Making a Note Here, Huge Success
Yesterday evening I took a trip out to Annapolis with Dennis and some of his friends to see Jonathan Coulton in concert with Paul and Storm. I had never heard of either of them prior to being invited, but a cursory Google assured me I wouldn't find it too painful. Besides, it was free.
I had a very good time. Paul and Storm turn out to be two of the guys from Da Vinci's Notebook, having (partly) forsaken the art of a cappella to pick up a guitar and sing songs about pirates and sex and advertising and boxing nuns. I laughed so hard I cried, though I don't know that I'd buy (or even steal) their music. A lot of it is musical one-liners, funny on stage, one time, but not something I'd put in my musical rotation. I highly recommend seeing them live though - they'll be in Houston March 13th, for those of you in the area.
Jonathan Coulton was a surprise. Learning of my shameful ignorance on the way up, the others gave me the backstory (inept programmer writes a song a week in his spare time, quits programming to become geek folk god) and played a few of his songs. There was one about Ikea, and one about Mandelbrot sets, whatever those are. Light, funny, geeky. Okay. After Paul and Storm I was expecting something similar. What I got was "Big Bad World One", a song about loneliness and failure. I almost cried, and not with laughter. It turns out the funny songs about mad scientists and robot overlords are only part of his repertoire, and a lot of those are actually kind of sad too. In a good way, usually. So it wasn't quite what I had planned on, but a good time was had by all.
Also, Annapolis is a very cute little colonial town and ideally suited for Spot-the-Sailor, an inane, juvenile game that never seems to get old.
I had a very good time. Paul and Storm turn out to be two of the guys from Da Vinci's Notebook, having (partly) forsaken the art of a cappella to pick up a guitar and sing songs about pirates and sex and advertising and boxing nuns. I laughed so hard I cried, though I don't know that I'd buy (or even steal) their music. A lot of it is musical one-liners, funny on stage, one time, but not something I'd put in my musical rotation. I highly recommend seeing them live though - they'll be in Houston March 13th, for those of you in the area.
Jonathan Coulton was a surprise. Learning of my shameful ignorance on the way up, the others gave me the backstory (inept programmer writes a song a week in his spare time, quits programming to become geek folk god) and played a few of his songs. There was one about Ikea, and one about Mandelbrot sets, whatever those are. Light, funny, geeky. Okay. After Paul and Storm I was expecting something similar. What I got was "Big Bad World One", a song about loneliness and failure. I almost cried, and not with laughter. It turns out the funny songs about mad scientists and robot overlords are only part of his repertoire, and a lot of those are actually kind of sad too. In a good way, usually. So it wasn't quite what I had planned on, but a good time was had by all.
Also, Annapolis is a very cute little colonial town and ideally suited for Spot-the-Sailor, an inane, juvenile game that never seems to get old.