You can hit the road, or stay in bed, you can sink or swim or fight, but when all of this is said and done you're gonna walk so gently still into that night

Well, would you look at that, I totally forgot to post my top albums of 2015 before the New Year. Better late than never, right? That's what they say. I'm not sure everyone agrees, but I digress. However, since this is the one feature I've kept going the entire time I've had this blog, I'll post a late list.

A few things you should know: I spent a couple of months in between jobs this year, and while I had plenty of time on my hands, I had literally no money, so I didn't explore as much music as I have in the past. I bring this up because that means instead of ten albums with several runners up, I can't even think of ten albums that I got and listened to regularly this year. Instead, you get eight, and I'm not even sure I liked the eighth one all that much. Oh well. Here goes:

8. Muse - Drones

As I mentioned above, I'm not sure how much I truly liked this album. I was excited when it released because I've been a fan of the band for a long, long time. This album seemed more heavy handed and political than their others (although those definitely have those same themes). The memory that stands out is when I had my car at the shop and I had to walk to pick it up (I sped through a mud puddle and knocked the exhaust loose, like a cool teen), listening to this album the whole walk. It was hot and humid. The end.


7. Built To Spill - Untethered Moon

I accidentally happened across this album when I was trying to "educate" my girlfriend on all the cool bands she missed out on while she was on her kick of "there's been no good music since the '90s." She was on it when she first met me. I bring it up that from time to time. Ok, I do that pretty much whenever I have free time. I'm sure she never gets sick of it. Ever. (She thinks these guys are whiny, by the way.) Anyway, I didn't even realize Built To Spill had a new release, so I got really happy for about ten minutes.


6. Eagles of Death Metal - Zipper Down

This was another album that I was completely unaware existed until after I read about the terrorist attacks in Paris. This was the band that was playing when they stormed in and shot up the place. Absolutely heartbreaking. In a weird way, I felt as though purchasing this album was an act of standing in solidarity with the citizens of Paris over the next few days. Seriously, fuck anyone who thinks they have the right to take another person's life just because that person happens to have different set of values.



5. Wilco - Star Wars

I've made it very clear over the years that Wilco is probably my favorite band. I feel weird putting this album so low on the list, but I honestly haven't listened to it as much as the others. Still, these guys are awesome. My girlfriend surprised me with tickets to a local music festival where they were headlining. I had to wait a couple months after my birthday to cash in, but it was well worth the wait. I've seen Wilco four times now, and this time I was front row, center stage. Amazing experience. The next day they released this album for free because, according to Jeff Tweedy, "What's more fun than a surprise?" Thank you, Mr. Tweedy!

4. Mumford & Sons - Wilder Mind

A recurring theme this year: I didn't know about this album until I was talking with my friend on the phone and he told me how much his mom loved it. (His mom is super cool, and I may or may not have gotten caught staring at her tits once.) He sent me a copy, and I ended up liking it better than any of their other albums. So, if you've always thought these guys were "just ok" you should give this one a listen. It's really good.





3. Lord Huron - Strange Trails

Lord Huron is probably my girlfriend's favorite out of all the bands I've introduced her to (which is a lot, considering she pretty much only listened to Led Zeppelin up until then [kinda kidding, but just kinda]). Their last album was fantastic, and made many people's "best of" lists in 2012 (I was late to the game or it would've made mine as well). I think this album is even better. I like every song. That's so incredibly rare, but I do. Give it a listen, and while you're at it, listen to their first album. You won't regret it. Promise.



2. Modest Mouse - Strangers To Ourselves

Ok, so THIS album I knew about and anticipated long before its release. I pre-ordered it on iTunes, and got three songs in advance of the official release date. I listened to those three songs on repeat for about an hour and a half on a six hour road trip to Missouri to attend my girlfriend's brother's wedding. She was probably sick of it after the first three listens, but she's a good sport. Don't worry, I only made her listen to the same three songs on repeat for about a half hour on the drive home.




1. Blitzen Trapper - All Across This Land

I first tried to see these guys live in 2012, but didn't pay close attention to the concert date, double booked, and had to give my tickets away. Big mistake. My friend told me it was a top five concert experience for him (despite my insistence that he take the tickets on one condition: I didn't want to see any pictures or hear anything about the show). I saw them open for Wilco, and bought a bright yellow shirt, and saw them again this year in Minneapolis. So. Worth. It. This was another show where we were front and center, and I think I fell in love with Eric Earley when he sang 'Across the River' and I saw his eyes well up with tears. What a beautiful song. It was a terrific show, and they're an all around amazing band. Coincidentally, I'm wearing this concert shirt and listening to that song as I type this.

So there you have it. Until next time. Maybe I'll post more than twice this year. (Or maybe not. Stay tuned to find out.)

We're full grown men, but we act like kids

Last week's Deer Tick concert was awesome, even if it was too late to be out on a weeknight. The venue where they played is notorious for starting late, and true to form, the opening band didn't take the stage until 9:30 or so, and there were two openers, so Deer Tick didn't start playing until 11:30. However, they did play until 1:15 a.m., and it was amazing. They even worked in a few cover songs. Unfortunately, I didn't get to hear them play Dirty Dishes or Long Time (my two favorite Deer Tick songs), but they did enough to make up for it.

Here's the set list:
1- The Bump
2- Easy
3- Baltimore Blues
4- Main Street
5- Chevy Express
6- Walkin Out The Door
7- Ashamed*
8- Bastards of Young (A cover of The Replacements song)
9- Clownin Around
10- Spend The Night
11- 20 Miles
12- Funny Word
13- These Old Shoes
14- Something To Brag About
15- Be Kind To Me (A cover of a song by Michael Hurley, I think)
16- Now It's Your Turn
17- Miss K.
18- Not So Dense
19- Scentless Apprentice (A perfect Nirvana cover)
20- Mange
21- Let's All Go To The Bar

I didn't get to bed until 2:30, but luckily I make my own schedule at work, so was able to sleep in a little. My brother wasn't as fortunate. Plus, he's older than me, so he sucks more anyway.

He kept trying to get me to hit on a cute girl that worked her way up in front of me. I kept telling him there was no way I was going to. Here's an excerpt of how the conversation went down:

Him: Go tell that girl that you like her hat.

Me: I'm not going to do that. That's lame.

Him: It's not lame. It's easy. You can introduce yourself to the lead singer of the opening band and tell him you like his music, but you can't tell a cute girl you like her hat? That's lame!

Me: Fine. I'll go up and say "I like your hat. It goes well with your tits."

Him: You're an idiot. Don't say that.

Me: How about this? "I like your hat. Can I knock it off your head with my dick?"

Him: No, don't say that either. Just say you like her hat.

Me: Alright, I'll say, "I like your hat. Want to blow me later?"

Him: [shakes head]







*They played this way different than it is on the album, but it was still really good.

I am the boy your mother wanted you to meet, but I am broken and torn with heels at my feet

I'm going to a Deer Tick concert tonight. I usually don't get very excited for shows anymore, but I'm excited to go to this one. I probably won't get home until one or two in the morning, but it'll be worth it. I just hope there are more people in attendance than the last concert I saw at this venue (last time there was a huge snow storm, and only five people showed - I felt bad for the band, but they played anyway).

The other day I told a girl in my lab about it and she asked who I would be going with.

Me: I don't know. I might be going alone, but even if that's the case, I'm still excited.

Her: You never know, you could meet someone there.

Me: That will never ever happen.

Her: That never happens because you never try!

Me: Exactly.

Hush hush we both can't fight it

Last weekend I met a girl* at a concert. We were talking about something between the opening band and the headliners, and I said something that my friend misheard.

He turned around and asked, "Did you just ask her to touch your dick?"

Before I could answer, she told him, "Yeah, as a matter of fact I was just getting ready to touch his dick when you turned around. You ruined the moment, cockblocker."

He looked mildly offended at being called that, and said, "Are you kidding? I'd never cockblock this guy. If there's one person in this world who needs his cock touched, it's this guy."

Thanks dude.








*Not one that I was interested in by any means, but still.

I won't let you bury it, won't let you smother it, won't let you murder it

Last Saturday I saw Muse play at Mandalay Bay. It was possibly the best concert experience of my life. And thanks to the internets, I can share some of it with you. Here are some pictures that some people posted of the show:







And here are some videos:

Muse 4/10/10 - Intro and Uprising


Time is Running Out


Starlight


Supermassive Black Hole


United States of Eurasia


Feeling Good


Stockholm Syndrome


New Born (Bad sound, but the lights were really cool for this song)


I can actually see myself in the crowd in he Starlight and Supermassive Black Hole videos.

Don't be jealous.

If you can't see me happy well just look the other way

The perfect way to spend an Easter Sunday:

1) Have the kids spend the night and dye eggs the night before.
2) Wake up and do the whole Easter basket thing followed by an egg hunt in the back yard.
3) Eat a lot of candy!
4) Make a good lunch (at least by my standards) of ham and cheesy potatoes.
5) Hang out with the kids at their pool (even if the water is too cold and you end up getting a slight sunburn).
6) Go home and take a short nap.
7) Go to a concert.



I went with a girl who is way out of my league, but as they say, it's better to aim high and miss than aim low and hit, right?

The show was amazing! I'd never seen them play live, but I'm really glad I went as I was still waffling about it a week prior to the show.

At one point, the lead singer asked whether there was anyone in the crowd who'd never heard of them but just stumbled in from the casino to see what was going on, or if there was anyone who was hearing them for the very first time. The girl I was with fell into the category of those hearing them for the first time, so she raised her hand. The lead singer looked directly at her and said, "Well, we're glad you came." A few songs later, he jumped down off the stage and started to walk into the audience while he was singing. I leaned over and said, "Looks like he wants to come out and say hi to you." She laughed, but then as he continued singing the song, he walked straight to her, shook her hand, stopped singing and said, "Welcome to Travis" then continued on with the song.

All I'm saying is, you know the girl you brought to the show is hot when the lead singer of the band makes it a point to introduce himself.

I told her, "You could soooo get backstage if you wanted to."

She said she wouldn't go without me. I really believe that she could've, but I'm glad she didn't.

After the show, she thanked me about ten times for inviting her, and asked me to put together a mix CD of my favorite songs of theirs. Instead, I'm going to put a CD together with all the songs I can remember them playing at the concert since that includes a lot of my favorites anyway. However, I'm not sure I can give her a mix CD without asking if that means we're "going steady" if she accepts it.

Oh yeah, I tried to take a picture with my camera phone so I could make everybody jealous, but this is how crappy it turned out (I added the circle - obviously, he doesn't have a red aura).

Nothin' forbidden, who you kiddin', now that's livin'

It's hard to pay attention to the band you paid to see when you have this at the bar to the side of you.



Many thanks to my European friend of gay chicken fame for taking this picture* for posterity.








*He may be the gay chicken champ, but his appreciation for nice boobies should be evidence enough that he's straight. If that's not enough, his hot wife ought to be.

My friends are talkin' and they're tellin' you, "Just leave him alone 'cause the boy's bad news."

Saturday night I saw Eagles of Death Metal play at the Hard Rock. They weren't the main draw of the night. No, that would be Motley Crue who were closing out The Joint, and filling the casino with butt rockers as they did so. We were on the other side of the casino, with the cool kids. By cool kids, I mean me and my friend who came to town for the show.

If you've never heard of Eagles of Death Metal, these pictures should tell you just about everything you need to know.




They're ridiculous, but they embrace their ridiculousness. This is obvious when you listen to some of their lyrics. Things such as "I want you so hard, I want you so good", "I can raz-a-ma-taz you honey if you want me to", "I used to didn't dance too good", "I'll tell you anything baby except the truth", "I can be your daddy, be your rock 'n rolla', you can be my baby be my cherry cola", "shit goddamn I'm a man I'm a man", and my personal favorite "guitar like a monkey gonna lick your brain".

To be honest, I didn't really feel like going to the show based on recent events, but I'm glad I did. I think they're better live than they are on their albums. Besides, it helped me not think of rejection for a few hours. Always a plus.

Some highlights of the evening

- We thought we were late for the concert, but then walked right past the lead singer on the casino floor.

- Text messaging SilentKid:
Me: [Friend] wants to find some fat chicks to make out with*.
SilentKid: You guys suck.
Me: On fat chicks.

- Seeing the band take the stage with one of them wearing a shirt that read "68: you blow me and I'll owe you one."

- The lead singer breaking out a comb and running it through his ridiculous mustache while giving the crowd a seductive look.

- Standing next to a hot Asian chick with red hair for most of the show. We almost had a real audible connection.

- Seeing the lead singer accidentally hit the other guitar player in the face with his guitar.

- A fat chick** in the audience started a fight with another woman. It could well be the best thing I've ever witnessed***.

- After messing up on one of the songs, the lead singer asked the crowd, "If I fuck up the words, will you promise not to hold it against me as long as I promise to shake my dick just right?"











*SilentKid and my other friend came to Vegas for a weekend when I first moved here. I've seen SilentKid many times since then, but this was the first I'd seen my other friend. That weekend he made me and SilentKid wait on The Strip until 1 a.m. so he could go to a casino that offered $1 margaritas. His plan was to get five for $5 and slam them one after the other. He carried out the plan, but the margaritas were so small, it was really only like pounding one. Talk about anti-climactic. The only thing that made it worth it to the rest of us was that we got flashed by a woman in a taxi cab while walking to the casino. You've got to love Vegas. He's also the guy that inadvertently started my infatuation with Asian women, but that's a story for another time. All throughout the weekend he kept saying how he wanted to "get drunk and find some fat chicks to make out with." He didn't remember that when I reminded him of it, and said that was one reason why it was good that he quit drinking.

**I didn't make out with her, nor did my friend.

***A little hyperbole there for you.

I'll pay for you anytime

What did you do last night?

Love you soft and love you sweet

Friend: What're your plans for tonight?

Me: I have to go to the opening social because I promised that I would, but I don't have anything going on after that. Why?

Friend: Want to go ogle some women with me? I have an extra ticket to a concert at the Hard Rock tonight if you want to go.

Me: Sure, why not?


And wouldn't you know it? Sure enough there was some ogling of some women going on. But that wasn't all, and we weren't the only ones doing the ogling.

Midway through the concert:

Me: Ha! You just got checked out by a gay dude.

Friend: Really?

Me: Yeah, he's right back there if you want to look.

Friend: I don't want to look and run the risk of making eye contact. But, how do you know he was checking me out and not you?

Me: Because I turned around and he was staring at your butt. Then he looked you up and down a couple of times.

Friend: Are you sure?

Me: I'm sure. I know that look. I've given that look. So have you. It's unmistakeable.

Friend: Well, was he at least good looking?

I fell in love with a sweet sensation, I gave my heart to a simple chord

How I spent last night:










If you'd like to see more pictures of the show (including one of me and a very sexy lady, but you have to dig around a little to find that one) you can go here.

If you've never heard of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, I suggest you check them out. Go here to download a subset of the songs on the set list from last night's show. The files will be up for seven days.

I don't want to be the bad guy, I don't want to do your sleepwalk dance anymore

Everclear played a show last night at the Mandalay Bay Beach. They're not my favorite band in the world by any means, but tickets were only $9, so I went with a friend of mine and a girl he recently met.

Earlier in the day when he told me she was coming, he told me to be on my best behavior.

Him: [Girl] is coming too, so don't be an asshole.

Me: Can I be a dickwad?

Him: I don't know that you know how not to be one.

Scream as loud as you can

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I celebrated a day early by going to see some Irish bands play at The Joint. We saw four bands: The Wild Celts, Brother, The Fenians, and Young Dubliners. (The latter being the primary reason for purchasing tickets.) All the music was pretty good, but, as expected, Young Dubs blew the other bands out of the water. They got me to shake my booty-ass(even though I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to be dancing, but surprisingly, I'm not sore today). At one point a woman came over to stand by us and said she wanted to be with the fun people. Apparently we were the only group that was getting into it (Vegas crowds suck). My friend (who was drunk) just looked at her and said, "This is where shit happens!" I think he was right.

Never heard of Young Dubs? Well, here's a video of them performing What do you want from me?


If you like that, or if you happen to be looking for some good St. Patty's Day music, here are a few select Young Dubs' tunes* for your listening pleasure.




*These files will only be up for 100 downloads, or one week, whichever comes first, so act fast.

What went wrong? Walking tightrope high, over moral ground . . .

Since I haven't been doing much lately due to my back injury, I'm forced to continue telling stories that, for some reason, I've never written about before. This one goes back a few years to when I first moved to Las Vegas.

It was my first summer here, and I was beginning to realize the increased opportunity I had for seeing bands in concert compared to where I'd previously lived. Silentkid (aka, Rural Murder)called one day to say that he and another friend were coming to town to see Pearl Jam play at the MGM Grand. I told him that they could stay at my place, and that a few more of us might be interested in getting tickets. Five of us ended up going. The concert was great.

After the show we decided to grab a bite to eat before leaving the MGM, so we went and got a table at one of the cafes. While we ate, the guy who came to town with Silentkid started telling us a story about a time when he was in northern Nevada doing some field work for his dissertation research. He was a herpetologist who studied rattlesnakes, and was stuck killing some time in a small town while he waited for the right time of day for the snakes to come out at his field site. He was sitting on a park bench, and a guy came up and started talking to him. This man talked to him for quite a while, basically giving him his life story. He had survived colon cancer, but wasn't quite out of the woods yet. At some point, the man reached into his coat and pulled out a colostomy bag to show my friend.

Friend: Now, I don't want to sound like an asshole, but I'd just met this guy like an hour before. At what point does he feel close enough to me to show me a bag full of his shit?

We all laughed.

Apparently this didn't sit well with some girls at the table next to us. One of them came over, grabbed a bottle of catsup in some weird display of animosity. (I think we were supposed to be like, "Oh no! She just took our catsup. What do we do? What do we do?")

Her (as she swiped the bottle): You guys are assholes. I just want to let you know that you're really fucking rude. You're sitting here making fun of people with cancer without even worrying about whether people who could hear you might have been affected by it.

I opened my mouth to offer up an apology, and maybe explain that we weren't making fun of cancer per se, just the fact that this guy thought it appropriate to show off his colostomy bag, but before I did, the guy who had told us the story responded to her. He was slightly less diplomatic than I had planned on being.

Him: I'm sorry, was I talking to you?
Her: No, but it's kind of hard to ignore you when you're being so loud.
Him: Well, I suggest you find a way.
Him (to us, but loud enough for her to hear): What a bitch!

The girls paid their bill and left. I felt bad that we'd offended them, but it was kind of funny.

I should point out that my friend was rather drunk at the time. This was made evident to us later as we walked through the casino and we tried to get him to follow us.

Friend (to him): Over here. We've got to go this way.
Him: I'll be there in a second. Right after I'm done staring at this girl's enormous tits.

This was said right in front of the girl as she walked by, and he practically stuck his face in her cleavage. Surprisingly, she didn't slap him.

Vegas Baby!

Yoshimi, they don't believe me, but you won't let those robots eat me

Last night was amazing:

Not only because of the ticket price either.

Here's how it all came about:

Friday morning I received a voice message from my friend, A-Piz. He wanted to know if I'd heard anything about The Flaming Lips playing a show at The Palms. I hadn't. I called him and said I'd look into it (he couldn't because he'd flown to Austin to see Bjork play at the Austin City Limits music festival). Anyway, after fruitlessly searching the band's and box office's web sites for information I turned to our good friend Google and found out that they were playing a show. A free show. All we had to do was purchase a specially marked 18 pack of Miller Lite from select local retailers, then take the sticker and the receipt to the box office to redeem it for two free tickets. I called A-Piz back and let him know that I'd take care of it.

Him: But you don't even drink. What are you going to do with all the Miller Lite? You should take it to a park and give it to the homeless. (The scary thing is that thought had already crossed my mind. You could consider it my good deed for the day.)

I called the box office the next morning (they were closed by the time I found out what was going on), and they said they still had plenty of tickets available as long as I got there by 7:00 p.m. with the sticker and the receipt.

Armed with the knowledge that tickets were still available and that one of the select retailers was very close to my house, I set out on my quest to obtain beer (for the homeless) and tickets. Unfortunately, the retailer near my house was out of the specially marked boxes, but they told me where another one was and I drove to it. They were out too. Now I had to seek help, so I called Ladyflash. She looked online and told me where a few other locations were, so I drove to some of them, all to no avail. My hopes were fading, but one of the retailers was close to A-Piz's house, so I called him to have him go check it out. He hit paydirt and got the last two specially marked cases.

It was a little more complicated than that because I forgot to mention to him that we needed the receipt as well as the stickers. He hadn't asked for one, so he had to drive back and get it. The task was apparently really complicated, perhaps a little too complicated for the store clerk, because it took her about ten minutes to figure out how to print up a receipt for the transaction. I'd like to say that's an exaggeration, but it's really not. Once we got the receipt, I picked up Ladyflash and drove to the box office. Of course, on the way there we noticed that one of the specified retailers was literally right across the street from campus, and another one was inside the casino immediately across from the box office. Whatever. We got tickets, and that's what mattered.

Earlier in the day, I'd also called my friend BJ (who doesn't like to be called BJ because it has little to do with his actual name, and has other implications, but we keep calling him BJ anyway) to let him know the deal. He'd also been unsuccessful in his attempts at finding specially marked packages, but it didn't matter because we had a fourth ticket anyway. I called him back to let him know that it was his if he wanted it. He did.

I was extremely excited before showtime. The Flaming Lips is one of those bands that I've wanted to see live for a while because they put on such great live shows. It felt a little bit like the anticipation of a birthday when I was a kid. Anyway, Sunday evening finally rolled around, BJ came to my house and we hopped in my car and picked up Ladyflash. A-Piz said he'd meet us there. We arrived early enough to find a decent place to stand and we waited for the band to take the stage.

It didn't take long before a bunch of girls wearing alien masks and carrying spotlights made their way through the crowd and took the stage. Shortly after that a group of people carrying spotlights and wearing Santa Claus costumes did the same. Then The Flaming Lips took the stage. They played one song (Do you realize?), and when it was over Wayne said that they always play that one last so they had no choice other than to leave the stage right then, but if we cheered loudly enough they'd come back and play an encore of about 15 songs. I don't know that the crowd really cheered loudly enough (this is Vegas after all, everyone's too cool for that), but they came back out and played for a while. It took about half the show before they could really get the crowd into it. They tried once by doing a sing-along to Yoshimi, and it sort of worked, but not really. So, when they played The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song, Wayne wouldn't take lack of crowd participation as an option, so he kept on everybody until people finally started to get noisy. I'm glad he did. It got even more fun after that. Strangers were getting everyone to form a giant group hug (which I grudgingly participated in, but not quite as grudgingly as BJ who doesn't like to be called BJ - he was so uncomfortable with it that the rest of us group hug-raped him after the show), everyone started jumping around and singing along. It was one of the best concert experiences I've had since I moved to Vegas (Tenacious D and Pearl Jam are the only other two bands who have made the crowd go crazy like that).

I was a little disappointed that he didn't break out the giant hamster ball and go crowd surfing, and I wanted them to play the song where they throw fake blood on the audience, but even without those things I still had a great time. I'm really glad that I finally got to see them live.

Oh, and for once I actually remembered to keep track of the set list for any of you who might be interested. At least most of it.

SET LIST
Do you realize?
Fanatical
Fight test
Mountain side
Vein of stars
Yoshimi battles the pink robots
Riding to work in the year 2025 (your invisible now)
Pompeii Am Gotterdammerung
The yeah yeah yeah song
Taps
Waiting for a superman
[Song that I didn't know and can't seem to find]
Race for the prize
She don't use jelly (this was their "2nd" encore)

Also, here are some pics that Ladyflash took.

I need red flags and long nights

Yesterday I ran into a student of mine from last semester as I was walking across campus. He invited me to join him later that evening for an event at the pool at the Hard Rock Hotel. Not that it meant much to me, but they were giving out free vodka starting at 7 p.m., and there was going to be a free concert sometime later in the evening.

I talked with some other friends about it while we ate lunch.

Me: I think we should go. He's a pretty cool guy, and it could be fun. Plus, he said he had three girls flying in from Kansas City who wanted to hang out.
Friend 1: Who is this guy that he has three girls flying into town?
Me: I guess they're just friends of his.
Friend 1: But what's the catch? Is he some kind of pimp?
Me: Well, the girls are all pre-op trannies.
Friend 2: But what's the catch?

If that's not enough of a catch, then I don't know what to tell you. Have fun I guess.

Anyway, we went to our usual Friday night hang out, but since one of my friends had sand in his vagina and left early, my other friend and I decided we'd go to the Hard Rock. When we got to the pool, it was packed. And by packed, I mean packed with very attractive girls. Unfortunately for my friends, they started charging for drinks as soon as we got there. Since that was apparently the only reason my former student was there, he left shortly thereafter. My other friend and I stuck around just to enjoy the scenery (it felt like we were in an episode of Entourage), but after a while even that started to get old.

Me: I don't know how excited I am to stick around for the concert.
Friend: Who's playing?
Me: I don't know. I think [Former Student] told me, but I don't remember.
Friend: But there are hot chicks everywhere. I mean, even the not-so-hot-chicks are hot.
Me: Good point. We should stay.

It was only another ten minutes when the band took the stage and started playing. We were off to the side of the stage but fairly close (by that I mean that if it were a normal concert we would have been backstage watching from behind the side curtains). I didn't recognize their first song, but it tickled my memory just a little bit.

Me: You know, these guys kind of sound like She Wants Revenge. Especially that guy's voice.
Friend: You're right. They kind of do.

At the end of the first song they introduced themselves: "We're She Wants Revenge."

I love it when I'm right.

I'm not a huge fan of the band, but I've heard the songs of theirs that get airtime (I normally hate listening to the radio, but have to listen to either that or silence when I'm working in the lab. I really need to get an ipod). It turned out that I've actually heard a lot more of their stuff than I thought I had. It's just that in my mind every time I heard them on the radio it was the same song. That turns out not to be the case. It's just that all of their songs kind of sound the same to me (probably the reason why I'm not a huge fan). Nonetheless, it was a free concert and not a bad way to spend the evening. The crowd kind of sucked, but that's to be expected of Vegas crowds in general. Let alone Vegas crowds that are just there for free alcohol and don't even know who's playing.

I'm glad I went, because I did get to see a ton of hot girls, and it was a free concert that ended up being ok, and because it was something a little different than normal. I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Not every Friday night has to end with us snortin' crank and bangin' hos.

Oh, and by the way:

I'm fightin' just to breathe as I get back on my knees

Last night I saw Black Rebel Motorcycle Club play a show. After all, what better way to solve my transportation issues than to spend an evening not thinking about them? Actually, that's not entirely true. While I didn't do much about solving my car problems while I was at the show, I convinced my friend to take me to a car dealership beforehand so I could test drive a couple of vehicles and see if they'd be suitable for me. In the two hours that we were there I was reminded of how much it sucks to shop for cars. It's never been a pleasurable experience, but I think it's compounded by several orders of magnitude by trying to do it in Las Vegas. The sales guy seemed nice enough, but he is a car salesman after all, so I assume he was trying to screw me over just like all the rest are. Not only that, but the manager was one of the sleaziest looking individuals I've ever seen in my life (and that's saying a lot since this is Vegas). I don't think I'll be going back.

We got to the concert early due to a mistake on my part. I thought the show started at 6, but that's when they opened the doors. There were two opening acts, and the first took the stage around 7, so my friend only had to be annoyed with me for a short while, but I was glad we were there for it. The band's name was Magic Mirror, and they were pretty good. I talked to the drummer after their set. He said they were from L. A. and that they didn't have any albums out because it was all pretty new, but that hopefully they'd get something together soon. I'll definitely be on the lookout for it. (I don't remember the name of the second opening act, but it didn't do a lot for me. It was more acoustic than the first one, and the lady had a good voice, but I can't see myself really getting into her stuff. I think my friend said he caught himself yawning during it. That's not really a good sign.)

Then Black Rebel Motorcycle Club took the stage.

They. Rocked. Hard. There were a few glitches, like the time they couldn't find the harmonica when they played Ain't no easy way, or when the bass player broke a string in the middle of a song, but the latter just goes to show how hard they rock. There were a couple of times when I just closed my eyes and felt the music reverberate through my body. I got chills during Berlin and Weapon of Choice, always the sign of a good show. They played most of my favorite songs off their last two albums, but not anything off their earlier ones, which was a little disappointing. I suspect that part of that had to do with the venue because at the end of the show he said, "They're saying we only have time for one more song, so thank you for coming out." It was cool that they drug that "one more song" out for about 10 minutes by doing a lot of funky stuff with the bass and generating a lot of feedback at the end (but in a way that sounded awesome). They're a band that doesn't shy away from doing a lot of encores, so I'm certain they would have played longer if they didn't have pressure to wrap things up. They still played for about an hour and a half, so I can't complain. If you get a chance, they're definitely worth checking out.

I know I don't know you and you're probably not what you seem, but I'd sure like to find out so why don't you climb down off that movie screen?

Another year has gone by, and another Coachella music festival has come and gone without me being in attendance. I have nobody to blame but myself this year, as I had ample opportunity to go. A few of my friends went, and I was simply too much of a tightwad to buy a ticket and go with them.

I spoke to one of my friends this morning after he got back. He said it was a good time, and he got to see and hear a lot of good music. He also told me that I missed out.

Him: "You missed out BIG time."
Me: "Why's that?"
Him: "Well, there was a rumor that this was going to be happening, but none of us really believed it, but you know the movie Lost in Translation? The song that plays at the end of that is by The Jesus and Mary Chain. Anyway, people were saying that Scarlett Johansson was going to come out and sing a duet with them, and she did! I took pictures."

It's weird how my friend talks in links like that, I know! I keep trying to get him to quit doing it, but he won't.

Anyway, for those of you who may not know, Scarlett Johansson is on my list. You know the list. But just in case you don't know the list, she's one of my celebrity crushes. No matter what my relationship status is, if given the opportunity, I get to sleep with her with no repercussions whatsoever.

I'm sorry that I missed seeing her perform, especially in the cute little sundress she was wearing. But I have to disagree with my friend. I don't think I missed out BIG time. I only would have missed out BIG time if she'd been standing next to him in the crowd because then I would have missed out on a chance for some good old fashioned celebrity frotteurism.

Come on chemicals

For any of you who are just dying to see what I experienced at the Of Montreal concert last week go here.

That is all.

(Lauren, you're welcome)

Forget Forget Forget Forget Forget

The concert last night was pretty good, although I got home a bit later than I'd anticipated. The band was supposed to take the stage at 10 p.m., but it was closer to 11 by the time they actually did. I'm not complaining. They had a DJ who was playing some very good music. It renewed my faith in humanity knowing that there were a lot of people who are interested in stuff other than hip hop and the top 40 crap that gets played on the radio. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate American Idol?

They played for about an hour and a half. I was only familiar with about half the songs they played though (remember, I'd never heard of the band until a few weeks ago, and all I've listened to is the sampler CD my friend gave me). At least they played my favorites off that mix.

A few things I could have done without:

• The old fat chubby guy who felt the need to dance around and rub up against everyone who happened to be within a ten foot radius. Luckily, I was able to get away from him rather quickly just by taking a few steps back.
• The gay porn that they briefly showed on the screen behind the stage. I'm no homophobe, but there's a difference between being tolerant of a lifestyle and being forced to watch the graphic details of it. As my friend put it, "Have you ever seen that movie Men in Black [long pause] Men?" I just averted my eyes until it was safe to look toward the stage again, which incidentally didn't last long (see below).
• The lead singer playing a couple of songs wearing nothing but a medallion pendant and his guitar. He may have had some shoes on still, I'm not sure. At first I thought he'd just taken his shirt off, but then the sea of heads in front of me parted and BAM, I saw cock-and-balls. However, I do think that may have been the highlight of the show for one of my friends. She came up to me afterwards waving a gold skirt that the guy had been wearing and thrown into the crowd once he stripped saying, "look what I got."

I know you're thinking two things right now:

1. Lucky girl! Why don't I ever get to catch the gold skirt?
2. You mean to tell me that a guy took the stage wearing a gold skirt and yet you were surprised when they showed gay porn?

I know you're thinking this, because I'm thinking the same thing. All in all it was a good show.