Jamie’s Brain

i am majorly behind! but, i am excited to mention that i have a new project brewing: i am starting a new blog dedicated to music only, which will soon be found at www.hardrockchick.com. rock on!

GWAR, 11/14/06, The Warfield:

Yes, I saw GWAR. I just had to. I mean, how many chances do you get to see space alien rockers kill political figures onstage?

I went solo on this one, prepared for some scary shit. I hovered at the back of the pit, mouth agape as I walked in during the decapitation of Hitler, or something like that. The pit was basically the whole floor on this one, from little girls to big burly men. Some well prepared people were wearing all white, so that they could create their own moving art pieces with the myriad of fluids that GWAR sprayed on them. It was beautiful.

I managed to stay dry through all of the skits. It was a near miracle. I got some pictures that probably need explanation, but I’ll leave it up to your imagination. And yeah, that’s our lovely Prez and a dinosaur. And Jesus. And the Pope.

And here’s a highlight reel from the same tour, different city. Now you can see what I’m talking about!

Hot Chip, 11/17/06, Mezzanine

And I was a boy from school……..

Hipster heaven was alive and well at the Mezzanine once again. What can I say, it was nerd electronica at its best. The hot rockers of yesterday are gone, ladies. Now you must learn to love the sexy geek. Complete with keyboard and coke bottle glasses. Enjoy.

Alice in Chains, 11/26/06, The Warfield

Ah. I had been waiting for this most of my life. And I never thought it would happen, not after Layne Staley died. And I was really unsure about this new singer, William. But it was awesome beyond words.

What really made the show was the band’s connection with the audience. You could tell they really wanted to be there. They played an unbelievable encore. They made eye contact with the fans and really involved them in the show. And they brought James Hetfield out to perform Would. How freakin sweet is that???

Though intially struck by William the new guy’s look, I got over it. He looked like he belonged with Lenny Kravitz and Ben Harper. Layne was so wicked looking, and I loved that. But I am glad that they chose someone that sounds more like Layne than looks like him. The boy’s got some pipes.

Donnie and I got 2 picks- one from Mike Inez and one from Cantrell himself, used in the show. That always makes me happy when I come away with a score. It was a great night.

An absolutely hilarious clip that has audio of some huge Cantrell fan. I’m glad I wasn’t standing by that guy!

The Faint, 12/5/06, Mezzanine

Late shows on Tuesday nights? Why?

The strange thing about this show is that they gave ‘free’ tickets to a bunch of people as part of a Camel promotion. The Faint designed a Camel box that they were selling or giving away at the show or something. Interesting promotion, even though I don’t smoke…

And they totally rocked as usual. Due to a stressful week, I decided that I was in the mood for a slamdance-athon, and Donnie and I stuck it out in the front by pushing and elbowing the dumdums around. It was fun. There was only one guy that was a major drag, drunkenly falling around all over everyone. He attempted to crowdsurg several times, and was dropped several times. I was extremely happy when he came near me, as I took his faux fur-lined hoody and pulled it up over his face. I proceeded to do this 3 more times. He never even noticed. Finally he wandered off.

While it was fun, I think that the Mezzanine stage is much too small for these guys. They are great crowd entertainers, and it just looked like they were smushed up there.

Prince, Club 3121, Las Vegas

Prince Show…..Prince Show….

Another solo show for me, this one proved to be quite different. 3121 is a very upscale club, and people were either coupled off or in pretty large groups. And they were older. I felt like the only single in there.

Seeing Prince was like seeing Michael Jackson, Little Richard, and PeeWee Herman all wrapped up in one tiny orange creamsicle suit wearing package. The man can shred a guitar though.

Hearing Purple Rain live made little hairs stand up on my neck. Plus, I think this was my first show to ever see dancers up on stages that weren’t tongue and cheek. The Twins…..very Robert Palmer girls-esque. The stage was impressive, 2 levels, indutrial with a spiral staircase- the band spread out across the set. There were different colored neon ‘pipelines’ in the background.

Prince talked a lot more than I thought he would. Maybe I really thought he was going to whisper everything into Beyonce’s ear or something. He would say throughout: What’s my name? How you doin Las Vegas?, hokey things like that.

He played a cover of Johnny B Goode, Cream (which was super awesome!), Nothing Compares To You, U Got the Look, and Let’s Go Crazy, among others.

Those fans that did not go to work the next day could go over to the restaurant portion of his club and listen to him play a more intimate set that apparently lasts until 5am. I was not among that group, but that’s a pretty cool opportunity.

So I heard he’s doing the Superbowl Half-Time show this year. Hope he doesn’t expose his nipple!

Well, I have no shows lined up for the new year and that makes me sad!!! Someone cool come to town!

When I was a kid, I used to have to stealthily turn on my TV after hours to watch MTV. I used to make video mixes of my favorite videos, and a good music video used to drive whether I liked or disliked a song. This was the age when the music video carried much more weight. It was part of the marketing mix, not an afterthought. Michael Jackson was making his mini movies, where the world premiers would crossover to be integrated with a TV show on FOX or something. Aerosmith premiered Cryin’, Amazin’, and Crazy at the end of several TV shows, such as 90210 (if I remember correctly). And when a video was banned, it was really banned. You couldn’t look it up on youtube. Our imaginations would run wild.

The following are videos that really got me excited in the early ’90s.

Guns ‘n Roses, November Rain (which was censored)

Beastie Boys, Sabotage

Tool, Prison Sex (banned from MTV, VH1, and others)

Nirvana, Heart Shaped Box

Soundgarden, Black Hole Sun

Metallica, One

Nine Inch Nails, Closer (seriously censored)

Snoop Dogg, Gin ‘n Juice

banned/censored videos

Duran Duran, Girls on Film: for full frontal nudity

Cher, If I Could Turn Back Time: for her revealing lingerie

Michael Jackson, They Don’t Care About Us: for images in the background of the video

Madonna, Justify My Love: graphic sexuality

Madonna, What It Feels Like For A Girl: graphic violence

Madonna, Erotica: Graphic sexuality.

Madonna, American Life: for images deemed controversial after the commencement of the Iraq war. That’s 4 for Madge!

Prodigy, Smack My Bitch Up: for violence, and a misunderstanding of the meaning of the song (smack as in heroin)

Jay-Z, 99 Problems: for violence

Marilyn Manson, Saint: for violence and sexuality

Motley Crue, Girls Girls, Girls: censored for sexual content

Nine Inch Nails, Happiness in Slavery: extreme graphic violence and sexual content, probably the most deserving on the list to at least be limited in release.

Sir Mix-A-Lot, Baby Got Back: for sexual images (please, a plastic gigantic ass? come on)

Scissor Sisters, Filthy/Gorgeous: censored for sexual content

Cannibal Corpse, Sentenced to Burn: censored for violence

NYT has a very interesting article today on government funded bands in other countries. Apparently, there are a lot of other countries that value music as an important export, both for monetary and cultural identity reasons. In a nutshell, bands can apply for government funds that are used to tour in America or record music to be released in America. Sweden, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Finland are all countries discussed as doing this. My first thought is that these countries must really support the arts. I mean, can you imagine the U.S. funding a band like The Killers to send them overseas as American ambassadors? Well, maybe The Killers was a bad choice. My second thought is the effect that this might have on creative freedom of artists. The article briefly mentions Pearl Jam and Green Day’s speaking out against the government, and how that wouldn’t exactly gel with obtaining funds from the government. But what about these exported bands? Are their lyrics checked for content before they are handed their checks? I certainly don’t think that the government of Norway is supporting Death Metal. But then again, I could be wrong.

I’m way behind…

Placebo/She Wants Revenge: The Warfield, October 24th, 2006

I honestly don’t know why I don’t like Placebo. Everyone else in the room does, but I am bored. However, it works in my favor as a lot of people leave after their set, in true SF fashion. SWR was lots of fun. I was there with Donnie and 2 friends. It was a great set as they played their 2 ‘unreleased songs’, and I particularly like ‘Black Liner Run’. It is even better live.

Gomez: The Warfield, October 25th, 2006

Whoa. Walking into the room when Rodrigo y Gabriela are playing is very surprising. Calling them guitar virtuosos would be an understatement. Too bad they were followed by a mega shitty band called Matt Pond PA. Ick. So, Gomez is a good band, maybe even great, but they are much more Donnie’s style. We are ‘in the front row’ by this crazy security guard. It’s a really long sit with encores galore and a shoeless guy. They have this one really tall guy play a horn that is…interesting. Donnie got a guitar pick out of it, so he was particularly happy with this show.

Snoop Dogg: Bill Graham Civic Center, October 29, 2006

San Francisco: The Amsterdam of the U.S. This should be the new tourism slogan. So this might go down as one of the weirder shows I’ve been to….at least until Tuesday night when I go to GWAR. There was so much pot here that the fire alarms went off. I saw a guy in a wheel chair smoking a pipe. I was suprised there weren’t bongs….at least that I saw. Damien Jr. Gong Marley opened the show. He was pretty good. We were happy that he didn’t play only his daddy’s songs- well, just a couple to please the audience. Then we waited about 2 hours for Snoop. During this waiting period, we saw at least three people pass out- one was carrie dout on a stretcher. I don’t know what was going on- some laced weed was going around or something. You weren’t allowed to drink in the auditorium that night, so perhaps people were throwing back drinks outside and it made them pass out when they got inside. The crowd was pissed, but I think Snoop made it pretty worth it. He was in full form- stoned out of his mind, smoking blunts on stage. We got a lot of good oldies. His uncle was an absolute hoot, ‘dancing around on stage’ and making eyes at the ladies. Too short came out for a little bit. There was a rap off. Snoop did a Tupac song which was super cool. The set seemed short, but after that wait I think everyone was okay with it. We all had to go home and air out before work the next morning anyways.

my other pictures from this were terrible.

Shooter Jennings: Irving Plaza, November 4th, 2006

Yes, country music in NYC! Little venue+not a huge crowd+ a very weird crowd+ a very late set= a good time. It’s 1 am in NYC and the night is just getting started. Two guys are passed out against the barrier, another drunk guy is trying to country dance with my friend, and there are some people waving a confederate flag. Where am I? Odessa, TX? Wait- NYC? What???? It was a phenomenal set…I think he played every song from both albums. He must really like this place because his third album, a live one, was recorded here at Irving Plaza. Shooter was wobbly as usual, though seemingly less so than the last time I saw him. People are so drunk in the crowd, and everyone knows every word. The highlight: Busted in Baylor County. Now, how many people there really have ever been to Baylor county? Probably not many.

Take an actor from one of my favorite shows of all time and make a darker, smarter version of CSI and what do you get? My new favorite show, Dexter.

Yes, Showtime got me with this one. But it is very worth it. The opening of the show is in and of itself brilliant. Everything looks so different close up. This is an underlying theme of the show. Dexter is a blood specialist for the Miami crime lab. His secret is that he has a killer instinct. His cop father who adopted him from some traumatic mess of a childhood helped him to channel his killer instinct for good - thus Dexter only kills people who deserve it. He goes after the people who get out of convictions, or get out of jail early.

The show is really dark and pretty complex - but a good complex, not like the tangled mess that Lost has become. The mood is contrasted by the Miami setting, creating an interesting dynamic for the show. Michael C. Hall acting is superb - his long narrative pieces work really well within the context of the show where it could easily have been an awkward addition.

So tune in, or get the DVDs when they are available if you really want to wait that long…

From the moment I read the line up I knew I had to go. There would be the music I grew up with - Brian Wilson (The Beach Boys) and Neil Young…bands from my grunge obsession years (Pearl Jam and Dave Grohl/Foo Fighters)…one of my boyfriend’s favorite bands who I had never seen (Dave Matthews)…and, the real reason I was going…my all time favorite, Trent Reznor (for those who don’t know, from Nine Inch Nails). I, like many other fans, have been following the rumors that he was to do an acoustic solo tour for years. I knew this would be my chance to see it, and I was going to pay whatever I could to get the best seats to be part of it.

So the general ticket sale was not satisfactory, and eBay was growing increasingly ridiculous as the weeks went on. I wanted tickets in the 100s, below row J. Yes, I am a certified concert snob. So I was buying tickets for something else on Ticketmaster, and I see this little ad that they will be holding an auction for BSB tickets. Basically, there are several ticket groups, and you bid an amount, and you are put into one of those groups, and if you stay there you win tickets within that row. All of them were in the first 10 rows. I watched that auction like a hawk and ended up with 7th row dead center (section 102, seats 9 and 10) tickets for $270 each for the Sunday show…way better than anywhere else. And, since it came from Ticketmaster and not some scalper (though, yes, Ticketmaster does suck), I do hope that some of that money went back to the benefit. Yes, I just went on about something you don’t care about…but I was really determined and excited about this ticket conquest. And I wasn’t used to having to work so hard to see Trent being a Spiral member and all….

When we got there, we were definitely the odd people out in our section - the only rockers around. Lots of families were there, and lots of tie die. But wow, what amazing seats! Devendra Banhart and ‘The Bridge’ band were playing, and I really did feel like we were at a mini Woodstock. Bert Jansch, who is apparently a master guitar player from Scotland, joined him onstage.

Next was Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Now I feel like I am back at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. When Neil Young came out to perform Country Girl with them at the end of the set, the crowd went nuts-o.

The next sequence was the ‘who are these guys’ sets. Death Cab for Cutie seemed to pleasantly surprise the audience. Donnie and I have been talking about the newish ‘nerd rocker’ trend - the guys who just don’t look like the music should be coming from them. LCD Soundsystem, TV on the Radio…there’s lots.

And next, the big who? wha? Trent Reznor!!! The seats had emptied around me. About 5 minutes or so before the set started, I could see him walk up to the sound boards on the right side of the stage. He was just standing there, watching the stage being set up, drinking a bottle of water. I thought that was really cool…for me, seeing live shows the biggest high I get is watching the bands walk out onto the stage, and imagining what that must feel like. So, I was really interested watching him just kind of stand there thinking about this set. And then when the strings started…I can’t really describe it. I have the String Tribute to NIN CD, so I had that to preface the experience, but it really did not compare. One thing that made the show so special was that it was daylight, which gave the whole thing an interesting ambiance. I could see every facial expression, all of the emotion. The song selections were great. The Frail, Something I Can Never Have, Piggy, La Mer, Adrift and at Peace, The Fragile, Right Where It Belongs, Non-Entity, Hurt. He sang Right Where It Belongs to the kids at the back of the stage. I thought he sounded really amazing that stripped down and live, going form the quietest of quiet parts to the loudest of anyone else who performed there. He moved from piano to a preprared piano to standing and dancing a little with a shaker, which I thoroughly enjoyed…You could tell at points in some of the songs where everything would normally blow up, he had to contain himself (as did I). He would started doing that hop and shake his head and then be still. He also talked quite a bit during the set, at one point even stating that he was nervous because he was out of his element. I saw two fellow fans sneak down into low seats for the set, and one girl even ‘rushed the stage’ at the end with a Will You Marry Me Trent (or something to that effect) poster, done appropriately in rainbow colors. She was promptly told to go away. The final song, Hurt, livened up the crowd a bit - perhaps they thought he was doing a Johnny Cash song.

blurry, but kinda cool

Next came the Foo Fighters. Last time I saw them I was really far away, so this was nice. I just kind of imagined Pat Smear and Dave Grohl jamming on Nirvana Unplugged. They are really liked by the crowd, especially due to Grohl’s people skills - he’s a good story teller and makes a lot of jokes.

Then Brian Wilson. Let me tell you, there is nothing like watching Beach Boys songs being performed to a California audience. Everyone was on their feet, singing and dancing along. It was fun. He looked a little stiff onstage, showing only momentary flashes of animation. But the rest of his band really made up for it.

Pearl Jam came on next, a band I had never been able to see before for one reason or another, and their set - though not what I expected - verified for me that I want to see a full length show. Vedder’s voice is really good. Highlights for me were Better Man and Black. He seems to be really involved in the Bridge School, talking extensively about a student who he had come to know over the years. We were also next to some crazy PJ fans, which always makes it fun.

Dave Matthews was definitley the crowd favorite - everyone was jamming along. The violinist really surprised me (note that I knew very little about them as a band). He has a great stage presence. NY came out and played a song at the end of their set that must have lasted 20 minutes….after having just seen Bob Dylan last week, Donnie and I joked about how the older musicians like the really draw out their songs (with Dylan, sometimes we didn’t even know what song it was until half way through). But they looked like they were having a lot of fun. Plus, I found it amusing as steam was rising from Dave Matthews head.

Lastly was Neil Young’s set, where I found the highlight to be the use of the broom as a sound effect during Harvest Moon. The finale sone, Keep on Rockin in a Free World, brought everyone back out on stage (with the exception of Trent and the Foo Fighters, who, by the way, were the only sets that Neil Young didn’t come out to play along a song with).

You can’t ask for a better time when you combine great live acts, a great cause, great weather, and great seats. Hopefully, the Bridge School Benefit will become an annual event for me.

Do you ever write your to do lists on your hand? Tie a string on your finger? Jot notes on scraps of paper? Well, cut it out. That’s lame.

My manfriend has developed a new service called Call-n-Remind. It’s simple and mega useful. And I know how forgetful all of you are out there, so you really could use it.

Sign up now and get to use it for the first 50 times for free. Just in case I still haven’t sold you, here are what I think are the top ten things you need to be reminded of:

10. To wake up. Hey, that’s pretty important. Call-n-Remind can be an alarm, too.

9. Trying to memorize your grocery list? Just Call-n-Remind and the info will be right there on your phone. It’s much cooler than walking around the store with a list.

8. The girlfriend/boyfriend asks you to pick up something on your way home from work. Avoid the argument and Call-n-Remind.

7. Avoid eviction notices and late charges on your credit card. Call-n-Remind yourself to pay your bills.

6. See something cool on the go? Call-n-Remind yourself to check into it later.

5. Rough day? Give yourself a pep talk. Call-n-Remind yourself that “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and, dog-gonnit, people like me”.

4. 6 am flight on a Sunday? Call-n-Remind yourself Saturday at midnight that you need to put down that drink and go home. Plane hangovers suck.

3. If you leave your stuff at the dry cleaners any longer, your expensive dress is going to Goodwill. Call-n-Remind yourself to pick it up. Simple!

2. Call-n-Remind for your mom’s birthday phone call. She gave you life, dammit.

1. Because the first 50 are free, and free is just cool.

So there you have it. Read the instructions below and get involved.

———————————————————

We are proud to announce that Call-n-Remind has moved into the beta testing
phase! Call-n-Remind is an easy-to-use service where you create reminders by
making a phone call. The reminders you create are then automatically sent to
your mobile phone via text message. Simply dial 888-4-1-REMINDER
(888-417-3646) and leave the date, time and reminder details as a voice
message. When the time comes we’ll send you a text message with the reminder.

To encourage your use of this service we are giving each beta user 50 tokens!
(1 token = 1 reminder) Please visit http://www.callnremind.com today to
create your Call-n-Remind account.

We’ve entered the beta phase which means there may be some technical
difficulties from time to time. We would like to invite you to use the
service and provide feedback. We would love to hear what you like and dislike
as well as any problems you encounter. Please send all thoughts on the
service to support@callnremind.com.

Call-n-Remind is the first service available from Call-n-Ask, Inc. In the
coming months, we will be launching other simple and useful services that
will help get information to your mobile phone to keep you informed, on-time
and organized.

We thank you very much for your time and hope you enjoy the service.

Sincerely,
Donnie Flood
Michael Nels

Fischerspooner, 8/25/06, Mezzanine

Never quite seen a show like this. I totally want to be a synchronized dancer!!!!

Candlebox, 9/23/06, The Independent

Wow! Total flashback, man. They can really jam, too.

(footage not from the show I went to, but close….he was wearing that same outfit)

Every Move a Picture

Always a fun, inexpensive show. Not sure where this footage is from, but you get the idea….

Zero 7/Jose Gonzales

Good, though Sia was a bit drunky-pants.

I just saw Beck at the Download Festival. He is a genius.

So is Karen O

…and Muse…

Thanks, youtube people, who all had worse seats than me…heehee

So websites have become even more useful by using their information to enrich your life. Sometimes it comes indirectly from sales statistics, or directly from consumer generated information.

The recommendation - what a beautiful thing. It is a lot of work to try to find the next relevant bad for you or the next movie that will strike the same emotional chord as the one you just saw.

Amazon was one of the first companies to successfully implement such a program. The first time I used it, it generated a lot of stuff I already owned and loved, so it definitely works well. Netflix has a great system, too. I find it to be slightly less accurate, but definitely helpful.

Two lesser known sites that are quite nice are Pandora and This One Next. Pandora will create an internet radio station for you based on a band you like. The information comes from people who have contributed to the Music Genome Project, which analyzes individual songs for a very detailed attribute analysis. This one next recommends a book, DVD, or CD for you based on a favorite that you have. They base the info on other user preferences.

Spout has users review films and tag them, which can help you find a new flick to watch based on some obscure thematic representation.

Another site that I *love* is not exactly a recommendation site, but you could use it once you get a new band recommended to you. The Hype Machine aggregates info from all of the music blogs I used to individually read and then some. So you can type in a band you are interested in, and read real individual’s blog entries on them, and possibly even download a song for free to check it out. I have discovered lots of new music this way.

Props to the people!