Saturday, April 28, 2007

electric six

Last weekend, Andy and i were treated to a show (which reminded me to write about previous shows) that really helped me remember the pleasure of watching people perform music live.

The two openers, together, could be a really great band. The guitarist and bass player from the second band were hot shit. The frontman had a lot of personality, but i don't think his singing style really fit with what the crowd was looking for. He was more goth-industrial. Sometimes a little flat, probably because he was thinking more about the pelvic thrusts and messing with select members of the crowd.

The first band's singer sounded like Robert Smith (and he completely nailed his set), but paired with indy-pop straightforward guitar and simple base, but with a really energetic and creative drummer. Of the two bands, I enjoyed Test Your Reflex (lookout, flash) more.

I'm not sure i'd see either of the opening bands again unless, like Voltron, they merged to form a super-band, with a giant sword, poised to Rock.

The headliner, Electric Six, exceeded expectations. This is a between-album tour, so they've had a lot of time to hone their set. The band is "from" Detroit, but at least the drummer is from Berkeley (as the frontman reminded the crowd... repeatedly). The band pulls off the suit thing well, and their combined antics (mostly Dick Valentine, lead vocal) are hideously entertaining. The long intermission with Dick talking about politics ("We like to keep things simple, so, we want to just, you know, keep on having everyone vote for bush. Bush. Bush Bush Bush, and so on, down the line") and mocking (or paying tribute. or both) the SF musical heritage of the 80's (The Tubes, Huey Luis, and Journey).

I hate acquiring new music, because i so rarely find something that can hold my attention for an entire album, and i don't like songs piecemeal. I believe, based on the set, that E6 will meet my requirements for albums, and I'm so very glad Del invited me to see them.

Otherwise, i'd only know them for "Gay Bar."

Thursday, April 26, 2007

18K

Minerva and I passed 18K yesterday.

In somewhat related news, i noticed a couple of days ago that the front brake pads on my bicycle are almost completely worn away. This explains the mini-dreams i've had lately about not being able to stop my bicycle. I either need to lose some weight, stop riding hills, or stop stopping. Or replace the brake pads.

the mansion spaceship

A bit like an episode of Dr. Who, I find myself travelling in a spaceship that is very much like a mansion. There's a downstairs, where me and most of the crew reside, and an upstairs where nobody goes. The layout reminded me of my mom and stepfather's house, only on a much larger scale and with more metal and glass.

Everyone was afraid to go upstairs, but i'm not sure why. Periodically, crew would go missing. Eventually, someone saw a strange smokey-tentacle thing come down from the rafters (yeah... rafters between upstairs and down) and snatch someone from downstairs to up. I decided to mount a rescue expedition upstairs, to find creepy mostly empty rooms with kid sized rocking chairs and clown dolls with ceramic faces. Also, zombies, which were dressed in traditional English servant costume, doing things like tidying up. Apparently, the ship needed to replenish this zombie-crew from the living crew below, and so, periodically, plucked someone up at random.

My dreams are sadly without a compelling story arc.

Monday, April 23, 2007

p4wn goal

I watched some of the Detroit-Calgary game last night, including the first overtime. I spent the rest of the evening hanging out with Antonio, and he wasn't interested in hockey, so i didn't get to see the end of the game, but i dreamed that Calgary lost on an own-goal. I felt really bad for the guy in my dream who did it. I was glad to find out that that didn't happen (imagine the shame!) but it's too bad Calgary couldn't hang on against Detroit.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

belated show reviews

Saw a great live show last night, and it reminded me that i wanted to write about a show i saw last year. I think i was too much in the throes of personal spaghetti to write much of anything, and i needed to see another show to make me talk about the last one. Or two.

Andey and a friend of ours (taking the ticket we had originally obtained for an ex) went to see the Indigo Girls at the Warfield. They rocked, naturally. Amy wore an amusing shirt depicting several executive-branch types and the words "war criminals" and Emily wore an... AC/DC tee. Opening for them was Bitch. I actually liked Bitch quite a lot, probably because, as a humanist, feminism doesn't bother me. Others i knew that went to the show lauded her musicianship while lamenting her political bent, which is silly. Politics are part of performance, explicitly or not.

In any case, she plugged her next show at a smaller venue, where she was the headline act. Andey and i decided to check that show out. I'm glad we did, but not because of seeing Bitch again. Her act didn't vary in the slightest. Same set in the same order, same jokes between songs, same "spontaneous" talking to the crowd. So... i'm glad we could support her; you know, as a starving feminist artist, or something. I just wish she hadn't plugged a show to people, when it would be the exact same show they saw during the plug.

It did, however, expose me to Mr. Hayashi, a sacramento band that we both really liked. I meant to promote them back then, but never got around to it. The webpage is a myspace profile, but don't hold that against them. Sean writes good stuff, and plays and sings it like he means it, which matters to me. Someone can perform technically brilliant material, but if there isn't feeling behind it, it doesn't really move me.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

history

Last night's dream involved a return of someone to my life that i didn't expect to return, though i very much wanted it. The breakup happened less than a year ago, and is still fresh in my mind. The best part of the dream involved having all of the circumstances and personalities behind the breakup healed. People speaking who couldn't before, and a return of empathy and love that had once, however briefly, suffused the relationship(s).

The dream was mostly joyous, but held a hint of menace, in that a boyfriend (or ex?) of my ex entered into my life along with her. He was largely based on a roommate i had years ago that annoyed the hell out of me. In the dream, he came to the apartment to pick her up, and was obnoxious about... just about everything. He probably represents my view of reality... that there will always be circumstances and personalities that don't work well together, but which interact.

I don't hold any conscious hope that the person i miss will ever speak with me again, but clearly there are parts of my subconscious that don't feel the same. Perhaps re-connecting with an ex from high school via email triggered this dream.

I don't dream all that often. At least, i often don't remember them. Remembering two dreams in a row is extremely rare, and i wonder if a third is on its way.

Friday, April 20, 2007

Superposition

Last night i dreamed about having two social-circles overlap. The first was my Portuguese family, who live in the south bay. The second were my new Mission-dyke, FTM, genderqueer, and anarchist friends. We (the younger, more queer) group were in the driveway trying to get a car started (dead battery), when a larger group of my more conservative, catholic, extended family arrived... and chose to enter the house by an entrance that didn't require walking past us.

It's pretty obvious what this dream refers to; I think a visit with my family is in order to help me remember that they haven't shunned me and mine.