Life is Good in the Greenhouse

So much has happened in these past few weeks! The most exciting news is that I got a part time job writing content for a web development/ecommerce company and I started today officially. It's my first real job since 2004. The company is fairly close and related to what I want to do... My friend Christian and I were trying to start our own online business (LC Crafted) of selling handcrafted items for special occasions. It seems like a lot of work to make it an actual business, I think we were just going to do it as a side project and sell with Paypal.

Aside from that, I've been to a few good shows (The Faint/Moving Units @ Club Nokia being the latest). I also saw Friendly Fires and Los Campesinos! last weekend at the Glass House in Pomona (on 2 separate nights). My classes have also been good, I have both old and new friends in my classes and it's very nice to have someone to talk to. There even seems to be a few guys interested in me, which seems unusual to me. I was going through a dry spell in terms of dating, for pretty much all my life. The only thing troubling me now is getting my homework done and managing my time with all the classes and new work hours.

I have a couple game related assignments due next week and have yet to start on them. I hope this doesn't mean I'm going to have trouble with all my assignments. If so, I guess I can drop some classes. Still, I want to learn to use GameMaker and Python and I want to play old DOS games. I think I'll have time this weekend to do everything, or at least on Thursday and Friday nights. We'll see how well I can manage my time. My assignments aren't that difficult, I just have to figure out when and how to get them done!

BUDDYHEAD's HOLIDAY PARTY @ HOTEL CAFE DECEMBER 21st 2008

It was great seeing a lot of short acoustic performances packed into one night. Hotel Cafe is really tiny and somehow they managed to fit in a huge list of musicians (and one "poet" though he seemed more like a comedian) onto the small stage. They didn't manage to get all the people who bought tickets in, but I was lucky enough to get in because me and my friend Joyce got there fairly early (7:30-ish).

Some of the acts that started the set included an Elvis-like crooner, a band of girls singing acoustic songs starting with a cover of "Wild Horses," a bass heavy Kills-like band (with a male singer and female bassist) complete with scantily clad dancing girl, more acoustic stuff by Dios Malos (who I kind of recognized from a Cafe du Nord show a long time ago), a singer named Sean Williams who had a sparkly jacket and a guitar/banjo player backing him, and a thin red haired female singer, who the audience wouldn't shut up for.

The talking audience became an especially big problem during Nick Jago's set because he really noticed it enough to stop playing "Under A Veil" after starting it twice. He started his set with a Spanish song which he dedicated to Argentina, Mexico, Chile, and El Salvador. His songs were pretty good folky tunes, with some nice hooks to them. He was being kind of sarcastic to the audience by saying how he loved hearing them talk and half joked that the whole performance would be recorded and on YouTube... and it turns out someone from the BRMC forum recorded most of the set and put it there:

Nick stopping his song

Nick stopping his song again

Nick's new song

another new song

Suede cover of Asphalt World

Nick's cover of Suede's "Asphalt World" was a nice addition to the set, he said he wished he could sing like David Bowie or Brett Anderson before he sang it. Here's the video I took of the end of the song:



Not long after Nick's set was an amazing 12 string guitarist named Alain Johannes. He is formerly of QOTSA, now with Spinnerette or Eleven. He totally captured the audience's attention with no words at all, just some fantastic guitar playing. I think everyone was pretty much blown away by his performance, which also made me think how lucky Nick was to go on before him. Jason from Dead Meadow went on after with just an acoustic guitar and a harmonium player backing him. He was pretty good, I'm used to seeing him with lots of effects and his band. Without them, his songs were still pretty good.

In addition to the music, there was some artwork (photos and paintings) displayed on the walls of the venue. It was very cool to see some nice artwork to accompany all the good music that was played that night. Despite the Duke Spirit and Josh Homme not playing the show, it was still cool to see a lot of talented musicians performing. I did feel bad for Nick about the rude audience, but he responded with a pretty bad attitude and didn't seem to make a good impression. Aside from that, his music was pretty good. Here's a link to the pictures I took on Flickr. It's mostly Nick and a couple other acts.

Wasabi Jewelry, Painting, Web Design + M83 Review!

I went shopping this morning at the annual Wasabi Jewelry sale in Pasadena. It was at a really nice house up on a windy mountain road. The house was really modern and well decorated and the jewelry was nice and half price or 75% off! My friend ended up spending a lot (a little more than she had because of tax) and I spent a lot more than I usually would because it added up really quickly. I got a lot of good deals on 6 bracelets and 7 necklaces, one of which was normally $69 but was 75% off, so only $17.50! That was my most expensive purchase, the bracelets were a lot cheaper, like as low as 3 for $10. I'm not sure if I'm going to give the jewelry as gifts, but I might since it would be excessive for me to keep it all for myself.

When me and my friend Joyce got back to her house, she gave me some acrylic paints and books about painting since she has too many. Awhile ago, I bought a 12 pack of 14x14 canvases for only $30 at Art Supply Warehouse and some cheap paintbrushes at a Soyodo Book Store in Hacienda Heights/City of Industry. Anyways, now I have everything I need to start painting! I still have to worry about finals and finishing projects for my web design classes, so I'll have to wait until that's all over. Still, now I have something to try during my break, in addition to picking up my knitting and possibly practicing guitar. Tomorrow morning, I have to decide what classes (if any) to take next semester.

Yesterday, I met with some people about working on a website for a Christian clothing store. So far, they just want me to make a drop down menu on a template for the site, but I think they may later on want a complete site re-design. I was thinking of taking some graphic design classes next semester since a lot of web design seems to require graphic design. The only thing is that I'd have to probably take day time classes and they'd be for the full semester. The nice thing would be that they'd be on Macs. I was also considering taking classes on Computer Games, but considering all the trouble I've had with Flash this semester, I may stick with Graphic Design.

Anyways, that's been my weekend so far. Also, I picked up some Brie Cheese and Water Crackers from Trader Joe's in Brea. I had the hardest time getting into the parking lot and then driving into a spot. I know I must have annoyed some people by blocking their cars for awhile. The nice thing was that I got out of the parking lot much easier. I only went to that store because I was in the area after my meeting and I've discovered how cheap brie is at Trader Joe's. There is a closer one to my house, but it's in Whittier (a more unfamiliar area to me). Well, I guess I've gone on long enough, I guess I should work on stuff now!

UPDATE: I forgot to include my review of the M83 and School of Seven Bells show at the Henry Fonda. The pictures are very nice and professional because the editor (who I met at the show) is a real photographer who's been doing it for like 17 years!

Moodio.FM

My birthday is coming up on the 21st and this day is also when the new BlackBerry Storm comes out! It'll cost $199 with 2 year contract on Verizon Wireless, which is too bad because my family uses Sprint and our contract isn't up until July. Anyways, I did just get a BlackBerry Curve and I'm still discovering the cool things that it can do. I've found a website that allows my phone and other smartphones to stream internet radio stations. It's called Moodio.FM and it's free and it actually works! You need to register at the site and add radio stations from your computer, but you can listen from your phone! It's way cool!

I have a Flash project due on my birthday also, which is really frustrating because I'm having trouble getting it to work. Removing one line of code makes it kind of work, but then it also doesn't do exactly what it's supposed to do. Anyways, I'm annoyed that I can't get it to work. One last thing to mention is the fires in Yorba Linda and Brea, which aren't close enough to harm my house though it does affect the air quality and causes a lot of ash and smoke to spread around. I guess I'm lucky that I don't have to worry about the fires themselves. I do know people who live and work in Brea and Yorba Linda, so I hope they're okay.

Let sleeping cats lie

Aside from taking photos of my cat sleeping on various objects, I've been hard at work on my assignments for classes. Here's a Flash Animation and Slideshow I made about water:

http://student5www.fullcoll.edu/00782895/cis155/a5ChanL.html

And here's my last assignment for my Advanced HTML class:

http://student5www.fullcoll.edu/00782895/cis252/cis252a5.htm

I've also been busy writing reviews for the Scenestar (one of which was actually posted!) and listing Paul Frank shirts on ebay for my brother's friend. Check out photos of the shirts on Flickr and bid on them on ebay...

All shirts are priced at a low 99 cent starting bid with auctions ending in just 5 days!

Tomorrow morning, I start up with guitar classes again and it should be interesting. The teacher told me we would be playing an Eagles and a Cars song, so I'm curious as to which songs those are. Also, tomorrow I'm going to a Craft festival in Cypress and the Detour Festival in Downtown LA! Should be a fun busy weekend.

BRMC, The Black Angels, The Warlocks @ Ink n' Iron

This weekend in Long Beach was a lot of fun, I actually went to Long Beach twice. On Friday, I went to the Ink n' Iron Festival with Suzanne and Jodi and on Sunday, I went to the Southern California Lamp Exchange with my mom. The tattoo convention was cool even though I didn't get one (since it was too expensive and I didn't know what to get). The lamp exchange was nice because we got a lot of free energy saving lamps for our old crappy lamps, a lot of them were floor lamps too!

The bands at Ink n' Iron that I wasn't planning to see ranged from interesting novelty acts (Chapel of Thieves, who sounded like Halloween music) to sort of good douchie music (Jail Weddings, whose spastic singer Jodi likened to Morrissey). There was also a sort of hillbilly band with a banjo, autoharp, washboard, fiddle, etc. They were interesting, but I don't remember if they were any good.

The bands I'd planned on seeing at Ink N' Iron did not disappoint, even the Black Angels who I've seen more than I would actually expect to in the past year. I noticed when the Warlocks came on that a few of their songs sound kind of similar, for example "Zombie Like Lovers" sounds a lot like "Come Save Us" and they did play both songs. Also, I recorded video of a song that I thought would be "The Dope Feels Good," but ended up a different song.

The Black Angels played for about an hour, and managed to keep things interesting with different band members switching between bass, guitar, drums, and keyboards. I read in an OC Weekly review that they even had an electric sitar, but I didn't see it myself. I haven't heard the new Black Angels album Directions to See A Ghost, so I couldn't necessarily distinguish the new material from the old aside from the fact that I was more familiar with the older songs.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club closed the show and they were excellent, as usual. Robert was dancing around more than usual and Peter was being extra breathy during "666 Conducer," which they opened their set with. Nick wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary for him, though he wasn't wearing sunglasses. The strobe lights weren't that bad for this show, they actually seemed more noticeable during the Black Angels' set.

Some highlights of the show included older favorites like "Red Eyes and Tears" and "Love Burns" and near the start/middle of "Six Barrel Shotgun," Robert put his bass down and jumped off the stage. Then he moved towards the middle of the barrier for the photo pit and pulled it from about 6 feet away to right up against the stage. It was one of the coolest things I've seen Robert do in concert (and he does a lot of cool things).

The acoustic portion of the set featured Peter's version of "Cool Water" and his newer song "A Fine Way To Lose," which were both warmly received. Then Robert came out and played "Sympathetic Noose," which is always nice to hear. They continued their set up until "American X," when Peter announced the fire marshall was shutting them down early. Still, they managed to squeeze in a couple more songs, including "Steal A Ride" which was bittersweet as it was Wic's last official song with them.

After the show, the security was being extra mean by kicking everyone out before they could even look at merch to buy. It was a little bit after 1 AM, since BRMC had gone on at around 11:30 PM and played for about an hour and a half. A short show by BRMC standards, but fairly long for most other bands. We waited around near the truck that was waiting to load up BRMC's stuff so we could say goodbye to Wic and everyone else.

We proceeded to the parking lot after saying our goodbyes and watching Rob do a funny dance for us. Peter was right behind us going to the parking lot so he could show us how he puts his guitar on his motorcycle. Suzanne volunteered to show Michael and Peter how to get to the 710 freeway from the parking lot, but didn't realize that she wasn't sure how to even get out of the parking lot. Michael's response after following her in circles for a bit: "Smooooth." It was hilarious! Peter didn't seem too happy about it either.

Eventually, she did figure out how to get out of the parking lot and onto the freeway after feeling the embarrassment of leading them in circles. Part of the 710 was shut down, so we had to take a detour to the 91 and ended up back in Buena Park at 3 AM. We were still hungry, so we went to Denny's near my house. That pretty much sums up the Long Beach adventure, minus all the gory details about Suzanne and Jodi's tattoos. If you're curious about that, I'm sure they'd be willing to share all about it.

Check out all my photos from the festival on my Flickr account. Also, I took a few BRMC videos and put them up on YouTube. Here's my favorite video from the night, with the moving of the barrier:

Weekend Highlights

Aside from the BRMC show, I also had a nice time hanging out with friends and family and learning to use oil pastels. On Saturday, my friend Joyce showed me how to use oil pastels. It was interesting layering and mixing colors. My drawing didn't come out to great (Annie, the Norwegian pop princess, from URB magazine), but it turned out better than it started out. On Sunday, I practiced driving on freeways with my mom. I still want to stick to local roads while I have the time and leisure to do so, but I'm sure I'll get back to freeway driving soon enough. We also had lunch with my grandma for her birthday at a Chinese restaurant in Irvine. I wasn't too hungry, so I didn't eat much then.

I met up with Suzanne and Jodi at my house at around 3:30 PM, they had been shopping in the area. We left for the Wiltern soon after changing for the show (we all went casual). When we got to the Wiltern, there was already a line which made Jodi sad. We still managed to get our usual front row spots. We also were highly amused by Robert's Hispanic doppelganger (who claimed to dress that way because of the Jesus and Mary Chain). Jodi and Suzanne were standing next to him for most of the show, and he was apparently also amusing to Robert and Peter. The bands were all really good, I liked the first band Lower Heaven mostly for the autoharp played by the lead singer. Their music was pretty cool too.

The Black Angels were actually really good too, not that it's a surprise. I liked their new songs as well as the old ones. It's not a huge departure from the last album, but it's very listenable. They occasionally switched off on instruments and the bassist would play a stand up drum while one of the guitarists would switch to the bass. They made pretty seamless transitions to their different spots on stage. I can see why BRMC likes the band so much, they make some very good music. BRMC came on not too long after, with their old banner and lots of extra amps piled up in front of the drum kit. Later, we would find out that the extra amps were for the Black Angels to jam with BRMC for a good 10+ minutes.

BRMC played an amazingly good setlist, which included everything from "The Likes of You," "20 Hours," and "Vision" to "Steal A Ride," "Killing the Light," and "Cold Wind." Lots of great less played songs, plus they played the new song "River Styx," which was starts out a lot like Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus," but it goes into a more swampy bluegrass kind of sound. I will go into more detail about the show later, but during "Whatever Happened To My Rock 'n Roll?" Peter was taking people's cameras and grabbed at mine twice! It was actually more funny then mean, he was having a good time taking them and giving them back right after. After the show, he said he knew he wouldn't get my camera because I had it wrapped around my wrist.

Anyways, I got a lot of photos and videos from the show, still working on uploading a lot of video. Here are my photos from the show:

BRMC: http://www.flickr.com/photos/porcupiny/sets/72157604327086184/

The Black Angels: http://www.flickr.com/photos/porcupiny/sets/72157604325430568/

Lower Heaven: http://www.flickr.com/photos/porcupiny/sets/72157604325364688/

Here's a video of part of the jam with the Black Angels:



and the end of Heart + Soul as well as the first part of the jam:

Supersmall: a fun event for all!

The benefit for Downs Syndrome known as Supersmall proved to be an entertaining and educational night. I enjoyed learning about the Nudibranchs a.k.a. Sea Slugs, who are both hermaphroditic and usually very poisonous and beautiful. It was amusing to see all the pictures of their group sex and the narration that went along with the photos. We also learned about the $300 million dollar rovers that the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are sending to Mars. It was pretty interesting to use the 3-D glasses they provided to see different pictures of the surface of Mars.

The comedy routines were pretty entertaining too, one had a couple guys running around on stage doing amusing mind tricks. There was a guy called Mr. Extraordinary in a funny diamond pattern suit, who gave out $10 to the first person who claimed it and then went on to explain what that person had that no one else in the audience had. He also had a small hole in his pants, but that was only slightly distracting because it looked like he had orange underwear underneath.

Even the musical acts were amusing. Carina Round is a female British singer who was wearing a polka dot dress and red high heels. She pointed out that she does funny things with her legs while she performs and her songs were pretty good too. Acoustic and folky, but also very distinctive and different. She ended her set with a song that used a pedal to record and loop her vocals, it sounded pretty cool.

The Lampshades were just hilarious from the moment they came on stage. The female singer looked a lot like Meredith from the Office in a red bellbottom jumpsuit and the guy looked like a sleazy lounge singer with a fake skinny mustache drawn over his upper lip. He was also sipping a drink and smoking a cigarette through the whole performance. They started off with their version of "The Facts of Life," then went on to play "Light My Fire" while the female singer continuously emphasized that they're not a couple. They did a bit on celebrity obituaries and in between one song, the male singer pretended to fall asleep then woke up. They ended the set with their version of "Mandy," during which the male singer wandered off stage to refill his drink.

Peter Hayes of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club played a short, but sweet set of 7 songs which included a couple covers (Cool Water and Long Black Veil) and a new song (which he later told us was called "A Fine Way to Lose"). He also played "Shuffle Your Feet," "Complicated Situation," "Fault Line," and closed with "Am I Only." I only took pictures during "Complicated Situation" and I was recording video of everything else. It was such a nice intimate acoustic set. The new song was kind of country sounding, and had some sad lyrics about losing someone.

You can see and hear 4 of the songs from the set on my YouTube account. Speaking of which, I was excited to learn that my cell phone can watch YouTube videos on it. If you have a Motorola RAZR V3m, you should see if you can watch YouTube videos on your phone! I have a job interview in Brea today, and I'm more nervous about driving there by myself than the interview itself. Wish me luck!

The Raveonettes, Be Your Own Pet @ Detroit Bar 3-2-08

The crowded Costa Mesa Detroit Bar was treated to the sweetly surf-guitar tinged sounds of The Raveonettes, one of Denmark's finest exports. Opening their set with the new song "Hallucinations," dual guitarist/vocalist Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo harmonized perfectly on the sun-soaked ode to new romance. The duo was backed by a standing female drummer with only two drums and a drum machine, but the sounds they produced were impressively full and layered.

The next song they played was the current single "Dead Sound," which is a faster track that is equally bright and sunny. The Raveonettes played a set largely taken from the new LP "Lust Lust Lust," but also threw in some favorites from the previous albums "Chain Gang of Love" and "Pretty In Black." "That Great Love Sound" was an exciting addition to the set with its upbeat tempo and hummable lyrics. They slowed things down with the song "Here Comes Mary," which sounds faintly like the Everly Brothers.

Another "Pretty In Black" song "Red Tan" highlighted the set with its nice relaxed beat. They went even farther back to play a couple tracks from their debut EP "Whip It On." Hearing "Attack of the Ghost Riders" and "My Tornado" in all their B flat minor glory showed the darker side of the Raveonettes. The newer material stood out quite well among these older songs. "The Beat Dies" features Sharin Foo's dreamy vocals on this lushly beautiful song.

"Black Satin" is another one of those songs that makes you think the latest album was written on a sunny beach. The Raveonettes picked up the pace on "You Want the Candy," a fast fun song that you might not expect to be about drug use. Another live staple was the rockabilly twang of "Love In A Trashcan," always a fun addition to their set. A cover of Stereolab's "French Disko" was a very cool way to show off the band's wide range of influences.

The Raveonettes closed the set with the darkly toned "Aly, Walk With Me," a song which demonstrates their ability to produce feedback and noise using the palms of their hands over their guitar strings. Though they left us wanting more, there was no encore. Be Your Own Pet opened the show with their racous punk rock music. The young band from Tennessee managed to excite the crowd with their off-kilter vocals and punky guitar riffs. They provided a stark contrast from the more controlled and melodic sound of the Raveonettes, but it was an interesting choice for an opener.

At the Echo/Echoplex

This has been a great week of shows for me thanks to Dana, the Beggars Group/Matador Records street team, and some members of BRMC. This first show this week was Dead Meadow at the Echoplex with Midnight Movies and the Great Northwest opening. I've seen Midnight Movies a lot in the past year and mostly for free, so watching their set was nice and familiar. I recognize a lot of their songs and found most of them pretty good. The Great Northwest were also a pretty good band, I would like to hear more from them. I am honestly a little bored by Dead Meadow, so I was happy to sit during their set after standing for the first two bands. It was nice sitting also because we saw Spike and Dana and him get along like old friends. Not surprising since they're both so talkative and friendly. After the show, we handed out Dead Meadow stickers and flyers with another street team member named William, who was from Denver.

The next show was The Lilys at the Echo with Magic Mirror and Richard Ross opening. Richard Ross was, I think, this tall guy in weird red genie pants who kept playing different saxophones. At first, I thought they were okay, but their set just went on and on. I was relieved when they finally finished. Dana noticed Spike enter the Echo first and then pointed out that Nick was sitting down near by. I noticed Robert coming in, so it was like being at a BRMC show. They were probably there for Magic Mirror, who opened for a few of their shows last year. Spike and Robert were lost in the crowd near the bar, but Nick was standing all around the side of the stage we were sitting at. It was kind of funny seeing him move every few minutes to stand in a different spot.

Magic Mirror's set was very good, especially after that first band. Their music is really getting familiar to me to, though I'd only seen them open for BRMC a couple times. I'm starting to recognize a few of their slower songs, the more political and gospel tinged ones. Anyways, they're a good band and I wouldn't mind hearing more from them. Before the Lilys's set, we moved from our table to the bar area, where we moved from the front of the club to the back where Nick and Spike were standing. Dana ran into Spike earlier and said hello. Nick came over near the start of the Lilys set and said hi. He mentioned he was getting over the flu and that the guitarist with the Lilys (who Dana told me was from a band called Holy Shit) was going to tour with A Place to Bury Strangers, a band I would like to see live some day. Then, he disappeared into the crowd.

The Lilys were really cool indie pop style music. They sounded great despite me not really knowing their songs very well. The tall singer was kind of funny at times. I definitely want to check out some of their albums, since I'd only previously heard a few songs I'd downloaded and from their MySpace. Near the end of their set, a guy started hitting on Dana and she shot him down for being too forward. Also, while he was hitting on her, Robert walked by and we both poked at him. Dana said her finger hurt from his rock hard abs! Poking aside, he didn't stop or say hi so we assumed his girlfriend was calling him home. After the Lilys set ended, Dana found Spike and said good bye to him.

Tonight was Super Furry Animals, Holy Fuck, and Abe Vigoda at the Echoplex. It was so packed and hot in there. No rock star sightings tonight, though Dana did spot a relative of her ex. The bands were pretty good, though I was getting really annoyed by this dancing girl during the first band's set. I guess Abe Vigoda was an okay band, but I wasn't too into them. Maybe it was the girl bugging me too much. Holy Fuck were next. They play mostly instrumental electronic music, and I really enjoyed it. It was really good, especially the last song. I have heard the album before, so maybe that's why I liked it more. Dana was too hot in there and sat out in the smoking area for most of their set. Her cousin Mike was trying to get in, but unfortunately, could not because it was so crowded and I think the show sold out.

Super Furry Animals came on after a lot of work from the guitar tech, who was preparing guitars for like half an hour before! There were a few interesting looking acoustic guitars with neat paintings and drawings on them. This was probably my fifth time seeing SFA live, but it was different from the previous shows. The singer came on wearing a big red helmet and singing with a mic to the side of it. All the members of the band hand interesting embroidery on their clothes, though I couldn't really get any good pictures of them. They played a lot of old and new songs from their many albums, so it was a very exciting and diverse set. One song, the guitarist on the side of the stage I was on asked everyone to put their hands to their heads like antlers and said it was the shortest song ever written, though it seemed more like a funny noise than a song. During one song the two guitarists and the bassist put all their guitars/bass up together. It was pretty cool!

Anyways, if you've read this part, you may want to see some pictures. Here's a link to my Super Furry Animals photos and my Dead Meadow record release party photos. Here are a few Super Furry Animals photos:

BRMC @ The Key Club 1-24-08

Someone actually posted video of the entire show on YouTube, so check it out if you're interested in watching it from the front row. I was in the front behind one of Robert's monitors, which he later moved back for some reason. Me and Theresa got to the Key Club at 5:30 PM, right before it started pouring rain. It was freezing outside the venue, but at least they had rain tents up around the lines for people who'd gotten their early (some people were there at 6 AM!). My toes were frozen by the time we got inside, but were defrosted by the time BRMC went on.

The opening band that night was F. Scott and the Ashbury Band, who I'd never heard of. They went on at 8:30 PM and were pretty good, kind of a bluesy rock that had a bit of a 60's sound. I had seen some of the members outside the venue when I was waiting on the wrong side of the line. Actually, I thought the singer of the band reminded me of Peter, though a little shorter and with a beard.

After more waiting for the opening band to move their gear and the roadies to set up for BRMC, we finally had Peter come on stage with his acoustic songs at around 9:30 PM. He opened with "Grind My Bones," which wasn't on the original setlist. After "Complicated Situation," he was joined by Nick and Robert on "Shuffle Your Feet." Nick was miked up and singing back up vocals on a lot of songs. It was pretty cool to see him singing along too. Here's the setlist for the show:

Grind My Bones
Complicated Situation
Shuffle Your Feet
Love Burns
Berlin
Weapon of Choice
Howl
All You Do Is Talk
666 Conducer
Six Barrel Shotgun
Red Eyes and Tears
Aint No Easy Way
Promise
Sympathetic Noose
Visions of Johanna
As Sure As The Sun
American X
-
Took Out A Loan
Killing The Light
Spread Your Love
Punk Song

It was kind of standard setlist for a BRMC show, not that that's such a bad thing. Hearing Robert's cover of "Visions of Johanna" was interesting because he sat down on a monitor and played the entire song sitting down. It's a pretty long song, so it's understandable that he might be tired. During "Howl," Peter was on Robert's side playing the keyboard on the piano and Robert moved over to Peter's microphone. Later, they switched sides.

I took a lot of photos at that show, though not all of them came out clearly. Here's a link to my photos from the Key Club. Here are some of my favorite photos from that night:

Interview with Robert and Peter of BRMC in SuperSweet

Check it out:

http://www.supersweet.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=511&Itemid=39



Illustration: Amalia Caratozzolo

Simone Legno signing @ Mobius

From the past few blogs, you can tell that I'm obsessed with Tokidoki. And this obsession has cost me hundreds of dollars in just a few months. Imagine if I'd gotten into it back when the bags first came out in 2005? I'd be in debt rather than nearly broke. Anyways, here I posted some of my photos from the signing to MySpace. There are many more on my Flickr account. I shared my photos with the girl who runs Tokidoki-blog.com, but later she said I had too many pictures of counterfeit bags. I guess if people really search through my Flickr account, they'll find the pictures, but even after I removed them from the set she said her readers would point it out in the "What's in my bag set." Anyways, I don't really need that much publicity for my photos. I'll just share some with people here:











Here are some photos of what Mobius sells:

Best shopping day ever!

I totally rule at shopping... Here's a short list of what I got yesterday:

1) Emily Strange Epiphone Gibson SG Guitar (arrived via FedEx from ebay)



from Metro Park at the Cerritos Mall:

2) a 3/4 sleeve white Woven Tokidoki button up shirt with patches!



3) a Gatto Spinoso T-shirt by Tokidoki



4) Tokidoki Ahoy Matey T-shirt



5) Wire Heart Tokidoki Logo T-shirt (which I will return because it has holes)



from Big Lots in Buena Park:

6) 2 skeins of Patons Bohemian yarn (Indigo Indulgence)



7) 12 skeins of Patons Be Mine (furry rose)



8) 12 skeins of Patons Carmen (Chocolate)



from Salvation Army:

9) IKEA Effektiv Cabinet (only $20!)

18.11.2007 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Köln, Prime Club

18.11.2007 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Köln, Prime Club, originally uploaded by cipollini.

I like puppets!

Interview with Robert and Peter of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

"Life inspires me to write music"
Interview with Robert and Peter of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

"If I only get 15 minutes of fame to say something, you want to make it count." - Robert Levon Been

"I guess the key word in that is life, it's full of everything." - Peter Hayes

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (BRMC) are a band of musicians who manage to create albums that range from hard rock songs (such as "Took Out A Loan" and "Need Some Air") to soulful melodies ("Killing The Light" and "Window") to acoustic ballads ("Am I Only"). They have built up a loyal following since they formed in the Bay Area in 1998 and have toured almost non stop in support of their well-received 4th album Baby 81, which was named for a Tsunami victim who was reunited with his parents in the aftermath. We were fortunate enough to catch up with BRMC as one of the headlining acts at this year's Monterey Music Summit, a multi-medium festival bringing together various artists with a commitment to social change and political awareness. Robert Levon Been (bass/keys/vocals) and Peter Hayes (guitar/bass/harmonica/vocals) of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club gave us an in depth interview on everything from politics, music journalism, touring, film, to outside interests and pet peeves.

1. What's the sound or direction are you headed for the next album or is it too early to tell?

Robert: I'm actually trying not to think about that because we're actually writing a lot right now and sometimes when you stop and think about it and conceptualize it, it goes somewhere else. Peter's been writing songs on acoustic guitar, really amazing like Howl country kind of things... blowing me away. And he stopped for awhile and didn't write anything for awhile, so I was wondering if he's still got it. A lot of those Howl kind of songs are just things he does on his own and doesn't really play them for me until they're close to done. I'm just as impressed with those songs he does as anything else, kind of like "Devil's Waitin'" and "Fault Line" and things like that. There's a nature to them and they're personal and they're pretty great. But then, we've also been jamming a lot as a band and writing these really hard core rock songs and those are coming at the same time. They're kind of contradictory in nature, so I don't know if our next record what the fuck it'll be. It's coming out of both place at the same time. I've also been listening to a lot of Nine Inch Nails and fantasizing about making a techno record. That's the conceptual part you don't want to know about.

2. Are you planning doing on any more tours in 2008?

Robert: We've admitted to Australia. Is Japan up there yet? Okay, that just got confirmed, it's 2 Tokyo shows. So, there's 3 in Japan. Hopefully, we're going to stop for awhile and not do anything. There's a plot of something to do later, but I can't say what it is because it's a really good idea, very very different from any tour we've ever done. You'll hear about it if it happens, it's about as creative as you can possibly get with touring. So, that's my tease for 2008. Maybe South America too, that's the dream for 5 years. Every time it gets close it slips away, so I don't want to jinx it.

3. What artists/bands have had the most influence on you?

Robert: Surprisingly, not the Jesus and Mary Chain. It's hard to think about the most because it changes from time to time. I've admitted to liking a lot of heavy metal when I was in junior high, Metallica and Alice in Chains, but I've come a long way since then. Ride, The Stone Roses, The Verve, I'm actually going to see the Verve in London in a couple of weeks and that's a big deal because there are not many bands that I'd travel to see and miss out a lot of our one week break.

Peter: I was just thinking of that the other day. I had an uncle that used to sing me and my brother songs when we'd go up to the mountains with him, he'd play "El Paso," "Cool Water," and this other song "Ghost Riders in the Sky," these kind of strange kind of country songs. I was thinking about it the other day when I was starting the lyrics for a song, I was kind of surprised how much that did affect me at as far as when I was 6, 7, 8 years old. Those songs got me thinking. Then I started listening to music for a long time and started paying attention more to the story than the song. The characters behind the music a little bit, like Johnny Cash, Moby Grape, the story of the band, music is the one thing I can know the people behind it. It means a lot to me.

4. How important is politics to you and your music?

Robert: Politics and music, I'd say for all three of us differently. Peter's the most politically minded as in he's got the drive and a lot to say and wants to say it. I've got a lot to say, but I don't really know if I want to say it. And I don't know what Nick (Jago) (drummer/percussion) wants to say, but I'm sure he'll think of something. Music and political things are hard for me sometimes because I'm of two minds, I don't know if it mixes all the time. I love Bob Dylan and John Lennon and I respect the political songs they've written and think those are some of the best songs ever written. At the same time, I think it's sacred ground in a lot of ways to think so highly of yourself to preach something like that. I'm always trying to catch myself, make sure it's worth... if I only get 15 minutes of fame to say something you want it to count.

Peter: It's only important for my personal gratification to get an annoyance out of my brain to get something out that I'm not hearing said by anybody else. As far as anybody agreeing with it or caring, it's not important... it's life, but the basic gist of any politics or ideas of religion is really kind of a personal (person) the nuisance of it. The hopes is that someone needs that to get heard, I would hope that the song would connect with it and that's great. As far as for the necessity of my own soul, that's the selfish part of it. The connection with other people with that kind of stuff, with those kinds of things, with any of it, it's kind of poetry, we're not all good at talking to people. You put it in a song and it helps relieve whatever frustration is there. I think a lot of people have that similar problem maybe, which is voicing what they feel. That's where music and art comes into play and can help voice that for people. That's where it becomes not selfish anymore.

5. Do you pay attention to music critics?

Robert: It changes, I think when it first started I read more, but then they all became so similar after awhile. It's hard to stomach or just kind of one after another. I think it's an art form to write about music, I really do. It's not considered one, but if you can do it a small amount of people can. I think a lot of people try using a lot of big words, but you can tell they're not really on the mark. I don't know how much mind I pay to it, it depends on what kind of mood I'm in.

6. Are there any journalists or magazines that you pay more attention to?

Robert: I like Under the Radar, I like Mojo. UNCUT sometimes, but there's like an avalanche of music and information where music and bands that make you feel overstimulated. I used to only feel that riding down Hollywood Boulevard, where it'd be too much information where it freaks me out. And now music is making me feel that way, that when I open a magazine there are so many bands. I don't know how anyone processes all of it. It's a shame, there used to only be a few bands. It was harder to be a musician, like there was more actual definition to what that means. Now it's anyone with attitude which is literally anyone.

7. Is the life of a touring musician what you expected it to be?

Robert: The honest answer is my dad warned me constantly, "Only do it if you fucking love it because it's really hard and it's really not what you think." When he'd say it every time, I just thought of myself as just so tough. The passion you have for it at the time, you just think you can not do anything. I've been warned to the breaking point, it's way more than you can imagine. You can't ever be asked to make that choice when you're 15 or 16, you think you're immortal and you should be because that's the only way you're going to get to the next point.

Peter: Yeah, it's hard and great, it's all those things. It's everything. I guess the key word in that is life, it's full of everything.

8. What is the strangest thing in your record collection?

Robert: Most embarrassing thing? Probably that Rihanna song "Umbrella." It's actually a good song.

9. What's your favorite book, movie/TV show, and food?

Robert: Book is the Martin Luther King's Strength (to Love). We're all pretty strung out on Indian food, so we try to find that. Favorite show is obviously the new Battlestar Galactica. I'm really crazy into films so I don't really have a favorite. The one I liked the best recently is "The Proposition" with Guy Pearce, Australian cowboy movie with Nick Cave music.

10. Who would you like to see as President of the USA next year?

Robert: I don't think any of them are going to get us out of the hole we're in. I think the whole system has got to change to do that. At the same time, I'm not going to piss away my vote on along the lines of someone like Ralph Nader or someone that will only end up letting your vote (be wasted). When push comes to shove, it's between two or three and it's the lesser of evils, you kind of have to do what you have to do until the revolution comes.

Peter: No, I don't really know enough about the candidates. I know what I'd like to see what comes out of it. I don't really trust democrat or republican, I think they're the same thing. I'd vote for a green party or the greener of the two, then I'd vote for neither of them and something that was a bit more on the peasanter side of life besides the ones with money. I guess I just don't have any faith that that's going to change, I don't see any candidates to get really fired up about. As far as I'm concerned, I'm kind of playing it safe and trying to be friends with everyone. I don't know what's afoot.

11. What band(s) would you like to see reunite?

Robert: The only other one would be The Stone Roses. I don't know who else, I'll think of it later.

12. You were saying before how you are really into films. Are you inspired by any filmmakers?

Robert: There's actually this guy who's a friend of ours he makes these short films. His name is Jamie Dag and he did the American X video that I just found out is going to get a proper release. I don't know if you can call it a 9 minute music video or a short film because we're not in it. It's hard to explain without seeing it. It's the thing I'm most proud of that we've done even though the Berlin thing that Tessa put together was really good. He's great and I've seen a couple shorts he's done and he's making more now. It's inspiring.

Peter: No, I don't keep track of that stuff too much. I don't keep track of their names, I barely keep track of musician's names. I get inspired by movies, moments and stories. It's the story, not the director or the actors.

13. What are some of your non-music related interests or hobbies?

Robert: Motorcycles would be cliche, films we talked about, traveling is another cliche in a way because we get to do that anyway, but just the fact that we're gettng to go to places like Vietnam and South America, that's like our other passion to explore places. We get to do music and cheat our way to these places. I like history. My history teacher in high school was the only class I really enjoyed. The teacher was passionate about it.

Peter: Darts... I try to make it to a shooting range when I can. Airsoft guns will do when nothing else is around. Motorcycles, just working on them, the one I got seeing if I can get it going again when it dies. Poetry, I like reading poetry. My favorite poem is by Henry Miller, I don't want to say he's my favorite poet. The poem is called "The Bread of Life." A collection of poems called birds or flowers or something. When you're walking through a thrift store or a book store and pick something out and read something you need to hear, that's kind of the same thing with the Bible. You read something when you need to hear it.

14. What inspires you in either songwriting or life?

Robert: For myself, just getting to a place where I stop using my brain. It's a very difficult place to get to, it's like the whole world was built to keep you from getting to this one place. When songs come out of it, I want to start writing sometimes in that place when whatever comes is pretty much proof to me that place exists. So if I can write it and prove it back to myself without leaving that state of mind, then maybe convincing myself it doesn't really exist or it's not that important that's the evidence of where I came from. It's like this subconscious place where things just make sense and you're removed from that center which also makes a lot of sense. It's probably more about being close to God. Songwriting is like the byproduct of being in a center.

Peter: Life inspires me to write music. I guess just trying to be aware of a lot of things kind of about, it's hard to explain... you try not to be a vampire and the whole deal. You don't want to force an experience to happen so you can write about, that's going to happen anyways. Like breaking up with a girl, that kind of heartache takes you to a place that makes you think you're right or something, that's kind of the point. You write from different places. It's just trying to keep eyes open as far as what's in life. Like someone walking down the street saying life is difficult, putting it in a song. To just make more sense, like "666 Conducer" was when I was working in that mechanics shop and I was putting the conducer into the car. Moments like you see "666" that kind of stuff conjures up. So everything kind of inspires.

15. What was the last concert you went to that wasn't your own?

Robert: I think it was Bob Dylan or Nine Inch Nails. I walked out of the Dylan show. I was looking forward to it for so long, first time I'd seen him. I guess it's partially due with his band being very traditional, kind of muso-session band, and it doesn't really feel like a band. What I guess he tells them to play, which doesn't sound like his songs, he changes the melody and instrumentation. He goes from the most amazing chords to the most standard form and the only way you can tell the song is from the words and nothing else is recognizable, so it was really hard for me to go through that. I just wanted to keep the image in my head.

16. What annoys you most?

Robert: Bratty kids. There's this line or quote similar to "There's nothing as poisonous or sharp, than that of an ungrateful child." I think it's a Shakespeare thing so he must have had problems with kids too.

Peter: I'd have to say mean people annoy me, mean-spirited comments and attitudes bothers the fuck out of me.

17. What are you rebelling against?

Robert: Haven't really been able to put it into words yet.

Peter: Am I supposed to say "What have you got?" I'm rebelling against my own stupidity. All the crap that you've put on in the world is all our problems. I'm rebelling against that as well as the asshole in me that is capable of doing the exact shit that I hate.

18. What is your favorite city in the world?

Robert: Pete and Nick like Nashville a lot. Pete was going to go back there after the tour and live there for 2 months or something. Nick likes New York, but he's actually okay with LA right now. I stopped believing the grass is greener so it's where ever we land or where ever we have good friends and family. It's Monterey today... I used to be so miserable and shit talk places, it's not real.

19. How important was music for you growing up?

Robert: Not as important as it was for Peter. Actually, I didn't really tune into it until later. I listened to a lot of metal stuff because I had skater friends who were smoking, drinking, and fucking too soon. We all knew those kids in elementary school and junior high. I didn't have any other friends and even though I was pretty good comparatively, those were like my peeps. And then I would listen to whatever they listened just to have music as a community. Now looking back, it was really limited compared to what music can give you when you're tuned into it. And I was wondering what the fuck I was doing with my life... And everything went from black and white to color. Like why didn't anyone tell me this was here? The difference between listening and hearing. I don't know how to explain the difference really between the two, like to someone who can't hear. They remember that camping trip because they listen to that one record the whole time with their friends and that was great and that was kind of what you use it for in the beginning more so. But I guess you come to it when it's your time.

20. What they think the biggest problem was facing the world today?

Robert: It's the lust and need for money right now and I think it's just infected everything and it didn't used to be like that. No one can understand or feel that right now. Fifty years ago, it wasn't all about money that money wasn't king and it didn't shape everything. There was art and ideas and movements and now they're all back to branding and it isn't a bad thing unless you glorify it. Everything is based on money. It's a waste of society, politics, everything, it's ridiculous, healthcare, it's a perversion of humanity.

Peter: The world's biggest problem is they can't fucking get along. I mean it's supposed to be religion and money is the biggest problem. People need to relax about their money and what god they want to fight over. That's seems to be the problem and all the other things, like global warming and bees dying and all that stuff, I think, would all be fixed if they get out of their fucking ass and not be so concerned with those two things.

Jodi beckons

Jodi beckons, originally uploaded by porcupiny.

How did this get to be my most viewed photo of the set from Monterey? Well, it is!

The Dollyrots @ OCMA

The other day, I saw The Dollyrots at the Orange County Museum of Art and it was a lot of fun. They always put on a good show and a very nice to use after the shows. We got beers from them which didn't taste that bad. Stargazer is the brand and it was from San Diego. I'm not usually a beer drinker, but I actually finished an entire bottle by myself! Here are some photos from the show:





Kelly from the Dollyrots has a Sharpie mustache from a fan who wanted her to give them a mustache.







After the show, we had a little adventure going from Balboa Island, then taking the ferry back to Newport Beach, then driving to Fashion Island to see the World's Largest Windchimes.

Download Festival 2007!

It was quite an experience, not just to see BRMC in a huge venue (I actually prefer smaller ones)... this was also my first ever Cure show! I was a little Robert Smith obsessed when I was 12 or 13, then I discovered Echo & the Bunnymen. Still, I consider myself a fan of the Cure.

Anyways, this story starts around 6PM when me and my brother went to my mom's place in Irvine to pick up a minivan at the airport. My brother rented a minivan so he could bring all his friends up to enjoy the festival together. I'd told him and his friend Krissana about the festival and its amazing line up a few months ago. Jacob's friend Aaron (who took my current profile pic) found out he was free the day before the show and fortunately decided to go. After we picked up the minivan, we were off to Aaron's house to pick him up, then we all went back to our house.

Jacob and Aaron watched movies until around 2 AM, when Krissana came over from her work place. Her boyfriend Henry, friend/roommate Theresa, and another friend named Tia arrived shortly after. At around 3 AM, we were on the road to Nor Cal. We'd decided to go up to San Francisco first and drop some stuff off at Jacob's apartment. When we actually arrived in SF at around 9 or 10 AM, parking was hard to find but we managed.

Jacob and Aaron had split driving duties up to San Francisco, so they both slept while the rest of us went out for lunch. We had originally planned on going to Herbivore (for all the vegetarians/vegan in the group), but ended up eating Dosa which is Indian crepes. Henry is a chef and recommended we try it since it looked like they knew what they were doing. The food was tasty and spicy, just the way I like it!

When we got back to the building, we were lucky to find a spot right in front! That was almost as exciting the festival itself. Jacob and Aaron had asked us to pick up some food for them, so I went with Tia to get a couple Azteca burritos for them. They were very grateful to be eating something after the long drive up. Krissana and Henry were napping and Theresa had gone off with some friends to feed a cat. So we were waiting for Theresa to return and for the two lovebirds to wake up.

At around 1:30 PM, we were finally off to Mountain View for Download Festival! It was a fairly short drive with pretty decent traffic, so we arrived around 2:18 PM. The VW people were driving around asking people if they wanted a ride, so I took one with Jacob and Aaron and Krissana, Henry, Theresa, and Tia took another. Jacob told me he saw Jodi on the drive over, so we rushed over to find her. I came up to Jodi, Theresa, and Kimberly from behind. After screams of excitement, Jodi and Theresa went in through the VIP line and me and Kimberly rushed over to the main entrance.

Kimberly filled me in on the fact that BRMC were scheduled to do an interview at the Gibson bus. It took us awhile to actually find the Gibson bus, but we finally did and saw Theresa waving us over to the tent where Jodi was sitting. People were fiddling around with Gibsons and Jodi was waiting. There was a small stage set up with Gibson guitars. Robert and Peter were wandering around nearby and came over to say hi and have their interview. The guy who was interviewing them mentioned that he was going to see them in Nashville at the Ryman Auditorium, which didn't really seem to impress either of them. Robert seemed a little annoyed at the guy for not knowing their names.

The interview was really short and the questions asked were not too interesting, so I can't remember many of them:

You have a Gibson 335 on the album cover. Why do you play them?

Peter: The hollowbodies were the best guitars we could steal from people.

Did you expect to get where you are now when you first started the band?

Peter: Yeah, that was part of the plan.

Theresa asked a good question at the end about where they'd want to tour in the future as a dream destination. The response from Peter was Africa, Russia, South America, Mexico, Vietnam, etc. There really aren't many countries they haven't been so the list probably isn't that long. I think Robert was more focused on tuning one of the Gibsons on the stage, but I'm sure Jodi would remember if he answered some questions.



They did a quick signing for people who wanted signed Download Festival posters. We just waited until they were finished to talk to them and ask for a group photo. We followed them to their next interview location at the VW stage and before they went up on it, they took this photo with us:



I have trouble remembering the questions from the VW stage other than the one about mythical creatures and what they were dressing up as for Halloween (another great Theresa question, which I, Jodi, and Kimberly made her ask by pointing to her). There was a question about them being from the Bay Area and why they moved to LA, the usual answer from Robert was that it was during the Silicon Valley boom in 99 and they couldn't afford to live in San Francisco. Plus, they weren't that well received there. Oh, and Peter's favorite venue is the Paradiso and Robert's was the Fillmore in San Francisco. Or maybe he was being smarmy. Nick came up in the middle of the interview, but didn't say anything or answer any questions.



After the interview, Peter and Robert stuck around to sign more stuff and take pictures with people. We spoke with them a little more too. Robert asked me if I had the jam he did at the end of the Metro show, I told him I only had about 45 seconds of it and that Jodi had the whole thing. He later asked her if she could make it public for 24 to 48 hours (she added 20 hours) so he could hear it again. He asked her what her YouTube account name was and she was too embarrassed to tell him because of the Better than Ezra reference. After I told him what it was, she explained it was for Depeche Mode and BTE. He asked if Better Than Ezra released a good album, which I thought was funny. Of course, Jodi and Kimberly were offended.

After that, we went to our seats/lawn area to watch She Wants Revenge. I didn't think about taking photos during their set because I was talking to Kimberly most of the time. We only stayed for about half their set since we wanted to see The Black Angels on the second stage. I have seen them recently at Swerve Festival, but I took some photos of them since we had a pretty good angle for them. I only took a few photos, but here's one of them:



We had to get back to the main stage for BRMC before the Black Angels finished their set. Me and Kimberly got our stuff, which Jacob and Aaron were watching for us. Then, we moved down to the edge of the lawn nearest the seats. It was nice to BRMC from a little bit of a distance, though I did miss being right up against the stage. I had a couple 10x optical zoom cameras for me and Kimberly to use during their set, and we certainly got a lot of great shots even from so far away. Here was an unzoomed photos of the stage:



And here's some super zoomed in photos:





And some photos of the screen on the side:







Anyways, as hard as it was to see from the lawn area, me and Kimberly still managed to enjoy the set enough that some guy came up to us and remarked about how we were the only people excited in the lawn area. The set itself was longer than I expected it to be and included all the hits/singles as well as "All You Do Is Talk,""Need Some Air" and "American X." BRMC played well as usual and sounded great in the huge ampitheater. I would have preferred seeing them on the second stage, but I'm still glad they played the main stage.

After their set, we went to meet up with Theresa and Jodi again. Both our phones were dying and my portable charger/vibrator (the pocket rocket) wasn't doing it's job very well. Kimberly said it couldn't handle both of us, which made me laugh. Jodi wanted to get Cure merch and some food. I was hungry too, so I was up for getting food until I saw the prices. Jodi bought a couple Cure shirts and a program, then bought some garlic fries for Theresa, who kindly shared them with all of us. Jodi ordered a vegetarian pizza which took awhile to cook. While we were standing around enjoying the fries, Jodi saw Nick run by and yelled out his name. He responded something like, "Sorry, I'm meeting a friend."

We managed to avoid AFI and Kings of Leon's sets, though we could hear both of them from where we were standing... a double crap fest for our ears. After finishing all our food and wandering around some more to see if we could find Robert Smith, we went back to our seating areas to see the Cure's set. My phone had a little more battery power left, so I called Jacob to see where he was. He and Aaron were at the top of the lawn area because there was a bigger screen you could watch from it. For the first time that day, I saw Krissana and Henry playing around near by.

The Cure went on at around 8 and played until 11 PM, with no less than 2 encores! They played a mix of new and old songs, a few album tracks from "Head On The Door" (the only Cure album I owned on CD for awhile). The first encore was heavy on the early stuff, which was really great. I didn't expect them to play the oldies. My camera at this point was low on battery power, so I didn't take nearly as many photos of the Cure as I did of BRMC. Most of my photos were of the screen, until the end of the set when Jacob told me and Kimberly to move to the edge of the lawn. Here are some photos:











It was great to finally see the Cure. This was probably the least expensive Cure show I would probably ever be able to attend. I'm not planning on spending $400 to see them again, but I wouldn't mind seeing them again close up. That might end up costing a lot... we'll see when they start touring again next year. Still, the set was really long and it was freezing in the lawn area. My toes were frozen and numb at the end of the night. I was walking around wrapped in a blanket until we reached the car. On the way to the car, I saw Nick again, but didn't say hi. He was with his friends, I think. Jodi mentioned that she talked to him after the Cure's set since he was sitting a couple rows away from her. Apparently, Robert Smith likes BRMC and was checking out their set.

The walk to the car wasn't that bad, it gave me a chance to warm up a bit. We were all tired, but we wanted to go back to So Cal rather than San Francisco. Fortunately, Henry and Krissana were already rested in the car and decided to drive for us. It was a long tiring drive after the festival, and we made a few necessary bathroom and gas stops, which included a curb incident. Still, we managed to get back home safely at around 6 AM. It was late (or early), so we all pretty much crashed right after we got inside the house.

BRMC @ Ventura Theater 9-6-07

Magic Mirror did a good job opening the show with their '60's style rock, I like them even though I missed some of their set when my brother called to ask me where his keys were. While I was out, I noticed the new double sided tote bags for $12. I got one after the show. Then I saw Suzanne smoking and getting off her phone outside. We went back inside to hear more of Magic Mirror and I got some pictures before I went back to the front and Suzanne went back out to smoke. I saw Peter checking out their set from the back also.

Aside from "Screaming Gun" and "Sympathetic Noose," I don't think we got anything really different from the Sacramento show (which I missed unfortunately, but heard great things about). Of course, "Killing The Light" and "Going Under" are pretty special, and "All You Do Is Talk" is a great show closer. Unfortunately, Peter told Suzanne he wasn't feeling it that night even though Robert was really into it. He was jumping up on his monitors and going all footloose everywhere. It was nice to see him into it, at least.

Nick was miked up and singing along during "Killing The Light," that was pretty exciting to see/hear (though I couldn't really hear him unfortunately). I saw him carrying something on stage before their set started, but I'm not sure what it was. Spike and Robert's girlfriends were there, so they weren't too chatty before the show. I saw Robert talking to some fans after though. Suzanne spoke with Peter after the show, and Nick a little. I was talking to Theresa most of the time, so I didn't have a chance to say hi.

Set list:

Took Out A Loan (with extra words by Robert at the start and end!)
Berlin
Love Burns
Weapon of Choice
Punk Song
Stop
Weight of the World
Promise
Killing The Light
Red Eyes and Tears
666 Conducer
Sympathetic Noose
Fault Line
Complicated Situation
Ain't No Easy Way
Need Some Air
American X

Encore:

Shuffle Your Feet
Screaming Gun
Going Under
All You Do Is Talk

Here are some photos: