Not on the Guest List

Party All the Time We Are Wolves DJ Set Podcast

Belated We Are Wolves post Part 1

(DJ pic taken back at 1/2ALIVE in B.C. Why am I clinging to those headphones for dear life?)

So.. yeah... Took me long enough to blog about We Are Wolves in PDX-land, but I was waiting on the disposable photos I took of the night to be developed, so I have an excuse... kind of... hahahaha. This time last month the magical We Are Wolves visited Holocene and Not on the Guest List helped throw the party. The second half of part post (with some of those trusty disposable photos) will follow this one. I split the evening's DJ bill with the Gossip's Brace Paine and got my Party All the Time on solo sans Meg and Louis. This is what I played that fine last night of January:

Set 1:
"Blag Flag" - Duchess Says
"La Nuit" - Robots in Disguise
"Cry Babies" - Comic Book Fever VS Crystal Castles
"Ready For The Floor" - Hot Chip
"Lets Make Out (Extended Mix)" - Does It Offend You, Yeah?
"Flex-it Formula" - Professor Murder
"Yr City's A Sucker" - LCD Sound System
"Drugs In My Body" - Thieves Like Us
"Can't Chose" - Naive New Beaters
"The Bears are Coming" - Late of the Pier
"Elvis" (original version) - These New Puritans
"Radio Ladio" - Metronomy
"in My Arms" - Kylie Minogue
"Sweaty" - Muscles

Download Set 1 Podcast (53 mins, 53 sec) (MP3)

Set 2:
"Lust In The Movies" - The Long Blondes
"Yea Yeah" - Matt & Kim
"Numerology" These New Puritans
"Circle Square Triangle" - Test Icicles
"Out of the Races and Onto the Tracks" - The Rapture
"The Girls" - Calvin Harris

Download Set 2 Podcast (21 mins, 40 sec) (MP3)

I was supposed to do a half hour set before the first band and then 15 minutes later on in the evening, but after the hands of the clock ticked their way through my first half hour, opening band Swim Swam Swum still hadn't taken to the stage so I played on which made me a slight bit unarmed, given it was my second DJ gig and my first solo. Nothing a quick shot of tequila and a previous podcast couldn't ease. I had my sets planned in advance - down to the minute and basically got a bit dependent on my Lost Will Podcast for the last few songs of the first one to help me fill the extra time instead of gettin' random.

I was SO psyched to play the Spank Rock remix of Sold Out's "I Don't Want to have Sex with You," but the atmosphere was sooooo not right for a song that spends about three of its five minutes endlessly repeating "I don't want to have sex with you." Next time! I also forgot I wanted to open with Marcos dos Santos' "Not on the Guest List" since it was NotGL's first official night in Portland, but alas... And Trash Fashion's "Mommy and Daddy" (MP3) never snuck its way in...
Somehow (I have no idea how) I refrained from playing Soulja Boy. Every time I go out I make sure to request "Crank Dat Soulja Boy (Supaman)" much to every DJ's chagrin. Just doing my part :) Apparently DJs don't like it when people do that [5th question, 2nd paragraph] <<< hahahaha - I mean 3 girls - that was totally Party All the Time - Louis is pretty girly.

Apparently Fake Shark - Real Zombie! has a Wikipedia page that somehow doesn't mention Louis' side project of Party All the Time. Baffling! haha Maybe it needs to be altered -- the Stephen Colbert way. Elephants anyone? I kid, I kid. Or do I?

Steve declares War (and peace) in Seattle

 (cause we know that diamond is so for the robots as opposed to Kanye based on Steve's setlist)

Of course I've had an interest in watching Steve Aoki DJ as it seems like a lot of people do. That's exactly what puts Steve in such a unique position. How many people go to watch a DJ? Don't they go to dance?
Equally inspired by Meg's unapologetic love of Aoki during my week spent in Vancouver B.C. and Panda Toes' recent assessment of his skills on the decks, I set out via Greyhound to Seattle on a Friday to take in Stevie live and in person at the War Room.

I arrived just around midnight to a crowd decked out in shoelace headbands, fur coats (yuck! I had to dodge the people wearing them like I was in a warzone. Ain't no way that's gonna touch me), a plastic crown, skinny jeans and suspenders. And someone was doing the running man. Un-ironically. That vision sums up where in the arch of hipsterdom a good majority of the people there were at... pretty well actually. And I'm not saying they're were ahead of the curve in that. The opposite. Run for cover, it's the Yuppies! Scarier than hipsters? That aside, there was a girl who looked like Kid Sister there. She was entirely too cute.

When I arrived there was no crowd-surfing, no screaming interaction between Steve and the attendees, no anything - just Steve fully engaged in the Serato set-up in front of him. WTF?! That wasn't the scene for very long though...

Soon Steve was drunk enough to start swinging from chords, standing on his set-up, falling over, jumping up and down and swinging his locks around with wild abandon to whatever it was he was playing at each given moment.

He played enough Daft Punk to make you think you were either at a Daft Punk concert or that you were catching a Flosstradamous set.

It was all rather hilarious. I had way more fun watching him spiral than I did when I was dancing to "Ready to Uff." The thing is, he's got some skills. I'm not going to skip through and omit how much shit (mostly from Gawker) he gets for being the DJ he is and the hipster backlash that gets pinned on him as if he's the mascot of the sect. How obnoxious can one be starting their career under the name Kid Millionaire when you are indeed the son of a millionaire; in Steve's case son of Benihana founder Rocky Aoki? hahaha But it was a tongue-in-cheek obnoxiousness...

I think the reason he gets the resistance is he is indeed a superstar DJ, but many other DJs of the globe-trotting caliber are less in your face - selling on their skills more than on personality. And a lot of Steve's success isn't hinged on having paid his dues in crummy clubs. I think that and the whole lifestyle tag may be what rubs people the wrong way.

But come on, how can you not automatically celebrate someone who uses what he has to release Pony Up!  Seriously!?! I will forever be thankful for his label Dim Mak's releases, from Pony Up! to Bloc Party's first American release(s) to the Mystery Jets and oh so much more.

And he's pretty rad at mixing songs too. A skill he displayed on and off because the power to his decks and laptop kept going on and off, again and again, messing with his flow, but in no way halting the party.

He doesn't come across as a caricature of some party DJ, but just as someone who wants to have a lot of fun and is doing so.
More power to him.
If he can and has the opportunity to do all that he does, then why not?

Steve 'space

Green Velvet is so sick. I discovered him through a mix CD during a trip to San Francisco back in 2003 that he appeared on. While the love affair has seen it's dormant periods, right now is a time of crushing excitement namely cause Joee Irwin's brand spanking new newsletter just linked "LaLaLaLaLa (Nside My Mind)," a tune that's completely gotten inside of my mind.
I love that when speaking to Edwin of Foals this past Saturday, he said he loved techno. My reply? "Green Velvet loves techno too!" hahahaha Love me his lyrics in "Shake and Pop"...
Aoki's true touch to the track kicks in at about 2:30

Shake and Pop (w/ Kid Sister's Guest Drop) Green Velvet Steve Aoki Edit MP3

More of my photos from the War Room on fffffflickrrrrr

Related/unrelated: I am so digging Mark the Cobrasnake lately. So digging him after watching this video interview on Jezebel.

Also from the Gawker stable: Aoki family shizz

Why must Michael Cera be just so damn cute... but only 19!? Boo!
 

Foals Showcase Showdown

Literally the first person I bumped into when I entered Chop Suey for the free Foals "showcase" was Yannis walking in the direction of the door. He didn't get too far before I had him on the subject of their Observer Music Monthly cover and their New York shows. When we got onto the subject of the Chop Suey show he was rather surprised to find out it was being advertised as a "showcase." He found it weird given they're already signed.

On stage were the Heavenly States - with a bit of Hold Steady meandering sing-song talk vocals. Before heading out I googled them only to note that Coldplay's name appeared in their results, something I remarked aloud on. Apparently Sleepy Eyes of Death were really good so I'm bummed I missed them! Yannis said they had an instrumental thing going on.

TV on the Radio played in between sets so I got to sing along with "Ambulance" as Foals took their spots on stage, first sound-checking, then leaving only to reappear within seconds for the start of their set. Hmmm... I wonder why the Brooklyn band would be providing their before show soundtrack?

Playing sans set-list, Foals charged away. Their second song in was "Cassius." Yannis soon took to the drums while Jimmy thrashed around with his guitar, hair apparent (flipping and flopping along with every jolt of his body) and providing top entertainment for how into his chords he was (while actually wearing jeans :).

Keyboardist Edwin rocked a Tiny Vipers T-shirt. I still think it a bit interesting for him to don their T of all acts seeing as their folky sound directly contrasts to his typical techno tastes. Do I want to be signed to Sub Pop just so Foals will wear my [as of now, non-existant] band T-shirt? Kinda. Hahaha.
Jack rocked an actual "Sub Pop" T. Does that mean I should form a label to outfit them? Maybe... hahahaha
He was also in stocking feet, something I'd yet to see before for a drummer.

While bassist Walter was clearly enthralled with his instrument on the left hand side of the stage, I was rather enthralled with how he played it. With his rhythmic  shrugs and arches, his body movements near mirrored the guitar playing of the Gossip's Brace Paine.

There was seemingly a camera mafia in the line directly in front of the stage and a dance-a-thon broke out.

Yannis jumped into the crowd on two occasions to strum his guitar.

Before the close of their regular set with their "love song" "Red Socks Pugie," they played "Hummer"!  They did, they really did!

Then they returned for an encore to appease the very very enthusiastic crowd calling them back out with unending applause and cheers.

Noting they don't do it too often, they luckily had one more song in their bag of tricks. Actually, they also had "Astronauts and All," but I knew there was no way they were gonna be bringing that to life onstage in Seattle.
It was an intense close to an intense set and an oh-so delightful way to dance an evening away.

And all this despite being dazed due to the time difference. You couldn't tell in the least, but many Foals members made a mention of it, Yannis saying the first thing he'd done off the plane was smoke pot, which doubled his out-of-it-ness. Jack stayed up until 12 the night of their arrival in an effort to adjust only to wake up 3 and a half hours later. Towards the end of their set they remarked from the stage how it was breakfast time in the UK.

I asked Jack about the inclusion of "Hummer" afterwards and he said despite how it comes off in interviews, they actually really enjoy it - keyword they - not just him and that it's one of his favorites because it's the track with the most surefire power to make people dance.

"Hummer" Foals MP3

We again spoke of their Observer Music Monthly cover and why the Andy Warhol-Basquait dual idea hadn't become reality. This conversation thread made way for These New Puritans (I didn't know the girl was considered a lead the band) and onto Hadouken who've gone all nu-metal from their origins of that song I actually liked. That song "That Boy, That Girl" whose title I couldn't actually remember at the time, so I sang "Hoxton hero, skinny fit jeans all dressed in pink" before Jack chimed in "Indie Cindy." Who knew we'd be having a Hadouken lyric sing off and that it'd be really fun? Apparently their new video is the worst ever, so I now of course can't wait to watch it. That provided a conversational inlet for me to mention the exploits of Ashlee Simpson's music video for "Outta My Head" which is clearly the best thing to happen to the motion picture since ever. Ever enjoyable Jack has yet to see it. Oh he will. Oh he will...

In the time a woman from the KEXP blog joined our company along with companion Chris/Sebastian/Eugene of Seattle label Sarathon. Last call had already gone out and soon the bar staff were shuffling us out of the main venue area, so we made our way back to the dressing room.

When I was packing my bag for the evening, I first emptied out all the previous contents before putting in my camera, lenses and flash. All previous content except for my hot pink bingo dabber with which I used to stamp people's hands after the show, including a very skeptical Edwin who has never played bingo nor goes bowling. Good god man, have you lived?! I actually asked him that too... hahaha
This led into a very involving conversation of internets, macbook, macbook air and the African nation of Chad leading someone in the dressing room to declare, "Fuck Chad!"
Also populating the room were chocolates with salt on them and a tray of Sex on the Beach brought in by Yannis.
Duncan, their manager (also manager to the Young Knives who are also Transgressive signed), was along for the trip and instantly recognized me, naming the exact gig I'd seen them and him at last. He's got a remarkable memory. He's apparently good in bed too - added by him only semi-facetiously when I asked what his other talents were. Fun times! (until he put out his cigarette in what was left of my third shot of tequila :)
It was fun times all around from Sexual Harassment speak (whose track "If I Gave You a Party"(MP3) I finally got my hands on in MP3 form just weeks ago) to Facebook stalking and onto hype and the Hype Machine talk aplenty until 2am departures. I'm so psyched for when they come back!

Foals will be back for a truncated US tour in April. First they'll do the west coast before returning to the UK for a week of promotion commitments and then return for an east coast jaunt.

Expect A HOUSE SHOW in Portland!!!

P.S. look what I spied on my way out of the venue...

(a gig poster for none other than my B.C. "educator" (or one of them) and one for Boys Noize who best be making an appearance at SXSW)

Late of the Pier Chat, Video and "Choon"

(Photo by Alistair Allan)

I love me my Late of the Pier! I want to swig cheap wine with them and have wanted to for approaching a year now; ever since I stumbled upon a NotGL reader who had "The Bears Are Coming" on their myspace page. That page view opened me up to their Nottingham madness.

It was a bit of a bummer I didn't connect with them while in the UK at the end of 2007, but I'm sure the opportunity will present itself sometime on the near future. It better! I have occasionally emailed with them - first about "The Bears Are Coming" and most recently when I was writing about them for URB Magazine's "Next 100" issue due out in March. I had a bit of info on my hands, but I went straight to the source for a fun exchange. Here's what Late of the Pier had to say:

What is your connection to Metronomy and have you recorded more with Erol than just "The Bears are Coming?"

Hello Nilina, we're with Erol right now, he's recording our album.

We played with Metronomy about a year ago, and became friends. Joe says he's a father, but we just consider him a really cool but slighty unhinged uncle. He's remixed "The Bears..." and it's the best remix I've ever heard.

How long have you been a band and how did you form i.e. were you all friends through school, etc. ? Why did you form?

We grew up in the same village and shared a passion for music and alchemy. Now we're trying to chase a career in both passions. Gold music, or just fools gold music... Either way we're having fun and we no longer live in the village.

Are they kings of the pull quote or are they kings of the pull quote? "Slightly unhinged uncle," "a passion for music and alchemy,"Now we're trying to chase a career in both passions." !!!???!!! Gold I tell you! Gold! I so want to talk to them in-depth as they have interesting things to say and interesting ways of saying it.

Oh wait - I think they're already kings. At least in their brand new video out for "The Bears Are Coming":

Directed by some guy by the name of Saam. Hmm...never heard of him... hahahahaha

Now, let's go back to the bit about the Metronomy remix. I went on a mad search for it, found it and then got hit by what felt like a ton of bricks. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I still can't. It was actually a Metronomy remix. A remix. I've never heard one of those before.

We all know I have an extensive collective of Metronomy tracks, from Britney Spears covers, to "remixes" of Kate Nash, Bright Eyes and the Infadels, but never have one of those remixes every sounded like a remix. Ever. He takes them and make them sound like whole new tracks, like Metronomy tracks just with said bands' vocals. His remix of "The Bears Are Coming" actually sounds like a remix in the casual sense of the word. Not in the Metronomy definition of remix.

Oddness. You can download his "The Bears Are Coming" remix for free at online label RCRD LBL.

And I'm oh so thankful for it because it truly caught me by surprise and made me go through every "remix" I have of his to discern whether this had a occurred before - a remix sounding like a remix as opposed to an entirely new track. That action reintroduced me to his remix of Hot Club de Paris' "Clockwork Toy." In just days it racked up 82 plays in my itunes when previously I'd only gone through the first minute and stopped. That track is sheer brilliance! Thank you Joe Mount for remixing "The Bears Are Coming" to sound like an actual remix and in turn giving your other remixes that had somehow escaped my attention a new lease on life for me! That's clearly the reason you did it, right? hahaha

Here is their original version of "The Bears Are Coming." By original, I mean even pre-Erol production:

"The Bears Are Coming" Late of the Pier MP3

They've got a load of other tracks on their myspazz. So much so that they sent a bulletin around about 'em at the beginning of this month:

Date:     Feb 1, 2008 9:22 AM
Subject:     new choooooons
Body:     well. sort of.
finally put up the single version of The Bears Are Coming, lovingly fondled by our second daddy mr erol alkan.

also posted one of the remixes from the mighty Emporer Machine (I love it. I really really really love it.)
along with an amazing remix of Bathroom Gurgle by our favourite BreakBot.
'ave a ganders.

also put up a new demo of Heartbeat. we've reworked it slightly for the album. let us know your thoughts on it please.

kissy kissy
x

Late of the Pier myspazz

Vocab of the day:
alchemy -
• the medieval forerunner of chemistry, based on the supposed transformation of matter. It was concerned particularly with attempts to convert base metals into gold or to find a universal elixir.
• figurative a process by which paradoxical results are achieved or incompatible elements combined with no obvious rational explanation

Oh, and is that Final Fantasy I spy? Since when does Owen Pallett have a twin?

Foals on the Horizon

Quickly a laundry list of opiates and other drugs made their way from his lips as he asked if I liked to party. That would be the oddly endearing Yannis of Foals for you after their Rough Trade in-store in London back in December. And tonight I've ventured up to Seattle to take in their last of three US gigs at Chop Suey.

When I saw them live on my last day/evening in London I was caught in between whether to break it down and dance or stand there in awe of their intensity and musicianship. Luckily the night before, Simon White, Bloc Party's manager had shared a few tales about them culled from joint tour dates and also the fact that they kinda detest "Hummer" for its commercial viability at an aftershow. Therefore luckily I didn't expect it as I didn't receive it in the live setting.

The set was charged, but too many people were apparently too afraid to dance. What's up with that? You are going against nature by not dancing at a Foals gig! Like you literally have to fight your body in order to not to.

There were many cameras and many songs and lighting that trumped real gigs and totally took it out of the in-store atmosphere. Since Yannis had broken his foot/toe just a couple days earlier, he was semi-subdued in comparison to his usual onstage antics according to him, but what I saw was pretty full on energy.

Afterwards they had a signing during which I took in how prominent of a display the Chromatics were receiving up front! Whoo! Night Drive all the way! And who did I spy or rather who spied me? Rhys from Good Shoes!!

I looked up and our eyes met and he made his way over to me. How random! So of course I geeked out and squealed something along the lines, "Oh my god!!!! I haven't seen you forever!" Rhys reminded me of my vocal volume, by which time I'd already attracted the attention of a mother and daughter to him who were fans of Good Shoes. hahahaha. The last time we'd seen each other was in the hotel room of Be Your Own Pet in Glasgow January 2006. That night was entirely too much fun! Oh the memories! Oh the music! That was the first time I'd ever listened to Animal Collective.

He headed out for some beers shortly after and I stuck around to take some polaroids and candid photos of Foals after they'd sufficiently autographed everything being shoved their way.

Yannis came up to me and started chatting without any awareness I'd be taking pics of them in minutes. We talked about their sound during their set and he assured me it's typically much better even though I hadn't heard anything off. We talked about my photos, his foot and a little Observer Music Monthly. Yannis detailed an entire Andy Warhol and Basquiat based concept theme for the cover for them and Lightspeed Champion to be shot in two weeks. I asked how he already knew about it. Turns out he planned it. We now know how that actually turned out to look.

They are a very fun bunch! How much am I loving that I just wrote "fun bunch"? To collect them all for a photo proved to be a task as one would go missing in the store just as another was found. Yannis was particularly unlucky going to look for someone he'd put on the guest list in exchange for the promise of getting them high, hence our exchange up top. By the time I left, the attendee with the goods still hadn't been tracked down. I don't feel too much apprehension mentioning this as they're rather open to discussing their drug dalliances in the press.

In the mean time, Jimmy had "Rock Club" written across his knuckles.

I snapped a couple photos of it at which point Yannis appeared saying, "Look! I can do that too!," taking a sharpy and quickly scrawling a heart on his forearm for me to take a picture of.

We spent some minutes in front of one record set-up before moving to another, which spurred Yannis to remark if we were going to the other set-up (that was coincidentally shorter) in an effort to make him look taller and poking some fun at himself in the height category.

He definitely put himself in a position for attention the entire time - jumping off things and telling me to look and shoot while the rest of the band were happy to comb through records rather under the radar. Friendly, but not nearly as talkative or hyper.

It was really really fun. There were some matching hand formations:

and we ended the interaction with some polaroids. Jimmy, Edwin, Jack and Walter all posed for a brief moment before returning to other activities such as packing up while Yannis grabbed the instant image from my camera the second it started appearing and pulled it out. Running around Rough Trade East, he held it until it developed, then gave it back to me with the observation, "I look like a twat."

So what are we in store for in Seattle? The couplet of New York shows went down an absolute storm and maybe, just maybe there will be a house show. I didn't ask them because I have no space to offer and when I did in London, they mistook my questioning as an offer:

Party at a Sub Pop house?

Here's a song they're unlikely to play:

"Astronauts and All" Foals MP3

Judging by "Balloons," my mom pegs them as a mix between Franz Ferdinand and Kaiser Chiefs.

Foals Myspazz

Oh, and keyboardist Edwin being named Edwin instead of Edward was inspiration enough to use his name in a story I wrote based on Worms' song "Dead in the Waves." It's a political "thriller" - go read it!

And in related/unrelated, a Basquiat mural was found in an apartment complex in NYC. For $8 million you can own a condo next to the creation, though it won't be there for long. Yearly maintenance fee for living in such luxury? Only $42,000.00 a year!

These New Puritans: Video vs Video vs Video

I actually had a dream about Saam, the director of These New Puritans' latest video for their latest single "Elvis," last night. I think it's because I saw the email about their new video just before I hit the sack. The dream wasn't so much about Saam, as it was a round-table discussion/debate about his video output in general, his video budgets and the matter of Simian Mobile Disco eventually ditching his original "Hustler" effort for whatever reason and doing another video for "Hustler" with director Ace Norton.

Anyway, it was really interesting. My idea/opinion of him/his work shifted through-out the dream and maybe even a little after I returned to the real world from 6 hours of slumber, an influence which is kinda weird given it was simply a dream. I wish I could remember everyone who shared their opinion about his output. There were a lot more girls than guys chiming in and everyone to my recollection was a card-carrying member in the London scene.

Anyways, here is his video for These New Puritans' "Elvis":

It reminds me of a cross between promo photos for the play Equus crossed with the Horrors' video for "Sheena is a Parasite."  It's a bit bizarre. At first there doesn't seem to be an actual narrative and I don't know if my brain is playing tricks on me, but by the time frontman Jack Barnett hits the " 0 800" part, I kinda saw the semblance of one. How much am I loving that symbol on his hand at the end? Reminds me a bit of Lost with the Dharma project and all. How bizarre was that polar bear collar in last week's episode?

Part of me wonders if they're gonna work with him on their next video and if it'll be tied to this and further develop a story-line or sort of act as the close of a to-be-continued much like the last couple of videos Saam did for Klaxons. I don't know. Something about this video isn't giving me the "stand alone" vibe.

What do we learn from video comments? Well, quite the sound-off rages on, currently to the tune of 177 comments.

Could this video be about chemtrails and its link to Morgellens disease as one commenter purports?

Are the band named after a Fall track?

How much does this video apparently remind everyone of Carpark's "Human" as seen below?

Which actually reminds me a bit of little kids doing their best re-envisioning of the Craft when the four girls are walking down the hall and reminds me even a little bit of Donnie Darko when the kid is holding the hose or whatever.

Moving on still, These New Puritans had a decidedly lower video budget when they originally filmed a promo for the original "Elvis."

Old Elvis:

And that video yields this comment left a week ago:

"I hope TNP won't become mainstream ..."

Will they? Angular and Domino are certainly making the effort.

"Elvis" These New Puritans MP3

Will Saam? Has he already? While Britney Houston has tackled Janet Jackson's Feedback with a budget I could only dream of if doing a parody, let it not go unmentioned that Saam helmed Janet's actual clip for the track. Janet freakin' Jackson! From the streets of London working with the arguably the best in the scene he is now but one degree away from the gloved one! Blows my mind! Holy Shit! His Soulwax documentary is soon to premiere this year...

Liars in Portlandia (and Polaroidia)

(Angus has a very funky wardrobe)

Liars came to Portland and rocked! Of course frontman (and Maps-maker) Angus was battling on with the tour despite throwing his back out just days prior. That meant that there were three chairs set up across the stage for him to crawl to and flail on in an effort to give his all to the audience by utilizing all angles.

During the show there was a song dedication to their touring guitarists' girlfriend, plus a shout-out to drummer Julian's parents (who were in the PDX audience) followed by a momentary debate over just how long they'd been married.

For the encore, Angus came out with a red balloon emblazoned with the message "Skip, Hop and dance!" across it's front tied around his waist. He proceeded to look as if he was being terrorized by it.

It was funny because at one point, pre-balloon, Blake (not Lively) gently elbowed me in the ribs to remark "Quite a character, isn't he?" in response to Angus' absolutely bizarre behavior that wasn't hampered in the least by his Hunchback of Notre Dame-ness.

They thanked openers No Age for 'taking them on tour' and making them "feel old" hahahahaha

Setlist:
Leather Prowler
Clear Island
Houseclouds
Kingdom
Beach Boy
Freak Out
Smail
There's Always Room On the Broom
Pure Unevil
Plaster Casts of Everything
BYS
Broken Witch
Movie

Understandably heavy with material from their latest self-titled album for Mute, they didn't play "It Fit When I was a Kid" from Drum's Not Dead during their set. Boo! That was even a single! And my favorite track... Liars aren't necessarily a band I engage with so much on record. In terms of my taste, I prefer taking in their tunes in the live setting. But I love love love that track and especially the CC remix.

"It Fit When I was a Kid" (Crystal Castles remix) Liars MP3

So danceably subversive!

Drummer Julian (who wore a T-shirt made by No Age for most of the night) is currently filming a haphazard-ish (a descriptor he alluded to) tour diary. He filmed me in night vision and instead of the green grain of Paris Hilton's adventure, I came out in a blue-ish hue, including my eyes which was a trip given my skin-tone. He filmed his mom chillaxing in the above polaroid.

While I had fun eating corn-chips, Aaron had fun with an apple from their rider. Entirely candid. Entirely. Hahaha

My Pitchfork photo post from the night

The rest of my live Liars photos on flickr

What's that you say? Not only do Liars have bad backs, but bad stomachs a plenty too?

 

The Teenagers USA Tour Diary Video

(Me and Meg and the Teenagers during our Canadaland photoshoot)

So it looks as if Dorian of the Teenagers took my advice and made his cinematographer self's material available to the masses! As I previously noted, when I talked to him about it he wasn't so sure on the idea. Maybe hearing about his fellow Fall Out Boy-lover friend Dev's adventures in youtube persuaded him otherwise?

Well, here it is:

I make two appearances :) The top of my head in a shot of Quentin 15 seconds in ahahahahahaha and then the photo at the top of this post shortly after, taken by their tour manager Kristin Klein. Dorian really wanted her to take photos of us taking photos.

At 23 seconds, the beloved TonyX of 1/2ALIVE gets dialog!!!! We all get to swoon over Antonia and Michael (especially at 3:02)

And we also get a sneak peek at their rollerskating embracing new video towards the end. Dorian has a pic of it on his flickr, along with a photo of Metronomy followed by a question mark. Me and my fangirl self actually screamed when I saw the photo hahahaha. But a question mark? Nobody questions Joe Mount. It's like putting Baby in the corner!

Anyway, how much do I LOVE that they used their own song as soundtrack?!!? I see a trend sparking...

A No Age kinda day

(Somehow I have resisted the urge to draw hearts all over the picture given I just love them so much)

So my last Monday of January was spent in dedication to my favorite Los Angles duo. Literally. From 3pm to 2am I was pounding the pavement to take in their couplet of live shows and get personal with them in an interview for Pitchfork.

I'd lost my camera the night before at the noisy Night Wounds / failed Feather Figure show I threw at Towne Lounge. I left my apartment a little past three to go fetch it and then boarded a bus in route to Food Fight!, the grocery store No Age would be playing come 6 after our interview due to start at 5. I got to 41st and Division a couple minutes past 5 - as I'd already told guitarist Randy I would due to bus schedules, then wandered around with aim, but unsuccessfully to find the vegan storefront.

Luckily I had my computer with me (to record our scheduled interview) and luckily there were a million networks of free wifi so I again googled the store and again the address popped up dictating that indeed 41st and Division was the correct address, so I called. And Food Fight! had moved 3 months ago! To 12th and Stark. Whoo! Someone's gonna be late! I hopped on the 4, got off and transfered to the 70 and made it into the store a little past 5:30. At that point less than a handful of the faithful were gathered, but by 6 attendees had swelled to capacity.

The set was exactly what you'd expect from No Age playing in a vegan grocery store - obviously awesome! Dean rocked a T-shirt proclaiming "Fleetwood Mac" that looked like instead of being made from spray paint, that it'd come into existence via those Blo-pens you can get at specialty craft stores. Randy scaled some freezers to get his rock on and film crews from Vice's internet channel VBS.tv were there to record the action.

A full on mosh developed as did some crowd surfing according to a bandana accessorized Elliott who got lifted to the top of it. The aftermath left from such festivities included smashed glass jars of garlic and tomato paste that smelled entirely too good to someone (i.e. me) who had already grown hungry having to look at Amy's Kitchen products behind Randy and my favorite Tasty Bite next to Dean. There were so many smiles the entire time from No Age, the audience and employees alike.

After a quick detour to Whole Foods for some food and a purchase at Powell's of my first writing credit in URB Magazine (turn to page 40), it was off to the Wonder for No Age's 9pm set. Randy got his Lil' Wayne on by rocking some faux tattoos - including a tear drop beneath his eye.

I expect three next time! You can't get a Source, Vibe or XXL cover with only one. Dean ate a banana onstage before almost throwing up hahahaha. Oh yeah - they were playing music right? How did that go? Well... fun! At one point they kinda turned it into a pep rally at your local (hopefully long-forgotten by now) high school - splitting the audience in two and conducting shouts after some random occurrence (which I forget now) put the idea in their head. They were laughing as they did it and Dean shouted a facetious "Don't do drugs" into the mic before they chugged into their next song.

The set was again interactive just as it had been at Food Fight! and when I saw them supporting the Teenagers in London in December. Randy strummed some chords from inside the audience and then closed the set by handing off his guitar to someone in the immediate crowd while he controlled the distortion pedals from onstage. Dean got out from behind his drumkit for some singing front of stage. There was climbing too and general playfulness that makes you not want them to leave when their time on stage (and off) has elapsed to a close.

From onstage they'd announced a contest for best band name created during the night. The prize? A No Age tote bag! And I won - cue confetti and streamers! Their merch guy Jordan who bestowed me with the title rocks all around - from letting Elliott and I store our stuff with the merch to his obscenely terrific tailored skinny jeans. I don't know which of my band names won, but my entries were (in no particular order):
Space for Rent (an ode to Who Made Who song)
Lisa Frank Stickers
Valentines Day Massacre Part 2 (more of an ode to a rave Manny from Atole threw at age 15 than to the infamous shoot up)

Afterwards, Randy seemed partial to Lisa Frank Stickers, so expect a No Age remix EP under the name to drop sometime in the near future. I'm serious. Just you watch. I've already drawn the CDR artwork.

Eventually we settled down for the interview with a gaggle of No Age friends until the Wonder kicked us out five minutes into it in oder to close. We then boarded No Age's mini-van. First off, I didn't get to ask why they changed the background color of their blog from white to black (I found the former more inviting) or about the emphasis (or lack of) on vocals/lyrics in No Age, but there was some talk of Daoism, Bill Cosby and of course talk of having children. Don't you love how I added the "of course?" Don't you love that it came up multiple times more?

The interview was pretty personal and was in relation to their music as opposed to strictly about it. Those are the conversations I prefer. Of the interviews I've done, one I did over two hours in the basement of Berbati's with Sam from the now defunct band Hope of the States and the one I did in April with Simon from Klaxons have been my favorites. I.e. the ones where you get to know a little bit of what the person you are talking to is about instead of just surface stuff that you can and will find in any glossy publication over and over again over the promotion cycle for the album.

I really respect musicians that refuse to put up a barrier between bands in fans, which was a personal conviction of Hope of the States and what initially drew me to wanting to speak with No Age. That and their bevy of pop-culture references from the stage in London.

It was a really great conversation scheduled for a half hour and that ended up lasting well over the hour I was able to record before my computer died. It was great too - because we weren't all just hearing each other, we were listening to, made obvious by us all referencing things others of us had said earlier as basis for whole new points and questions. Boy is it gonna be a bitch to transcribe! And it was already due! Whoo!

At the end of the evening No Age drove me home!!! SO SWEET! I thought it was sweet enough that Dean was driving me downtown to catch a cab since the last 6 and 4 from the area had long gone past, but when we got downtown and I said they could drop me off on a corner, Dean said they'd just drive me the whole way since he didn't want me to have to stand out in the rain waiting for one. All the way to SW! - almost Washington County when the venue had been in NE and they were also staying in NE! So nice!!

I learned a lot during the chat, not only about No Age, but about myself too. When we were driving home, Dean asked me if I'd always lived in Portland and I gave a mini-run down of my moves starting as a kid. He said that he found my life exciting since he's always lived in LA and that while some people think being a touring band is exciting, he doesn't find it so much so - it just is what it is and asked if it was the case with mine whether I find it "exciting." I noted a few horror story hallmarks from my time living in Glasgow. Afterwards I also noted how I was just there again and really enjoyed my time there this past time around. In that realized for the first time I don't find moving blindly to international locations exciting, but I do find traveling exciting. Really exciting!! Maybe because there's also a timeline attached as opposed to being stranded in Scotland on a one-way ticket and not being able to afford to leave for a year and a half.

Dean has this combination of optimism and idealism that's anchored to realism, but not anchored by it. I see a difference.

Earlier he talked about a free beach tour he wants to do and I'm thinking he needs to get in touch with Harry and the Potters and glean some tips from them about their annual free library tours.

Randy Randall (god I love that that name exists) had so much progressive stuff to say about pretty much everything - elections, the realistic power of a rock band and tons of other stuff, but I was most enthralled by two of his points. One being about his desire to do a zine about free health care in the US and where it is available in each city. That is still in the idea form, but I'm hoping he brings it to a physical state because I know a lot of people would benefit. I have all of Portland's info already ready. He also talked about talking to moms. More on that once the interview runs.

When I got out of the mini-van outside my place, I felt like hugging Dean who got out to help me out. I felt like I really knew them and it was like saying goodbye to a friend I wouldn't see for a while.

What were my final words to the duo?
"I want you to meet my mom!" You know - without explaining that she lives in Seattle and not at the apartment they've just dropped me off at hahahaha And because our conversation had been along the lines of what me and F Mason already talk about.

God - I am such a geek! Love it! Love them!

My Pitchfork photo post (including Liars action)

My photo post of Food Fight! shots on LocalCut

No Age's blog post on Portland

Food Fight! Youtube action

"You Is My Hot Rabbit" No Age MP3

No Age myspazz

Yeasalesmen

Not only did Yeasayer sell me on their entire album (which I will be purchasing with my next paycheck), but they wiped out my entire future bank account balance by selling me on an entire festival season. I can't imagine a more perfect atmosphere to take their tunes in live, plus there'd be room to dance so why not go buck wild and instead of seeing them only at their inevitable Glastonbury slot, why not traipse across the globe (or at least Europe) seeing them time and time again at fests like Roskilde in Denmark, Quart in Norway, Lowlands in Holland and then wind it down back in the UK in August at Reading. Given I'm planning for a big move come September, I'm not so sure on how long I'll be able to afford to be in the EU for this summer for festies, but rest assured I now know who my number one act to see at each will be. Besides Jay-Z and all.

I got there with no time to spare - they'd already taken to the stage and began their set when I made it to Holocene a little past 10:30. I assumed I'd be catching the tail-end of MGMT's set, but when I got there I noticed on a sheet of paper that  Yeasayer were before them on the bill! How was that even possible!?! "It's a co-headlining tour," explained Holocene's Jacob. I swear, co-headlining tours with be the death of me! Last time I saw one was the No Doubt/Blink 182 split bill in 2004. Given No Doubt's strong NW ties, I wrongly assumed they'd be the headliner of the night and didn't arrive until it was time for the last band to take the stage. And that band was Blink 182. I missed No Doubt! I'm not the hugest solo-Gwen Stefani fan, but No Doubt reserved a spot in my heart when they infiltrated my eardrums via the airwaves in the 90's and they do put on one hella good show. Anyway, now is as good of time as ever to again commend the Teenagers' song "Homecoming." If not for anything else, then for the Blink 182 name-check in the chorus!

I love Yeasayer. I've said "on air" that they're a better Fleetwood Mac (last item). I then asked myself if that was true and the jury of my mind is still out on that, but I totally have Yannis from the Oxford band Foals to thank for turning me on Yeasayer's track "2080" in early summer. That song is very very good and pretty accurately represents my outlook on life. God - I am resisting the urge to go into all the reasons, but I especially enjoy that in pretty much all their songs, they can look an impending apocalypse in the eye with the knowledge there is likely nothing they can do to deter that ending and decide to celebrate the here-and-now. Listen to the lyrics and read their Pitchfork interview for a better explanation.

"I can't sleep when I think about the times we're living in."
"I can't sleep when I think about the future I was born in to."
but "It's a new year and I'm glad to be here, so let's sing..." can still find it's way into the same song! Love it! I also love the clarinet! It's such a lyrically and instrumentally beautiful song. Not a lyrically and instrumentally good song, but beyond that - beautiful.

I also identify with the lyric about Monday calling, well at least my personal interpretation of it. As I'm very vocal about and a good portion of the people I know are too, I don't believe people should have to work 5 days a week. I find the concept insane. While there are many many hardships abound, I still feel an unbending forty hour work week is too taxing. That's not saying I refuse to. But I hate that life is largely dictated by job commitments - such as Monday's calling and life outside a job is over. Two days to do what you want outside of a job is unbalanced. Someone in Seattle agrees. Though I'm more a "fuck jobs", "yay work" type of gal. There is a big difference.

Anyway, moving along to the actual show, the way "2080" came to life in the live atmosphere was superb too! The guitar chords were different and drum beats took the track into dance record territory. You could REALLY get down to it! Everyone's excitement for the track as they began was apparent, but there wasn't that much singing along. I'm thinking there will be at festival grounds.

And it was almost distracting, but how much does Yeasayer's lead singer resemble Scissor Sister's frontman Jake Shears ?!?!

Lyrics from "Final Path" a song I grew to like even more when performed live:
"Nothing's gonna stop the sky from falling,
nothing gonna stop the water rising..."
But let's dance! We're not ignoring it, but let's acknowledge it and move onto celebration that we're at least here now.

Their set was saturated with drunks - especially one yelling that "2080" be played again. While the band didn't indulge the demand, frontman Chris Keating did dole out a handshake to the lad and then a couple songs later again extended his arm for another handshake. Yeasayer were very amused. But seriously, my oh my were there a lot of drunk people. One that screamed about Chris' tattoo being a tarantula (it is in fact a crab in an ode to Baltimore) and some girl yelling about Californians in relation to an onstage comment that actually had nothing to do with Californians.
The night was very obviously sold out - crammed at entrances to the main room, but rather actually breathable once inside in terms of space between concert-goers.

"2080" Yeasayer MP3

So I left before MGMT took to the stage. When I got outside I found out I'd missed my bus by literally one minute so there were 30 minutes to wait. Go back inside and spend it taking in MGMT? "I'll pass," I said, staying outside even though the wind was whipping around the plexi-glass bus top and drunks were tumbling out of the strip-club a few yards away. I got MGMT's song "Time to Pretend" as a free track on itunes and was throughly underwhelmed especially given my general allergic reaction to most music that includes guitars. The music really has to grab me and theirs turned me off. Very unlike the guitar reliant new track "Dog Years" by garage-rock super group Ghetto Cross. I can't get enough of it!

(there was a lot of wild horses action and stocking feet going on on part of Yeasayer. Somehow, it rather accurately reflected the music)

Yeasayer myspazz

Live in Dan Deaconville

Sometimes when a concert is just SO GOOD, I immediately realize I'm too lazy to do the concert the full justice it deserves, so I kinda just sit idle in terms of its appearance in this blog. But, now comes the time to post about the Dan Deacon in Vancouver B.C. show which was one of those such experiences. It was a lineup I was more than familiar with - Montag opening for everyone's favorite Wham City resident as I'd taken them in together but one month before in Glasgow, Scotland. And that's what brings me to the funny thing about the show - I've now caught him turning his light bulb on and off to the beat of his electronics three different times in three different countries. It's like I'm some super fan. Before the Vancouver show I would categorize myself as a casual fan - seeing him when the random chance arose, but after? I'm definitely a super fan! The show was like a celebration of being human. If only all concerts were like that. I'd settle for even a fraction.

The show began with support from Vancouver's own Montag - still proud to be gay and still bitching about the Olympics - in the most poppily poetic way possible. His boyfriend was in the audience which was cute. One of my fave Montag songs is about him so that was a fun admission from Montag when he made an onstage dedication to a someone on my right.

There was no ode to the Ying Yang Twins T-shirt in sight, but there were two adolescent boys directly up front facing the audience and seemingly craving some attention for their rave-like antics that didn't yet fit with the vibe of the night. They eventually got kicked out after some woman accused them of something. How do I know even that detail? Well, Meg and I had been watching them and as soon as we noticed their inevitable ejection, I raced down to the doors to listen in on what the security guards were scolding them about.

Next up was Ultimate Reality - a psychedelic montage of Arnold Swartzenegger footage with two drummers and some read-aloud action from Jimmy Joe Roche in regular intervals. It was pretty rad and the drummer from Ponytail was pretty cute. After the show him and Meg had a short convo about high-waisted jeans. Not only cute, but now tres cool.

So the main event? Not only did Dan Deacon attempt the human tent/gauntlet thing, but the dance circle too! Whenever I've seen him prior it's been one or the other, not both and I've never seen either executed so well! Canadians not only know how to follow directions, but they know how to take it up a notch too.

(every one points downwards as warm-up)

Can we just briefly talk about how cool the dictionary's definition of gauntlet is?
Gauntlet: go through an intimidating or dangerous crowd, place, or experience in order to reach a goal.

Oh how I'm loving you more and more Dan Deacon!

I got tagged into the dance circle. It was really funny - Meg and I were stumping to be the first in so that we could do the Crank Dat Soulja Boy dance that we know by heart from staying up until 6am too many nights in a row to watch various tribute and instructional videos. We weren't and Dan's rule was that one person from each half of the circle had to be tagged in at a time eliminating the possibility of us going in together since we were standing together. Everyone tagged in was doing beyond elaborate dances and once Meg made certain I was thrown to the wolves by volunteering me to the next one in hahahaha, I did not do the Crank Dat dance. TonyX said I looked like a hippy during my turn. Why? Because each couple of people tagged in were dancing with each other - some gracefully, some seeking bodily harm and there was no way I was gonna lose an eye at Dan Deacon, so I did flow-y movements to deter my random dance partner from trying to dance with me and keep him at arms length hahahaha. As I understand it, dance partners weren't even the original intention, but rather a dance-off.

(me dancing taken by Tony)

Back in December I asked Dan to open one of his Portland shows with "It's Dan Deacon, bitch" in an ode to Britney. He said if he remembered, he would. Before the show I asked him whether he had, and while he remembered, he didn't end up doing it because he has "issues with the word bitch." Okay... If he wasn't opening his mouth to sing during his Vancouver set, he was opening it to swear.
We gave him a touch-on, touch-off light shaped like a lightbulb beforehand after he asked to keep it from out portrait session at 8pm. And he incorporated it into his live set! Awesomeness! It got passed around too - too much fun to watch from above standing on the beyond sweltering balcony.

Oh - and I got to rock the mic for my second time at a Dan Deacon show! In a brief pause between songs, I took the opportunity to rush him and start shouting: "Harry Potter, Book 6. Smoke weed everyday." He passed the mic to me, ran it through the vocoder and I shouted and shouted, then began passing the mic to people hoping they'd follow along. They didn't quite know what was going on, which isn't so bad given it was his first ever B.C. show (gasp! shock! the horror!) and he didn't explain for even a second what was going on/the jist of the "song." It was so fun/funny!

This show was definitely the best and most memorable of all three times I've seen him. It appeared to also be so for him as when the show was ending, he took a moment to mention how he has been perpetually touring for the past year and a half and the Vancouver B.C. show at Richard's on Richards was an especially special one. It broke through in the cycle of things for him. It was touching. Cue soft focus lenses if it were being filmed for Oprah.

I'm SOOOOO glad I saw him in B.C. over PDX based on just about everyone's reviews of the attendees at his duo of Portland shows. He said he felt like he had to remind people to dance at them - even the all-ages program at Backspace. And from what I hear of the Holocene show, it was more people coming to watch a show than be apart of one, which I guess had to happen at some point given the press on the craziness that ensues when he parks his electronic and lights just below the stage.

Hands down one of the best concerts of 2008 already.

We Are Wolves in town tonight!!!

Canada is good for a lot of things. Low cost prescription drugs. Government protection for citizens who illegally download music. And all too many of my favorite bands. We've got Thunderheist, Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, Born Ruffians and fearsome dance rock threesome We are Wolves who are in Portland tonight!!!! Holocene is the place to be this January 31st (unless you're Helio Sequence who are shooting their music video outside this evening), but unlike the aforementioned Helio Sequence, you have no excuse to not be partying down to the trio's tunes such as "Little Birds" and "Fight & Kiss." Not only do you get those songs, but many many more from WAW plus local bands Reporter and Swim Swam Swum. But wait --- that's not all!!!! Not in the least bit. Who are the only band thanked in We Are Wolves' latest album booklet? Only Portland's Gossip!! And who is one of the DJs opening tonight? Brace Paine from the Gossip i.e. The Chain! AND - me as Party All the Time!!! Yes, this will be my first Portland DJ gig! My soundtrack's only rules are that the songs can be danced to, so expect some These New Puritans, Muscles, Metronomy and so so much other electro. It'll sound like my podcast playlists. I'm on twice beginning at 9.

PS - I made the gig poster - my first ever!! Whoo! Why is it red and blue? Listen to "Little Birds" to find out...

"Little Birds" We Are Wolves MP3

We Are Wolves myspazz

Party All the Time myspazz (friend us)

plus:
Reporter myspazz
Swim Swam Swum myspazz

Teenage Hotelcoming

So before the Teenagers kicked off their North American tour with a live show at 1/2ALIVE in Vancouver B.C., they'd previously been chillaxing and getting acquainted with the time zone shift in good ol' Vancouver for a few days. Day of the gig, Meg and I descended upon their hotel room for an interview and photoshoot for the next issue of URB magazine coming out in March - the "Next 100" issue.
In the lobby, their tour manager greeted us and we shuffled upstairs via the elevator. Who's their tour manager? Why only Kristin - she of Deerhunter tour management fame! Seriously - I was like "OMG - yr the one [frontman] Bradford [Cox] is always writing about on Deerhunter's blog (where she blogs too), yr the "den mother," you take photos of them with sunsets in the background." Indeed she was. She's also tour managed fellow Atlanta band Black Lips. So how did she get the Teenagers gig? Cos "they were looking for someone cool" and she was in XL's (the Teenagers' label) speed-dial for the description.
Oh and she gets some photo love from No Age in a post on their blog.

Moving along - she noted that the girls of the band are a bit press shy, so it'd be only the boys keeping us company.

The interview was one of my best ever! And by best ever, I mean seemingly lost in translation. Not only due to language, but in personality differences too. Once the piece runs, the audio is going up here. Quentin (who's lived in England longer than the other two by nearly 3 years) didn't want to do the chat and instead played Zelda on his bed. There were two beds in the room, so a mellow Michael and Dorian plus me hunkered down on the other to talk some Soko, street life and screaming. Awkwardness was abound! Crickets could occasionally be heard. A bit of interestingness - what blogs do the French expats read? I found out. While Quentin lingers regularly on Flou Kids, Dorian prefers Big Stereo! I wasn't expecting an American blog to top his list. Awesome times!

After 20 minutes of conversation it was time for photos and boy can those boys turn it on! I have wanted to have a band pose with heart shaped twisted balloons 4eva - since hearing the song "Lust In The Movies" by The Long Blondes. The chorus refrain includes "I just want to be a sweetheart! I just want to be a sweetheart!" I visualize EVERYTHING and set about trying to figure out how I'd visualize that and those balloons that clowns twist into animals and swords was what I came up with. Many girls that I shoot don't want to appear too feminine, so using the balloons with the Teenagers seemed perfect, especially given their semi-heart throb status of late... kinda like in the Kinga Burza directed video for "Homecoming."

During the photos, we also shot them eating cupcakes as I'd had the idea for them to have a cupcake food-fight. That concept didn't quite materialize, but Quentin did get a brutal sugar rush.

Quentin:

What else came of our hour in the Teenagers' lair? The knowledge that Dorian films his life in great detail. Not only the still style which is showcased on his flickr, but video style ala Dev aka Lightspeed Champion. He was unaware of Dev's documentary dalliances, so I quickly informed him of them. Then we got to chatting about youtube comments and such and the fact that as of now, Dorian is unlikely to make his live-action reels available to the general public. I got some brief screen time hahahaha

Dorian:

We also talked about the fervent reaction that they sometimes is produce in their crowds unintentionally i.e. - when I saw them in London with No Age at Amersham Arms in December. It was semi-miserable because girls behind me were screaming at me, hitting me and pulling my hair because I was closer to the band then them in terms of rows inside the audience (I had to be close to the stage, I was taking pics... that I never posted). Both Dorian and Michael said they didn't notice that mania.

Michael:

Anyway, when we were packing up they asked to keep the heart balloons which was enjoyable :) What a task it was to track those down! Meg's mom saved the day after I was unsuccessful. Our scavenger hunt ended on Granville island at a gag store in a children's emporium that I'd last visited on an 8th grade border-crossing class field trip.

"Homecoming" The Teenagers MP3

I would hope this track is already in yr itunes. SO BRILLIANT! Am I going to admit something? Yes. I was so turned off by the first few lines the first time I listened to it in the beginning of 2007 that I didn't make it much further. So I didn't quite understand why girls were getting up on stage to sing at the concert  - I'd never made it far enough to know they trade vocals with a girl, a vocalist who I can absolutely not track down. Anyway - this song is a masterpiece. Later that night Meg and I are sitting there and I'm making comments such as "So deep, so smart, so true." It is. SO honest! Not just about boys vs. girls, but the witticisms including the "massive car"/"SUV." Cue my itunes up to repeat for this track and my day is made. Especially when I'm singing (or rather talking) along. I find a way to weave it into any conversation I have with people lately. Slices of pizza on Hawthorne? Let me bring my laptop and play it for you hahahaha. True story... that actually happened this Saturday hahahaha. I also sent it to someone on myspace last week. I think it scared them away, but when have I ever not in their case? hahaha

Teenagers Myspazz