Weekend Recovery
Friday night... Madness at the Crystal Ballroom. Suggs, Woodie and the rest were all in top form. Opened with "One Step Beyond" of all things! It's amazing how the skanking ska moves of the mid '80s come back to you once you've had a few libations. Downstairs in Lola's Room, DJ Kittyrox was working the twin DVD players to spin videos from A-ha, New Order, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Blondie. There was a bevy of people there dressed from head to toe in '80s fashion... they even had the dance moves down. We asked one girl her age. "23" was her reply, followed by "My mom taught me about this stuff and how to dance." Maybe it's the fact that I'm 35 in a couple of weeks... but I suddenly felt positively Jurassic.
Saturday night... Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stoneage, Autolux at the Rose Garden. What can I say? Amazing. Trent Reznor is a super down to earth, gracious and approachable person. He's changed a lot in the 15 years since I last got the chance to chat with him face to face, but he did an oustanding job of putting up with my Tech Geek talk with him. Just seeing him relaxing casually in his dressing room, Kraftwerk on quietly in the background on the stereo, made me realize that there truly is a "calm before the storm" with that man. He complimented my wife's dress, and was genuinely interested in hearing what Mo (the radio contest winner) had done with his remix of "Only." Our collective moment of zen was when I quipped about how guys who had been in High School marching band in the '80s seemed most likely to go on to create electronic angst ridden music. In raising my hand, Trent and Mo both did the same. For a brief moment, we were simply three people talking about our love for the music and the technology that creates it... and then we (the radio contest people) shuffled off in quiet reverence to shortly thereafter have our ears blown away.
After hours at Noir. It had been some time since we had been "out and about" with those in the scene, and it felt good. Despite all of that, all the cigarettes and liquor were starting to catch up with us, so for the second night in a row, it was home by 2:00 am. The comfort of a Spanish Omelette and lots of coffee, followed by lots of water and a few Tylenol made the next day bearable... but soon, it was back to the grind. If I can even rightfully call it that...
Saturday night... Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stoneage, Autolux at the Rose Garden. What can I say? Amazing. Trent Reznor is a super down to earth, gracious and approachable person. He's changed a lot in the 15 years since I last got the chance to chat with him face to face, but he did an oustanding job of putting up with my Tech Geek talk with him. Just seeing him relaxing casually in his dressing room, Kraftwerk on quietly in the background on the stereo, made me realize that there truly is a "calm before the storm" with that man. He complimented my wife's dress, and was genuinely interested in hearing what Mo (the radio contest winner) had done with his remix of "Only." Our collective moment of zen was when I quipped about how guys who had been in High School marching band in the '80s seemed most likely to go on to create electronic angst ridden music. In raising my hand, Trent and Mo both did the same. For a brief moment, we were simply three people talking about our love for the music and the technology that creates it... and then we (the radio contest people) shuffled off in quiet reverence to shortly thereafter have our ears blown away.
After hours at Noir. It had been some time since we had been "out and about" with those in the scene, and it felt good. Despite all of that, all the cigarettes and liquor were starting to catch up with us, so for the second night in a row, it was home by 2:00 am. The comfort of a Spanish Omelette and lots of coffee, followed by lots of water and a few Tylenol made the next day bearable... but soon, it was back to the grind. If I can even rightfully call it that...