Top 10 of 2006

2006 was (in my humble opinion) a great year for music. As you can see from my previous post there were more than 30 albums all vying for a spot on the top 10. So, without further adieu: Matt V's top 10


Converge - No Heroes
After their last, relatively disappointing, album "You Fail Me" I had thought Converge was all done making incredible records. In my mind they couldn't possibly follow up the masterpiece that is "Jane Doe". Well this new fucking record blew me away. It has everything I love about this band and things I never thought they would do. I love this album and will surely listen to it for years to come.


Jesu - Silver
I discovered Jesu with their debut full length probably at the end of last year. When Hydra Head announced this EP I jumped! I ran to the record store and bought it at midnight. When I got home Hydra Head posted a preorder package! So I did what any true fan would do and bought it again. The limited edition American Apparel T-Shirt was just too cool to pass up. This album is heavy, sludgy, dense, dark, and hopeful. Silver is just another gold. I definitely can't wait for 2007's Conqueror and seeing them open for ISIS.


Young Widows - Settle Down City
I was at the Middle East Upstairs a few months ago to see Mouth of the Architect and These Arms Are Snakes. Luckily I had gotten their nice and early and got to see this incredible band. The sound coming off this stage totally blew me away. I can barely describe it. I bought the album immediately and I like it more each time I listen. The production is lo-fi while still sounding amazing. I totally love this band!


Russian Circles - Enter
This was a band I randomly discovered on Myspace. I spend a bunch of time going to band's sites and listening to bands that they are friends with. I really enjoyed the song on their site so I picked up the disc. After listening to it once I kicked myself in the ass for not going to see them play with Minus the Bear. This is instrumental rock at it's finest. Great memorable songs, great production, great performances. I can't get that first riff out of my head!


Cult of Luna - Somewhere Along the Highway
I had heard of this band a while back but never bought anything by them. When I started to do this top 10 I did a quick look around to see if there were any albums that I didn't get. This one stood out. After a little research I found that this album came with a limited 7" single with a Smashing Pumpkins cover on it. I decided right away that I needed to own this. The music is very "NeurIsis" which I totally love. It's heavy, it's progressive, it's awesome. Reminds me of Panopticon without clean vocals.


ISIS - In The Absence of Truth
ISIS' anticipated new album certainly did not disappoint. Although it isn't my favorite ISIS record (Oceanic owns that title) it is an excellent record and certainly worthy of this list. ISIS has quickly become one of my favorite bands and this album is excellent proof why.


The Sword - Age of Winters
Do you like Black Sabbath? Do you like awesome, sludgy, 70's style rock? Well this band is all that and more. I first saw this album and I thought "wow, that's probably terrible" I couldn't have been more wrong. I can't get enough of it!


Battle of Mice - Day of Nights
Front-woman Julie Christmas put out albums with 2 bands this year. This one and the also very amazing Made out of Babies' Coward. I discovered both bands on a Red Sparowes split and was immediately blown away by her voice. I prefer this to Made Out of Babies mostly for the guitar work (the guy from Red Sparowes and Neurosis' visual artist is awesome!)


Mouth of the Architect - The Ties That Bind
I read a review on The PRP for this record and was intrigued. It described it as being very heavily influenced by Neurosis. I thought that sounded bad-ass so I picked it up. The more I listen to this record the more I hear. There is so much going on in each song and it gets better every time. They also put on an excellent live show (even though they only had enough time to play 3 songs!)


Versoma - Life During Wartime
Rounding out the top 10 is a band that I've seen twice this year. They've lucked out and opened for both ISIS and Red Sparowes. The first time I saw them they were a little sloppy but the heavy use of delay and the good songs made me want to buy their record. ISIS describes it best : "noise and melody never sounded so sweet" This last spot was the hardest to pick with great albums from Mono, Red Sparowes, Tides, Mastodon, Making it Right, Pearl Jam, Switchblade, Grails, Disappearer, Jeremy Enigk, and 5ive all fighting for the spot. I just think that this one will last a bit longer in the old CD player or on my Zombie iPodito.


If you don't own any of these releases I urge you to go and listen! There is something for everyone I think! Well maybe not everyone.

A change would do you good.

Change is in the air today.

Joey and I have written 2 songs together. We have decided to name our band Sound Film. Hence the change in the blog. The old address works too but only has posts from forever ago. It did have a picture that good ol' ding ding took when Dipthong played in New Jersey though.

Dipthong is officially no more. We are changing the name and style. We have started work on one song so far. Kyle has been busy during this merry season so we haven't really been able to get much done. We'll see how it goes. I'm cautiously optimistic.

I've discovered 2 more albums that I would like to hear before the year end top 10. I think that both bands have a shot and I'd hate to get the records next year and know that the top 10 isn't what it should be. So far the nominees are:

*Ambulette - The Lottery
*Battle Of Mice - Day of Nights
*Boysetsfire - Misery Index: Songs from the Plague Years
*Converge - No Heroes
*Disappearer - s/t
*Jeremy Enigk- World Waits
*5ive - Versus
*Grails - Black Tar Prophecies 1, 2, & 3
*Gregor Samsa - 55:12
*Helmet - Monochrome
*Intronaut - Void
*ISIS - In The Absence of Truth
*ISIS/Aereogramme - In The Fishtank 14
*Jesu - Silver
*Making It Right - Don't Forget to Write
*Mastodon - Blood Mountain
*(the) Melvins - (a) Senile Animal
*MGR - Nova Lux
*Mono - You Are There
*Mouth of the Architect - The Ties That Bind
*Pearl Jam - s/t
*Red Sparowes - Every Heart Shines Towards The Red Sun
*Russian Circles - Enter
*SUNN0))) & Boris - Altar
*Switchblade - s/t
*The Sword - Age of Winters
*These Arms Are Snakes - Easter
*Tides - From Silence
*Versoma - Life During Wartime
*Windmills by the Ocean - s/t
*Neil Young - Living With War
*Young Widows - Settle Down City



I know how everyone is always like oh Matt all you listen to is bands on Hydra Head. Well only one album on this list was released on Hydra Head proper. Neurot Recordings has 3 on the list. Ipecac, Robotic Empire, and Jade Tree all have 2 on the list. 4 major label releases (Pearl Jam, Neil Young, Mastodon, Ambulette). 1 not on any label (MIR). 4.5 bands not from the US (Jesu, Neil Young, Switchblade, Mono, Boris). 9 instrumental. 8 have some connection to Boston.

The 2 missing are Cult of Luna - Somewhere Along the Highway and This Will Destroy You - Young Mountain. What do you think? Did I miss your favorite? Probably. I probably think it sucked.

Albums by bands that have previously dominated in top 10 contests that didn't this year: Tool - 10,000 Days, Deftones - Saturday Night Wrist, Incubus - Light Grenades, The Mars Volta - Amputechture. Work a little harder next time would ya?

My predictions for best albums next year: Smashing Pumpkins, Zozobra, Jesu, Explosions in the Sky, Pelican, Architect, The_Network, Clouds, NIN, Neurosis, and Cursed. Hey that's 10! Next year is all set!

Heavy Duty Rock & Roll

So I missed like the first 5 shows on my list due to lack of funds, lack of concert going companions, and band stuff. I'm going to deftones tonight and probably converge sunday, but I'm gonna miss Jeremy Enigk and 27 next week. Bummer! I really wanted to see both of those shows. Oh well.

Top 10 albums is coming along nicely. 51 new albums last year have been narrowed down to just over 20. I'm determined to let no record be left behind this year. Last few years I do a top 10 and then January comes around and I discover all this music I missed out on. I know it's not possible to own everything, but I've done a decent job this year. If CD's cost $10, I've spent $510 on just new releases this year. Now tell me that the internet is hurting record companies. Sure some of them weren't $10, some were more, some were less. I also didn't buy all of them myself. Some were gifts. I also bought plenty of back catalog records last year. The 51 also doesn't count compilations, splits, re-releases, and live albums. I'm definetly gonna cut back in 2007. There are several great releases coming up that I'm very excited for, but I'm gonna try and keep it to the albums I need.

Explosions in the Sky tickets go on sale in 10 minutes. March 21, 2007! Middle East Downstairs! FUCK YEAH.

CRAP my computer crashed and my post went with it

For some reason blogger wouldn't recover my post. I'm in no mood to retype it. Here is a quick paraphrase. Thanksgiving sucks. If you know me you know that. Blah blah blah we're fat let's fucking eat and make you feel uncomfortable or not welcome or not part of the group we're fat and selfish and ignorant and blah blah blah. Fuck that. End of the year. End of the year top albums list. Big fucking deal who cares. I've got about 45 albums on the list that I'm going to narrow down to 10. It'll be rough. Bitch bitch bitch moan moan moan. Woe is me. Where for art thou romeo. Change is good.

ISIS JESU ZOZOBRA

When Isis returns from Oceania they are doing a tour of the good ol' us of a. I knew they were bringing Jesu which is so fucking incredible but the word today is that they are bringing ZOZOBRA too! The only thing better than that would be OLD MAN GLOOM! They should just bring Converge with them and do a set of Old Man Gloom. It'll be Zozobra, Jesu, Converge, Isis, OMG. Best show ever.

Shows Past, Shows Present, Shows Future.

Went to some more shows last few weeks including Ani, Imogen, Stephen Brodsky, and Humanwine. A good time was had by all.

Tonight Dipthong plays at the Skybar. Night before Thanksgiving is a big night out I hear so hopefully turn out is good. Afterwards I have to pick up my little sister because she is home for the holiday.

Upcoming rock and roll events that I would like to attend include:

Sa. 11/25 - Middle East Downstairs - Clouds, Piebald
Mo. 11/27 - The Paradise - Amanda Palmer
We. 11/29 - The Paradise - Dinosaur Jr.
Th. 11/30 - TT The Bear's - Stephen Brodsky
Fr. 12/01 - The Avalon - Deftones
Su. 12/03 - Club Lido - Converge
Mo. 12/04 - The ICC - Jeremy Enigk
Th. 12/07 - Great Scott - 27
Sa. 12/09 - The Palladium - Seemless, The Sword
Fr. 12/15 - The Linwood - 5ive
2007
Tu. 01/16 - Bill's Bar - Tides
Fr. 01/26 - The Brickhouse - The_Network, Architect
Th. 01/28 - Cambridge Elks - The Hope Conspiracy, Clouds
Tu. 01/30 - The Avalon - Incubus
Mo. 02/19 - New York - Explosions in the Sky
Tu. 02/20 - New York - Explosions in the Sky
Th. 04/12 - Middle East Downstairs - Mono, World's End Girlfriend

wow lots of rock.

A Whole New America

So, the democratic party has picked up a majority in the House of Representatives. It looks like they are picking up the majority in the Senate and picked up several govenorships. For the first time in my adult life I have faith that good things are going to get done. I'm going to try not to be cynical and think politicians are all evil and corrupt. Let's fix this broken democracy! My conversation with Jen this morning touched on the hope that instead of looking to point blame for the administration's missteps they move ahead and get great things done. We have the potential to be the world's greatest nation. Let's do this! Good work to everyone that voted. Even if you voted for the other side.

The Genders are the best band from Israel. They rocked the Abbey Lounge last night. Rock and Roll.

I did end up seeing Grails and Ocean Sunday night. Again I went alone and again it was awkward. It was definetly worth it though. Kayo Dot didn't play and Panda & Angel sucked so I was beginning to think that it was going to be a shitty night. Grails took forever to set up. They borrowed most of Ocean's gear, including both guitar amps, bass amp, and drums. They set up very sloppy with cables and gear all over the stage. I was irritated actually because for some reason that shit bothers me. Well it looks like I'm a total dick because they blew me away. Just an awesome band. I'm glad I went. I bought their album and I enjoy it a ton. Ocean was DOOM. Exactly what I expected. The cool thing was that they never stopped playing. It was just constant DOOM for 45 minutes. Sucked when the guitarist broke a string and was never able to change guitars because they never stopped. Good times.

I'm currently listening to Sonic Youth's Washing Machine album. I think it might be my favorite record by them. It is equal parts expirimentation and pop. Washing Machine and Diamond Sea are 2 of the best songs ever written. Right up there with Bull in the Heather. Great band.

I purchased Stephen Brodsky's Octave Museum last night. I'm not sure if I like it yet. It's like 60's pop meets Cave In's space rock. Like if Cave In covered the Beatles. Or if Kyle and his dad got together and recorded an album of songs, mostly acoustic, and then I went and added laser gun and crazy delay on top.

"Party Everyday" or "Rock and Roll All Night"

So since the These Arms Are Snakes show it seems I've done lots of music things this week. Sunday was TAAS; Monday was band practice; Tuesday I saw Bury The Needle, Indian, Raise The Red Lantern; Wednesday was band practice pt.2; Thursday was Death Cab for Cutie. Ear plugs 5 nights in a row! Sunday night I might go see Grails, Ocean, Kayo Dot, and Panda & Angel. Kayo Dot wasn't very good last time I saw them. Grails is very cool, and Ocean is DOOM. Michael told me about Ocean because they are from Maine! I've never heard of Panda & Angel but they are on Jade Tree and that's a pretty cool label so we'll see. Too bad nobody wants to come to the show. Everybody has shit to do. Ghey.

Smashing Pumpkins are the greatest band ever. That is all.

"Yeah I might come, I'll call you" or "One is the lonliest numer."

So I went and saw These Arms are Snakes, Mouth of The Architect, Young Widows, and French Toast last night. I couldn't find anyone to come so...I went alone. It was a bit weird but I know I wasn't the only one alone. This one kid with a Ted Leo and The Pharmacits was defintely alone haha. I did end up seeing 2 guys that used to work at Newbury Comics. They seem to be at a lot of shows. Anyways here is the quick rundown of the show that I sent to Lark:

The first band was Young Widows. They were awesome! They had tons of cabs all set up nice and symmetrical. Starting from the left there were 2 vertical sunn 4x12 cabs, then an 8x10 with 2 heads on top. All with a vintage sunn style grill cloth. It was the same on the other side. They started playing and the 2 outermost sunn cabs didn't have speakers, they had lights! It was very cool. They were like noisy grungy rock. Lots of delay and stuff. They were fuckin awesome. I guess that the guys are 3/4 of breather resist. But it's a totally different style of music. I bought their disc and enjoy it a ton!

The second band was Mouth of The Architect. They were amazing. They had some home made road cases that said MOTA in the metallica font haha. The singer, who was obviously the band "leader", was super young and a really nice guy. When I told him that his band was great and that I loved their album he thanked me very genuinely. The stage was packed with people: 2 guitarists, bassist, keyboardist, and drummer. The guitarists both used Marshalls, with the singer using a JCM 800 into a newer 1960B cab and the other guitarist had a modded Plexi into a Sunn looking 4x12. American tele and SG respectively. Boss DS-1, Boss Delay, Line 6 DL-4., the usual stuff.

The first 2 bands both said French Toast was supposed to play but had to cancel at the last minute. To my surprise it was some kind of inside joke because French Toast went on next. They were all 40 years old playing like garage rock with tons of delay. They were a 3-piece and they rotated instruments like 5 times. So they all sang lead they all played bass, they all played drums, and they all played guitar. They weren't that great though.

Then These Arms are Snakes came on. I didn't realize the lead singer was a "daughters-style" asshole. He wasn't nearly as bad though and the music is actually good. He just did the whole run around like a dick and jump in the crowd and knock over monitors and shit like that. The guitarist was very good and used more effects than I thought. The bass player was fucking awesome. Great huge bass tone. Great set. I just wish the singer wasn't an ass.

Afterwards I stopped by the teen center and watched the end of Killer Clowns from Outer Space. What a terrible movie. I came home, corrected Rebecca's science homework and went to bed! The End.

Yikes blog

Yay new case! The picture is kinda dark but you get the point. It was totally worth the money and the 4am drive to Connecticut. Too bad Chuck had problems with both of his cases. Notice the white rice, ear plugs, laser gun, and vibrator. All integral parts of a rock musician's life. Chopsticks rule! I think I'm going to get an Emperor cabinet to go with the Marshall head. Further down the road though. I've got a 3-year plan. In 2 years I need my debts paid off. Pamela Macleod. All of them. Well, I'm not sure about college loans. After that I can get rid of the gay van, buy a real van, and tour non-stop. By then the band should be big enough to do that. I'll be 26 going on 27. Still young enough to rock.

Converge. They rule. Their new album is very good. Very very good. Ryan Traynor got me all worked up over Stephen Brodsky singing on it but he doesn't. There is a guy singing but it's not good ol' Stephen.

Since the last post I saw ISIS 3 times! Easily my favorite current band. They opened for Tool 2 of the times and only got to play for 30 minutes. The third time was in Providence, Rhode Island at the Living Room. What a shit hole. Downshaft even played there haha. There wasn't that many people there and it was very cool. New album next week!

Lots of cool shows coming up. Death Cab, These Arms are Snakes, Mouth of The Architect, Octave Museum, Bury The Needle, Indian, Raise the Red Lantern, Deftones (new record next week), Grails, Ocean, and much much more! Love that rock & roll music.

I have a million things to say but I'm just gonna go watch Lost.

"Night of the Living iPods" or "3249 Tunes Later"

My iPod has returned from the DEAD. When there is no more room in Best Buy electronics walk the Earth. The genius at the Genius Bar revived it like Frankenstein and his monster. It's ALIVE! It is nice to have it back. Carrying all those CDs around was a pain in the ass!

So I'm currently on the 5th disc of the first season of Lost. For the first several discs it was all character but we've finally gotten some plot in there. I just noticed another parallel in the dialogue. 2 people have told Jack: "I know you made a promise, but I'm letting you off the hook." Yikes child birth is gross! Anyways, I'm enjoying it so far and it only seems to get better. Bummer that Ian's character dies in this show too. He had the best uni-brow on Smallville. It was kind of like out with one character in with another.

Dude ISIS. They are playing a few headlining shows outside the Tool tour. One is at the fucking Living Room in RI. I cannot wait to go! Plus they are doing a free screening of their DVD upstairs at the Middle East! What a fucking awesome band!

I think that's all for now.

"Tour de Salem" or "I'm freakin exhausted!"

Haven't written anything here in a while. I kind of got freaked out that so many people were reading it. Anyways... I think I'll work my way back in time!

I just got home from work. I decided that I wanted to take a bicycle to work because I hate cars. When I was a kid I rode a bike or walked everywhere. There wasn't a place in Tewksbury that I couldn't walk to. The minute I got my license that all changed. Shit we take our cars to the corner store. So when I decided I wanted to sell my van, people asked, how will you get around? Well in my smart ass way I replied: "I'll ride a bike." Everyone skoffed at the idea but it made me think. I don't work too far away. I could ride my bike to work. I came up with the idea to put the bike in the van on the way to work. Then I could ride it home. That way I could see how long it would take. See if I could pull it off. Well I'm here and I'm alive. It took me about a half of an hour to do it. I used my step-dad's bike which totally sucked. The seat hurt my ass and it was too tall! I also had a hard time going up hills because of the gears. When I got home I felt like I had died! I'm gonna do it again tomorrow though. I'm excited! It's part of my whole self betterment thing I've got goin' on lately. How very Fredrick Nietzsche of me.

So just now I returned home from an impromptu visit to Newbury Comics. Ryan Traynor called with some car problems so I went to help out. After giving the car a jump start it died again. So we called up AAA and got him a tow. So we stopped into Newbury where I found the Red Sparowes Grails split 12" that I've been looking for! I was hoping they had it back when I saw them but they did not. For helping him out Ryan bought me the new Made Out of Babies album. I told him no but he insisted. I'm listening to it right now. Julie Christmas is very cool.

My guitar sold this week. I want to buy Making it Right's van but I think I'm just gonna get cases for my stuff like I had planned. I need to take care of my van before I can go buy another one. I will probably miss that guitar...

This past weekend I saw Mastodon and Converge. Both are bands that I love. Lark, Keith (ex-SBC), Joey Campbell, and Johnny (SBC) all came. It was an excellent time. Afterwards we met up with All Hands on Deck at Lark's favorite restaurant IHOP. Pancakes and obscene conversations were had by all. I also started to watch LOST. Erik and Lark love it and I'm enjoying it so far. I'm not super deep into it though. I'm going to try and finish the first season this week.

The weekend before I went to New York with Ryan Traynor and Joey Campbell. We had an incredible time. It was the Temporary Residence Limited 10th Birthday party. Explosions in the Sky put on an amazing show. Mono was phenominal. Some of the other bands were cool some of them sucked but those 2 made up for it. I was able to pick up a bunch of Mono vinyl and the Explosions vinyl that I didn't have. On the drive home Ryan, Joey, and I had a conversation about our "other" band. Ryan and Joey both can't commit to the band. Ryan wants to do it just as a fun jam thing every once in a while. Like his several fake bands. Joey has too much other shit going on. I am pretty disappointed because I was hoping to have a second serious band outside Dipthong. A band where I could do very different music. I had the idea that I would be able to tour like every other month. Each band would play in a very different scene with very different kids. I'd get twice the experience, learn a bunch more shit, and make way more contacts. Plus have tons of fun playing music all the time. I'm not sure what to tell Keith because I know he was really looking forward to being in a band again. Maybe we can find some other dudes. What are the chances we can find people like Ryan and Joey though...

Dipthong also played that Friday. We played well and there was a decent turn out. The other bands were horrible. Terrible horrible disgusting. Just shitty shitty bands. Awful. Bad. Sucky. Lark's friend Alex wasn't able to come inside because she was underage. I feel really bad because I told her we could get her in. I thought it would be fine. I didn't get carded when I got there. If only she got there a little earlier. Lame.


I've got lots of new music to listen to. New Mastodon and Mars Volta both kick ass. Sparrows Swarm and Sing is very cool. I was listening to Mouth of the Architect for the first part of this post (before I left to help Ryan). I've got Made out of Babies on now. Knut's terraformer is awesome. Torche's self titled rocks so hard. Better than Floor I think. The new Seemless is also very good. I've been so busy with the other stuff though it hasn't gotten much play. All that new Mono vinyl rules. Explosions in the Sky is awesome. Disappearer is great! I hope they get a new drummer soon (maybe Tom Campbell!). Red Sparowes is always great. The split is very cool. Not super into Grails but I've got to give it some time. Here is a link to my spreadsheet!

"Without art we would be nothing but foreground and live entirely in the spell of that perspective which makes what is closest at hand and most vulgar appear as if it were vast, and reality itself." ~Fredrick Nietzsche

I think I'll end my blog here. Good night.

Oh yeah here is a cool cell phone pic of some of my gear.

blah blah blah

I have a million and nothing to say.

The Four of Us are Dying.

I am laying in the dark, in my room listening to Jesu(pronounced YAY su) very loudly. I finally recieved the vinyl after ordering it like 2 months ago. The vinyl has a different mix than the CD to take advantage of the different sound of the format. It is amazing. Perfect music for drifting off. Maybe it's the weather but I just feel kind of sludgy/doomy today. Well I actually feel sludgy and doomy quite often. Doom rules.

The other band jammed last night again. I had a great time. It was very different without Ryan Traynor. Harder to change dynamics I think. I can't wait to get that Distortion pedal that I want. With 2 different gain stages I can just go a bit heavy or all the way heavy. It'll be great! We really have something cool going on and I can't wait to really start writing songs.

I made a spreadsheet on google spreadsheets with a list of albums I need to purchase. I figured it would be an easy way to alphabatize the list I had going. I hate going into the record store and having no idea what I want to buy. This list will hopefully alleviate that. I feel like Kyle doing a spreadsheet though. I know there are more albums to add to the second column (albums coming soon) but I can't seem to think of them haha. I don't really need help with those though. The list is all about walking into the store and forgetting what I want to buy. New stuff stands out and usually warrants a special trip to the store. Midnight sales and all that.

If you want to see my amazing spreadsheet give me your e-mail address and I can share it with you. For those of you who don't know, google spreadsheets is like excell that runs from your web browser. It saves the spreadsheets on the internet and allows you to share them with anyone in the world! It kind of makes me think about the future. There are 2 new movie formats now: HD-DVD and BluRay. I think that we are getting to the point where media shouldn't be on these little discs. Everything should work like iTunes. Although I love buying albums for the art work, I don't buy DVDs for the art. I buy them for the movie! In the future I think every electronic device will be all networked together. Then I can buy a multi-channel hi-resolution album or movie on my computer but it will be playable on my home theater, in my car, on my iPod, everywhere. They should still make vinyl though because vinyl rules.

Blah blah blah. Susan is still here and she is crazy. I think I'm done blabbing for today. Be well, do good work, and take care.

New look?

ehhh it's okay. I'll probably try a few things change it around a bit. Lark has a list of shows she is going to so I figured I would do something similar. Red Sparowes was last Thursday and totally amazing by the way. I stood at the same spot I stood for ISIS and it was perfect. The only disappointing thing was they had no vinyl for sale. I was hoping to pick up some stuff I couldn't find. Oh well i guess that's why we have the internet.

September 1st- Dipthong with some shitty bands at the Worthen in Lowell
September 2nd- Temporary Residence Limited Party with Explosions in the Sky in NYC
September 3rd- Temporary Residence Limited Party with MONO in NYC
September 9th- Mastodon with Converge in Worcester
September 29th- TOOL with ISIS in Mansfield
October 3rd- TOOL with ISIS in Manchester
October 11th-19th- Dipthong on tour.
October 20th- Dipthong back home with Fantom Frequency (NYC) at the Brewery in Lowell
November 10th- Ani Difranco in Boston
November 22nd-Dipthong at the Skybar in Somerville

Hopefully somewhere in there the "other" band will have a show or two. Possibly between the tour and Thanksgiving. We jam on Thursday I belive. Possibly without Ryan Traynor though. He's actually the loudest and most noisy. My noise is very controlled and only in small doses haha. We shall see.

I was on the "Tewksbury Scene" myspace group and saw that Jamie Laird was in the top 8. Oh that Jamie Laird. He was a guitar teacher at Daddy's in salem and now runs his own studio. He's a nice guy and a great jazzy guitarist. Maybe he'd like to lay down a nice guitar solo in the "other" band haha.

Susan is in the next room talking to herself. She is more than retarded, she is crazy too.

Currently listening to: Logh, Disappearer, The Melvins, live Red Sparowes, new ISIS (on their myspace!), new Deftones (on their myspace!), Bjork's Post in 5.1 surround, and more!

"Frustrated at the world" or "People who post blogs every day are ghey"

Yet another blog. I actually like writing them. I'm in a shitty mood. Things aren't working out like I had planned. I just want to tour. Every night that I sit at home is a night wasted. I should be out on the road doing it right now. I'm 23 and I'm not doing anything. I'm just sitting in my room playing bass listening to The Gersch. It's a decent record. More Bryant Clifford Meyer stuff. After this I'll probably listen to his Windmills by the Ocean. I've already listened to plenty of Red Sparowes. He won't be playing with Red Sparowes this week because the guy from Pelican will be. Pelican kicks ass. Rebecca better not fucking move into the room next door. What a pain in the ass that would be.



Ding Ding took that picture while I was changing strings before our New Jersey show. It was a decent show even if that other band was horrible. I love that guitar. Funny it's just sitting in it's case in my room. Not being played. Fuck it even has a broken string. I haven't changed it because I haven't needed it. I've done very minimal playing since it broke. Somebody's got a case of the Mondays....

Same picture but in green. For some reason you can see it better.

"Shakespeare on the Common" or "Snakes on a Plane"

Last night was Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew at Boston Common. I had a good time and I got to spend some time with Lark which is always good. We then went back to her place and played 4 person scrabble. I once again proved my genius and came in dead last.

On the way to the common I got a phone call from Sam Jackson telling me that Snakes on a Plane is quite possibly the greatest motion picture ever made. He's the best that Sam.

The incredibly dark picture above is a cell phone shot of the rig I used to jam the other night. 70's Marshall JMP through a VHT 4x12 next to a 70's Sunn Model T through a Mesa 4x12. The guitar is my 1981 Gibson Les Paul Custom in wine red. For pedals I used a Boss TU-2 tuner, Voodoo Labs Microvibe, Boss BF-2 Flanger, Boss DM-2 Analog Delay, Mooger Fooger Analog Delay, Mooger Fooger Low Pass Filter, Snarling Dogs Wah, Sovtek Big Muff PI, and in the loop of the delay a Boss PS-5 pitch shifter. It sounded wicked pissah. I've been thinking about doing away with the rack and using just amps and pedals again. I've got some ideas...

Yikes, couple quick things!

Making it Right broke up today. That totally sucks. If there was one band I've ever seen that could have done it, it was them. It kinda bums me out. I'm afraid that if they can't make it, I can't make it. I made a joke last time I saw them that I would cut my hair to join that band. Brendan had made a comment about my "metal" hair. It made me think that they must see me as this wicked metal kid who just happens to really love their band. People who know me know that I'm anything but wicked metal. So I made the joke thinking they would never let me in the band with my "metal" hair. Well funny thing happend. Several months later, I cut my hair. Maybe one of them would like to jam...

About the attack. I read something about taking it seriously. It said that the police have no reason to play politics. I don't know if I agree with that but I do think I'm not taking the little guys effort seriously. I'm just so mad at the system right now that everything I see seems like a ploy to control us. If I were al-qaeda though, I'd think of something more original than an airplane again jeez.

"2001: A Space Odyssey" or "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"

So I've begun my attempt to watch all of my DVDs in alphabetical order. Including all special features and bonus materials. The first film was 2001: A Space Odyssey. 2001 is an incredible film but it is kind of difficult to watch and understand. Arthur Clarke said that if you watch 2001 and understand the whole thing than they haven't done their job. He wanted to make a film that posed more questions than answers. It's mostly silent. There isn't any dialogue for 30 minutes, the most popular character HAL doesn't show up until an hour in. There also isn't any dialogue in the last 30 minutes of the movie. It starts off with an overture, has an intermission, and ends with exit music. The extras on this DVD are almost non-existant. There are 2 trailers (one for 2001 and one for 2010: The Year We Make Contact, which i've never seen) and there is a press interview with Arthur C. Clarke from the 60s. Overall it's a movie I'm glad I own and recommend it to anyone who loves science fiction and can handle a slower movie. You ADHD kids know who you are.

The next movie is The Abyss, followed by AI. 3 pretty heavy Science Fiction films in a row. I'm glad Almost Famous comes after that. It'll be a nice comedy to lighten things up a bit.

That last post was my second longest post. Over 1,000 words. Impressive. Most impressive, but you are not a jedi yet.

"The long road home" or "Driving me crazy"

There you go. Does that title count as a nice pun or what? Ehh it's okay. I'm working on it. The title refers to those late night drives I seem to make all the time. Either from Cambridge or Haverhill. They are long and lonely and dark. I wish that we all lived in Boston and jammed in like Allston. Every thing would be nice and close. We would have no stupid cars. It makes sense for people to live like that. That is how Western Civilization got started. They made a city where the 2 rivers (tigris and euphrates i believe) came together. We should all live in the city unless we are farmers. Then we can live in the country. Everyone wants their own property selfishly and they don't care how much gas they use to travel. After the earlier rant I wanted to do a more relaxed post.

I just jammed with the other band tonight. Dipthong practices seem to be few and far between. It didn't go very well though. We think it was because Keith really made a huge difference. I can't wait to get him back. He works as a good liason between Ryan and I because we aren't always on the same page. We were talking about names again and they seem to like Tashjin, but I don't like it as much anymore. I'm digging Antikythera Mechanism. They'll both work. I've been thinking about it more and more. Should we write songs? Should we just jam. I figure if we actually work stuff out it could be more indepth. We could do more things. If we just improvised though it could be real spur of the moment. I guess that leaves it open to be bad... I was also thinking that maybe we could write but leave big spaces for improvisation in there. Kind of like the Mars Volta. We also need to find our niche. I don't want to be an ISIS ripoff. I don't want to sound just like all the other Hydra Head bands. I want us to have our own thing that is inspired by the Hydra Head stuff. I'm totally blown away by 5ive right now but I'll talk about that later.

I got a new phone battery today! Thank goodness because the old one was driving me insane. To have only 5 minutes of battery life is retarded. I'll finally be able to call back all those people who have been trying to get in touch with me the last few weeks (Kirimi, Josh).

I picked up the first legion trade yesterday. I started reading the series when Supergirl joined the team (sticking with my super-related book rule) but I liked it so much I've wanted to get some older ones. I've always liked the Legion of Super-Heros and Mark Waid is a great writer. Plus Erik and the guy from the superman homepage recommended it. I've since been straying away from the super-related book rule. I picked up Powers last week and I've been reading Secret Six. For those of you who don't know, I have a rule that I can only buy comics that are Superman related. So that means I can buy Justice League, Justice, Superman, Action Comics, All-Star Superman, Supergirl, and Supergirl and the Legion of Superheros. Because of Infinite Crisis and all the tie ins (esp. one year later) I've picked up a few other books including 3 Batmans, 52, Secret Six, and some more. I've got to cut back or it gets out of control!!!!!

I'm selling my Les Paul Classic. I'll probably put it up on Craig's List this weekend. I figure with the money I can get a case for my mesa cab, new guitar cases and possibly that Japanese distortion pedal. There is a ton of gear that I want but those things would get me through haha. This way I don't have to rely on my Big Muff Pi for the other band and I've got great cases for all my gear to tour in Dipthong with. I've got to keep my gear in tip top shape because I cannot afford to replace or repair it! I figure the cases are more important than having 3 Les Pauls. One of the 3 is always getting neglected anyways. After I get all that stuff I need that guitar stand, a case for my Sunn head, then a new head and cab to go along with it. Probably a Marshall JMP into an matamp cab. Maybe 8x10 maybe just 4x12. We'll see...

This weekend I will probably try and relax as much as possible. I know I'll go see Taming of the Shrew in the Boston Commons with Lark and her friends on Saturday night but I think I'll spend the rest of the weekend watching movies in my room. Maybe I'll get some reading done. I don't read enough!! I'm sure Lark wants to spend some quality time with Nicole too.

I'm going to change the layout and possibly colors of this blog. It is way too standard black. Boring. Local The Comic has a nice looking blog.

There is lots of great music coming this fall. Mastodon, Red Sparowes, ISIS, Deftones, Mars Volta, and probably more that I can't think of all have albums coming out. It's gonna be a tough top 1o this year. (Last year I got lazy and didn't do one. I also bought a bunch of records in January that had come out the year before that had belonged in that top 10.) It's a good time to be me I guess. Great girlfriend. Family is doing good. Decent job. 2 bands. Superman movie. Clerks 2. Superman comics have been great. Everything Superman is coming out on DVD. I could go on but I won't. Even though jamming was less than fantastic I'm in a good mood!

Wow long blog again. Still not done kids sorry.

My cats are the best. No more peeing on the couch either. I knew they would stop. Fuzzy is so loyal and adorable I can't get over it!

5ive is an incredible band. 2 members. Guitar and drums. I'm so fucking blown away it's rediculous. It isn't super far off from what I've been doing with Ryan, Joey, and Keith but it's just so fucking good. The guitarist is amazing. He fills out the sound and his effects work is inspiring. I went to Newbury and Bull Moose looking for a couple of specific things. I found nothing at Bull Moose and very few things at Newbury. I decided to take a chance with 5ive because it was cheap, the description sounded cool, it had J. K. Broaderick remixes, and it was on Hydra Head. Boy I'm glad I did. Best wah pedal work since fucking hendrix i swear. I also finally found that 3 way Red Sparowes split I've been looking for. It was under various. Red Sparowes rules and I can't wait to see them next week. The guy from Pelican will be playing with them and he's fucking cool too.

They are lying to us.

I wanted to post a blog Sunday night but I've been decently busy. Today's news has pushed me over the edge.

Yesterday it was announced that a new comer candidate has beat out a 3 term incumbent senator. A senator who was also the parties nominee for vice president! The big issue in the campaign was the war. The American public is sending a message that this war is out of control. We don't want it anymore! We don't want the imperialist Nixon-style presidency.

So today we have stopped this "attack" on America. Bullshit. How fucking convenient. I pray that the American people aren't fooled by this bullshit any longer. They want us to be scared. They want us to think the republicans are the only ones keeping us safe. That the liberals and progressives in this country will leave us open to being attacked again. They are using our fears to maintain control They want us to surrender our liberties and our freedoms for "safety".

It seems like everytime an election comes up or Bush's numbers go real low they pull this shit. Like a new message from Osama that popped up right before the last election.

Guess what Moff Tarkin (Cheney), Darth Vader (Bush), Emperor Palpatine (Rove), and Jabba the Hut (Rice) we don't need you. You might have destroyed Alderaan (Our personal freedoms) but you will be defeated! This country is gonna pull through your bullshit! All we need is Luke Skywalker.

"Organic Cereal" or "Bats in the Belfry!"

I think I will continue my theme of the double title. Maybe one day they will be puns! I am sitting here eating organic Rice Krispies with some organic milk and it is damned good. Eating organic and healthy is cool. I just wished that I liked more things so I could eat healthy. I just wish I could eat spaghetti all day everyday!

Dipthong practice...Well we played decent. We all seemed incredibly bored. So we were gonna start working on something new and that didn't work. Fucking Patty and Julie were there. Whatever. Talked about the tour but of course it's not gonna happen like I wanted it to. Not everyone has their shit together. Sucks. Hopefully early October. There were 2 bats flying around the hallways. It was very cool. Too bad there were no metal bands around to bite the bat's head off! METAL!!!!!!

I thought about the last 2 weeks. I've played with 3 different bands. 3 guitarists, 3 bass players, 3 drummers. 3 completely different styles of music. I used 3 separate guitars, 3 different style rigs, 3 different heavy guitar tones. It's kinda cool to be able to just jump from band to band like that. If you add Porter and In Dire Need I've hung out with 5 bands doing 5 completely different styles of rock. Rock and roll rules.

I'm listening to new Mastodon. I'm totally pysched for this record. You should check out the 2 songs they have on their myspace yes'm.

You should also listen to the Writer's Almanac podcast. It's great.

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

All Hands on Deck.

Ryan Fisher and Chuck Vincent formerly of Downshaft (I was in that band too!) are in a new band called All Hands on Deck. They are joined by Matt Auburn System (that's what we call him his real last name is Bistany) and Rob Himself (I forget Rob's real last name haha). The idea behind the band is "why wait to sell out?" They figure if they are super marketable they'll get signed and can actually make a living doing music. They are doing emo/pop-punk super generic music. It's funny because the songs are actually kind of fun and catchy. Their first show is tomorrow and apparently Chuck is unavailable. So little ol' me is filling in. I learned all the songs tonight and am playing at Drifters in Nashua, NH! Fun Fun Fun.

I'm listening to Panic! at the Disco. Yeah this song is a guilty pleasure. I had a free download on iTunes from a cereal box haha. Lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her clothes off.

"If you lived here...you'd be home now" or "The most expensive pop-tart ever"

Both titles are incredibly accurate descriptions of what I intend this blog to be about. Well I'm sure there will be plenty of random blabbering about anything and everything that comes to mind, but they describe what will be the core of the post. Plus I love those old rocky and bullwinkle episodes. You were never sure how they were going to end up at the end so the narrator always gave you 2 possible titles. They may not be amazing puns or anything but they work.

Wikipedia says this about the show's endings "At the end of most episodes, the show's narrator, William Conrad, announced two possible titles for the next episode — the second title always a pun that was related to the first (for example, the narrator once intoned during an adventure taking place in a mountain range: "be with us next time for Avalanche Is Better Than None,' or 'Snow's Your Old Man'" And in a different episode: "be with us next time for '50 cents lost' or 'Get that halfback'"."

So after years of finding ourselves and then finally finding each other we are together. After what seemed like ages of me telling myself it wasn't going to happen, it happens. I couldn't be happier. It's probably the best thing to happen to both of us. I look forward to every new day, every good time, every bad time, every challenge. Even this one...

Wow ask a ninja is easliy the funniest thing on the internet.

Money. It's a funny thing. To think I've got a much better job than I've ever had coupled with the smallest amount of money I've ever had. I've got to get my shit all in line. I think once I sell that stupid automobile things will work out. I hate that damned thing. Worst purchase I've ever made. I was listening to an economic report on NHPR the other day. They were talking about some current business practices they hope will bring in millions of dollars into the world's economy. I was thinking where does this money come from. You'd think there'd be a finite amount of money in the world. Otherwise why would people all be fighting for it. I know it all has to do with trade and commodities and population and everything. The thought just came to my head, a human being invented the dollar. Like one day someone said we are going to have money and it is going to be called the dollar. Instead of us trading goods and services we barter with this thing called money. Is it backed by gold? I don't think so. I think now it is just some numbers in a computer. So we invented this thing that separates us. The thing that essentially runs our whole lives. That keeps some people in the streets and others in high rise aparments. We created it and now it rules us. Did the native americans have a currency or did they just trade what they needed with other tribes? Don't get me wrong I'm thankful I live in the society I live in. I live in a time where I can make a living by creating music. I can survive and eat and have a roof over my head. If I was a native american 500 years ago I'd be hunting animals or farming all day long. I just wish people would realize that for our own convience and "happiness" we step on other people. I never plan on being rich. I want to be able to live comfortably and give everything else way to people who aren't able to live comfortably. Why should I keep it? What would it get me? A fancy home? Who cares. I've been at my happiest in a shitty condo in Tewksbury. At least I'd never overdraft my checking account for some fuckin poptarts.

I cannot wait for this insane rash to leave my elbows. It is driving me insane. I'm pretty sure it isn't the gluten thing. I've been eating gluten all week and it would probably have gotten insanely bad if that was the case. I can't tell if it is getting better or worse but it sucks. Stupid doctors that don't know shit.

Wow it is weird to watch my cat pee in the box in front of me. It kinda creeps me out. I can't understand why we have this second box in my room. For 2 cats you'd think one huge box would be enough. Both cats were sleeping on my bed when I got home. Very little makes me happier than that.

The second band played this week. Funny 3 years ago when Lark lived here I would have killed for one band. Now I've kinda got 2. Dipthong would be doing great if we were all on the same page. Do they want to tour again and really do this or what. The other band had an amazing time though. We all loved just playing music for the fun of just playing music. Keith totally clicked with everyone and had an understanding of what we were doing. We put no boundaries or limits or instructions or anything on each other. We just let loose. I could have played anything or nothing. Shit at one point I was just on my knees twisting the knob on my DM-2. Sure, I do that in Dipthong but only for Intros or "big endings." I would love to do this band full time but the voice in my head says "could you really do that full time? Would anyone come see you? Could you tour the world and not work a real job?" Well shit if sunn0))) can sell out the middle east downstairs I think Tashjian could do something. Should we write songs? Should we be totally instrumental?

Kind of parallels the other situation. Should I stay or should I go? Things might be hard if I stay but other things could be hard if I went. Would I be able to get on top of my finances if I went? Would I be able to keep it working from 40 minutes away, if I stayed? I think those are the biggest things. If I left I wouldn't be able to save like I know I should. I'm too old to have zero money. Zero money. I couldn't buy a candy bar right know. If I stayed here it would put a strain on us that we don't need. We finally have our shit together and we don't need to make it difficult on ourselves. Let's see if I can get rid of this fucking van!

Easily my longest blog ever and it still isn't done. Sorry for the bad grammar but I just getting it all out.

I'm listening to ISIS' Panopticon on vinyl right now and it seems to be a bit warped. The pitch is doing some fluctuation. Bummer. I've read that you can stack a shit load of vinyl on top of the one that is warped and it should flatten it out. Maybe I'll give it a try. It is a bit painful to listen to it all warped like that. Yay Disc 2 is not warped. My favorite songs are on disc one though. Oh well. What an amazing record. Joey Campbell said "You can tell which songs are off Panopticon because they sound hopefull." I know he used hopefull because that is how Ryan Traynor describes Explosions in the Sky and Ryan Traynor is everyone's hero. It is a decent description of Panopticon vs. Oceanic though. The music does have this glimmer of hope to it. The lyrics are about everything seeming to be okay but that is only because they are watching you. We are lulled into complacency but we are being monitored. Every where you go. There is no privacy, there is no real freedom. Like she said "take away our playstations we are a third world nation."

Is this the next last day?
Prepare to be carried by the "crows"
Heavy hand upon the land
Feel it's weight inside you.

Made in China

Probably my least favorite thing to read. Whenever I pick up something and read the words "Made in China" I just feel bad. Then feeling bad moves out of the way for feeling angry. Then the anger moves away and I feel hope. I know there is alternatives. I will spend the time and actively seek them. I just hope that I'm not the only one. boycottmadeinchina.org

Oh yeah someone is reading this...

Things are weird.

Just as the title says "things are weird". The minute I thought everything was figured out it seems I was wrong. I've got patience though, I've waited this long haven't I? Should I stay or should I go? I want to go but it might not be right. I hope putting it off hasn't made things weird or made me look bad. Tom Campbell... Not only does he hate me but honestly I might be a bit jealous hah. I mean I know that it would be fine that is just something that briefly came into my head. I want more than anything to not fuck this up. It's the most meaningful and important thing to me in the world. Wow I'm vague. Don't read into any of this and think you know what I'm talking about. You don't.

Band practice was good. The new rack is cool but I'm not sure if it's cooler than the other one. Time will tell.

I'm listening to new Helmet online and it's fucking great. It's heavy like the last one but isn't just retreading old Helmet cliches. It's not just a record with a bunch of Drop-D riffs. The song that is on now (I think it's the 3rd song it doesn't say) is unbelieveable. I'm alright Page says. Well Page you are better than alright you are fucking awesome.

I'm going to hang out at home tomorrow. Well for at least a while. I need to get band finance shit together and then e-mail about some shows. I need to pitch the tour idea to the band too. I think Scott is getting a little antsy about taking more time off work. I've got to make it look worthwhile. Then we can record and hopefully things will go from there. Then I can finish my book and maybe head out to open mic night at the Chit Chat. Maybe I'll even play a song. I'd be scared shitless to play acoustic and sing in front of a crowd. I just don't think I sing well. I want to but I just think the sound of my voice sucks. Like I can sing the right notes (sometimes) but the voice itself sucks. Too nasaly or something. I'm happy with the guitar though. Stick with what I know I'm good at. I'm way more James Iha than Billy Corgan. Shit this Helmet record fucking rules.

I think I'm going to go to sleep now. Well maybe a quick e-mail first.

i AM a sellout

but that's fine with me. After 2 weeks of liking it/hating it/liking it/hating it I've decided that I like it, sometimes.

The band has been on a bit of a break. The show this week has been cancelled and we haven't really practiced since the we got home. We needed some rest after the tour and I think we've gotten it. I'm recharged and ready to play some music! Plus I've got a new rack and new gear always makes me want to play.

On the music front I think Tashjin might actually happen. Maybe not exactly as I had planned. We just need a set night and Ryan, Joey, Keith, and I will make some noise! I just want to make some music for the sake of making music. That's what I'm here for right? So I should be doing it, all the time.

This weekend was...well it was a long time coming lets leave it at that.

I'm watching the Denali DVD and it is beyond amazing. This band is just incredible. I love Ambulette and all that but Denali KILLS!

I think that's all I'll write about now. Be back when I have something to say!

Blog?

I never posted about the last 2 shows of the tour. I also never posted about the last 2 local shows. Oh well. I think I'm going to turn this blog around into... a real blog. I'm not going to tell anyone though. So if you are reading this... don't tell me. I'm going to pretend I'm writing it for myself! I'm listening to the Horcast. It rules. We've got yet another show next Thursday. It will be our return to Manchester after a long time. Funny for a while we played there 2 and 3 times a month, now we rarely play there. Will there be a crowd? Probably not. I'm gonna start looking for some good shows next month and then tour again in September. yay. Okay nothing more to write. Maybe I'll actually use this...

Home

We've been home for a week and I kinda miss the road. We've got a last minute show tonight with our friends in Prospect Hill. The beautiful Haverhill, MA. Go see Superman Returns!

Day Off, New Jersey 2, Delaware, Pennsylvania

Day Off
We did nothing but laundry. We stayed at a friend's house in NJ. Really nothing to report. It was New Jersey...


Woodbridge, NJ
Very nice club, all nu-industrial bands. We totally didn't fit in but they were cool and so were the people. Nicest sound guy...ever? We ended up playing first for an almost empty house. Our best good friend Derek drove down from New Hampshire to see us but MISSED us. He is such a great kid and it was nice to see a familiar face. After the show we camped out. It was the first time I had camped in a while and it was fun. Roughing it a bit.

Wilmington, Delaware
Dead Presidents Pub was a cool little bar in Delaware. They didn't have much of a stage but the crowd was great. Halfway through our set some water got spilled on kyle's amp but we have a backup! The next night it came back to life. Marshalls live forever! After the show we camped out in Delaware. The New Jersey campsite was surprisingly better but this was still nice.

State College, PA
WOW crazy night. After driving for 6+ hours and getting lost in Amish Country we show up to the club and find out there is NO SHOW. We were away from the internet so we hadn't heard. The 2 girls at the club were incredibly helpful and ending up finding us another show. The crowd was awesome and it was so far the best night of the tour. After running through rain, hail, and lightning for several blocks we played an awesome show for awesome people and stayed with the girls who found us the show. Thanks Sara and Abby!

Right now I am backstage at the Laughing Lizard Lounge in Old Town Alexandria, VA. Biggest crowd yet so I'm excited to play. My guitars are all strung and I'm ready to go. Tomorrow is our last show on the tour. I'm sad to see it end so fast!

some pictures

Yikes no internet

We've been without internet for a while so i'm behind. I will update something fierce tonight after the show!

New York City again!? Show Numero 3

We were back in New York City last night. We played at a club in the Village called The Continental. It was a real cool rock club that was apparently a favorite of Joey Ramone before he died. In fact Joey played his last show ever there. The band after us kicked so much as and we are definetly going to be playing with them again. I'll put them on the myspace top 16 when we get added. Today we relax on a nice day off.

Night Two?!

We spent most of yesterday afternoon walking around New York. We went to the American Apparel store only to find out the thing I wanted was discontinued! From there we walked to Times Square. We saw the superman costume from the new movie at Toys 'r' Us and went to some guitar stores. Last night we played in the armpit of America for the first time. We knew we were in New Jersey from the smell. We got there a little early loaded our shit in and waited for the other band Phoenix Down. We played a longer set than usual and played decently well. Too bad their wasn't many people around, although some good friends did come over from Ringwood, NJ. Also to our dismay we learned that it was not a paying gig. Good thing we have a place to stay for free or we would be totally broke. It costs $60 to fill our tank at the cheapest gas station! I'll post some pictures probably during the week!

TONIGHT NEW YORK CITY AGAIN!

New York City - Wild Spirits. Tour Date ONE

So last night was the first night of our first tour. We played in New York City at a club called Wild Spirits. Let me start this off by saying we'll probably never play that club again. Not only did the club owner book 2 bands that didn't bring anyone, they didn't pay us because we didn't bring anyone. Yeah my touring band is going to bring people from Boston to New York on our first ever tour. Sure smart thinking buddy. I hated the layout of the club. They situate the bar and stage almost next to each other and then put semi-nude girls on the bar. So everyone sits at the bar and no one watched the bands. Even though I hate the Compound in Fitchburg they at least have the stage set up so no matter where you are in the club the stage is the focus. Why have a rock club with the stage where no one is going to see it? The sound guy was nice but incompetent. He wanted the guitars incredibly quiet so you couldn't hear a damned thing. The bands were pretty decent. The last band Rain of Kings had the coolest singer I've seen in a while and they reminded us of the Heartless Kings. Before the last band went on the club decided to have this overweight woman play with some fire. It was boring and totally pointless. Her leg was the size of me. Not attractive or interesting. Plus, I see fire in a club, I think GREAT WHITE STATION FIRE. The four of us just looked at the sound proofing on the ceiling and waited for it to go up in flames. The girl on the bar had a cute face, too bad she has no self respect or dignity. Way to stand on the bar all night in your underwear and move around trying to get peoples money. Lame.

Tonight HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY