Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Rock Shows
I'm currently dialing in from Tokyo - I came over for work, but was able to fit in a Japanese punk rock show.
I've got a list of Japanese bands I'd like to see play, so I check their sites before I come over. The band for this trip was Cherry Coke$ (http://www.thecherrycokes.com/index.html) playing at the ACB Hall (http://www.acb-hall.jp/) in Kabuki-cho. Kabuki-cho is the red-light district northeast of Shinjuku, where I was staying. A little bit less lighting on the streets, dice-ier people, not bad. If you can find the KOMA theater, ACB is on the far side, as you approach it from Shinjuku.
The ACB Hall itself is about 3 floors beneath the street. The event was listed as 2100 yen, but you had to purchase a 600 yen beer/soda as well, as part of getting into the event. The venue MIGHT hold 150, but it's probably more like 100. A small show, with a small bar near the door...bathrooms are in the narrow hallway leading in. It's also got the best air-conditioning for a punk rock show that I've been to. The first band is U CAN'T SAY NO! - they play a good ska-sound, and the guys down in front are doing some standard ska shimmies...not touching anyone, just in place. The next band is the Cherry Coke$, which I was a little down on when they started - lots of posturing from the singer, but it was less bothersome as time went on. (Okay, I'll trash talk St. Bushmill's Choir in the same breath. But! If you have a chance to see them, do it.)
I decide I'm fading, and I've seen the first two bands. I check the merch desk - picked up a CC shirt to show support (already have the 2 cds). 20 minutes to get out. As in, the narrow hallway is a choke point. And apparently there's not enough room for everyone to get in, so they've paid their money to stand in the hallway. I went from airconditioning to sweating through all of my clothes in those 20 minutes.
(thanks for hanging out, dude-from-the-band-playing-on-the-28th)
I get back, I'll catch Rocky Votolato, opening for some guy at the Triple Door.
Maybe Of Montreal
Probably Presidents of the United States of America
Definitely Mountain Goats at the end of Feb (!)
Hopefully KMRIA in Portland on St. Patrick's.
Hope you have better shows than me!
I've got a list of Japanese bands I'd like to see play, so I check their sites before I come over. The band for this trip was Cherry Coke$ (http://www.thecherrycokes.com/index.html) playing at the ACB Hall (http://www.acb-hall.jp/) in Kabuki-cho. Kabuki-cho is the red-light district northeast of Shinjuku, where I was staying. A little bit less lighting on the streets, dice-ier people, not bad. If you can find the KOMA theater, ACB is on the far side, as you approach it from Shinjuku.
The ACB Hall itself is about 3 floors beneath the street. The event was listed as 2100 yen, but you had to purchase a 600 yen beer/soda as well, as part of getting into the event. The venue MIGHT hold 150, but it's probably more like 100. A small show, with a small bar near the door...bathrooms are in the narrow hallway leading in. It's also got the best air-conditioning for a punk rock show that I've been to. The first band is U CAN'T SAY NO! - they play a good ska-sound, and the guys down in front are doing some standard ska shimmies...not touching anyone, just in place. The next band is the Cherry Coke$, which I was a little down on when they started - lots of posturing from the singer, but it was less bothersome as time went on. (Okay, I'll trash talk St. Bushmill's Choir in the same breath. But! If you have a chance to see them, do it.)
I decide I'm fading, and I've seen the first two bands. I check the merch desk - picked up a CC shirt to show support (already have the 2 cds). 20 minutes to get out. As in, the narrow hallway is a choke point. And apparently there's not enough room for everyone to get in, so they've paid their money to stand in the hallway. I went from airconditioning to sweating through all of my clothes in those 20 minutes.
(thanks for hanging out, dude-from-the-band-playing-on-the-28th)
I get back, I'll catch Rocky Votolato, opening for some guy at the Triple Door.
Maybe Of Montreal
Probably Presidents of the United States of America
Definitely Mountain Goats at the end of Feb (!)
Hopefully KMRIA in Portland on St. Patrick's.
Hope you have better shows than me!
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Happy New Year
It'd be sad just to delete everything, for lack of desire.
Nothing held me back from posting, no long hospital stays, work wasn't that crazy, and I didn't acquire a life-long soul mate...or even a temporary one.
Things that happened in the past 7 months....
Amadan turned out to be a weak show - Kell's sound is not that great, and the bass was either bad player or bad system...I went back with a musician for a different show, and he thinks they're still using speakers from 10 years ago.
Mountain Con - seen them multiple times this year - great people. Sad to have missed them at NYE, but the High Dive is tiny.
Mountain Goats in June was good. Not a high-energy band, but a good show.
Aqueduct was a week later - I like Aqueduct...I generally try to get out if they're on the list.
Also went to Columbus OH for a game convention, saw Zydepunks opening for Bloody Irish Boys. (I saw Zydepunks again over Xmas in LA with some of my SoCal friends...great show.)
Catch 22 played in July...fun to finally see them, and they're really good live.
July also had me in Tokyo, sadly, no rock shows that I wanted to see.
August sent me to Iowa for my mom's birthday, and then a work trip to Anaheim - no rock shows, although I almost went to see a band play in DSM, sadly, the flight was late, my luggage was lost, etc...
After a week in both places, I came back for the Mountain Goats, Cracker, and the Decemberists (Zoo!) Fun, although Decemberists are spoiled for me now.
September started with Bumbershoot and Black 47 (those dudes are getting up there in age, but glad to have seen them).
The reasons why I will probably never go to see the Decemberists again:
A couple of buddies and I ditched on our Snow Patrol tickets, to seek out the secret show. We barely got in, and it was a great, personal show. I saw them again in November, but now they play HUGE venues...and Colin's voice was thrashed, but the huge show thing isn't me. (I did see several Decemberists, ex-Decemberists, and misc. people play Pogues all night at the last moment...8-piece band, really...really good covers.)
Cherry Poppin' Daddies - strange. Good, but strange.
MC Chris - great show. I even invited some coworkers from Japan to come out, and we all had a really good time.
Dropkick Murphys - always a treat.
Rocky Votalato - good.
Visqueen - I'm sad. They're good people, and I love the music. I have a good time when they have the fun, almost manic energy, but when they're in a bad groove, it's like they shouldn't come out.
Mooncalf played their (last) show in October, which is sad. Hopefully they'll get back together again. One of the Matts is playing with Tim Seely, so I still see the band sometimes.
Bouncing Souls - not what I expected. I still like their music, but it'll be a different picture. No energy for the crowd.
Ockham's Razor is a new Irish band in Seattle - fun people, fair music. They know Culann's Hounds, better than I.
Devotchka - fun! fun! And I owe a CD to a server at Kell's for her return recommendation of the Balanescu Quartet.
To wrap up the year, I went to the Crocodile and saw Harvey Danger, with openers of Slender Means and Awesome. (I missed Awesome, I really like Slender Means.) HD did Abbey Road, the whole way through. Funny. The original stuff was fair too.
For the new year...
I'm saddened. Showbox is going to use TicketMaster now...ugh! Do they hate their music fans that much? TicketMaster charges a ton, delivers the tickets SUPER_F_ING_LATE, and did I mention how much they overcharge for crap service?
If you go to lots of shows, get your hearing checked. Get professional ear plugs measured too - it's only going to run you 300 or so, but it beats ringing in your ears, possibly permanently. (It doesn't affect talking during shows - I was worried about that too.)
Nothing held me back from posting, no long hospital stays, work wasn't that crazy, and I didn't acquire a life-long soul mate...or even a temporary one.
Things that happened in the past 7 months....
Amadan turned out to be a weak show - Kell's sound is not that great, and the bass was either bad player or bad system...I went back with a musician for a different show, and he thinks they're still using speakers from 10 years ago.
Mountain Con - seen them multiple times this year - great people. Sad to have missed them at NYE, but the High Dive is tiny.
Mountain Goats in June was good. Not a high-energy band, but a good show.
Aqueduct was a week later - I like Aqueduct...I generally try to get out if they're on the list.
Also went to Columbus OH for a game convention, saw Zydepunks opening for Bloody Irish Boys. (I saw Zydepunks again over Xmas in LA with some of my SoCal friends...great show.)
Catch 22 played in July...fun to finally see them, and they're really good live.
July also had me in Tokyo, sadly, no rock shows that I wanted to see.
August sent me to Iowa for my mom's birthday, and then a work trip to Anaheim - no rock shows, although I almost went to see a band play in DSM, sadly, the flight was late, my luggage was lost, etc...
After a week in both places, I came back for the Mountain Goats, Cracker, and the Decemberists (Zoo!) Fun, although Decemberists are spoiled for me now.
September started with Bumbershoot and Black 47 (those dudes are getting up there in age, but glad to have seen them).
The reasons why I will probably never go to see the Decemberists again:
A couple of buddies and I ditched on our Snow Patrol tickets, to seek out the secret show. We barely got in, and it was a great, personal show. I saw them again in November, but now they play HUGE venues...and Colin's voice was thrashed, but the huge show thing isn't me. (I did see several Decemberists, ex-Decemberists, and misc. people play Pogues all night at the last moment...8-piece band, really...really good covers.)
Cherry Poppin' Daddies - strange. Good, but strange.
MC Chris - great show. I even invited some coworkers from Japan to come out, and we all had a really good time.
Dropkick Murphys - always a treat.
Rocky Votalato - good.
Visqueen - I'm sad. They're good people, and I love the music. I have a good time when they have the fun, almost manic energy, but when they're in a bad groove, it's like they shouldn't come out.
Mooncalf played their (last) show in October, which is sad. Hopefully they'll get back together again. One of the Matts is playing with Tim Seely, so I still see the band sometimes.
Bouncing Souls - not what I expected. I still like their music, but it'll be a different picture. No energy for the crowd.
Ockham's Razor is a new Irish band in Seattle - fun people, fair music. They know Culann's Hounds, better than I.
Devotchka - fun! fun! And I owe a CD to a server at Kell's for her return recommendation of the Balanescu Quartet.
To wrap up the year, I went to the Crocodile and saw Harvey Danger, with openers of Slender Means and Awesome. (I missed Awesome, I really like Slender Means.) HD did Abbey Road, the whole way through. Funny. The original stuff was fair too.
For the new year...
I'm saddened. Showbox is going to use TicketMaster now...ugh! Do they hate their music fans that much? TicketMaster charges a ton, delivers the tickets SUPER_F_ING_LATE, and did I mention how much they overcharge for crap service?
If you go to lots of shows, get your hearing checked. Get professional ear plugs measured too - it's only going to run you 300 or so, but it beats ringing in your ears, possibly permanently. (It doesn't affect talking during shows - I was worried about that too.)
