(no subject)
Last night my brother was drinking with some of my former classmates and the rural small-town equivalent to a mean girl asked him about me. After my brother told her what I was doing, she went on to make like I was some really arty chick in middle school/high school, whenever, and that every thing I did was better than every body else. I guess I should feel satisfied that the cool kids are kissing my ass now, but really I just feel that talk is cheaper than ever.
I've been trying to sort out my year-end music nonsense. As of now, it's over nine pages long. So, to make things more readable should anyone want to read it, I think I'm going to post my fondest 2008 gig memories for now and post the albums bit later. The gigs portion mainly entails me going on and on about the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds gigs, something I've probably spazzed about in filtered entries at least thirty times already, so I'm really just putting it here for my own amusement/posterity's sake.
Top Five Non-Nick Cave Gigs of 2008:
5) Spiritualized (July 26 and July 27): Pretty no-frills, save for a lot of lights and rocking out. The stage set-up was equally minimalist, but striking all the same. Jason Pierce actually said “thank you” at the end of the second gig, and the people next to me made some brilliant 30 Rock jokes.
4) Jamie Lidell/Janelle Monae (Aug. 3): It was a sweltering day in Central Park, and Janelle Monae had just finished doing high kicks in cigarette pants and singing loud enough to be heard to the west 70’s, all the while maintaining her bouffant. Jamie Lidell came out and said, “I don’t know about you, but that was the craziest shit I’ve seen in a long time.” He then goes on to uphold said crazy shit, all the while maintaining chunky glasses (all right ,these were eventually ditched) and a cummerbund. And that’s when I fell for Jamie Lidell.
3) Liars (Feb. 9 and July 20): Angus Andrew=best dancer ever. Aaron Hemphill=cutest guitarist ever. The drummer=also special. Liars=judging from the gigs I attended, the only band worthy of opening for Radiohead.
2) Jens Lekman (April 5): It was the first gig I had gone to in months, and it came during a time when school, job-hunting, apartment-hunting, and certain co-workers were putting me in a state of serious depression. Jens, with his premature balding and tight pants and his all-girl band save for one lanky Swede on the keyboards, put my mind at ease for the two hours when I was the most in need of a diversion. I fear I’ll never be able to thank him enough. I’ve been dying for Jens to come back for another proper gig ever since.
1) Jarvis Cocker (July 21): Although the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds gigs were in their own league of awesomeness, Jarv’s show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg was actually my gig of the year. The memory of Jarvis crouching down and singing in my face is one that’s not going to fade too quickly. Neither is taking a sip of Jarvis’ whiskey. And, of course, being in such close proximity to The Jarvis Cocker crotch. Also, Steve Mackey is still fine.
Ten Greatest Nick Cave Gig-going Moments of 2008:
*Firstly, an honorable mention goes to browsing music magazines alongside Conway Savage at Borders. The way I was dressed made it very, very obvious I would be seeing Conway on stage in a few hours and therefore I picked up and flipped through Urb to cover up my conspicuousness. But this is not what made the awkward moment most special. Rather, it was the fact that the sighting happened a few blocks away from Conway, a huge discount clothing store that, upon seeing it for the first time last summer, made me giggle “Savage!” to myself as I passed.
10) Each night, Nick tried to crescent kick his keyboard microphone right before the freak out conclusion part of “Stagger Lee.” He never quite made it. I was sad that he wasn’t successful, but admired his persistence all the same!
9) When the band played “Today’s Lesson” in DC, during the “down the back of Janie’s jeans she had the jawbone of an ass” line, Nick did this really amazing move where he shot his leg up like he was deflecting someone, then pointed his hand down the side of his rump.
8) During set up in NYC, when the techs brought the bongos out, Alissa and I joked that, for one night only, the Bad Seeds were going to do calypso versions of all the classics. I still wish this had actually happened.
7) The boy behind me who yelled, “Nick your hands are very nice!” after holding hands at the DC gig. He also got points for the incredulous “WHAT?!?!!” in response to Kid Congo Powers disproving Bigfoot’s existence.
6) I will never recover from being one person away from Nick Cave’s left boot. Plus, being that close helped me realize his thighs are actually hollow.
5) In NY, when the Bellmer Dolls’ set ended and their girlfriends moved out of earshot.
4) When Nick came out at the DC gig, he stared at me--penetratingly!--for all of four seconds. I tried to look composed in return, but really--pissing myself at that moment.
3) Mick Harvey’s facial expressions were hilarious. At the NY gig, during the “…in New York City” part of “Dig Lazarus Dig!!!,” he flung up his hands and made a really exasperated, “c’mon, that’s you guys!” face. I also probably stared at and troubled him a lot.
2) Hearing all the songs, particularly “The Mercy Seat,” “Deanna,” “Into My Arms” and “Stagger Lee” in a live setting was unbelievable and something I never thought I’d have the honor of experiencing firsthand. I could elaborate, but then I’d be turning this into a sentimental mess. Pogoing during “Deanna” was special too, particularly because the other people around me were being pretty staid and I kind of got sung to for my efforts.
1) This is actually my favorite moment of the year: At the NY gig, Nick took off his jacket, leading to lots of moistening of panties and instantaneous cat-calling from the gig-goers. After the “take it off you sexy beast” (real quote) remarks died down, Nick threw the most ridiculous shape imaginable, with his hands in the air like he just came off a pommel horse, but with his hips thrust out rather than chest. Or, like he was being photographed for “Step One” of a diagram on how to do a jumping jack.
Being at the back of the stage during this pose spasm, it was difficult for us up-front folks to see the spry move. So, Nick came to the front and center of the stage and and hopped back into position. When he was done parading around his totally rockin’ bod, he told us, “Remind me to never do that again.” He sat down and sang “God is in the House” and “Love Letter.” The very second after “Love Letter” ended, Nick sprinted to the lip of the stage again and jumped back into the ridiculous middle-aged gymnast/here’s how you do a sexy jumpin’ jack pose.
And that was simultaneously the most spastic thing I’d ever witnessed, and the precise moment when I realized I could die with a smile on my face. After all.
I've been trying to sort out my year-end music nonsense. As of now, it's over nine pages long. So, to make things more readable should anyone want to read it, I think I'm going to post my fondest 2008 gig memories for now and post the albums bit later. The gigs portion mainly entails me going on and on about the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds gigs, something I've probably spazzed about in filtered entries at least thirty times already, so I'm really just putting it here for my own amusement/posterity's sake.
Top Five Non-Nick Cave Gigs of 2008:
5) Spiritualized (July 26 and July 27): Pretty no-frills, save for a lot of lights and rocking out. The stage set-up was equally minimalist, but striking all the same. Jason Pierce actually said “thank you” at the end of the second gig, and the people next to me made some brilliant 30 Rock jokes.
4) Jamie Lidell/Janelle Monae (Aug. 3): It was a sweltering day in Central Park, and Janelle Monae had just finished doing high kicks in cigarette pants and singing loud enough to be heard to the west 70’s, all the while maintaining her bouffant. Jamie Lidell came out and said, “I don’t know about you, but that was the craziest shit I’ve seen in a long time.” He then goes on to uphold said crazy shit, all the while maintaining chunky glasses (all right ,these were eventually ditched) and a cummerbund. And that’s when I fell for Jamie Lidell.
3) Liars (Feb. 9 and July 20): Angus Andrew=best dancer ever. Aaron Hemphill=cutest guitarist ever. The drummer=also special. Liars=judging from the gigs I attended, the only band worthy of opening for Radiohead.
2) Jens Lekman (April 5): It was the first gig I had gone to in months, and it came during a time when school, job-hunting, apartment-hunting, and certain co-workers were putting me in a state of serious depression. Jens, with his premature balding and tight pants and his all-girl band save for one lanky Swede on the keyboards, put my mind at ease for the two hours when I was the most in need of a diversion. I fear I’ll never be able to thank him enough. I’ve been dying for Jens to come back for another proper gig ever since.
1) Jarvis Cocker (July 21): Although the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds gigs were in their own league of awesomeness, Jarv’s show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg was actually my gig of the year. The memory of Jarvis crouching down and singing in my face is one that’s not going to fade too quickly. Neither is taking a sip of Jarvis’ whiskey. And, of course, being in such close proximity to The Jarvis Cocker crotch. Also, Steve Mackey is still fine.
Ten Greatest Nick Cave Gig-going Moments of 2008:
*Firstly, an honorable mention goes to browsing music magazines alongside Conway Savage at Borders. The way I was dressed made it very, very obvious I would be seeing Conway on stage in a few hours and therefore I picked up and flipped through Urb to cover up my conspicuousness. But this is not what made the awkward moment most special. Rather, it was the fact that the sighting happened a few blocks away from Conway, a huge discount clothing store that, upon seeing it for the first time last summer, made me giggle “Savage!” to myself as I passed.
10) Each night, Nick tried to crescent kick his keyboard microphone right before the freak out conclusion part of “Stagger Lee.” He never quite made it. I was sad that he wasn’t successful, but admired his persistence all the same!
9) When the band played “Today’s Lesson” in DC, during the “down the back of Janie’s jeans she had the jawbone of an ass” line, Nick did this really amazing move where he shot his leg up like he was deflecting someone, then pointed his hand down the side of his rump.
8) During set up in NYC, when the techs brought the bongos out, Alissa and I joked that, for one night only, the Bad Seeds were going to do calypso versions of all the classics. I still wish this had actually happened.
7) The boy behind me who yelled, “Nick your hands are very nice!” after holding hands at the DC gig. He also got points for the incredulous “WHAT?!?!!” in response to Kid Congo Powers disproving Bigfoot’s existence.
6) I will never recover from being one person away from Nick Cave’s left boot. Plus, being that close helped me realize his thighs are actually hollow.
5) In NY, when the Bellmer Dolls’ set ended and their girlfriends moved out of earshot.
4) When Nick came out at the DC gig, he stared at me--penetratingly!--for all of four seconds. I tried to look composed in return, but really--pissing myself at that moment.
3) Mick Harvey’s facial expressions were hilarious. At the NY gig, during the “…in New York City” part of “Dig Lazarus Dig!!!,” he flung up his hands and made a really exasperated, “c’mon, that’s you guys!” face. I also probably stared at and troubled him a lot.
2) Hearing all the songs, particularly “The Mercy Seat,” “Deanna,” “Into My Arms” and “Stagger Lee” in a live setting was unbelievable and something I never thought I’d have the honor of experiencing firsthand. I could elaborate, but then I’d be turning this into a sentimental mess. Pogoing during “Deanna” was special too, particularly because the other people around me were being pretty staid and I kind of got sung to for my efforts.
1) This is actually my favorite moment of the year: At the NY gig, Nick took off his jacket, leading to lots of moistening of panties and instantaneous cat-calling from the gig-goers. After the “take it off you sexy beast” (real quote) remarks died down, Nick threw the most ridiculous shape imaginable, with his hands in the air like he just came off a pommel horse, but with his hips thrust out rather than chest. Or, like he was being photographed for “Step One” of a diagram on how to do a jumping jack.
Being at the back of the stage during this pose spasm, it was difficult for us up-front folks to see the spry move. So, Nick came to the front and center of the stage and and hopped back into position. When he was done parading around his totally rockin’ bod, he told us, “Remind me to never do that again.” He sat down and sang “God is in the House” and “Love Letter.” The very second after “Love Letter” ended, Nick sprinted to the lip of the stage again and jumped back into the ridiculous middle-aged gymnast/here’s how you do a sexy jumpin’ jack pose.
And that was simultaneously the most spastic thing I’d ever witnessed, and the precise moment when I realized I could die with a smile on my face. After all.