theme song. We ended the night in the basement slamming beers without any regard for the following workday.
:: Round 2 ::
Friday was a struggle, but by 5pm a second wind caught my sails. This was fortunate because my phone rang off the hook until Hawkins and Leah picked Oveis and me up for a trip out to Park Slope. We arrived at Matt G.'s house and were treated by a suburban style backyard keg party. Matt finally turned 21 (who knew with that beard) and in honor his rents left the house for the weekend so he could ring it in with some close friends. Matt exhibited master grill skills and produced some of the finest dogs and burgers I've consumed in the outdoor setting. As some of the kids hung in the back, Leah and I snuck inside and ended up playing beer pong with Jenny and Tori. By the end of the game we were nicely toasted so we bid farewell and jumped back into the car.
On the way in, Lucy clued me into the fact that she was packing heat in the form of a tequila filled flask. I nipped on the fountain of youth while we crossed the bridge only to realize in the next few minutes that I was fairly intoxicated. After parking we hustled down to the club hoping to catch most of Stellastarr's set, but we'd run a bit late. Apparently they played a lot of material from the new record and the couple songs we heard sound like a continuation of their first effort with a bit less gloss. They came back out for an encore that included "My Coco" that had the place going bananas. After their set Lil' Beach and I managed to Culkin Enrique which pretty much solidified the evening on the positive scale of 1-to-Awesome.
The evening wasn't over. Adam decided to make an effort to move us to the Mercury Lounge were the one man dance machine, Baby Dayliner was scheduled to play a late set. This guy always seems to impress me. At this late juncture of the evening, the Mercury was a bit over half full, but everyone in the place was catching the solid gold grove the Kevin Bacon look-a-like was laying down. My plan was to stick around and try to talk him into doing a set at an upcoming Loose party, but I was so drunk and tired that the lure of 186 was to much. I went home and promptly passed out on the couch with my shoes on.
:: Round 3 ::
Saturday was epic from start to finish. It began with the roommates hanging out for a bit before Kyle and I decided to catch some brunch at our new Avenue A hotspot, Angelina's. This place is cheap and fucking amazing. Give it a shot, but don't tell your friends because it's still at the point where you can walk up at any given time and be seated. I had the most delicious bowl of fruit and granola before we settled up and headed west in search of hoodies.
After some shopping, we met Oveis back at the house for a quick hang before he took off for home. Hawkins and Christie picked me up around 2pm and we proceeded to get lost on our way out to Queens. We finally found the Bohemian Beer Garden where Dana and Jamie were celebrating their birthdays. I saddled up to Dana and we proceed to slam back Hoegaarden while kids dined on kielbasa and various other bar food delicacies. The day got a bit rowdy when the gang decided King's Cup would be a good idea. We ended up being that loud table that everyone at the garden would stare at and bitch among their friends, mostly because they weren't having as much fun as us.
Eventually Hawkins, Christie and I headed back to the city. I threw back a couple cups of coffee and got my self a sandwich so I would be in peak performance mode for the first Bright Eyes / Faint show at Webster Hall. The evening went so smoothly. Their fans are so well mannered that it made my night a breeze. By 10pm it was time for me to hustle down to 186 for a quick shower before the Loose Party at Pianos.
There are some mixed feelings about the Loose Party, but all around everyone seemed to have a good time which is what's important. I'm not going to go into much detail on the whole event, but thanks to to Amusement Parks on Fire for bring a rawkus late night set. After closing up shop a number of us relocated to Welcome to the Johnson's for some cheap tequila before last call crept up on us. Once the gates came down, Hawkins led Julia, Megan and I to some Lenny Kravitz after hours spot that was populated by some old friends from my first year of college. It was a great way to close out the weekend.
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