You keep eternity, give us the radio
Gah, where did my weekend go?!
I know where Saturday night went, at least: I had ridiculously delicious dinner with zabira at Kushibar, and THEN I had a Nutella mocha (which is a diabolically genius invention), and then we headed over to the Crocodile Café to see a rock show. So, the backstory here is this: a couple of months back, I read an article in the Seattlest about an up-and-coming local band called Mal de Mer that was apparently made up of people who had been popular with other local bands. And one of those people happens to be a friend of mine from high school (not a close friend, but a friend; we were in a bunch of plays together), though I had no idea he even lived here. So Z and I decided we should go check out their show.
And they were GREAT, and their co-lead-singer/keyboardist is particularly amazing; she has this fantastic strong, belter kind of voice that I adore. But dude, it BLEW MY MIND, seeing Jimmy up there (he plays bass, and occasional backup vocals), because. I mean. I have not seen this guy in 15 years, and the last time I did see him we were all awkward teenagers, and now he's all with the rockstar swagger and the casual between-songs banter, and I just. I COULD NOT PROCESS IT. It was a little bit like when my friend Shane was on an episode of Bones, and I watched the whole time going, OMG, Shane is in a room with Booth and Brennan, why is he in a room with Booth and Brennan?, it was just… worlds colliding! Strangely! However, underneath all the weirdness, I am really really happy and excited for him, and I accosted him after the show and we talked for a few minutes, and he's still a sweetheart. And he told me to find him on Facebook and we should hang out, and so I did, and now we're Facebook friends, and I see that he's been going to culinary school and he has a local comics podcast on his FB interests and he's married and has a dog, so CLEARLY we have things to potentially discuss, but now I'm all awkward about should I ask him to hang out? Was he just saying that? And I am laughing at myself because OH MY GOD, it's just JIMMY, and just because he's in a band now doesn't make him suddenly too cool for me or whatever, so what the hell. I mean, honestly, I have no expectation that we're actually going to be friends or anything; I suspect it will probably be like it is with most of my high-school friends that I suddenly rediscover after a long hiatus, where we go get drinks and discuss what we've been doing for the past decade and it's fun but then we don't really hang out again. This particular situation is just a weird combination of my constant underlying fear that people think I'm a freak (seriously, I am fairly good at new friends and fairly good with established friends but the in-between is always an especially fraught place for me, confidence-wise), and the specific weirdness of seeing someone I used to know in a framework that I would normally find pretty hot, but it's weird, because it's JIMMY, and in my head he's still 17, and. Oh man. I am being so idiotically WEIRD about this and THE ONLY REASON IT'S WEIRD IS THAT I AM MAKING IT WEIRD and I AM A FREAK. *laughs at self while pounding head on desk*)
AAAAAANYWAY. Mal de Mer, you should check them out! And then there was another band called The Globes, and they were good, but not really my style, and then the headliner was Telekinesis, and they were AWESOME. Also a local band, but a signed one, and they just got back from a six-week tour, and their lead singer (Michael) is also their drummer, which is awesome, and then they have a bass player (Jason) and a guitarist (Cody) and they were all SO FUCKING ADORABLE. Cody especially, who looked kind of like the beautiful miracle assbaby of David Cook and Dominic Monaghan, and he was SO ENERGETIC and gleeful and BEAMING and so ridiculously insanely adorably INTO the other two guys, Michael especially, it was stupidly endearing. Z had run across this picture of them sometime last week and it turned out to be COMPLETELY PROPHETIC. Hee. (Also at one point Michael and Cody switched instruments for a couple of songs. HOT.) And then they called The Globes (who have been touring with them) back up onstage for the final song, and then Cody was hanging all over THEM, like, ZERO personal space, and dude. Total puppy pile, with really really fun, energetic, bouncy-dancy-thrashy music, to boot. (And beautiful guitars, too. Rrrowr.) SO MUCH FUN, I was just laughing out loud with glee by the end of their set. DO RECOMMEND. (Also, in the bathroom before their set, we ran into the mother of one of the guys in the band; awwww. Local shows are so fun! ♥) You can get their new album on Amazon for $5, how cool is that?
Also recommended? This set of videos, where Frank Iero and Ray Toro talk about their gear and their writing process and play riffs from their songs and it is SO FUCKING HOT I CAN'T EVEN. I mean, competence kink and collaboration kink and HANDS and GUITARS and okay, Frankie is tiny delicious sex on a stick AS ALWAYS but these videos-the demonstration parts, anyway-are kind of allll about Ray for me. He goes off into these solos and my eyes just overflow with hearts, because I love the sounds that he is making and I love him for making them and I LOVE EVERYTHING and I just don't know what to do with all of this love, because seriously, me and Ray, we are rock riff SOULMATES. *million billion hearts* Plus hearing them talk about their writing process is just FASCINATING, and the gear stuff, ngggh, say all of that SLOWER, and it's all really really good. (There are five videos in total, I think: one interview segment with the whole band, then the gear porn with Ray and Frank, and then three of the "play alike" videos, and the site is sort of confusing-in addition to being in German, which I do not happen to speak-so this is why I'm clarifying, because they're all REALLY GOOD and they are easy to miss.)
And THEN, I was poking around on YouTube this weekend and found some gorgeous videos of Jeffrey Foucault and Kris Delmhorst performing together (with bonus David Goodrich): Strangers and Cross of Flowers are a couple of them, but all this person's videos are fantastic. Great video, excellent sound, and Jeff and Kris are just so wonderful individually, and so wonderful in their palpable connection with each other, and it makes me all swoony with adoration. I've been smiling about it for two days. COME PLAY HERE AGAIN, JEFF AND KRIS, PLZ.
And finally, since the squee posts are starting to appear: have fun this weekend, Muskrats! ♥ ♥ ♥
I know where Saturday night went, at least: I had ridiculously delicious dinner with zabira at Kushibar, and THEN I had a Nutella mocha (which is a diabolically genius invention), and then we headed over to the Crocodile Café to see a rock show. So, the backstory here is this: a couple of months back, I read an article in the Seattlest about an up-and-coming local band called Mal de Mer that was apparently made up of people who had been popular with other local bands. And one of those people happens to be a friend of mine from high school (not a close friend, but a friend; we were in a bunch of plays together), though I had no idea he even lived here. So Z and I decided we should go check out their show.
And they were GREAT, and their co-lead-singer/keyboardist is particularly amazing; she has this fantastic strong, belter kind of voice that I adore. But dude, it BLEW MY MIND, seeing Jimmy up there (he plays bass, and occasional backup vocals), because. I mean. I have not seen this guy in 15 years, and the last time I did see him we were all awkward teenagers, and now he's all with the rockstar swagger and the casual between-songs banter, and I just. I COULD NOT PROCESS IT. It was a little bit like when my friend Shane was on an episode of Bones, and I watched the whole time going, OMG, Shane is in a room with Booth and Brennan, why is he in a room with Booth and Brennan?, it was just… worlds colliding! Strangely! However, underneath all the weirdness, I am really really happy and excited for him, and I accosted him after the show and we talked for a few minutes, and he's still a sweetheart. And he told me to find him on Facebook and we should hang out, and so I did, and now we're Facebook friends, and I see that he's been going to culinary school and he has a local comics podcast on his FB interests and he's married and has a dog, so CLEARLY we have things to potentially discuss, but now I'm all awkward about should I ask him to hang out? Was he just saying that? And I am laughing at myself because OH MY GOD, it's just JIMMY, and just because he's in a band now doesn't make him suddenly too cool for me or whatever, so what the hell. I mean, honestly, I have no expectation that we're actually going to be friends or anything; I suspect it will probably be like it is with most of my high-school friends that I suddenly rediscover after a long hiatus, where we go get drinks and discuss what we've been doing for the past decade and it's fun but then we don't really hang out again. This particular situation is just a weird combination of my constant underlying fear that people think I'm a freak (seriously, I am fairly good at new friends and fairly good with established friends but the in-between is always an especially fraught place for me, confidence-wise), and the specific weirdness of seeing someone I used to know in a framework that I would normally find pretty hot, but it's weird, because it's JIMMY, and in my head he's still 17, and. Oh man. I am being so idiotically WEIRD about this and THE ONLY REASON IT'S WEIRD IS THAT I AM MAKING IT WEIRD and I AM A FREAK. *laughs at self while pounding head on desk*)
AAAAAANYWAY. Mal de Mer, you should check them out! And then there was another band called The Globes, and they were good, but not really my style, and then the headliner was Telekinesis, and they were AWESOME. Also a local band, but a signed one, and they just got back from a six-week tour, and their lead singer (Michael) is also their drummer, which is awesome, and then they have a bass player (Jason) and a guitarist (Cody) and they were all SO FUCKING ADORABLE. Cody especially, who looked kind of like the beautiful miracle assbaby of David Cook and Dominic Monaghan, and he was SO ENERGETIC and gleeful and BEAMING and so ridiculously insanely adorably INTO the other two guys, Michael especially, it was stupidly endearing. Z had run across this picture of them sometime last week and it turned out to be COMPLETELY PROPHETIC. Hee. (Also at one point Michael and Cody switched instruments for a couple of songs. HOT.) And then they called The Globes (who have been touring with them) back up onstage for the final song, and then Cody was hanging all over THEM, like, ZERO personal space, and dude. Total puppy pile, with really really fun, energetic, bouncy-dancy-thrashy music, to boot. (And beautiful guitars, too. Rrrowr.) SO MUCH FUN, I was just laughing out loud with glee by the end of their set. DO RECOMMEND. (Also, in the bathroom before their set, we ran into the mother of one of the guys in the band; awwww. Local shows are so fun! ♥) You can get their new album on Amazon for $5, how cool is that?
Also recommended? This set of videos, where Frank Iero and Ray Toro talk about their gear and their writing process and play riffs from their songs and it is SO FUCKING HOT I CAN'T EVEN. I mean, competence kink and collaboration kink and HANDS and GUITARS and okay, Frankie is tiny delicious sex on a stick AS ALWAYS but these videos-the demonstration parts, anyway-are kind of allll about Ray for me. He goes off into these solos and my eyes just overflow with hearts, because I love the sounds that he is making and I love him for making them and I LOVE EVERYTHING and I just don't know what to do with all of this love, because seriously, me and Ray, we are rock riff SOULMATES. *million billion hearts* Plus hearing them talk about their writing process is just FASCINATING, and the gear stuff, ngggh, say all of that SLOWER, and it's all really really good. (There are five videos in total, I think: one interview segment with the whole band, then the gear porn with Ray and Frank, and then three of the "play alike" videos, and the site is sort of confusing-in addition to being in German, which I do not happen to speak-so this is why I'm clarifying, because they're all REALLY GOOD and they are easy to miss.)
And THEN, I was poking around on YouTube this weekend and found some gorgeous videos of Jeffrey Foucault and Kris Delmhorst performing together (with bonus David Goodrich): Strangers and Cross of Flowers are a couple of them, but all this person's videos are fantastic. Great video, excellent sound, and Jeff and Kris are just so wonderful individually, and so wonderful in their palpable connection with each other, and it makes me all swoony with adoration. I've been smiling about it for two days. COME PLAY HERE AGAIN, JEFF AND KRIS, PLZ.
And finally, since the squee posts are starting to appear: have fun this weekend, Muskrats! ♥ ♥ ♥