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June 28, 2005
It Wasn't All Yellow
Well, I had a pretty good color scheme here on Drive Blind, but the links were too dark on the black background, so now I've gone and screwed everything up. I'm just too pooped to do any more Photoshop Elements color searching tonight.
now playing: Ted Leo - Shake The Sheets
Posted by jeradlewis at 10:09 PM
June 27, 2005
The Man and The Lads
It was a good weekend for music. On Friday night I went to the Tweeter Center to see one of the bands who were certainly near the top of my "List of bands who I haven't seen but want to see", Oasis. As far as I can tell by reading reviews at Information Leafblower and NME, they don't stray too far, if at all, from one setlist. That's alright, though, because it's a damn good set with a good mix of new stuff from Don't Believe The Truth and the older "classics" that everyone wants to hear. Of course, I wasn't surprised to hear everybody singing along to "Live Forever," "Wonderwall" (didn't Noel say that he'd never play that one again? Maybe I missed something), and "Champagne Supernova," but I was surprised and impressed to hear that the big crowd-pleasing set-closing sing-along number was "Don't Look Back In Anger." Sure, most people who were there own (What's The Story) Morning Glory, but I just didn't think that would be a US crowd favorite. Maybe I'm just underestimating my fellow Yanks. Anyhow, I know it made my friend Jess happy to hear the end of that one playing over my cell phone at 11 pm.
The second half of my Rock Weekend was Ted Leo (and the Pharmacists, natch) at the Somerville Theater. Last time I saw him I just knew that I was supposed to like him and hadn't actually listened to any of his stuff, but this time I came prepared after buying Shake the Sheets and Hearts of Oak. Ted (the titular "Man") really knows how to bring the rock. There's no better cliche to throw out for this guy. Speaking of cliches, I was a bit hipster-amused by his band. His bassist had the ironic indie white guy afro, and his drummer is sporting the ironic indie Iron and Wine-esque beard. It's probably not as funny to the rest of you, but this is my blog. Fortunately, Somerville Theater doesn't have any no-cameras policy (at least for this show), so I was able to bring in my Nikon D70 and get some great pics of the band. I'm going to try to get something set up on the Photos section of Drive Blind this week, so maybe I'll be able to show some of them off.
Tomorrow night I'm headed back to the Somerville Theater to see Eels play on their "With Strings" tour. I saw Eels play at the Paradise a couple of years ago, and while I'm a big fan, I wasn't as impressed with E's Unabomber phase and hard rock sound. I'm prepping myself to be much more impressed tomorrow. I also found out yesterday that Eels have been in cahoots with the iTunes store for a while with a lot of special or exclusive stuff. The best of the bit that I found was a collection of their b-sides (link goes to iTunes) that goes way back to the earliest stuff from Beautiful Freak up to the current Blinking Lights material. I already bought most of the original singles when I lived in the UK, so I'll probably pass on this offer, but you shouldn't.
So, if you've made it this far, do you have any suggestions for the site? I guess you can e-mail me, since I haven't worked out my MT comments yet.
Posted by jeradlewis at 9:11 AM
June 20, 2005
Hola
Hola, amigos. I know it's been a while since I rapped at ya (thanks, Jim Anchower.) I've been back from Playa del Carmen, Mexico, for two whole days now and I'm still managing to be relaxed. Good feeling, indeed.
This week is shaping up to be a busy one, but mostly in a good way.
- Tuesday - Summer Solstice, baby! Please enjoy your longest daylight of the year. It's all downhill from here.
- Wednesday - my birthday. I'm having a surprise party. Well, someone else is actually throwing it for me.
- Thursday - I'm sure that something will happen. Thursdays are usually good to me.
- Friday - I finally fill a big Oasis-sized gap in my concert resume with a show at the Tweeter Center. I'll probably spend most of my time watching Andy Bell jam away on the bass, wishing that I were seeing him back with his old band (no, not Hurricane #1, smartasses).
- Saturday - Ted Leo and the ever-present Pharmacists at the Somerville Theater. This is a guy who probably really deserves just to be called "The Man." I saw him play late last year at the Middle East before I knew much about him and I was really blown away. Now, I have Hearts of Oak and Shake the Sheets and I'll be shimmying along to every song. Radio 4 is opening. This is the third time I've seen them supporting someone else in Boston; do these guys ever get off the road? The first time I saw them, I thought they were pointless Clash rip-offs, the second time they were a bit better. Let's hope it just keeps getting better.
Now entrancing: Steve Reich - Music For 18 Musicians
Posted by jeradlewis at 10:47 PM