Shotgun shifts are the absolute worst. After what felt like a long day in the office, I returned home and began pounding through some loose work with PTI and Sportscenter providing the background muzac. Around 7pm I received a phone call from an unrecognizable 212 number. Normally I screen these calls, (as evident by Dana's "STOP SCREENING MY PHONE CALLS" message an hour earlier) but the number looked vaguely familiar. It was Jen from the Bowery wondering why I had yet to arrive at the club for a shift. I frantically wondered whether or not it was supposed to be me while searching through emails for Noah's correspondence. Once the email was found, it was clear that I was supposed to cover the Martha Wainwright show so some clothes were thrown on (our house is a sauna) as I dashed out the door.

After a million apologies and some quick prep work, we opened doors and I settled in for work. The entire evening was spent with one eye on the clock and constant anxiety in regards to the Wolf Parade set time. The shift was pretty easy and the Martha camp was filled with nice folks so a minute or two before 11pm we closed down and I once again darted to the street in the direction of the Northsix.

Thanks to Dana, who didn't give up on me by selling her extra, and Ian who helped expedite my entrance into the show room. Fortunately I wasn't late; in fact I arrived a bit early. After a quick catch up session with Zeina, I made my way into the crowd where a one Mr. DJ Del was spotted. He was with the overly excited Dana, Rachel and Lauren who gave consideration to following DTL and Stefan up front, but stuck close to the bar with the rest of us. They rubbed my starving nose in tales of the delicious dinner they had at Mo Pitkens while we waited for the band leaders.


Around 11:15pm Wolf Parade took the stage and indulged us with practically the same set as the night before. There was one exciting change but I'll get to that in a minute. For me, last night was better than the Bowery's show simply because the vocals sounded fuller; more pronounced. This made the band's already solid stage presence seem backed by full blown, well deserved confidence. From the minute they kicked things off with "It's a Curse" until they closed (yet again) with the reflectively somber "Dinner Bells", Wolf Parade had me eating out of their hand like a goat at the petting zoo. Maybe I was just happy to make it on time. Maybe they did sound a bit better. Maybe I was just stoned at the Bowery show. Maybe I wasn't getting picked on the whole time for wearing a trucker hat. Either way, last night's show beat out Monday's if only by a narrow margin.

Yes, captain clanks was banging around his toys last night, but it didn't seem to bother me as much, especially when he rocked out on his guitar at the end of "Dinner Bells". My favorite tracks from last night's set were "We Built Another World" and "Shine a Light" along with the same closers from the previous evening, "This Heart's On Fire" and "I'll Believe In Anything". The icing on the whole two-day Wolf Parade affair was their inclusion of "Disco Sheets" from their first, self-titled Sub Pop EP. The angular guitars and four-on-the-floor goodness kicked off a three-song encore that concluded with the aforementioned "Dinner Bells".

Following the show we ran into folks like Dave, Jeff, Gabby, Christie and Mia, but my mind was focused on getting some dinner. Del, Rachel, Dana and I split a cab back to the L.E.S. Gretchen, Dee and Kyle were packed up and ready to leave 186. I begged them for some food, but settled on a petrified pita and some unmarked humus. Tonight's dinner better be amazing, no matter what gets thrown in my belly.

New Club Alert!!!

There is a new club opening in the heart of the club central and its called Fat Baby. Ms. I Rock I Roll is doing the booking at the club and tonight she is inviting the hip and elite (read: everyone) to check out the space. Here are the details from her email:

We are kicking things off this week with a huge party TONIGHT, featuring an OPEN BAR from 9-11. *** ALL WELL DRINKS will be FREE FOR TWO HOURS ***. And trust me; the upstairs bar is big enough that you will have NO PROBLEM getting served (over 30 ft long)!

Downstairs tonight we also have two NYC bands playing, Squid (9:30) and Aloke (10:30), and upstairs DJs Alex English (One Louder), Rob (Morning Theft) and the girls of On The Pull will keep you rocking.


I will now attempt to do the unthinkable; go three blog posts without mentioning anything about Wolves or Parades.