she*had*a*thirst*for*knowledge

(I’m the 2nd from the left, in the blue and white dress, Robb took the photo)

Violet Vector and the Lovely Lovelies played their first show last night at Local 506, opening for The Gondoliers and Death of the Sun. I have taken a hiatus from the band due to some personal things I have had going on, so it was a very bittersweet night for me, to watch the band really come together onstage. They played so well, and looked so cute, and the club was packed with friends and other random people. I really think the band is going to go somewhere - Chapel Hill is ready for a super P!O!P! almost-all-girl band.

Amanda called me up onstage for the last song, “Can You Dig It.” Matt handed me a tambourine, and we got to playing. And it felt SO GOOD to be onstage with my lovelies, and play our song together, and look out into the crowd of people and see them happy and dancing and smiling, and all those familiar faces. I’d thought it would be terrifying to be onstage, but it wasn’t at all, it just felt very, very fun.

I hope I can play with the band for real in the near future. It was hard not to start crying on my way out of the club.

Tapes ‘n Tapes - “Insistor”

And don’t be terse and don’t be shy
Just hug my lips and say goodbye

I went to see this band play in town last night. Before the show I sat behind the doorman and watched all the people coming in. The venue requires each patron have a membership due to the risible state and county alcohol laws, and almost everyone coming in the door had to buy a membership - I guess there were a lot of first-timers coming out to that particular venue for the show. Which made me feel a little chuffed about when I had come in the door and had been recognized by the doorman. Later that evening the owner of the club walked by and grabbed my elbow and said Hello which pleased me to no end. I do not indulge in scenester tendencies much at all, but I must admit it felt nice to be recognized. Guess I’m a local now.

The band played really well, making a sweet, sweet ruckus. They did this song particularly well, building up to crescendos in a way that I liked quite a bit.

According to the local independent weekly Of Montreal will be playing a free show tomorrow afternoon at Duke University. Too bad I’ll be at work.

I went to three shows in the last week. If I were a different person and didn’t have any responsibilities, I would have gone to at least two more. It has been one of those weeks around here. Sometimes a bunch of touring bands converge on the Chapel Hill area in one week, and there are too many shows to see, and not enough time. And then other times, no one of interest to me comes to play for weeks on end.

Tuesday - M. Ward/Lambchop/Portastatic - at the Cat’s Cradle

I have not ever really been a fan of Portastatic, but I liked their set this time around. It was not rocking at all really and Mac’s singing voice sounded pretty good. I was ill (I am still ill now) and I was determined to drink a lot of beer, and I only had three beers, but that was enough. I had never really heard Lambchop before, and after their set I have decided I need to get ahold of their albums. I was standing close in front of the crowd and was entranced by their slow lovely music. They had a dozen people onstage. M. Ward simply rocked, and I was glad of that. He played my two favorite songs of his (”Four Hours in Washington” and “Poison Cup”) back-to-back early in the set, which suffused me with happiness. The happiness lasted all evening and into the next day, actually. It was a perfect convergence of an evening.

Thursday - Sufjan Stevens - at Memorial Hall, UNC

The venue is lovely (although the air-conditioning vents being directly underneath the seats make for a VERY UNCOMFORTABLE evening), the music was lovely, Sufjan’s chatter between songs was lovely, the night was lovely. But I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the time that I saw him play last year at the Cat’s Cradle. It was not as engaging, which is likely just due to the difference in venues. Also maybe had something to do with the fact that I felt so very, very OLD at this show. I have to say, the kids going to shows don’t bother me at all, it’s just that when I’m surrounded by them at a show, their very presence makes me feel very, very startled. The rendition of “Casimir Pulaski Day” made me want to cry, which is unsurprising, as the song always has that effect on me.

Friday - Beirut - at Duke Coffeehouse in Durham

I’d been wanting to see a show at this venue for a while, and I finally had the chance. It’s a student-run cafe at Duke University that somehow manages to book some good acts every once in a while. I was standing at the back, on a step that gave me a good view of the stage, right next to the soundboard. The people working the soundboard were either too drunk or too incompetent. The band was constantly asking them to fix the mics (with good reason), and the people working the board were talking on their mobile phones or just gazing off into space. It was beyond annoying. But the band! It was great. Seeing the band play gave me a sense that it’s not just one guy’s bedroom project anymore. And they were really tight together and looked like they had a lot of fun. Zach, the frontman, had a fever and he looked like he was feeling pretty awful, he was pale and clammy looking, and I felt pretty bad for him, but he definitely gave it his all, performing really well I though. For their last song the band brought their instruments into the crowd and played in the middle of everyone, and people sang along (not difficult as the crowd didn’t need to know the words…just a bunch of yodeling, for the most part) and I was very excited and happy to see this band bring their music down to such a personal level for the people around them. It really warmed my heart to see all these young “hip” kids in the crowd being drawn into the experience of live music like that, and such a strange sort of music it is, Balkan folk music through an American filter. I have more to say about this but not the words for it. However, the best part of it all for me was their tambourine man, who was channeling Bez, banging the fuck out of two tambourines, dancing around, throwing his arms around people. It was really quite astonishing and incredible. That crashing tambourine sound is so integral to Beirut’s music, and the tambourine guy just did it so perfectly.

(not spell-checking like I usually do…cheers!)

I WISH I HAD ENOUGH MONEY TO TAKE A TRIP TO ICELAND.

This was a very fun show. The first opening act (didn’t catch their name) wasn’t quite my cup of tea, but they weren’t bad. The second act, Chad van Galen, was pretty good, singer-songwriter with some drums that really caught me, although I was much happier when he brought out an actual drummer halfway through his set rather than relying on pre-recorded drums. And then Band of Horses played - I found their music to be pretty generic guitar rock, which again isn’t usually my cup of tea. BUT — the singer’s voice is so distinctive, it really makes the music special, and I really enjoyed their set. The singer had some pretty amusing, endearing between song banter. He was well aware of the fact that they only have about 35 minutes of recorded music from which to draw a set, and he told the crowd the band would play a lot of new songs and covers, and they did. Not a mind-blowing show by any means, but definitely very comfortable and fun. It was a great night out.

But they have this one song that’s been floating around on the Internet for a while, “The Funeral,” and it’s a shockingly good song. It sounded pretty great live too. It’s very power-ballady, but somehow I love it. The frat boys in attendance loved it too. (Where do they come from? How do they hear about these things?) The frat boys were very well-behaved, so I was sorta glad to see them there. (Ha, I keep typing “fart boys” and having to go back and edit.) I’ve grown less exclusive as the years go by, pretty glad to see people of any stripe now respectfully enjoying a show, coming out to support good music.

There’s been a few weeks’ lull in shows I want to see around here, but it’s about to get busy again. Next week - M. Ward, Sufjan Stevens, and Beirut. And more to come in the next month or so.

My God, this has been a delightful weekend.

Friday, after a STUPENDOUS dinner at the Barbecue Joint with my family (pulled pork, cole slaw, fried squash, green beans with bacon, local tomatoes with home-made Ranch dressing and bacon, all dishes of the best quality) I went with my new friend Vivian to Jo & Joe’s in Durham to see the Smittens play. The Smittens were on a mini-tour and stopped in Durham on their way back to Vermont from the Popfest in Athens, GA. I’d been sort of acquainted with Colin and David in the band from the indiepop list, and I was really excited about meeting them, and it was really great. The whole band was very sweet and fun. Plus they played a nice set, straight-up cute indiepop. I got a kick especially out of seeing Holly drum, it was sort of inspiring because I’ve been thinking a lot about trying to learn how to play the drums. Ben B. came out to the show as well and bought me a beer as my “reward for coming out to Durham” ha ha. One does tend to be very Carrboro/Chapel Hill-centric with socializing…

And then I was taking the girls to Weaver Street Market late the next morning for coffee and small grocery items, when I ran into first Vivian and her husband Andrew, and then I ran into the Smittens again. It was very funny and cool to see them at Weaver Street. I introduced Tallulah and Matilda to them and told them that was the band I had gone to see the night before, and the looks on my girls’ faces were priceless, it was definitely like “ok….” I do wonder what those daughters of mine think about it all, this music obsession of mine.

After Weaver Street the three of us went to UNC’s botanical garden. The day was gorgeous, surprisingly mild temperature, brilliant sunny sky. Our visit to the garden ended poorly, with simultaneous tantrums from the both of them, but for a short time I was so happy, sitting on a bench, letting my mind wander, taking in the lovely, leafy garden in front of me while the children played. I got some paper and started trying to write down what I was thinking about, but after a few sentences I stopped, because sometimes it is best to just let one’s mind fixate on and devour the sweet thoughts one has.

In the evening, Sean and I took the girls over to visit with Emily while the two of us went to have a birthday dinner (happy birthday Sean!) at Magnolia Grill in Durham. We very rarely spend time together, just the two of us, and it was very relaxing and nice to just be together like that. Dinner was marvelous - wine, salad, country ham with black eyed peas appetizer, pork chop for me/pork something or other for Sean (it’s always pig products with this family), and then dessert and coffee. I had the cocoa-cola cake (extremely fluffy chocolate cake) with a small scopp of salty peanut ice cream, and Sean had the creme caramel. I’d heard a lot about the desserts at Magnolia Grill, and they definitely lived up to the hype (and at nearly $9 each they better have been stupendous, sheesh).

All in all - quality time spent with my family, happy time spent with assorted friends, meeting a cute band and watching their music, good food, suspecting that two threads in my life I’d been worrying about are sorting out quite nicely, a gentle frame of my mind, temperate skies - I feel today that I’m living the good life. Despite the current financial situation, despite having to sit here at work all day Sunday, despite all the worries in my head, I feel charmed right now.

Rock show
You came to see a rock show
This ain’t a fucking talk show
You came to see it all
Rock show
You came to fear it
You came to sear it
You came to do it all

I saw the Eels (or it’s just Eels, yeah?) play at the Cat’s Cradle last night, and wow, was it interesting. They were so loud, so intense, so exhausting. They played a cover of the Peaches song “Rock Show” early on, which had me clapping my hands with glee. And then, yeah, they really put on a rock show. I can’t recall the last time I saw something that was so spot-on R-O-C-K. And it might have been a little too much for me. As I was walking home in the dark, cricket-chirping night I felt like something had been taken out of me or away from me, by the music. It was a curious feeling. And yet another instance of the strange power of live music.

And the Friday before that I had the opportunity to see the Clientele play yet another show in town here - the third once since I moved to North Carolina! Great Lakes, an Elephant 6-affiliated band, opened the show, and I was pretty impressed by them. Part way during their set, the frontman for the Clientele, Alasdair, brushed past me and went to stand and watch the show, chatting with someone, drinking a beer. It’s funny how it’s become completely normal to see my rock gods standing not more than five feet away from me. It’s such a nice, small scale for music, which makes it all the more appealing. The Clientele played quite a number of new songs, but they also made time for some of the old favorites, including, to my delight, my personal favorite, “Saturday” which, when I hear it live, paralyzes me. They played, as expected, beautifully, expertly, joyfully. Plus, this time around, they added a person the the mix - now they are four. It was a woman who played the violin and tambourine (and yes, I was checking out her tambourine technique). I thought it a great addition to the band’s line-up. Hey, what do you know, there’s a picture of her on Flickr at Local 506, the same show I was at.

Oh yeah, and….Tallulah can read now.

Yeah, she can read. Just small words for now, but WOW.

(photo of the Legends taken by thememorygirl, found on Flickr)

Last week I was browsing through photos of the recent Acid House Kings and Legends tours and really liked the way the ones taken at the Cake Shop in NYC came out. After viewing the pictures from Jeff Mangum’s recent appearance at the Cake Shop on Pitchfork this morning, I think it’s safe to say the Cake Shop has got a stage just perfect for taking really interesting band photos.

(picture from a set on Flickr someone else took…so pretty)

I saw Camera Obscura play a show here in town last Tuesday. I was all concert-reviewed out so didn’t write anything about it. It was lovely, as I expected it would be. There’s a reason they are one of my favorite bands. And OH! I have such a girl-crush on that Traceyanne Campbell.

An…interesting…weekend. Not quite the best, but certainly not the worst. I had a major decision to think about, just when I was getting to a point where I wasn’t having to think too hard about underlying issues, and that’s got me back into thinking too hard about said issues. But I read a lot (completed Coupland’s latest novel in one evening, started three other books), dorked out about music with Sean, and spent time with my children. They are getting pretty heavily into their fantasyland now - it’s very awesome to watch. They play together with their dolls, for hours on end, taking breaks to come back to the real world and eat dinner and interact with their parents. They have the cutest little mannerisms right now, it’s quite fascinating. On Sunday, Sean needed to take some practice GRE tests, so I took the girls out on a long Sunday drive to Roxboro. We drove up 86, stopped in Hillsborough for lunch, and then continued onward to Roxboro. I had no purpose in going there, I just wanted to see what was there. It’s the county seat of Person County (North Carolina has exactly 100 counties, so there are many county seats within a short drive of Carrboro). There is a court house surrounded by an exquisite early-mid 20th century downtown, a couple blocks’ worth in either direction, that was completely EMPTY. I don’t know if it’s just because it was Sunday or what, no it couldn’t be, because most of the store fronts were empty as well. It was really sad, yet beautiful (I got really excited driving into it - Oh My GOD, this is exactly what I was hoping to see!!!), especially considering that this beautiful old downtown was surrounded by suburban hell (parking lots, multi-lane roads, chain restaurants, Wal-Mart, etc.) and people obviously have money in Roxboro (i.e. it’s not just an empty, dead town). It’s the same old story. This country is dotted with failing downtown cores, and littered with too many big box stores. That is what Smalltown America has become. Roxboro is about an hour drive from Carrboro, quite an enjoyable drive. Along the way I saw a million tiny churches (predominantly Baptist), tobacco fields, farmhouses of both the 19th century Piedmont vernacular variety (kinda like this or this) and the 1920s bungalow variety, tobacco sheds, falling down, grey-weathered barns, corn fields, farm animals (the kids loved the farm animals), modern mini-mansions plopped down incongruously among bare fields, woods, old boarded-up general stores and gas stations, and the red, red earth that still fascinates me. (Dirt’s brown where I come from.) It was fantastic. It would have been perfect if I could have found a farm stand selling blueberries or a barbecue joint or something, but there were none to be found.

Too bad gasoline is so expensive these days. I’d love to be able to explore more like that, take long Sunday drives in the country.