We hate mice. And squirrels.
Belated birthday wishes to halcyon_shift and keerawa! And happy, happy on-time birthday wishes to countessmary and sockkpuppett. You've both had a tough time of it recently, and I'm hoping for many better, brighter days ahead of you. You are both such wonderful women.
The amount of people that came out for the David Hasselhoff poll makes me laugh with delight. It's funny, the things that rouse LJ's interest. :)
Friday's Decemberist concert was fucking awesome. They were on fire. The last time we saw them, Colin Meloy had been sick, and the performance certainly suffered for that, in both quality and time. It wasn't bad, but it definitely was the least-good experience I'd had with them, and in the back of my mind I feared it was Gary Allan Syndrome at work.
I saw Gary Allan, a country singer, just as he was starting to get big - when he could still play the House of Blues in Los Angeles and not quite fill the room. He was touring with the band he'd come up the ranks playing with, which included his buddy Jake, and the small-room feel of the venue was perfect for his energy. It was a fun concert, one of the better ones I had been to. And then he hit it big and started performing in large venues, and the change was dramatic. He didn't appear to be having fun anymore and it was like his band didn't even exist.
When I saw the Decemberists last time and this time both, they were playing in a larger venue, The Paramount Theater and last time I wondered if they were suffering the same fate. But based on Friday's performance, that's a big old "hell no." Friday's concert was the best I have ever heard them and, most importantly, they were having a great time up there.
AHH and I decided to chance it and get balcony tickets this time, thinking that the balcony were these side balcony seats that were the same distance from the stage as the floor tickets, just higher. This, however, turned out not to be true. We got to the theater about halfway into the opening act and were told to go three floors up to find our seats. As we walked into the darkened theater, I was dismayed to find just how far up we actually were. Now that I've been to a lot of small concerts, going to big concerts always makes me have to readjust my expectations. We blinked in the darkness and found an empty row a few rows from the top and sat down.
My Brightest Diamond was the opening band and they were really good. The lead singer reminded me a lot of Kate Bush, and the last song they played was spectacular, even though I couldn't make out a word of it. I'm definitely going to look into them further; I know I've heard the name around LJ before, so that shouldn't be too hard to do. Heh.
The lights came on and we decided to stay where we were, especially since the sound was perfect up there. Loud enough to still feel it in your chest, but clear as could be. And we had a nice view of the entire stage, which would prove for the best at a couple of points during the Decemberists' set.
The Decemberists came out and opened with one of my favorite songs from The Crane Wife, Crane Wife 1 & 2. Then they segued it into 3, so we got the whole experience, which was pretty awesome. And then they did the Island medley immediately after. Colin talked about how he'd been sick last time and they felt they'd given us a sub-par performance and how they wanted to make it up to us and, let me tell you, they so totally did. Heh.
Colin's voice was strong and clear, and he was hitting every note with confidence. He had a ton of energy, too, running around the stage, playing with enthusiasm, laughing with the band, interacting with the front row of the crowd. The band was having a great time too, and they were playing with their normal excellence. There was also bantering between songs; Jenny told us a joke ("What kind of bees make milk?" "Boobies!" *snicker*), Chris was playing the straight man, it was really fun. Here's the playlist as I recall it:
- Crane Wife 1, 2, 3
- The Island medley
- Leslie Anne Levine
Then in no order:
- The Perfect Crime
- Shankhill Butchers
- a song cut from Crane Wife (which I absolutely freaking LOVED and wished they'd included it)
- "I don't want to lose your love tonight"
- Billy Liar
- Yankee Bayonet (with the My Brightest Diamond singer)
- Bachelor and the Bride
- O Valencia
- When the War Came (during the encore, I think the final song, actually)
- Eli, the Barrow Boy (during the encore)
- Mariner's Revenge (ended the official show; this was unbelievably awesome, and Chris came out in this whale costume that was hilarious; as was the pre-song scream trials: "Balcony, you are not excluded!" Hee.)
Anyway, I came out entirely satisfied and flush with renewed love for the band. And I'll see them again when they come back this way next time. It's been about every six months, so I expect roughly November. Although they're going to be at the Edgefield Winery in Portland on July 22. That's tempting.
Yesterday, brynnmck and I watched almost all of Twitch City. I absolutely adored the show; I had no idea what to expect going in, but I loved it. We got through 2x05 and then stopped because, really, how do you top a Statue of Liberty souvenir in a litterbox? You don't, really. As we both remarked after that episode: "I'm not sure I was high enough to watch that." Still: AWESOME. CKR is so freaking adorable as Newbie, and at an all-time spazzy high and it's hilarious. I LOVED HIS AND MOLLY PARKER'S SCENE WITH HUGH. With the DANCING and the way they clearly both want to burst into laughter the entire time. SO CUTE.
I also love love LOVE Don McKellar EVEN MORE in this, and I feel vindicated in my appreciation of him as Darren in S&A. Also: he continues to work his mysterious magic on me so that I keep finding him hot. He's very slender and has beautiful hands and he won a Tony! Don. Seriously. *hearts*
The show was a lot of fun, too. Really funny and smart and everyone is obviously enjoying themselves. Molly Parker is stunning OF COURSE because she always is, and I adore Hope & Curtis together. I like how much less annoying he is with her in Season 1, and his walking to see her at the gas station was way more romantic than it had any right to be. I still feel for Nathan, even though he has the Job Wheel which is anal even for me. The detox episode is my favorite right now, and CKR's "DO YOU HAVE ANY RICE CAKES?" bit actually made brynn & I ROFL. Best. ever. (Though the Shatner-esque delivery in "Planet of the Cats" was also hilarious.) I just did not know what to expect out of this show going in, but it's been fantastic. Yay, Canada! Hee.
That's probably enough typing for now, and I'm hungry.
The amount of people that came out for the David Hasselhoff poll makes me laugh with delight. It's funny, the things that rouse LJ's interest. :)
Friday's Decemberist concert was fucking awesome. They were on fire. The last time we saw them, Colin Meloy had been sick, and the performance certainly suffered for that, in both quality and time. It wasn't bad, but it definitely was the least-good experience I'd had with them, and in the back of my mind I feared it was Gary Allan Syndrome at work.
I saw Gary Allan, a country singer, just as he was starting to get big - when he could still play the House of Blues in Los Angeles and not quite fill the room. He was touring with the band he'd come up the ranks playing with, which included his buddy Jake, and the small-room feel of the venue was perfect for his energy. It was a fun concert, one of the better ones I had been to. And then he hit it big and started performing in large venues, and the change was dramatic. He didn't appear to be having fun anymore and it was like his band didn't even exist.
When I saw the Decemberists last time and this time both, they were playing in a larger venue, The Paramount Theater and last time I wondered if they were suffering the same fate. But based on Friday's performance, that's a big old "hell no." Friday's concert was the best I have ever heard them and, most importantly, they were having a great time up there.
AHH and I decided to chance it and get balcony tickets this time, thinking that the balcony were these side balcony seats that were the same distance from the stage as the floor tickets, just higher. This, however, turned out not to be true. We got to the theater about halfway into the opening act and were told to go three floors up to find our seats. As we walked into the darkened theater, I was dismayed to find just how far up we actually were. Now that I've been to a lot of small concerts, going to big concerts always makes me have to readjust my expectations. We blinked in the darkness and found an empty row a few rows from the top and sat down.
My Brightest Diamond was the opening band and they were really good. The lead singer reminded me a lot of Kate Bush, and the last song they played was spectacular, even though I couldn't make out a word of it. I'm definitely going to look into them further; I know I've heard the name around LJ before, so that shouldn't be too hard to do. Heh.
The lights came on and we decided to stay where we were, especially since the sound was perfect up there. Loud enough to still feel it in your chest, but clear as could be. And we had a nice view of the entire stage, which would prove for the best at a couple of points during the Decemberists' set.
The Decemberists came out and opened with one of my favorite songs from The Crane Wife, Crane Wife 1 & 2. Then they segued it into 3, so we got the whole experience, which was pretty awesome. And then they did the Island medley immediately after. Colin talked about how he'd been sick last time and they felt they'd given us a sub-par performance and how they wanted to make it up to us and, let me tell you, they so totally did. Heh.
Colin's voice was strong and clear, and he was hitting every note with confidence. He had a ton of energy, too, running around the stage, playing with enthusiasm, laughing with the band, interacting with the front row of the crowd. The band was having a great time too, and they were playing with their normal excellence. There was also bantering between songs; Jenny told us a joke ("What kind of bees make milk?" "Boobies!" *snicker*), Chris was playing the straight man, it was really fun. Here's the playlist as I recall it:
- Crane Wife 1, 2, 3
- The Island medley
- Leslie Anne Levine
Then in no order:
- The Perfect Crime
- Shankhill Butchers
- a song cut from Crane Wife (which I absolutely freaking LOVED and wished they'd included it)
- "I don't want to lose your love tonight"
- Billy Liar
- Yankee Bayonet (with the My Brightest Diamond singer)
- Bachelor and the Bride
- O Valencia
- When the War Came (during the encore, I think the final song, actually)
- Eli, the Barrow Boy (during the encore)
- Mariner's Revenge (ended the official show; this was unbelievably awesome, and Chris came out in this whale costume that was hilarious; as was the pre-song scream trials: "Balcony, you are not excluded!" Hee.)
Anyway, I came out entirely satisfied and flush with renewed love for the band. And I'll see them again when they come back this way next time. It's been about every six months, so I expect roughly November. Although they're going to be at the Edgefield Winery in Portland on July 22. That's tempting.
Yesterday, brynnmck and I watched almost all of Twitch City. I absolutely adored the show; I had no idea what to expect going in, but I loved it. We got through 2x05 and then stopped because, really, how do you top a Statue of Liberty souvenir in a litterbox? You don't, really. As we both remarked after that episode: "I'm not sure I was high enough to watch that." Still: AWESOME. CKR is so freaking adorable as Newbie, and at an all-time spazzy high and it's hilarious. I LOVED HIS AND MOLLY PARKER'S SCENE WITH HUGH. With the DANCING and the way they clearly both want to burst into laughter the entire time. SO CUTE.
I also love love LOVE Don McKellar EVEN MORE in this, and I feel vindicated in my appreciation of him as Darren in S&A. Also: he continues to work his mysterious magic on me so that I keep finding him hot. He's very slender and has beautiful hands and he won a Tony! Don. Seriously. *hearts*
The show was a lot of fun, too. Really funny and smart and everyone is obviously enjoying themselves. Molly Parker is stunning OF COURSE because she always is, and I adore Hope & Curtis together. I like how much less annoying he is with her in Season 1, and his walking to see her at the gas station was way more romantic than it had any right to be. I still feel for Nathan, even though he has the Job Wheel which is anal even for me. The detox episode is my favorite right now, and CKR's "DO YOU HAVE ANY RICE CAKES?" bit actually made brynn & I ROFL. Best. ever. (Though the Shatner-esque delivery in "Planet of the Cats" was also hilarious.) I just did not know what to expect out of this show going in, but it's been fantastic. Yay, Canada! Hee.
That's probably enough typing for now, and I'm hungry.