Sometimes you know when you're watching something great, and on Monday - this was abundantly clear. After an awesome meal at Mary Ann's with a few friends including The Real NG, I wobbled home with a belly full of shrimps. For a second I contemplated throwing it all away for a night on the couch, but thankfully my sister was there to motivate me. We walked over to Rosario’s so she could grab a slice and we could meet the Beach and Giglet. We strolled into Bowery right on time only to find out the show was an entire band behind schedule. This prompted me to take my mild food coma to the basement to mingle with the hordes of friends who poured into the venue. After bouncing around from crew to crew, I went upstairs to check out Rick Steele who, if rumors are correct, is Sleepy Jackson's dad. He has a hilarious stage presence that compliments his everyman style of guitar/harmonica roots rock. He sounded like a weathered veteran who has spent his formidable days on the road going where the wind took him. It was like watching Easy Rider's VH1 Behind the Music - or something.

After his set I chatted up Jersey Dan (yes, the Italian Stallion was in the house for a 17 hour vacation that ended in a violent puke session in the Slope) and Mr. Adam will always be a key note speaker in my life. We took a tequila shot or two before taking my place up front for another mind blowing Sam Champion performance. The band took the stage as Ryan pounded out the intro to "So Good To Me" which is a total dance-in-the-pants jam. The band has a knack to jump all over the rock spectrum. As Christen said, they've shed the Pavement skin (though it isn't far behind), and picked up a bit more of a straight forward Americana rock vibe. They invited Mark from Sono Oto onstage to jam it out on keyboard for a few tunes which at times gave it a Doors feel, but don't think douchey Doors, just picture the good stuff - like being 17 in a car with a joint and the Best Of. Check out Christen's Tripwire report for more detail, but the bottom line was they book ended the show with two amazing new tracks (they closed with "B Mine" or "B Minor" pending on who you talk to) and in between they treated us to a bevy of fantastic songs. Things should be looking up for this band - way up.

I'd just like to note that last night was spent on a yacht playing dominos while munching ribs and sipping b-wiesers. It was a good day. That shit should be rolled out for me on the regular. I was also a strong memeber of The Orhcard's drinking team who beat eMusic in the second annual chugging contest.