Bringing the Drama

Last Wednesday I went to see John Mayer. I’ve seen JM a few times over the past 8 years. I was not really impressed with the latest album, but the main reason I still care about him is that he can still play the guitar live and make me forget that he has stupid songs like “Say”. Maybe he’s gone over the top with this heart throb image he’s trying to project now, and maybe his stage looks like a curtain draped bed, but he can still impress me with the guitar playing.

After having seen Jay-Z at the same arena a couple of weeks before, I noticed and mentioned to friends at the JM show “if Jay-Z was the show where black people get dressed up, John Mayer is the show where white people get dressed up”. It was striking how true that statement was. More tight clothes, more of it all. On the way to get a bloody mary, I stopped off in the restroom. I’m standing at the urinal when I hear a liquid hit the floor behind me, and the cleaning guy on the other side of the room say “what are you doing man? get IN the bathroom!” I completed my task, and turned around to see some dude had thrown up in the doorway of the restroom. He made it all the way from his seat to the doorway and couldn’t make it the extra 10 feet. Pathetic. I went and got my bloody mary thinking “this may be my last John Mayer show, this crowd has changed over the years to something I’m not a part of anymore.”

I took my seat on the front of the upper deck. Michael Franti was still playing, so we watched him. All his songs sounded the same, and I guess I’ve had less patience for opening acts lately. He came out into the crowd to perform a couple of times, including one time where he started playing in the aisle right below us on the lower level, but sadly I lost that picture in the transfer from camera to computer.

John Mayer finally hit the stage and led off with Heartbreak Warfare. It is one of the few songs I like off the new album, partly because of the cool video he did to go along with it. No Such Thing came 2nd, which I thought was weird. They rolled through some good songs, including I Don’t Trust Myself With Loving You. One of the things I liked so much about Continuum, was the guitar solos. They are amazing to hear live. They’re the reason I go to the live shows. This solo did not disappoint. Before the next song stared, there was an electric guitar malfunction, so he called an audible and did two songs acoustic, by himself. The first was Comfortable, which was the favorite song of my friend TH way back when he was telling me about this new guy John Mayer in 2001 or 2002. I had never heard it live, so it was cool to finally hear it. After Neon (another golden oldie), the technical problem was fixed so the band came back out.

Even the songs that I think were stupid before sounded and looked good live, including Who Says. He finished up with his cover version of Crossroads, so he ended up playing the 3 songs on the new album that I think are the only good ones. It was one of the better shows I’ve seen him play. I would go see him again, despite the immature crowds and the stupid marketing. I get it, I get the big production and the fancy band, but at the heart of it is still that guy who I admire playing smooth guitar solos, and that’s enough for me.

On Sunday I took advantage of the final day of Gap’s Denim Exchange. It had been months since I had bought any new clothes, so this exchange thing where I could get rid of old jeans was able to draw me out. I also hit up the sale rack while I was there and bought two new pair of pants and a dress shirt. One pair of pants was $6. The other pair was a style called Cadet, and they’re khakis. I looked at the label and they were described just like a pair of jeans I had tried on that I really liked, so I bought them. I put them on this morning to wear to work and found out they were button fly. BUTTON FLY! Who wears button flies anymore? Incidentally, when discussing this at work today, I told my cubicle neighbor Kenny about the $5 shirt I tried on that had two buttoned down breast pockets (that I noticed after I tried it on). That jackass designer probably was the one that thought putting a button fly on khakis was a good idea. Anyway, after a couple of minutes this morning I decided to cut off the tags and keep the pants. I like the feel and the fit and the color. I can deal with a button fly, even though I think it’s completely stupid.

Also this afternoon, I got Lady Gaga stuck in my head. I blame the article on CNN about some new video of her’s and how music videos are changing. I don’t really listen to the radio, so I’m behind the curve when it comes to pop music, much to the chagrin of my sister. I heard Poker Face in the gym a few weeks ago, and it was the first time I had heard a LG song knowing it was her. They have video screens now sometimes showing videos, but always telling you what song is playing. Anyway, I liked it, and then later I was able to ID her as the person who sings that song “blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah” or whatever. Today at work those two songs kept getting stuck in my head. I can’t help but like them. I hope that doesn’t lose me any music elitist cred. (I won’t tell you how I now have a couple of Katy Perry songs on my iPod)

I told you a while back about how I was going to see Jay-Z. A couple of weeks ago, that show happened. At work on the day of the show, I listened to three albums on shuffle. I emailed my sister the lyrics to the chorus of Hard Knock Life. I was telling people “Jay-Z is a big deal”. He is, he’s one of the biggest artists on the planet. I’ve seen 50 Cent and Ludacris (not together, and both were at a festival) live and they were HORRIBLE. Jay-Z is AWESOME. I thought this show would be better than any other rap show I’d ever seen.

We got there during the opening act, and he was okay. He had some song with lyrics that sounded like he wanted to sleep with a girl, but not want her to tell anyone, which made me ask “is this song about Tiger Woods?” We saw Mos Def and Spike Lee (really). We saw people dressed up way better than the standard concert, lots of tight dresses and big sunglasses. Then we saw the man himself emerge from below the stage.

One of the things I noticed about the other two artists who performed other than Jay-Z, was that they needed guys on stage who would go “give it up for so and so! Yeah! Make some noise!” Jay-Z did not need that, he’s a big deal. When the lights went down and the clock countdown got closer and closer to 0:00, the crowd knew who was coming. The curtain fell with 20 seconds to go, and the band is out on stage, and then Jay-Z rose from the depths of the stage and had the crowd in the palm of his hand. It was awesome. The entire crowd had their arms up bouncing along to Run This Town. It was everything I had imagined.

I thought the setlist lost some steam when he veered away from the big hits early. The other songs were hits too, but Run This Town and 99 Problems are just bigger songs that everyone can get into. I just thought one or two more of the bigger songs would have been better. The not so good songs weren’t made better live. I did really like the live band though. And his ability to spit out raps with such ease was amazing. I don’t think I could talk that fast and that smooth. I had read something earlier in the week that one of the things that sets him apart is he can command flow. I definitely agree. The midset handoff to Young Jeezy was alright (Jay-Z left the stage, and YJ did a mini-set), but it drained some of the life from the crowd. Though, YJ did manage to encourage us with sayings like “if you can dream it, you can motherf****** do it!” Right on. Jay-Z came back out and finished the show strong.

I thought one of the highlights was the girl that he pulled up on stage who sang a verse of Song Cry. The Unplugged is one of my favorite albums ever, and Song Cry is on there. It is one of my favorites. The chick managed to do really well, so well that I think Jay-Z was impressed, and teamed up with her for a couple of lines. She didn’t get to finish though, some excuses like “we gotta go” or something. Still though, I’m sure that’s one of the highlights of her life.

Overall, I would have made a couple of setlist changes (no Can’t Knock the Hustle or What We Talkin’ About) and eliminated the midset handoff, but other than that the show was one of those “quest realm” types that didn’t disappoint.

The past couple of months I’ve been anticipating seeing Switchfoot again. They came out with their new record earlier this month, and had scheduled some dates for November. When I saw the dates initially I did a double take. They were scheduled to play the Parish Room at the HOB in NOLA. The Parish is pretty tiny, and is usually reserved for lesser known bands. Switchfoot sold out the big room at the HOB in 2007 when I saw them. Then I read that they were purposely scheduling small venues because they were planning on playing their entire new record at each show. This concept is good if the record’s good, but if it sucks, then it’s not good. I was willing to take the chance because when I saw them in 2007 I came away a lot more impressed than I thought I would be. They were GREAT live. Because of this fact I was able to recruit my sister to come along.

Neko Case had scheduled a show in NOLA the same night, but unlike the Dead Weather/Andrew Bird double I was able to pull off, the two shows were going to be overlapping each other. I had to choose between the two, and my friend Brandi was able to validate my desire to see Switchfoot in a small venue, as opposed to seeing Neko Case, someone who I like, but doesn’t trump an alternative like this one. I bought the tickets for Switchfoot the night I went down to the HOB to see Dead Weather and stuck them in the cabinet door where I usually keep my concert tickets. The anticipation built as I heard songs from the new album. This show was going to be good. I was more excited to see Switchfoot than Swell Season or Pete Yorn.

We went downtown on Saturday and parked the car. The doors opened at 8 pm, and the show was sold out, so we got there about 7:35 or so. It was kind of a mistake because it seemed the entire crowd had showed up by then. There was some confusion as to what line was for Switchfoot and what line was for Stephen Marley, but things were figured out quickly. There was also a 40 something year old guy behind us who was by himself and REALLY excited about the show. I thought that was odd. The doors finally opened about 8:10 and we walked upstairs. The place we stood actually wasn’t as far back as I thought we could get, but man, Switchfoot has a lot of tall fans. It was like a line of tall people across the entire room. After getting our spot, I walked over to the merch table to ask about a vinyl copy of the new album. They didn’t have any. NO VINYL! I don’t understand how bands can show up unprepared like that. People want to give you money for vinyl copies of your album. If you’re going to sell it on your site, you should bring it to the show too! I walked back to our spot and we waited.

Switchfoot came out about 9:05 or so. Where we were standing, we could only really see the heads and shoulders of the band. I tried to make sure I could always see the lead singer, Jon Foreman, because really the lead singer is the most important part of a band. They played the new album in order, and it was awesome. I had only heard Mess of Me and The Sound before the show, so every other song was new to me. I loved the opening song’s lyrics “it’s no accident we’re here tonight, we are once in a lifetime.” there was plenty of guitar to go with the lyrics. YES! I know that lyric maybe isn’t that great, but I can explain later this week why now I like those lyrics for rock songs now. And Mess of Me was ridiculous. I liked hearing the stories before the songs, like how Your Love Is A Song is the third song in a trilogy, and how John M Perkins’ daughter was in attendance before The Sound. Early on some kid up front had a sign that said “Do you love me enough to let me play bass on Bullet?” The band saw it and acknowledged that they did love him enough and he had 6 songs to get ready. Now this kid was getting his wish, I hope he doesn’t suck.

Anyway, each song was great. I loved every minute of it. Then it came time for the bass playing fan to get up on stage for Bullet Soul. His name was Brandon, and the band was going to let him come in after the guitar solo. The solo comes and then Tim Foreman (the bass player) hands him the bass, then the band goes back to the solo. The dude was pretty good, the bass was deep and plodding. Not to say Tim was bad, but the kid had skills. I’m sure that was cool for him to do, and I felt happy for him.

This next part is too awesome for me to remember which song this was. So we’re all packed in there wall to wall, and during the song Jon Foreman takes the mic and starts walking back through the middle of the crowd. He was coming right by us! So I bumped my sister for her to touch him. She declines, and he walked past us. People are snapping pictures and patting him on the back, so on his way back I reached out and patted him on the back. I touched him! I touched a rock star! It was really cool. I mean, I know it’s not that cool in the grand scheme of things, but it was part of a great night, and I’m glad I did it. No regrets.

Once they finished playing Hello Hurricane, they went right into the older songs. I was really hoping for Awakening, but they decided not to grace us with it on Saturday night. Awakening is on my running mix, and during the HALF MARATHON it came on 2nd or something, right when I was having to get over the fact that I had 12.5 miles to run and I was really frustrated at all the slow people. It is one of my favorite songs. Anyway, they didn’t play it, but they did play Dare You To Move, among others, so I was okay with no Awakening. NEXT TIME THOUGH SWITCHFOOT! They played about 2 hours, and it was awesome. Seeing them in such a small place (they said NOLA was the smallest venue on the tour, and it almost didn’t happen because it was too small, but they pushed through) was amazing. Word.

So last night I met up with my mom to go to the Hornets game, and then right after that, Jacob to go see Pete Yorn. I ended up being able to go as Jacob’s +1 (ie FREE) since our other friend Jacob had to bail. After the game, which the Hornets WON, I made my way down to Republic. I hadn’t been there since seeing Death Cab 3 years ago. I was able to find a parking spot a block away, it was a snap. I walked up about 9:45 and didn’t see Jacob. I did see the tour bus and stood on the sidewalk with the smokers. Some people really should look in the mirror when they smoke to make sure they don’t look completely awkward. This one guy looked very awkward with a cig in his mouth. Not only is he slowly killing himself but he looks like a dumbass doing it.

As I was standing there waiting for Jacob, Pete Yorn got off his tour bus and was talking to a couple of people. I texted Jacob to coax him to hurry up, and luckily we met up a few minutes before PY started. We obviously had missed the opener, who happened to be GIVING AWAY his EP at the merch table. If you’re giving away your EP, it probably sucks. The fact that they were being given away played a factor later in the evening.

The way Republic is set up now, is they have couches near the back, about ¾ of the way back between the stage and the merch table area. People had been sitting in them, so when the show started they stood up. Of course people stood up right in front of where we were standing, so we booed them. One of the guys turned around and Jacob then noticed the guy’s friend had an Iggy Pop shirt, and said we were just kidding, which we were, for the most part. The dude in the Iggy Pop shirt apparently is dating a rather tall girl, so of course she came over to stand with him. Then they started dancing and making out, which was weird. They were standing in front of the couches though, so it wasn’t a big deal view wise. PY must have this crazy dancing/PDA vibe, because there were a few people doing this. Later on in the show all of those people were standing in front of the couch, with Jacob and I standing behind it. During a song a few minutes later, the guy in the black shirt who had turned around, reaches over to his friend in the IP shirt, who is dancing with his chick, and tickles his underarm. Jacob and I looked at each other and telepathically exclaimed WTF? We laughed at what had just happened. I would never tickle a male friend’s underarm and don’t understand the logic behind doing it in a public setting.

We weren’t really paying attention to the songs that were not on musicforthemorningafter, so when PY was playing a new song, we went in search for High Life. There were plenty of people drinking it, and as connoisseurs of the HL, we figured there must be a special. There was a special, it was $2, but when we went to the bar they were out! OUT OF HIGH LIFE! I wanted to give the bartender $3 for a HL and they were out. It was a complete travesty, esp when we were offered Bud Light instead for $4 (not including tip). We declined and went back to standing behind the couch. Then I realized that the other bar on the other side of the room may still have HL. We walked over, because PY was playing another new song, and the other bar did have HL. We toasted on our way back to our spot. The night was going so well!

Upon returning to our spot, some idiot decided he wanted to get a better view of the stage, so he’s standing on the back of the couch, above everyone. I think he was intrigued with the drummer doing something in front of the drum kit. Problem was, he kept standing on the back of the couch and blocking our view. We yelled at him to get off, but he probably didn’t hear us. The next thing I know one of the opener’s free EP’s hits the dude in the back, causing him to turn around, and get off the couch. He looked around as if he didn’t know who threw it, and seemed to ask his friend “what just hit me?” Jacob and I laughed as we judged them, and clinked our bottles of High Life.

The show itself was alright, but like the time I saw PY in 2003, it just wasn’t GREAT. I mean, he comes out and plays his songs, but they’re not that much different than the album really, and he doesn’t talk a lot. The band was good though, and there was a guy whose job it was to only play tambourine. He had a majestic beard, and we both thought he reminded us of David Bazan. When the band came out for the encore, I yelled for Burrito. It got a reaction from some of the people in the crowd, and a group behind me got really excited, but they didn’t yell Burrito too. I yelled it again but then PY started Crystal Village or something. It’s a fine song, but not Burrito. PY did play my favorite song, On Your Side, and played seven songs off musicforthemorningafter, which was fine by Jacob and I.

At the end of the night, we got a picture with the DB look-a-like. I’ll post the picture when I get it emailed to me. We stayed around to try to get a picture with Pete Yorn, but after 15 or 20 minutes, it didn’t seem worth it anymore with it being almost midnight on a Tuesday, so we left. I got home about 12:35. It was surely a late night, but a great night. Word.

I came home from a tough day at work and checked my mail. Tough is really relative because KCOG was not there. I think he was off handling something with his divorce, which I know way too much about. He likes to let me in on his life at random times, even if I am using my headphones. ANYWAY, this is not about him. I got my U2 tickets today! They are just regular TM tickets, nothing fancy. I’m a little sad. Still though, they say FIELD on them, and that’s all that matters. My sister came over earlier so we could settle up on the Jay-Z tickets, and I got to show her the U2 tickets. She was a little concerned with me having to get in line so early, but I told her I’m probably going with a bigger U2 fan than me, so I don’t think it’ll be too hard to convince anyone to get out there early. It will be awesome. I want to fist bump Bono. Can we make this happen Adriene?

I finished up my paper for grad school and uploaded it with about a minute to spare. Since NC State is in the eastern time zone, I have to upload one hour earlier than probably everyone else in the class. It’s probably better off, because I know as a professional procrastinator, if I actually had till midnight, I would probably waste time until midnight. I found a late addition article to add and was able to easily satisfy the 1000 word requirement. Right on.

In the 2nd half of my college experience, back when I was young and naive, I bought cds like they were going out of style. I probably spent half of my intern money on cds after my first intern semester. I sometimes would drive up to Greenville, SC just to go to the record shop when I was working in Greenwood, SC. Not every visit netted something important, but I did happen to score a vinyl copy of the Pearl Jam live album, which apparently is out of print and worth more than the $12 I paid for it. My 5th year when I had an on-campus job, I probably still spent way too much on cds.

The year I was living in Clemson being a bum, (aka believing a headhunter really did have an ‘in’ for a job for me and was just working things out) I went to the local music store a lot. The owner gave me the inside scoop on new bands, and I was always a sucker for albums that were $6.99 and $7.99, no matter who they were. If someone recommended them, I’d buy them. I found John Mayer this way before ‘No Such Thing’ broke. Yeah, I am that cool. I also found this guy, Pete Yorn. His first album is still one of my favorites. My friend Marika and I called him the mimbo. It used to be ’smoldering mimbo’, but now I think it’s just mimbo. I may be the only person still using the nickname. Anyway, he had a song on his 2nd album called ‘Burrito’ that Marika and I would laugh about. I saw him live in 2003, and he played Burrito that night. It was one of the highlights of the show.

I had seen Pete Yorn listed for a NOLA tour stop a couple of weeks ago, but seeing how it was on a Tuesday was going to make it difficult to find a concert friend. With friends being married and maybe with kids now, they somehow don’t have time anymore for weeknight concerts. Anyway, so I was talking to my friend Jacob last week and he asked me if I wanted to go see Pete Yorn. We’re going Tuesday, and we’ll both have beards because Jacob’s in Whiskerino again and I’m growing mine out again. If time permits, I’ll get a picture. Word.

Last night I went to see Swell Season. To be honest, I didn’t see Once until after the Oscars the year ‘Falling Slowly’ won for best song. I was late to the party on the entire deal. Even after seeing Once, I didn’t find it to be a movie I could watch over and over again. I LOVED some of the songs, and I thought it was cool to see things in Dublin that I had been to. I watched the movie a month or two after getting back from Europe. I walked through the HMV that he chased the thief through. Anyway, so I heard from multiple friends about how amazing Swell Season is live, and when they announced a NOLA date, I was excited. Bands like that usually skip NOLA, and they had for every tour since they got big, but I guess now they’re going back and playing the cities they’ve missed.

Last night started with a visit to a Subway that had the worst staff I’ve ever seen. First, the kid sitting up on the counter eating a cookie. Then the kid with the long hair that hung in his face. Finally the girl who came out of the back to toast just the bread. I kept thinking the kid with the hair would have one fall into a sandwich with him standing over the counter making sandwiches. Then the girl started to make my sandwich, and when I said I wanted it toasted she put just the bread in the toaster then walked off. What? She didn’t come back, so the cookie eating kid decided to do something. All three of those kids didn’t seem interested in just doing their jobs. Working at Subway can’t be that hard or unenjoyable. Hopefully they figure it out soon.

We got down to the HOB right about 8 pm for the show. Rachael Yamagata was the opener. I’m not a fan of sad songs, esp sad songs introduced by trippy explanations. I liked her better when she was singing BGV for Ryan Adams on Cold Roses. It wasn’t very crowded when we got there, and it was nice to be able to move around. When it got closer for Swell Season to come on, the place filled up.

Glen and Marketa came out and sat down at the front of the stage and played their first song. It was so pure I guess is the word I’m going to use. They weren’t trying to do anything other than simply play a song the way they wanted. I hadn’t really remembered many of the songs from the Once soundtrack except Falling Slowly, and I had not heard any of the songs from the new album. I can’t really go song by song to review. The feeling I got from the show was great though. The crowd was so nice and quiet. Usually when I go to shows at the HOB, the crowd is rude and inconsiderate. Not on Thursday though.

I wasn’t really a fan of the songs that Marketa would sing. She only did 4 songs. Glen did several songs by himself, and with the band, and then with just him and Marketa. The highlights I can remember were songs like “Feeling the Pull”, “Back Broke”, and two covers Glen said he and the band learned because they were playing New Orleans. I could tell with how he introduced them that he wasn’t learning or performing them to seem cool, he did it out of genuine respect. He intro’d a song called “Lakes of Pontchartrain”, which sounded awfully like the song “Banks of Pontchartrain”, which I saw Nickel Creek cover at the HOB in 2003. It’s not the same song after some googling on Friday. They saved “Falling Slowly” for the encore, and it was just Glen and Marketa on the stage. He came over with his shoddy guitar (from the movie, which I thought was awesome) to the piano and they played it in similar fashion to that first performance in Once (which is my favorite part of the movie).

They played past 11, which I think is past the curfew of the HOB. I almost didn’t want it to end. The music was just fantastic. I’m not going to say it was the BEST SHOW EVER or anything, but it was definitely worth the money I paid and the hassle getting there, and the long drive after. I’m really glad they decided to make NOLA a tour stop. While I’m not sure the movie has repeat watching for me, I think the live show definitely does. Oh, and I scored a poster for $10. I love cheap merch prices.

I took this picture a while back and have used it as avatars on message boards. Now though, I can use the picture for a new purpose, because yesterday I read that Jay-Z is coming to NOLA next February. My sister has already enthusiastically said she would come with. Tickets go on sale Saturday. They are a bit expensive for my taste, but have you heard the Unplugged album? It’s one of my favorite albums EVER. Have you been enraptured with Empire State of Mind this week? I heard it for the first time on Monday and it is FANTASTIC! Do you get an extra boost when 99 Problems comes on your iPod when you’re running? I do. Jay-Z’s always kind of been in the quest realm, but I never thought I’d ever have a shot at going to see him. Now though, it’s on.

John Mayer did a video for the song Heartbreak Warfare using something called augmented reality. I tried it out last night and it was cool. I am one of the very few people in the country without a printer at home, so I drew the heart using a pen and a black Sharpie. It worked though on my 2nd attempt, because the first time I drew the heart too big. My 2nd attempt was about 2″x2″. If you have a printer, you may want to skip this step. So if you have a webcam, check it out. The song is great too. I really like the smoothness of it.

If you aren’t able to work it, I found a video on youtube someone made with the video and it should give you an idea of how the AR works. The fingers and stuff on the side, that’s the person’s fingers. When you activate your webcam, it’s kind of like a window, so when you match up the heart on the paper to the heart on the screen, the video starts up. The heart on the paper acts as an anchor for the animation. So when you move the heart, the animation moves, when you twist it, the animation twists. Got all that? It’ll makes sense once you see it in action.