racing around, to come up behind you again

one of the best things i can think of about music is the feeling associated with rediscovering an old favorite. a song, album, or artist that you had forgotten, or at least not paid much thought to recently, for one reason or another. i had one of those moments the other day as i was reading in my room, and it was a truly revelatory experience. it had been at least a year, maybe even sixteen months since i had listened to Dark Side of the Moon (which is one of my all-time favorite albums, so the fact that i didn't listen to it for over a year doesn't make much sense...did i mention that i'm musically lazy?), and as i happened upon it while browsing through my library i decided to give it a listen. and as has been happening quite a bit lately (due to various sounds, smells, and tastes...or maybe just plain old nostalgia), i was immediately transported to an incredibly detailed, almost physically tangible moment from my past. this particular one was over a decade and a half ago, and i was sitting in the passenger seat in my dad's car as we flew down the Jersey turnpike with the sunroof open while strange cash register sounds and a woman's wailing emanated from the speakers.

i was never really into music as a child; i never had any Raffi tapes, and as far as i recall i was never big on the birthday song either. but being 9 years old and hearing Dark Side of the Moon for the first time, something changed. calling it an "awakening" sounds lame and pretentious, but i think that's the most accurate way to describe it. and listening to it last week after such a long hiatus brought about a similar reaction; joy, euphoria, sedation, and excitement, all at the same time.

so, i encourage you, give it a try. find a forgotten artist or album from your past, grab a seat, and sit back and let the flood of memories overwhelm you. i'm betting you won't regret it.

once in a lifetime

it's entirely possible that i'm the worst music fan ever (the possible exception being this lady). that isn't to say that i don't like music, or that i don't know anything about band x / its members / music in general, but rather that i have a history of being decidedly unmotivated when it comes to going to concerts. case in point: i've been a fan of Bad Religion since i was 14 or so, but for some reason or another i never got around to seeing them live. i'm sure that i had a (questionably valid) reason for not going to see them on the few occasions when the opportunity was afforded, but in retrospect it seems pretty ridiculous that i went almost 10 years without going to a concert of a band that holds a solid place in my top ten.

fortunately, i managed to end this musically-apathetic streak recently when Bad Religion made an appearance at the 9:30 club in DC a few weeks ago. i went in expecting a high-energy show, but even so i was thoroughly unprepared for what actually happened. as they took the stage there was cheering, a little banter between the bad members, and the customary thanking of the crowd, pretty standard concert procedure. however, what happened next took me completely by surprise. the guitars and bass strummed a few slow, opening chords that lingered in the room, slowly dissipating into silence. but just as the final note was fading away, the opening riff of 'Fuck Armageddon' crunched to life, and the room of 1000+ people exploded into action. just as a flock of birds flying in tight formation somehow intuitively knows exactly when and how to move as one form, this room of people was unified in that moment of rock-fueled mind-melding, and what resulted from this groupthink was a pit of epic proportions. i was standing just at the brink of it, and it was truly an amazing sight to behold. the people at the front were doing their best to press as close to the stage as possible, and the people at the back were enjoying the music in relative comfort. but in the middle, in a roughly 30' x 30' area, a crowd of maybe 100 started running, shoving, and dancing with reckless abandon. i hesitate to even call it a mosh pit, for based on my personal experience, people in mosh pits seem to actually want to hurt other people in the pit. i've been at shows and seen people with black eyes, broken noses, even a broken arm once (although maybe this is more a function of awful music like slipknot or limp bizkit [ugh. even typing that makes me a little queasy] and it's predliction towards the angry / bitchy / whiny / "daddy didn't love me" mentality). however, the pit at the 9:30 club seemed to be more oriented towards, dare i say, camaraderie? noone seemed intent on actaually hurting one another, simply reminding each other of their respective presences and shared appreciation for punk rock.

all in all, great show, i'm very happy that i finally got to see them in concert. i feel just a little less apathetic than i have in the past (at least with regards to music), and perhaps in the future i'll put a more concerted effort into seeing bands i love.

here's a few pics.

the best of what's around

if there's one thing that baltimore is known for, it's probably murders. or crabs. (the edible kind [the ocean-floor dwelling scavenger edible kind]). or The Wire. or maybe the national aquarium. ok, so maybe there's a few things that baltimore is known for, but it's safe to say that an abundance of live concerts by reputable musical acts is not one of them. inagine, then, my surprise when after living in baltimore for almost 2 years and being able to count the shows i've been to during that time on one hand, a slew, nay, a plethora of shows all of a sudden popped up on my concert radar for the early autumn season. Feist, Queens of the Stone Age, Kings of Leon, Diplo, and !!! all made appearances in baltimore over the last month or so, and they all more than delivered the value of their tickets. QOTSA in particular blew me away. i've been into them for years, and finally getting to see them in person was great. Josh Homme ranks pretty highly on my list of best frontmen ever, and he certainly seemed to be in peak form when i saw them. pics below.


Feist

Queens of the Stone Age

Kings of Leon

!!!

hey pig

i saw this when i was in nyc in august, and i was just barely able to get my phone out in time to snap a quick shot. i've always joked that while motorcycle gangs have a history of inspiring fear, i doubt that anyone would ever take a scooter gang seriously. it looks as though our boys in blue have proven me wrong.

like a virgin

virgin festival 2007 has come and gone (several months ago...i'm a little behind), and it was...something. the irony of "environmentally conscious" overconsumption was not lost on me, but kudos to virgin for putting some effort into making the entire affair at least somewhat ecologically responsible. big points for the corn-derived, biodegradeable plastic cups and the "recycling police" posted at every recycling bin. extra big points for the recycling police posted by the dj tent who had the multitasking wherewithal to rave and recycle at the same time. big ups to you, raver hippie.

i won't attempt to make any serious discussion of the music, since it's been covered approximately one billion times already by people with more talent and/or clues than myself. highlights were LCD Soundsystem, 311, Girl Talk, Amy Winehouse, and CSS, who i was completely oblivious to prior to seeing them at virgin. the police seemed totally lackluster and without enthusiasm, as did wu tang, who had the additional misfortune of being totally out of place at an otherwise hip-hop-free festival. not to mention being sans-ODB. ouch.

here's some pics:


amy winehouse's beehive is roughly 2x the size of the rest of her


it doesn't look like it, but i can assure you that Pat Mahoney is actually wearing shorts


Lovefoxxx (of CSS) wins the best jumpsuit award


Matisyahu took the stage by storm

is this it?

i'm really bad at time management. granted, i didn't actually even start this thing until early october, but it's still been 3 weeks without a single post. what can i say? i'm not a fan of commitment, and the idea of parking myself in front of a computer after i've already spent at least 8 hours at work staring at a screen is, to put it mildly, thoroughly unappealing. this general disinterest in forced writing, when compounded with the fact that while i may be a whiz at conversation, and i have a knack for writing angry letters of protest, i'm usually at a loss for interesting / humorous writing. so, that being said, the odds are stacked against this blog being anything of worth or note. damn.

regardless, (or "irregardless," as contrary to what many of you grammar nazis may think [and i sympathize, for i am a bit of one myself], this is actually a real word; read the full story here) i'm still going to try to make some semblance of an interesting electronic journal (or "e-journal" to the tech-savvy) that will chronicle some of the events in my life, and in the lives of those that i have some sort of affiliation with. we'll see how it goes.