Monday, September 10, 2007

Shows I'm going to (or would like to go to) this autumn

Now that three of the only series I kept up with (Flight of the Conchords, Entourage, and Big Love) have all wrapped up for this season, I was beginning to think that I might actually have to put forth some creativity in keeping myself occupied in the evenings after I get home from work. Some ideas I've had include going to the grocery store every day and only buying a few things, going to the zoo, riding a bus, taking a nap, setting up a lemonade stand, sitting on the floor of my living room and relishing in how useless it is in its current state (and my right to have a useless room in my apartment), drawing pictures with markers and writing fake praise from a fake teacher and then sticking them on my refrigerator, making a gigantic ice-cream sundae and only eating a little bit of it, holding my breath until I can see my face turn blue in the mirror, color-coordinating my cd collection, finally sewing up the hole in my jeans, and, finally, watching something disappointing on tv.

Fortunately, this part of the country is a giant flickering light to the misguided mosquito of touring bands. To save me from engaging in some honestly ridiculous activities, I can probably get away with doing normal things like reading and watching tv and only going to the grocery store once or twice a week on those nights when one of these mosquito bands are not accessible to my twitching feet and eager ears.

Before I get into the list (I love lists, don't you?) and details (the devil is in them, don't you know?), I think I should mention that I live in Madison, Wisconsin just so you don't have to go to another website to look up tour schedules and be disappointed that the Brunettes are not playing in Mobile, Alabama on Tuesday 9/25. And away we go!

9/15 - The Sea and Cake - High Noon Saloon - Madison, WI
I'm not terribly familiar with the Sea and Cake, but I'm familiar enough with them to know that I like them and that barring any sound or band-illness issues, I will probably enjoy this show. They played at Hipsterfest '07, and I enjoyed that show, so I'll probably enjoy this one I think. I missed them when they played the Gargoyle at Washington University when I was a student there (and Califone, who I also saw and enjoyed at Hipsterfest '07 opened for them) because I was not into the wimpy stuff I like now. If it wasn't the Darkness or the Hives, I didn't care, and regret exists partially to make sure I never forget that I missed this opportunity (among many many others, music-related and otherwise).

9/16 - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - The Annex - Madison, WI
This show is awesome because the Annex is probably about 0.33 miles away from where I live (confirmed by Google Maps: the Annex is 0.4 miles away) so I can drink freely and not worry about how I'm going to get home. The show is on a Sunday night and I probably won't drink much anyway, but it's nice to know that I can if I want to. I know that I've seen this band play once before, but my imaginary friend says that it maybe have been twice. At the one I remember I had long hair and they are a good band to have long hair for. I have shaggy hair now, but in a self-inflicted move to prevent excessive rocking out, I plan on getting a haircut this week. So, despite not rocking out and not remembering how many times I've watched them before, I anticipate this being a good timekiller for a Sunday night I won't be able to watch two of the three shows I talked about.

9/20 - Andrew Bird/Dosh - UW Memorial Theater - Madison, WI
Andrew Bird is awesome and so is Dosh. Dosh does these cool things like drop pieces of metal onto the stage and records them to use for loops in his songs. Andrew Bird does these cool things like write amazing songs with amazing consistency. Have you listened to "A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left" and not gotten chills?

" Overprescribed / Under the mister / We had survived to /Turn on the History Channel /And ask our esteemed panel /Why are we alive? / And here's how they replied / You're what happens when two substances collide / And by all accounts you really should have died."

Did you ever think about how unfathomably tiny the chances of your existence really were? Heavenly takes this a bit trivially in "Sperm Meets Egg, So What?" (in the title anyway), but not Mr. Bird. He knows how lucky he was, and how lucky we all were, and he intends to make sure we appreciate it.

" Splayed out on a bath mat / Six miles north of South Platte / He just wants his life back / What's in that paper nap sack / It's what goes undelivered / Undelivered."

See? Chills.

9/25 - The Brunettes/Ferraby Lionheart - High Noon Saloon - Madison, WI
This is one of those shows I'm amazed makes it to a town like Madison and I was about as surprised at the announcement of this one as I was about the Mosquitos show last year (actually that one was four days away from being exactly a year before this show). The Brunettes are pretty cute, and even if R. Schreiber thinks it's too much, I dont.

"Holding hands, feeding ducks / When I met you, that's what I wanted to do"

How cute is that? They also sing about things like playing mini golf and asking a girl you like to dance and record stores and indie pop love and things like that. How best to accomplish this than with girl-boy vocals and melodies that make you think of teenagers in the 50s having fun on the beach or at a roller rink or a carnival? I'm not even terribly disappointed that the Lucksmiths are playing the Chicago show (probably because of a booking conflict, since that's the only show on the tour they play together...lucky Chicagoans) or maybe I am, but if previous experiences are telling at all then I will have a lot of fun watching the Brunettes anyway.

9/29 - The Black Lips - Mad Planet - Milwaukee, WI
This may be the most outright "rock 'n' roll" show I will ever go to. I may get into a fight on purpose.

And that takes us through the end of September. Hopefully tonight I'll add some of the October shows; since there are quite a few of them and at least one of them requires some serious "details", I'll have to take a break before I take those on. Happy show-going!

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