"...so put another dime in the juke box, baby!"

 

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts conquer in the name of rock; if you're lost and don't get my references, follow the link and be conquered. Listen for the guitar solo and how it pwns nØØbs! It was another whirlwind music weekend, wherein I:

1. Did not play the violin in public for the first time in many years. I chickened out because I failed to obtain any kind of backup. I was trying to figure a way for me to back myself up, with keyboard loops, but the PA I was able to practice on wasn't really accessible to me to just take to the show. No back from Mr. Bombs, who had to work...at the venue. I tried to lighten things up by playing some in the kitchen, running around being goofy, and hassling the smoking-room-loiterers. I stayed pretty still to concentrate on playing this new song; it is hard to capture the magic on film (Or digital media? On disk? What do we even call it these days? Thanks to MadMatt for sending me the video, whatever it's called). I think my friends who played in the orchestra can at least partly validate my feelings that in all of that early-aged playing, I learned to depend on the teacher/conductor and fellow students/players for things like rhythm, dynamics, and especially hiding mistakes. The violin needs bass and harmony notes underneath it, and, I want to use it sparingly.
2. Watched Mr. Bombs and HAIRSPRAYFIREANDGIRLS conquer the 1000^2' or so of patio at one of 4th Avenue's hot bars. Now, I don't want to air anyone's business on the internet, so I will try to tell the story without divulging details that aren't known by any observant witnesses that happen to be out there. Mr. Bombs had a bad interaction with the venue, which I can vouch for. I was helping out as roadie for the band, during which the owner and staff actually made it really difficult to load the gear in, getting in the way while carrying nothing but a bad attitude. So Mr. Bombs performed the first set with his back to the audience:
   
   The bar's patio is arranged in a strange way, with a lot of hard-to-reach seating, no good place to watch the band, and no space at all to dance. Still, the second set started to rock and cook and smoke and quake. The band was really tight, some "muthafuckin ladies" showed up and had songs quite properly dedicated to them, and one of the Lillies even laid siege to a harshly rude cabbie:
   
3. Spent some quality time staying in with the old junior high gang. See them up there in that panorama? Throughout the whole evening, we kind of focused in on music as one of the common threads really uniting us. We watched goofy Lonely Island videos, listened to some awesome records, and played many good-spirit though half-executed jams. It was very humbling, enriching, gratifying, comforting, nostalgic,restorative, and encouraging...at once. Feelings: I have many.
4. Worked out some shows. Well, if Monday is part of the weekend for partied-out rockers, than  I did this 'over the weekend', although it is kind of a continuous process.  I'll post more when I have something to actually post, like maybe specifics for when/where all the shows are and hopefully even some cool posters/fliers/silly DIY promo images.