December 31 2006: Harvey Danger, Mon Frere, Awesome - Crocodile Cafe, Seattle WA

Sara was supposed to join me for this gig, but she bailed at the last minute. But I already had tickets so I just went up myself and gave the other one away (it was only $5). It was good to see Seattle and to be inside the Crocodile again.

Awesome didn't do a single thing to me besides establish a convincing arguement for leaving to get a veggie gyro across the street. But when I came back they were still on stage. Goddamn. And Mon Frere were OK, but certainly nothing worth writing home about. Their guitarist looked exactly like Sean Nelson probably looked back when he was fifteen.

But Harvey Danger played great. Old songs, new songs, medium songs, and even a cover of Wings' "Jet." Good to see "Pike St/Park Slope" and "Little Round Mirrors" again, especially. It wasn't a great great show, but it was a fun time and I'm glad I was there.

This was the early, all-ages show though. It was over by eight and I had enough time to get back to Portland to spend New Year's Eve with Sean and Bwalya at the Horsebrass. And if I hadn't been so keen on seeing the McCormicks I certainly would have caught the late show instead. And I am informed that had I indeed caught the late show I would have witnessed not just one but two Harvey Danger sets. The first being exclusively cover tunes. Amongst them the entire second side of "Abbey Road." In order. Ie: "Here Comes the Sun" straight through to "Her Majesty."

And so I say: Goddamn. I used to value music over friends. Things have apparently changed. I think I need to get my life back in order. Just look at what this change has cost me already.

December 30 2006: Adam Sweeney, Joel Bock, Russ Ragsdale - Mississippi Pizza, Portland OR

I debated going to this. I was definitely leaning away from it. But then Jon Behr called and said Lindsay would be sad if I didn't come. And I figured, fuck it, things might be awkward because who knows who a guy might run into, but I can't make Lindsay sad.

And things were pretty interesting. It was good to see Jon and Lindsay, and it was a lot of fun to spend the night laughing at circumstances with Sean and Bwalya in the back. It was good to see Buerkle (Brandon: Bwalya, hi! Haven't seen you in a while!; Bwalya: Yeah, not since you lost your virgninity!), and Harmony was there, and Adam and Sairi were there of course, and Adam played real nicely.

But! You know things are maybe heading south (ha!) when suddenly you find yourself simultaneously in the presence of ALL THREE GOOF TROOPERS. And then when Carmen, to whom earlier in the evening you had waved hello but got only an audible "uh......." in response, sits down at your table and starts the conversation with, "Hi. I think I've had enough to drink to talk to you," and somewhere in the middle mentions, "I told Sairi earlier that she needs to hate you a little more than she probably does."

But things were a lot of fun and a whole lot of laughs were had. Despite it being maybe one of the strangest short conversations of my life it was good to see Carmen after probably at least three years, and they had Mac and Jack's in the back, and really a night with Sean and Bwalya is a night well spent.

December 30 2006: Pete Krebs Trio - Laurelthirst Public House, Portland OR

Went with the dad to see Pete Krebs play. I was hoping for folk songs but got his jazzy dinner music trio instead. Lots of Django Reinhardt tunes, some Cole Porter, stuff like that. Which isn't necessarily the way I'd have chosen things to happen but it was a lot of fun and the dad fucking loved it and they had Jubelale on tap and really there's probably no point in visiting Portland if you're not going to see Pete Krebs play.

December 29 2006: Crosstide, Tea for Julie, Scissors for Lefty - Doug Fir, Portland OR

This was just kind of a lot of fun. Didn't see much music, but I did catch about half of Crosstide's set and spent most of my time being amazed at how many people were there and at how excited they all were. I've seen Sleater-Kinney and the Mountain Goats play at the Doug Fir and I don't think those groups' crowds were any more in number than the crowd tonight. People were jumping up and down, yelling at the stage, drinking beers, everything. Crazy. Especially when they went into "Talk Radio."

But the real good times were being had upstairs, where I ran into all sorts of people I was happy to see (Sean, Adam, Sairi, Katie, Harmony, Stave, Sage, Erin, Joel, Bryan, Jared, Graeme, and Old Friend Carrie whom I hadn't seen in at least three years) and pretty much nobody I wasn't excited about. Quality beverages were consumed and everyone was crowded around a little fire they had going and I was really glad to be there.

December 16 2006: Hair Supply, Brigid Kalein, the Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers - Northsix, Brooklyn NY

So Whitney and I didn't wake up until 130pm. But that's OK. Because things just work out sometimes.

So we hurry through breakfast and the like and are on the road by 3. Sitting in traffic in the Bronx by 6. We Call Perry to find out that (a) the show is sold out and (b) he doesn't have any guestlist spots while still in traffic at 630. Arrive at Josh's place in Brooklyn at 7. Are waiting for the train by 715 and arrive at our stop at 820 exactly. Make it to the club by 823. Convince the doorman to let us in by 825. And then have enough time to order a beer and and catch our collective breath and say hi to the Prayers and Tears before they get up to play at 830. It was a masterpiece of timing and we fucking nailed it.

And the Prayers and Tears! Hadn't seen them in over a year. And it was just like old times. "A Second Reply" was opened with, "Sad Lives" was closed with, and "Lessons Learned," "Rotation of Crops," "Ammunition" and "Lisa" were all played, and a couple of really great new tunes too.

And this wasn't just a Hair Supply ("the best heavy metal tribute band to Air Supply in the tri-state area") gig with the Prayers and Tears opening. No, this was Lebowskifest, a sort of Star Trek convention type thing for the Big Lebowski. So everyone was dressed up as characters from the movie. A big sign behind the bar read: White Russians $7. When David made some accidental feedback in between songs, many a cry of "Over the Line!" could be heart. It was quite the experience.

So yeah - the Prayers and Tears played, then other people played, and then we left in order to continue our string of outrageous luck by meeting back up with Josh and Salas and Salas' boyfriend in order to close down a nice little bar with a foosball table. We weren't in bed until 5am. Rock and/or roll.

December 15 2006: The Hold Steady, Catfish Haven, Spouse - Pearl Street Clubroom, Northampton MA

So needless to say I was pretty excited for this show. Whitney skipped the first night of Hanukkah to come up, and Adam dragged his ass out of the house, and we were drinking, and things were looking to be pretty fun.

But I forgot that UMass is just a few miles away. I can't remember the last time I felt that penned in by the crowd. Maybe the last time I saw Smashing Pumpkins play a GA show and there were ten thousand people trying to squeeze to the front? It was ridiculous.

But you know what's even more ridiculous? The fact that the setlist was absolutely identical to Albany's, with only two exceptions ("Chillout Tent" instead of "Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night," "Hornets! Hornets!" instead of "Banging Camp"). Even in the same order.

And what else? Even the stage banter was the same. As in word for word. The same jokes, the same song introductions, the same everything.

So yeah - it was a pretty good time, and certainly worth it for free, and I'm sure as hell glad I was there, but Albany blew it right out of the water.

December 14 2006: The Hold Steady, Catfish Haven, the Scientific Maps - Valentine's Upstairs, Albany NY

My ears hurt.

In related news, I was feeling like I probably ought to be as excessive as possible in the live music/travel/alcohol department while I still can, what with school scheduled to start in less than three weeks. And I'd never been to Albany, and I'd never seen the Hold Steady, and I didn't have anything I had to do, and I had a car with a sleeping bag in the trunk and a few spare bucks, so I went for it.

Albany's an interesting town. I wouldn't necessarily call it a shit town, but it comes close. Same goes for the bar. But I had a feeling that such circumstances might lend themselves to a real good time.

Which they did. The Hold Steady started with "Stuck Between Stations," and halfway through not only were my feet leaving the floor but I just couldn't stand to not be getting as much decibel level as possible. So I took out the earplugs. By the fifth song ("Party Pit") I had to put them back in. But by "Your Little Hoodrat Friend" (tenth) they were out again. Back in by the twelfth ("Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night"), and out for good at the start of the encore ("First Night"). Somewhere in there Tad sat down on the side of the stage during a guitar lull to pull off a bottle of Jim Beam. Then he passed it to the girl on my right. She passed it to me. It was that kind of night.

Highlights were probably "The Swish" (played second) and "Killer Parties," which was the last song, and during which Tad holds his hand out to me like he wants to shake hands. So I put my hand out but instead of shaking he pulls me up on the stage, then pulls up pretty much everybody else in his immediate vicinity, and soon the whole stage is covered by fifteen people jumping the hell around. Craig climbed up on the kick drum and held onto the ceiling while singing the last verse, having given his guitar to one of the people on stage.

And then the show was over and I went to the car to eat a sandwich and sleep shit off and count the minutes until the next night.

December 12 2006: The Winterpills, the Fawns - Iron Horse, Northampton MA

Today in a sentence: woke up, went to work, came home from work, studied a little bit, ate some food, went to school, took the last exam of the year, drove back to Northampton, ruminated on the fact that I WILL NEVER AGAIN HAVE TO STEP FOOT NUMBER ONE INSIDE A COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOR AS LONG AS I LIVE, parked outside the Iron Horse, went inside, bought a beer, watched some rock and roll, went to the liquor store, bought more beer, drove home, put on the newly-purchased Fawns cd, opened a beer, ruminated on the fact that the Fawns are the greatest pop band in all of human history, typed this out. And that brings us to the present.

So, as could be inferred from the above text: I went to the Winterpills/Fawns benefit gig. But I didn't pay. But I didn't know it was a benefit until it was too late. Oh well.

But yeah - the Fawns played and though they weren't as good tonight as they were at the Basement in October, they were still pretty fabulous. That song "Snow Day"? Fucking amazing. Fucking perfect. But they only played for 25 minutes. Apparently the show had to be over by nine to make way for Latin Night.

So after 25 minutes of the Fawns the Winterpills come out for a half-hour. I hadn't seen them since they opened for the Mountain Goats back when I was in Northampton as a nonresident. They played a few songs I vaguely recognized from hearing their CD at Adam and Sairi's house, and they played a few new songs that were even better. I thought the one with the girl singing was definitely the best of the set. Adam agreed. I look forward to their new record.

But yeah - the Fawns. Good god are they the greatest thing since the second coming. Perhaps they ARE the second coming. I should think about this.