According to Slash not only are Stone Temple Pilots reuniting but they're also planning on touring as soon as this summer. I'm semi-excited about this because the band isn't that old really so it's not one of those things where a bunch of fat old dudes try and relive the old days. STP now isn't much different then they were 10 years ago, I would suspect. Anyway, I'll go see them... as long as tickets are under $30.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
2008 Idiotarod Is This Saturday!
Last year I attended my first Idiotarod, the annual Brooklyn shopping cart race - it was fun and funny! I highly recommend attending, at least hit the starting point (which hasn't been announced yet). If you've got the balls - and a shopping cart - then you can still sign up and partake in the race. If not then party and the start and the finish line, which is usually a bar. Go have fun!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Apes & Androids @ Mercury Lounge (Recap & Pics)
On Saturday night I attended the sold out Apes And Androids show at the Mercury Lounge. If you're a regular reader of BSC then you know that I A&A is one of my favorite bands to see live. On top of that another fave of mine, Sigmund Droid, was opening the show.
I got to the show around 9:30, about thirty minutes before Sigmund Droid hit the stage. It's been awhile since I've seen them play so I was excited. After about two minutes I realized that they have gotten much better. They were good before but it seems like they really got it together these days. As they played the room quickly filled up and was about 2/3rds full by the end of the set. People were clearly enjoying themselves. Towards the end they played one of my favorites, "Liverpool Sluts", and based on the crowd's reaction I'm not the only one that loves that song.
Next up was Die Romantik. They set up strings of cheap chandelier lighting across the stage. I think they were going for a "romantic" feel - get it? Well it didn't really work in my opinion. The band wasn't bad... they just made no sense sandwiched in between Sigmund Droid and A&A. To be honest with you I was on the couch for the entirety of their set.
After they cleared the stage the A&A stage set up was revealed. They had five metallic alien heads with glowing red eyes hovering over the stage. After a few minutes of waiting the boys of A&A took the stage. As always they were decked out in face paint and shiny clothes. By this point the Mercury Lounge was insanely packed - you simply couldn't move. The crowd was a strange mix, not typical of an A&A show. But I guess that's what a bands "Merc show" is all about - exposure.
They played a fantastic set which included many of my favorites including "Riverside", "Nights Of The Week", "Golden Prize" and "Hot Kathy". The first time I saw "Golden Prize" performed was a few weeks ago. The entire band pulls out drums for some kind of tribal alien crunk shit - it's incredible and it was clear that the crowd was in awe. "Hot Kathy" was awesome, as always, but I'm still not sure why they don't close with it more often. It gets the crowd so hyped up and all of my favorite shows of theirs had "Hot Kathy" as the closer.
Anyway, halfway through the set the lights went down and the band ducked behind the speakers. Then the alien overlords began their communication. The five heads, eyes ablaze, had a discussion in several alien languages. The middle overlord spoke English in exactly the bad ass voice you would expect of an overlord. It was awesome and hilarious!
Overall, this was classic A&A. They were spectacular and everyone in the crowd was going crazy. Everyone knew they were witnessing something special - a band about to burst. It was like everyone there was in on a secret and this was the last chance to feel special about being an A&A fan. After all this was A&A's Mercury Lounge show, the show that broke many of your favorite bands. A successful Merc show is incredibly important for an upcoming band. I've been to many of the shows at Merc that broke bands and I have to say that none were even half as good as what I witnessed Saturday night. Apes and Androids are ready and you better be too because they are the future.
I got to the show around 9:30, about thirty minutes before Sigmund Droid hit the stage. It's been awhile since I've seen them play so I was excited. After about two minutes I realized that they have gotten much better. They were good before but it seems like they really got it together these days. As they played the room quickly filled up and was about 2/3rds full by the end of the set. People were clearly enjoying themselves. Towards the end they played one of my favorites, "Liverpool Sluts", and based on the crowd's reaction I'm not the only one that loves that song.
Next up was Die Romantik. They set up strings of cheap chandelier lighting across the stage. I think they were going for a "romantic" feel - get it? Well it didn't really work in my opinion. The band wasn't bad... they just made no sense sandwiched in between Sigmund Droid and A&A. To be honest with you I was on the couch for the entirety of their set.
After they cleared the stage the A&A stage set up was revealed. They had five metallic alien heads with glowing red eyes hovering over the stage. After a few minutes of waiting the boys of A&A took the stage. As always they were decked out in face paint and shiny clothes. By this point the Mercury Lounge was insanely packed - you simply couldn't move. The crowd was a strange mix, not typical of an A&A show. But I guess that's what a bands "Merc show" is all about - exposure.
They played a fantastic set which included many of my favorites including "Riverside", "Nights Of The Week", "Golden Prize" and "Hot Kathy". The first time I saw "Golden Prize" performed was a few weeks ago. The entire band pulls out drums for some kind of tribal alien crunk shit - it's incredible and it was clear that the crowd was in awe. "Hot Kathy" was awesome, as always, but I'm still not sure why they don't close with it more often. It gets the crowd so hyped up and all of my favorite shows of theirs had "Hot Kathy" as the closer.
Anyway, halfway through the set the lights went down and the band ducked behind the speakers. Then the alien overlords began their communication. The five heads, eyes ablaze, had a discussion in several alien languages. The middle overlord spoke English in exactly the bad ass voice you would expect of an overlord. It was awesome and hilarious!
Overall, this was classic A&A. They were spectacular and everyone in the crowd was going crazy. Everyone knew they were witnessing something special - a band about to burst. It was like everyone there was in on a secret and this was the last chance to feel special about being an A&A fan. After all this was A&A's Mercury Lounge show, the show that broke many of your favorite bands. A successful Merc show is incredibly important for an upcoming band. I've been to many of the shows at Merc that broke bands and I have to say that none were even half as good as what I witnessed Saturday night. Apes and Androids are ready and you better be too because they are the future.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Vineland Music Guide
I just wanted to let you all know that I started a new blog, it's called Vineland Music Guide. The reason I started it is because of the Vineland Festival. I figured now that Vineland is on the musical map and I happen to be from Vineland it makes sense I exploit the situation. Right? Anyway, I'm getting some of my fellow Vinelanders on board to contribute content, so it'll get better. But for now bookmark the page, add it to your feeds, do the del.icio.us and Digg thing and whatever else helps.
Original Biohazard To Reunite And Tour
When I was a teenager growing up in the 90'2 I fucking loved Biohazard. The band brought hardcore music to MTV which was the only place a kid from South Jersey could find it. Granted they were more metal then hardcore but when I heard Biohazard for the first time I immediately realized I was hearing something I never heard before. Eventually Biohazard got kinda corny but to this day I will still stand by Urban Discipline being one of the greatest albums ever made - it's amazing. And that's why I pumped about this reunion, it's the Urban Discipline line-up, once this line-up split the band got progressively bad... this is good Biohazard. Tour dates have not been announced but I will be at the NYC show no matter what.
Link:
Biohazard Reunite
Speaking of old school Biohazard check out this shit from 1988! Kinda sounds like Join The Army era Suicidal Tendencies.
Biohazard Reunite
Speaking of old school Biohazard check out this shit from 1988! Kinda sounds like Join The Army era Suicidal Tendencies.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Tonight: Apes & Androids @ Mercury Lounge + After Party
If you didn't get a ticket to the sold out Apes & Androids show then, well... you;re not going to see them perform. BUT you can still come out and party with the band at the official after party at The Gallery Bar. That starts at 1AM and should be a grand old time.
Gallery Bar (downstairs)
120 Orchard just above Delancey
feat. DJz Funlap & Dirty Dick Kliegman
120 Orchard just above Delancey
feat. DJz Funlap & Dirty Dick Kliegman
Thursday, January 17, 2008
New Apes & Androids Songs (MySpace)
Apes and Androids just posted a bunch of new songs on their MySpace page including a sexy new recording of my personal favorite "Hot Kathy". The new tune "Riverside" is freaking out my mind. It's just plain awesome and not at all what you would expect from A&A. Check them out send them to your friends and be happy that you're hearing one of the best bands currently inhabiting Earth.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Rabid Raccoon VS. Me!
The other night I heard some unusual noises coming from my backyard. So I took a gander and what did I see... a fucking raccoon! The thing is I live in East Williamsburg far from any trees or greenery. So anyway I went to the door to get a better look. The damn thing was a few feet away and it was acting funny. I immediately recognized the behavior, the fucker had rabies!
How did I recognize this you ask? When I was a kid in South Jersey me and my friends came face to face with a rabid raccoon. The raccoon in my yard was acting just like that one was. It was stumbling around, pawing at thin air, walking into shit, etc. Most of all when I banged on the door and yelled at it it didn't even look at me, let alone runaway like a normal raccoon would have.
I called 311 and tried to get some one to deal with this fucker. They connected me to 911, which makes no sense, and the cops showed up. They just laughed about it and said they couldn't do anything. If this was Jersey the cops would have immediately shot the raccoon and took it in for testing. But this is NYC and I don't think rabid raccoons are common. They told me to call the ASPCA in the morning.
That night I could barely sleep because of all the noise coming from outside. In the morning I called the ASPCA and they couldn't help so they sent me on a near endless quest connecting me to one department after another. I eventually got off the phone and decided to deal with the situation myself.
I decided I would scoop the raccoon up in a blanket and drop it over the fence into the clearing. The raccoon had at no point made any quick or sudden movements so I thought it was not completely impossible. I then went out side and threw a heavy sheet over it. It was at this point the fucking thing freaked out an started writhing and hissing. I of course ran inside and hid until it wiggled it's way out.
Operation Capture Raccoon: Aborted. So I tried making some more calls. I went back to 311 and this time they connected me to animal control. The girl on the phone didn't seem interested in helping until I mentioned where I lived. She also lives in the neighborhood so now it became a "priority" mission.
About an hour later a guy showed up to wrangle this bastard. Before he came in he warned me that if it wasn't sick then Animal Control couldn't capture it and that I had to just deal with it until it decided to leave. I assured him that this raccoon was definitely sick. I'm no expert there was clearly something VERY wrong with this animal. He came out back and we went over to the corner where the coon was. He took a look at it and poked at it and confirmed that it was sick.
We went back outside and grabbed his gear, which included one of those neck lassoing tools and a special cage for rabid raccoons. We then went out back and he snagged the raccoon by the neck and dropped it into the cage. The raccoon was fighting and hissing but didn't manage to slow the man down.
And that was that, the tale of the rabid raccoon in Brooklyn. The Animal Control guy said it looked like the thing had rabies but the only way to be sure is to examine the animals brain. Which means my raccoon nemesis is probably dead right now. I feel bad because he was huge (40 pounds) and clearly a bad ass before he went rabid. Nonetheless Brooklyn is safe again so let out your children and dogs but beware, for another rabid beast may be lurking in the shadows!
During the day even healthy raccoons can seem aloof because they're nocturnal. But this was at 1AM and he was clearly disoriented and stumbling and non-responsive.
How did I recognize this you ask? When I was a kid in South Jersey me and my friends came face to face with a rabid raccoon. The raccoon in my yard was acting just like that one was. It was stumbling around, pawing at thin air, walking into shit, etc. Most of all when I banged on the door and yelled at it it didn't even look at me, let alone runaway like a normal raccoon would have.
I called 311 and tried to get some one to deal with this fucker. They connected me to 911, which makes no sense, and the cops showed up. They just laughed about it and said they couldn't do anything. If this was Jersey the cops would have immediately shot the raccoon and took it in for testing. But this is NYC and I don't think rabid raccoons are common. They told me to call the ASPCA in the morning.
That night I could barely sleep because of all the noise coming from outside. In the morning I called the ASPCA and they couldn't help so they sent me on a near endless quest connecting me to one department after another. I eventually got off the phone and decided to deal with the situation myself.
I decided I would scoop the raccoon up in a blanket and drop it over the fence into the clearing. The raccoon had at no point made any quick or sudden movements so I thought it was not completely impossible. I then went out side and threw a heavy sheet over it. It was at this point the fucking thing freaked out an started writhing and hissing. I of course ran inside and hid until it wiggled it's way out.
Operation Capture Raccoon: Aborted. So I tried making some more calls. I went back to 311 and this time they connected me to animal control. The girl on the phone didn't seem interested in helping until I mentioned where I lived. She also lives in the neighborhood so now it became a "priority" mission.
About an hour later a guy showed up to wrangle this bastard. Before he came in he warned me that if it wasn't sick then Animal Control couldn't capture it and that I had to just deal with it until it decided to leave. I assured him that this raccoon was definitely sick. I'm no expert there was clearly something VERY wrong with this animal. He came out back and we went over to the corner where the coon was. He took a look at it and poked at it and confirmed that it was sick.
We went back outside and grabbed his gear, which included one of those neck lassoing tools and a special cage for rabid raccoons. We then went out back and he snagged the raccoon by the neck and dropped it into the cage. The raccoon was fighting and hissing but didn't manage to slow the man down.
And that was that, the tale of the rabid raccoon in Brooklyn. The Animal Control guy said it looked like the thing had rabies but the only way to be sure is to examine the animals brain. Which means my raccoon nemesis is probably dead right now. I feel bad because he was huge (40 pounds) and clearly a bad ass before he went rabid. Nonetheless Brooklyn is safe again so let out your children and dogs but beware, for another rabid beast may be lurking in the shadows!
Everyone that sees this says "Aww, he doesn't look rabid he looks cute". What you don't see in the picture is the 5 minutes it took for him to climb onto that ledge. You also don't see him wobble and fall off a few minutes later.
During the day even healthy raccoons can seem aloof because they're nocturnal. But this was at 1AM and he was clearly disoriented and stumbling and non-responsive.
Free VHS Or Beta Show In Philly (1/19)
VHS Or Beta is playing the Malibu Rum Winter Beach Bash at the Electric Factory in Philly this Saturday. The whole thing is free with RSVP, including the booze. All you have to do is spend $10 for a China Town bus ticket and you're good to go.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Fake Colgate In East Williamsburg
The other day I stopped into the corner store by the Montrose L stop. I think the address was 223 Montrose. Anyhow, I stopped by to pick up some toothepaste. I could have picked up some regular toothpaste but instead I grabbed the slightly fancier looking Colgate Herbal. When I got home my girlfriend gave me a hard time for not getting the kind she liked and made a comment about it being fake (I think she saw it on 20/20 or something).
A few days later she cracked it open. After the first time I brushed with it I decided to check up on it. The whole fake toothpaste thing made me curious. So I did a little research and guess what? Colgate doesn't make ANY toothpaste in Africa (which it said on the box along with several other countries). They also don't sell 100ml size tubes at all. The shit I just put in my mouth was fake and has some kind of deadly poison in that's used in anti-freeze.
The moral of the story is that you shouldn't buy toothpaste from bodega's. Especially not the dump by the Montrose L... or you might DIE!
A few days later she cracked it open. After the first time I brushed with it I decided to check up on it. The whole fake toothpaste thing made me curious. So I did a little research and guess what? Colgate doesn't make ANY toothpaste in Africa (which it said on the box along with several other countries). They also don't sell 100ml size tubes at all. The shit I just put in my mouth was fake and has some kind of deadly poison in that's used in anti-freeze.
The moral of the story is that you shouldn't buy toothpaste from bodega's. Especially not the dump by the Montrose L... or you might DIE!
Tonight: Home Sweet Home
I'll be home watching Comanche Moon like an old man but if you want to get hammered then here ya go....
Monday, January 14, 2008
Saturday, January 12, 2008
TONIGHT: Verboten @ Studio B
Tonight is the first installment of the latest dance party at Studio B. It's called Verboten and it combines killer bands and with the hottest DJs. Tonight I Love You Airlines is performing live and Radio Clit, VADLSM, and more will be on the decks. It's $10 w/ RSVP@theknarr.com. Before the fun starts at Studio B you might want to check out this pretty killer punk show on S. 5th.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Tonight: Party @ Europa w/ Spiral Flag
Come drink beers with me at Europa tonight. My boys in Spiral Flag are playing. It's $8, which is a drag but whatever - you're fucking loaded dude!
Spiral Flag
Tonight @ Europa
Show @ 8, Spiral Flag @ 10:30
$8
21+
Tonight @ Europa
Show @ 8, Spiral Flag @ 10:30
$8
21+
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Mastodon Opening For Neurosis
It's been rumored that Mastodon was the super secret opening band for Neurosis. Well now it's confirmed and there's even a bad ass flyer to go along with it. You can still buy tickets here... they're $25 which is too steep for my cheap ass.
Monday, January 07, 2008
I'm Going To SNL @ Comix Tonight!
A friend of mine IM'd me and told me that he had an extra ticket to the live SNL performance at Comix tonight. At the last one Michael Cera showed up and I just heard that McLovin kid is in town so maybe he'll show up.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Tonight: Spiral Flag @ Cake Shop
Go to Cake Shop tonight and check out Spiral Flag. I think you'll have a goos time. It's the late show so it starts at 8PM, and it's Sunday, which means you'll need to TiVo the premier of American Gladiators.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Conan O'Brien Sings "Blue Moon Of Kentucky"
If you're watching Conan, like me, then you just had your mind blown by his live version of "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" by Bill Monroe. Elvis, Patsy Cline, and tons of others have played this song at some point and I have to say Conan's version is pretty damn good. I mean we all knew Conan could sing and play guitar but I had no idea he could do this. Do I smell a second career? Oh and guess what? I got the MP3 for ya!
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Links O'The Day
Interesting things I read today
Links:
Ripped To Shreds - NY Mag
MC Hammer Video Site
Topless Bait
Drum Buddy
Apes And Androids Played
I start off 2008 with a post that should have gone up on December 23rd (I think the show was on the 21st or 22nd). Which is hardly the way to start off the new year but nonetheless that's the way it is. I was going to write up a review but frankly I don't remember nearly enough at this point for something like that. So instead I'll tell you this much, Apes And Androids were fantastic as always. They played a new song called "Golden Prize" which is a cool little MP3 but holy fuck was it fantastic live. The entire band was playing drums and well, they kinda invented a new genre of music...I think. Anyway, here are pictures and sorry for the slacking review.
