Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Birthday Gal

So this past Sunday was my birthday. And what a weekend it was. Friday started out with my friend just telling me not to plan anything that her and I were going out. She picked me up and we went to Tony Jaro's for a greenie. At Tony Jaro's was my best friend Amanda who had flown in from California to surprise me. And boy did it do that. She was there with another friend I had played softball with growing up. We had a couple of drinks and decided to move on since there was a hideous girl group all tan and sparkly that had just entered. We decided to move on to Gasthof's home of Das Boot. There friends and family were waiting for me and there was quite the party. I would say we went through 6 boots and so much sniff snuff I was blowing brown snot for days. It was a great time and a very big surprise. Some family and friends pitched in and got me an Ipod Mini as well which was very cool.

Saturday I had lunch with some family after having to work for a brief bit in the morning. But Saturday night The Mighty Mofo's were playing at the 7th St Entry. One of my favorite local bands at my favorite venue. I was so happy. I knew this was going to be the ultimate celebration. The night started with 241s at the Leaning Tower with three friends. My friend Alycia and I decided that since it was so nice out we were going to walk to the club. And such a great walk it was. The Hos were out in record numbers in downtown minneapolis. Gals in their matching outfits of black pants and just a different colored sparkly halter top. The guys all in light jeans and different color collard shirts. They really all dress and look exactly alike. Alycia in her camoflauge pants, combat boots and moto primo sweatshirt and I in my plain black tshirt, ragged long john shirt underneath and dirty chuck taylors were obviously quite the opposite of these people, and we couldn't be more proud. We tried hooking up said groups of guys in girls so they could become matching couples, but they didn't see the humor in it that we did. We also passed by the wretched Barfly which has taken space in the Skyway theatre. Hideous neon peace sign earrings accented afghan shirts and ladies in hawaiian lays, our brains were going nuts with the people watching. But we did also compliment the few ladies we saw that we could tell were comfortable with themselves, weren't anorexic and were just beautiful people. So we were nice too.

We got to the club and the Floorshakers were on who were pretty good. They fit a bill well with the Mighty Mofos. Its rock and you can dance to it. We caught some of it and retreated to the mainroom due to its air conditioning. The Entry was so hot and nasty. There we had some drinks and met THE Billy Batson of the Mofos. Alycia reminded him of her birthday antics as he was doing sound that night in the Entry. He was very impressed by her and asked her when she was starting a band. I hope she does it. But I did get to converse with the man which was very cool. The night became very drunken with free drinks from friends and staffers at first ave. Lots of whiskey. The Loose Rails were up after the Floorshakers and were a bit too poppy and just not my type of band. So we retreated to the mainroom to cool off and to dance. There was no one dancing so we owned the floor. I don't dance well but since my friend Kim and I were drunk enough, it didn't matter. Next up the Mofos. Oh man I can never get enough of this band. I didn't stop dancing from start to finish and I was right in Billy's face. I had a group of pals around me and we had a blast. After the show Alycia and I hit the office in First Ave with some friends. I met the bookers Nate and Sonia. We hung out with guys from the Midnight Evils. Billy came in and thanked Alycia and I for our dancing which was really cool. The dork that I am said, "Well thanks for giving me something to dance to." As the Mofos finished my friend John turned to me and said it best, "We're so lucky to live in a city where we're able to go to shows like the Mofos, the Midnight Evils and Arcwelder, all the time." Amen brother, I love mpls.

Ok so post show Alycia and I go to the place where one of the guys in the Midnight Evils lives, also joining us was Nate, one of the bookers from first ave. We hang out on their awesome deck cause its so beautiful outside, have some beers, some smoke and hear some great stories about different bands playing the venue and how the booker is good friends with Mike Watt. I was in my element. And we were there til roughly 5am.

The next morning, actual birthday, got up and did beer for breakfast at the CC Club with a few friends. Was fried from the previous night so was quite lazy. My dad came over and he had bought me a new stereo which was amazing. We got a lot of that hooked up and met my brother for dinner at the Tower. Then it was a chill night. I had drank enough the past two nights so I met some friends for ice cream and just hung out outside. It was a great birthday, the best I've ever had.

Friday, May 13, 2005

The Hearse at Lee's

So its been a slow week because I feel like shit and I have very little money after my Orlando jaunt. In fact I'll probably be selling some CDs in the morning to keep my night life going and my gas tank full. Last night was Hot Rod Hearse at Lee's Liquor Lounge. They opened for The Knotwell's. Hot Rod Hearse is a pretty straight forward Rockabilly/Psychobilly band. Fun sounds, great bass player and just an overall good show. The Knotwells seem more torn. They got a bit of Hillbilly, Psychobilly and then there's a Nick Cave sounding aspect to them. Pretty good band, though as a friend pointed out to me doing what the Amish Armada do, only not as well. I was expecting a better crowd because the show was free and it was a Thursday night. Sadly most of the people there were either in one of the bands or dating someone in the bands. There were still some people that got down and danced to The Knotwells. Very crazily I might add and one of them fell over right in front of me. But hey at least they're into it and they're moving.

Tonight I'll be off to the turf club for the Virgin Whores, The Squabs, Off With Their Heads and Fighter Heyabusa. And since I really really like The Squabs, this should be a great time. Despite the cold and lack of funds.

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Because that's how I roll

Since 12 Paul Westerberg shows since last November is never enough, I did make the journey for the last scheduled show for him so far. This was at the House of Blues in Orlando, yeah Downtown Disney. Yes I was in Florida hell. Buildings in pink, peach, teal and wicker every where I looked. Sure it was warm and very nice outside but there was also screaming kids and geriatrics in hawaiian shirts as far as the eye could see. How Mr. Westerberg's booking agent could choose this as a last stop is really an inconceivable thought to me.

With Loni by my side again we were ready to make the shortest Florida vacation possible for a midwesterner. We were on a plane at 8 am departing for Orlando on Sunday morning. We got on another plane at 6am Monday morning heading back. Not even a full 24 hours in the state. We stayed at the lovely Grosvenor Resort.



Yes that building is pink and in the distance is downtown disney and a very round Planet Hollywood. Here we met up with fellow Westerberg fan, Richard, who could be the coolest Canadians I've ever met. Though I'm pretty sure I've only met 4 or 5. I met him at the Milwaukee and Chicago shows, I met Loni in Chicago as well. The day started out with Whiskey by the pool and too much swearing around little kids. Because when you're quoting the Big Lebowski you can't avoid statements like "I would have fucked you in the ass Saturday. I fuck you in the ass next Wednesday instead." After saying that I realized there were about five 3-6 year olds well within earshot. I hope when they were getting tucked into bed that night they said "Daddy what does fuck you in the ass mean?" "Well honey its something Daddies do to Mommies when they've been bad girls." Eight year olds Dude.

Ok back to subject. After a $10 cab ride that took us less than a mile (hey we were lazy and we had been drinking, fuck walking), we arrived at the House of Blues. Being that we're dorks and this is the last show we get in line to make sure we're up close. And yes we were close, only the stage in front of us. Which was a monstrosity being that it stood I would say about 4 feet off the ground. The whole show I was either looking up Westerbergs nose or getting splashed with his spit. But determined to rock out, I don't think I stopped moving the whole show. The curtains opened promptly at 8, which was shocking on its own. The set was very tight with few covers and songs I haven't heard much such as Don't Want Never, Man Without Ties, Black Diamond, Lush and Green and Folkstar, which smokes live by the way. There were problems with his amp and when a guitar just wasn't working for him he gave it a kiss and smashed it giving some fans a few really cool souvenirs. He held up the bridge and said how much is this worth to you guys, I yelled out my plane ticket back to mpls, but he didn't hear it and someone else got the bridge.

A woman we had met in line had a Hootenanny album that she had signed by him in 93. Despite me telling her not to do this she handed it to him while he was on stage and had him sign it. He signed something else for someone as well and I just thought, what the hell are you people doing, wait for the damn meet and greet. In line I met quite a few people. There was a woman that I had talked with at a show in LA and another woman who was doing a documentary. She was also at the LA show, she had Paul autograph her arm and later turned that into a tattoo. I love you're music Paul but don't think I would ever have your name tattooed on my body. Lyrics could be cool, like Jodi's I Will Dare tattoo. There was also a few fellow MWT posters and most of them were even staying in the same hotel as us. I'm sure 95% of the front row of fans were us and other out of towners. Florida was not represnting Westerberg fans well. The venue had a capacity of 2300 and when doors opened only 300 tickets had been sold. I would say there were maybe 450-500 people in attendance. It was quite shocking but I'm sure helped in me being able to be at the front of the crowd.

Later we did the meet and greet. Richard who had gotten a pass for after show was cool enough to stick out the line with us instead. We talked to Paul briefly while he was sitting on the steps of his bus. He told us that he saw us rocking out (my term not his) and that it really keeps him going and said how much he appreciated it. I was so happy, especially because I argue to people all the time that the crowd really effects the performance and it helps to show the band that you're into it. He signed my ticket stubs and we mentioned how someone thought we deserved passes in NY and showed him that we were given them. We then asked if we could talk to Michael Bland. He had told Loni via a private message to stop by and say hi. I had previously talked to him in Milwaukee and wanted to say hi as well. Paul let us up on the bus and Michael was so nice and happy to see us, especially Loni. So yeah we hung on the bus for quite a while. Jim Boquist introduced himself which was cool because I'm sure he's seen me at many of the 13 shows I attended. He was a very nice guy and told me that he appreciated us coming to the shows. He put on some good Stones tunes and hung with us for a bit. Michael told us a story about Jim and Paul filling plastic wiffle ball type balls with lighter fluid, lighting them up and throwing them down the aisle of the bus at each other. I thought that was great, I wanted them to do that right then and there. Imagine being the bus driver and peeking in your rear view mirror to little balls of fire flying around the bus. Oh to be in a band on tour.

Paul spent most of his time doing the meet and greet so I didn't get to talk to him on the bus, which is fine because I would have only said something stupid. It did feel kind of weird hanging out where Paul Westerberg was wandering around stuff. Just being chill with him there. At one point he was walking back to the door of the bus to go talk to more people and I just kind of looked down as he was walking by me not to be the obvious staring fan geek and he was doing this weird little jig with his hands, he was in a good mood, and just kind of scratched the top of my head. You know the kind of thing a friend does as they pass by and even though they have nothing to say they acknowledge you. So yeah I am a geeky fan girl and am still kind of dorking out over that. Richard leaned over to me and said something like "you just got adorned." I'm not sure what the word was cause I was in a bit of awe. Someone who I admire so much was being that casual with me. Jim too was that cool about things, very friendly to some fan who was hanging out. They're great people.

So after chatting for quite a while the three of us got a ride back to our hotel. We ordered some pizza and again sat by the pool drinking whiskey. By this point it was about one am and Loni and I had to catch a shuttle to the airport around 4 so we knew sleep was pointless. So the fabulous night ended with about a 45 minute long movie quoting session featuring such movies as Repo Man, Spinal Tap, the Big Lebowski of course and Office Space. Our plane left Orlando at 5:50 am, we had a slight layover in Atlanta and was back in mpls by 9:30 and at work by 11:30. Why? Because thats how I roll.

Saturday, May 07, 2005

Glam night

Last night I went to the Triple Rock to see the Filthy Divine and All The Pretty Horses. Filthy Divine has taken more a poppy turn and I'm not sure I'm digging it. Viva does have a great voice but I ended up going to the bar side for half of their show. But I was also keeping tabs on a really drunk friend.

I really really enjoy All The Pretty Horses. They have a good sound and put on a show worth checking out. There's a documentary about the singer called Venus of Mars that I haven't seen yet but is supposed to be really good. Here's a brief description of the documentary and may make you understand All The Pretty Horses if you haven't heard of them:

VENUS OF MARS
The eye-catching transgender singer of a Minneapolis glam rock band and her wife negotiate the frontiers of love and gender.

On stage, wearing a vinyl corset and stiletto boots, s/he's Venus, lead singer of the glam rock band All The Pretty Horses. At home in Minneapolis with Lynette, her wife of twenty years, s/he's Steve. Born male, Venus is transgender. S/he's "in between" — taking female hormones, but not planning to have sexual reassignment surgery. To some, s/he's a pioneer, courageously exploring a brave new world of gender identity, free of categorization. To others, s/he's a freak. VENUS OF MARS is both the unique coming out story of Venus' gender-redefining journey, and the truly contemporary love story of a couple weathering dramatic changes in uncharted relationship territory.

There was a pretty good crowd at the TriRock for it, comprised mostly of lesbians, one of which tried to make out with my friend and was briefly successful. But people were into the show and the band put forth another stellar performance. Its so refreshing to see a band do something more than sit on stage and go through motions so this was something I really needed.

After the show we had to make the drunken white castle run and then watched Velvet Goldmine, so yes it was a glam filled night. Anyone who isn't familiar with Velvet Goldmine should check out the movie and even more important the sound track. Really great stuff from random artists cover some of glam's greatests.

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

How do you get old people off the phone?

I'm right now listening to an old woman tell me about her favorite book series. After repeatedly telling her I can't help her find out of print books. She actually used the term wah hooey. I guess thats old for fuckin' a! Ha thats not nice. But this call is going on 16 minutes. And I can't be mean and say hey listen I have other things to do. But I need to get off the damn phone. This gives you an idea of the people I have to deal with on a daily basis. I can't tell you how many times I've said thats interesting and tried concluding the conversation but this woman will have none of that. I now know more about this historical romance writer than I have ever cared to.

Oh great going on 20 minutes and now I'm hearing what her mother taught her when she was younger. She beat the nice into this old woman. Oh wow, people why do you think I want to hear all this. Ok 23 minutes and 49 seconds. This was a work call and I can't tell you how boring it was and I'm more than obvious. I don't mean to make derogatory comments about older people but she really needed someone to entertain her.

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

"Checkin' His Stash by the Trash at St. Mark's Place."

A week ago I hopped a plane with another Westerberg fan to NYC for two shows. We left Tuesday morning and came back Thursday morning. It was a quick jaunt to a city I hadn't been to in about 10 years. And what a Westerberg filled two days it was.

After getting to the city and getting settled in our hostel we made our way to the Tribeca Film Festival for Aurora Borealis. This film is based in Minneapolis and has a character (juliette lewis) who moved to Mpls because of the Replacements and in search of Paul Westerberg. This was a very small part of the movie. The rest of the movie was based on Joshua Jackson's character getting his act together, helping take care of his dying grandfather (Donald Sutherland) and dating a new woman (Lewis). Other than Donald Sutherland's acting I didn't really care for this movie. The love relationship between Jackson and Lewis' characters is way too much like Good Will Hunting. Also being that I have a deep love for the city I live in, I was appaled by their portrayal of Mpls. Ok we're really not stuck in the 50's and its not snowing all the time. Plus they make us look like we're all white trash Vikings worshippers, and trust me we aren't. Even the characters talk about hating Mpls and how there's nothing to do here. Which is sad because I find a lot of people have a loyalty to the city. Also hang with me for even two nights and I'll show you that mpls has a fuckin lot to offer. Bullshit. Ok back on focus. At the end of the movie there is someone that plays Westerberg per his refusal to be in the movie. They do have his clothes on and the hair is kind of similar but they were really off. First he's driving, PW does not drive, doesn't have a license. So now they have him driving this douchebag el camino muscle type car thats loud and obnoxious. And of course he's honking at Lewis and she calls him a prick. The credits hadn't rolled yet but we still left after laughing at that horrible depiction.

That night we met up with some fellow fans from MWT at the Collins Bar which is right by the venue and also by our hostel. We got some pre show whiskey a hot dog at the stand out front and then proceeded to the show. The show was a rather loose show but ripping through such greats as Stain Yer Blood, Skyway, Making Me Go, Knockin On Mine, Alex Chilton, Left of the Dial, Merry Go Round, Someone Take The Wheel, with covers of Live Forever, Whipping Post, Different Drum and the ever amazing cover BORSTAL BREAKOUT (obviously not in this order). I love that they played a Sham 69 song and man did they rock doing it. I also love when they cover I Got A Mind To Give Up Living by BB King which I did get in that first show. And man was Kevin Bowe smoking on the guitar during that song. We even got about 3 seconds of Customer. Very interesting, I think I'll leave that one to the Mats. Everything was far from the normal order at the shows I've been to and I really really really enjoyed that.

One of the people we were hanging out with pre show had gotten kicked out of the show due to a brawl with the bouncers that was taken to the streets. It also had a cameo by Christian Slater, but it's not my story to tell so we're going to leave it at that. So we met up with this friend back at the Collins Bar for some more post show Whiskey. This would be the bar of the trip.

Day two was spent wandering in the East Village. Walked over to CBGBs and stood on Joey Ramone place, of course while wearing my Ramones shirt cause thats how much of a geek I am. From there we stopped by Generation Records which I thoroughly enjoyed. I could have spent the whole day there. Picked up a Zeke CD and when thumbing through some of the punk section I found a Midnight Evils cd (local Mpls band, see many previous posts). From there our wandering lead us to St. Mark's place. This is a very cool street filled with punk shops and jewelry, misc stands galore. It was very cool to check the stash at St. Mark's. Trash and Vaudeville, Search and Destroy and countless other t shirt shops. If I had more money I would have bought so much. I spent my money at a thrift shop where I found a dickies shirt that was $40 in a trendy shop, for only $8. Quite the deal if you ask me.

Now to show. Again pre show drinks at Collins Bar. Get to the show and worm our way as close as we can. And can I say that this show was so damn amazing. The band was tight the set was great and the crowd finally got into it. Now I can't go to one of these shows without rocking out because its just that great. And its hard for me to see people standing around with such greatness in front of them. Well finally somone understood. While waiting in line a big black security who couldn't even remember PW's name was saying how loud the music was and that he didn't understand how people could just stand there and watch it. AMEN! I wanted to hug the guy. Me and my traveling buddy wanted tshirts made with his face on it. Well the crowd reacted better this night. Even though someone tried to get me to stop rockin out. But he ripped through an amazing set, again playing Borstal Breakout. When he had his acoustic out he asked if there were any requests before he put it away and I yelled Things. He got in my face (because there was no gap or barrier between stage and audience) and made sure to hear what I requested. He played it, of course having to come down to ask us how to start the next verse. But I was shaking it was so cool. So fast forward to the encore. I told my friend that I would give up Alex Chilton to hear IOU because the song is so amazing live. Well I was blessed further when he came out and played Nevermind. I hadn't heard that since the Pantages shows I was jumping for joy. And what do you know after Nevermind came IOU. Those songs are so fucking wonderful live. After a ripping Left of the Dial, the mics are taken down and the amps were off but the crowd would have none of that. We yelled, we cheered whistled clapped and even though the band had already been up upstairs ready to start their aftershow business, they came back and rocked us completey with Alex Chilton and I'm telling you I have not rocked out that hard to Alex Chilton since I first heard it. It was rock n roll bliss. The crowd was so into it, I was so proud. Afterwards me and a few others hung out to try and do a meet and greet. Two girls came out from backstage and gave my traveling buddy and I their passes because they said we were awesome how into it we were and deserved to be backstage. Well the security guy didn't think so as he was trying to get everyone to leave. So no dice there. Paul came out but since it was on the street he just hopped into the cab and we didn't get to say anything. I was bumbed but was still on such a high from the show I couldn't sit still. To the bar gentlemen....

Back to Collins Bar. Its me, traveling buddy Loni, Enrique and Steve. We decide we want shots for waiting for so long for nothing to happen. Well after about 3 or 4 shots of Jack and some whiskey 7s Loni heads back to the hostel. Enrique walked her there but came back to keep partying. By the end of the night I think we had done 6 or 7 shots of Jack easily if not more. Enrique even got them to serve us after the 4 am close. Now its 4 am, and I should have been heading to the airport. But instead I along with Enrique and Steve enter a convenience store where I proceed to get the clerks opinion on the best 40 they have to offer. Out of that came two 40s of Old English, drank in the phone booth, with a homeless man trying his best to join in. Somehow we stumbled to my hostel, woke up Loni and got to the airport just in time to miss our flight. And lets just say I shouldn't have even been walking. We had to wait about 2 hours for another flight, the whole time was spent by me passed out on the floor of JFK. Not my most shining moment. But a great time overall.

Next stop...... Orlando.