Wed Apr 02, 2003 02:00:23 PM


(for some reason this post insn't showing up in my blogger archives, so I'm reposting it so I can link it from my LJ)

Saw Dan Bern last night at Starr Hill in Charlottesville. Incredible. One of the coolest shows I've seen since, well, the last live show I saw. Sigh. I heart live music. I've been a huge fan of Dan Bern since sophomore year, so I was really really excited. We got there at 8, since that's when our tickets said doors opened, and found that we were the first ones there. The opening band didn't even go on until maybe 9:30. Before the show started, Andrea wrote a note on a slip of paper that said "Dan, please play Wasteland (one of the two bernstein songs Andrea knows) and Children of the Cold War (Bill's request, since it's his favorite song) We love you! Andrea, Doug, Jenni, and Bill" I took the note to the room where the band was warming up/hanging out, and slipped it under the door and ran away. Then I went to the soundboard to see if anyone was recording that night, and lo, an older yet enthusiastic fella named Alan was in fact patched into the soundboard, and gave me his card with his address and phone number, since he didn't have a computer with Internet to send me email or check out my trading list. This excited me to no end. We sat sipping our Star Hill microbrews and tolerated the opening act, and waited patiently for Dan and his band, The International Jewish Banking Conspiracy, to come on.

Then they came on.

I was jotting down the setlist, and it went like this: Black Tornado, One Thing Real, Earth Girl, Joe Van Gogh, Without You, Chelsea Hotel, Funeral Junkie??, Tyranny?? (I'm not sure of the names of those last two songs, since I never heard them before and he didn't introduce them) My Country Too, Another Rosita, and then.... I don't know. I stopped writing the setlist at this point, because Dan said something along the lines of, "This is bullshit. You are all too far away from me. Come up closer" and then he and his band unplugged their instruments and the drummer grabbed a hand drum and they came down into the audience, into the center of the room, and jamed out on Jerusalem and Tiger Woods, with everyone crowding around them, singing along. During Jerusalem Jenni and I sat up on the stage, and I played a maracca that was on stage into a microphone. I'm not even going to try to describe how fucking awesome this part of the show was. After that they jumped back up on stage and plugged in, and played Tiger Woods again and some other songs, which, as I remember them in no particular order: Two Hands (Ani cover), Fly Away, One Dance (where he pulled a girl up from the audience and slow danced with her), Marilyn, Superman, Chain Around My Neck, City, ummm, the first track off the new CD that I can't remember the name of (Bye Bye Baby, maybe?), and ended on Rice, where the band jammed out and the each left the stage one at a time, with Dan going first and the lead guitar and keyboards ending it. I was really hoping to hear Graceland or Albuquerque Lullaby, but he played so many of my favorite songs in that first set, I was happy nonetheless. Dan came out for an encore and did Wood Fuckin Racket solo. Sweet.

We couldn't help but notice they didn't play Wasteland or Children of the Cold War.

After the show Dan signed a poster that I tore off the wall, and Bill snapped a picture. We went out to my car, piled in, and as I backed out, BABOOM, I backed over a curb. We all got out to discover that I had totally fucked up my muffler. I pulled some duct tape out of my trunk and Bill and Jenni rigged it up so that it wouldn't drag on the road all the way home. Thanks, kids, I appreciated it. As we were fixing the car, Alan, the guy who taped the show, came out to the parking lot and we talked to him for a while. Turns out he's also from the Empire State, and went to school at New Paltz. We talked about The Last Chance bar, now renamed The Chance, where a lot of good shows come. He was telling us how he was hanging around to offer Dan and the band some pot, but they dissappeared before he could. He also told me he wasn't able to record the accoustic-in-the-audience part of the show, but he still thinks he had enough music for two CDs. We started talking about music, and he started naming all these bands that he thought we'd be into. He went to his car and gave us a ton of CDs, including a live Keller/String Cheese show, and maybe 4 other bands I had never heard of. (Andrea later claims he was giving the shows to HER, since he was handing them to her, but he was looking at me as he talked, so I contend that he was giving them to me, if not the four of us as a unit) We got home at about 2am, and, well, crashed. It was excellent.

www.livejournal.com/users/shaggylocks

Check it. I think I'm slowly ditching blogger. It's deleted too many posts, and I don't even post all that much.

Like Steve, I too wonder who, if anyone, reads this. If you do read this, drop a comment after this entry and tell me your favorite/most anticipated summer movie.

I've never done any hallucinogenic drugs, but I imagine it would be something like this.

This always makes me laugh.

I haven't posted anything in a while. So now, for your enjoyment, I bring you: TRUE STORY FILLER!

Once, while I was in New Mexico, I was hitch-hiking to Cimarron and was picked up by a Mexican family in a jalopy. The mother and father were in the front seat and I sat in the back with their daughter, who was maybe 5 and stared at me the entire way with those large amazed eyes that little kids get when staring at strangers riding in their car. The mother was the only one who could speak English, but not very well, so our conversation was limited. I made a couple faces at the girl to try to make her laugh, but she just kept staring at me. I was strangely comfortable, though, and the trip went by rather quickly. On the way back I was picked up by two girls before I even stuck my thumb out. If I end up in NM this summer I plan to pick up every hitch hiker I see.

It's official. I can deny it no longer. I am addicted to This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow.

And on the third day Jesus rose from the dead, and the villagers came with their pitchforks and torches to run a stake through his evil zombie heart. But lo, before they arrived he rolled the rock back from his tomb as ascended into heaven, but not before he turned back to see his shadow, assuring us of another six weeks of winter.

It's been a long night and I'm tired as hell, but I must say this before I pass out: I love Bradford K. Ricks. He is a dancin fool, and thanks to him I executed the following syncronized moves: the jump, the classic chop, and the runaround. It's great movin and shakin with someone willing to submit themselves to that. Here's to many more, BK. (Brad, by the way, will soon be spending two weeks in the town Uncertain, Texas, which has no phones and is on a bayou.)

Update on the past couple days:

Today-
Miss class because of phone call. Tried to register for class (tomorrow my enrollement window closes) but find I have a hold on my record caused by $23 in library fines for a lost book. I went to go pay it with my credit card and found the one place in the world that does not accept Visa. I have no cash, so I'm clueless on how the hell I'm going to register for classes. Intended to do work but spend 4 hours doing nothing productive. "Update blog" added to list of things I'm doing to procrastinate. I have also had two beers and am opening a third, while staring at a Word document with nothing written in it. Either a sign of alcoholism or four years of college catching up with me. You decide.

Monday-
While walking home from Contemporary Theater (I went to contemp!) I see a mother ducking with about seven tiny little ducklings walking along the side of the theater building. Incredibly cute! I walk away and as I glance over my shoulder to see the ducks, mama duck starts leading her family across the 5 lane South Main Street during one of it's busier days. Cue heart to leap into throat! I jump into a lane of oncoming traffic and hold my hand out to stop the cars, and then do the same thing with the other lane of traffic. I was a wildlife crossing guard, and it made my day. This was followed by a trip to Klines on my bike with Andrea and Andrea (AN-dree-ah and on-DRAY-ah) for mint oreo, a photo shoot with the Breeze, dinner with Martha, Matthew Sheppard's mother with Diane, a great email from Mel, and a movie with Andrea.

Sunday-
Bill Howard's 22nd birthday! I woke up to a phone call from Bill, telling me that he just found out he was getting evicted. The landlord had posted a note on the backdoor that they never use, and it said they had 5 days to leave and was posted there 5 days ago. Uh oh! So, concluded Bill, he would not be able to go see Keller Williams with Andrea and I. Bullshit! we said! I bought you that ticket for your birthday, asshole, and you're going! No way in hell is your birthday going to be a negative experience! End it with a bang! So Andrea and I borrowed Andrew's truck, helped him move his stuff to his mother's house, and sped to Alexandria where we were only 45 minutes late and caught the tail end of his first set. I saw the setlist later and I was very sad to have missed One Hit Wonder, Here Comes the Sun, and Boob Job, but we did manage to enjoy Novelty Song, Freeker by the Speeker, and a kickass Breathe with percussion loop.

Saturday-
Very busy with Phi Mu Alpha stuff that included a visit from brothers from Hampton, Shennandoah, and Howard, as well as a bunch of chapter alumni. Kick ass party that night where one of the brothers from Hampton kept telling everyone that I was the "coolest nigga" he'd ever met. He was quite the ego booster. I had to stay sober to drive people home, but everyone else got HAMMERED, including one Bill Howard, who later had to wake up with a hangover to some bad news...

Friday.
Carbon Leaf.


And now, off to some more procrastinating...