I’m back…for more half-assed concert reviews and shameless self-promotion!
On Thursday, I saw one of the best live performances yet, even though they only got through four or five songs. This concert was during my music class, and I couldn’t afford to skip since I missed the last performance (which was by Fly Neurotic, whose recorded music on MySpace blew, so I knew they’d be just as terrible, if not worse, live) and already skipped that class in general enough as it is. Seriously, pat mAcdonald fucking owned. I had heard of him before, since he writes songs for many popular musicians and was in Timbuk3 who were famous for “The Future’s so Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades”, but I’d never bothered to check out his solo music. He played with cellist, back-up singer, and tambourine player melaniejane, who is also a TA in the music department, who was equally amazing. She rocked that cello like Apocalyptica. Their whole performance reminded me of Murder by Death, but with more energy, soul, and darkness. pat’s vocals are similar to Michael Stipe’s, but less grating, and his guitar playing is a mixture of alternative, garage, and blues styles. He also played harmonica, a custom-made guitar out of a cigar box with a mixture of bass and guitar strings, and stomped on this bass drum pedal thing I’ve never seen before. One thing he played that I recognized was a cover of PJ Harvey’s “Working”. After looking him up on YouTube, I noticed his setlist also included “Whiskey Bottle” and “Reset Me Lord”. He also has an album of Depeche Mode covers, unfortunately, none of which he played while I was there. (There was another performance at 2:00, but I couldn’t attend since I had a mandatory sculpture critique at the same time.) I was lucky enough to be in the second row for this, and I could have met him afterward and bought one of his records, but I stupidly forgot my camera when I was using it the same morning to photograph my wood sculpture. I also happened to forget my wallet, which put me in a bad mood, so I just left.
This reminds me: another sculpture of mine was chosen by three people in charge of the art department to be shown at the Union Gallery. I chose not to attend to the reception, since I was not happy that I was unable to choose which piece of art I submitted, and I feel the piece that was chosen does not represent me as an artist. It’s forced, since I had to create something out of cardboard that captured the energy of the word ‘bold’, and was created for my 3-D Concepts class which I hate. I do find it aesthetically pleasing, but it’s just not really “me”. I’m posting a couple pictures of it anyway, since this is my first time showing at a real gallery in the biggest city in the state when I’ve previously only had work shown in my hometown’s library.
Tomorrow (technically tonight) is the Reverend Horton Heat show, which I know will be amazing. I’ll also be posting something on that, since I feel the need to document the details of every concert I attend in case I forget.
Click to viewThis reminds me: another sculpture of mine was chosen by three people in charge of the art department to be shown at the Union Gallery. I chose not to attend to the reception, since I was not happy that I was unable to choose which piece of art I submitted, and I feel the piece that was chosen does not represent me as an artist. It’s forced, since I had to create something out of cardboard that captured the energy of the word ‘bold’, and was created for my 3-D Concepts class which I hate. I do find it aesthetically pleasing, but it’s just not really “me”. I’m posting a couple pictures of it anyway, since this is my first time showing at a real gallery in the biggest city in the state when I’ve previously only had work shown in my hometown’s library.
Tomorrow (technically tonight) is the Reverend Horton Heat show, which I know will be amazing. I’ll also be posting something on that, since I feel the need to document the details of every concert I attend in case I forget.