First time Emma Peel and I ever met up for a show we saw Monotonix. You may recall my cleverly titled post, "Jews Gone Wild."
Well, Emma Peel informs me via Pitchfork that at their January 27 show in West Palm Beach, FLA, Monotonix singer Ami Shalev broke his leg. You can see the aftermath of them asking for a doctor via YouTube.
photo by Ian Witlen
News came out on Sunday that German rockers, The Scorpions were calling it quits. But not before they release a new/last album, Sting in the Tail, in March, and not before they go on a cash-in farewell world tour. Most of us at DCRC weren't aware that the Scorpion were actually still together. Even more amazing is that they've been around since 1965.
The more I read about bands on wikipedia, the more obvious This Is Spinal Tap becomes. The Scorpions at one time were two different bands. There was the Scorpions and there was another band called Dawn Road. After Michael Schenker left the Scorpions in 1973 to join UFO, the Scorpions broke up with members drifting over to Dawn Road. But Dawn Road had enough ex-Scorpions and a lame name to compel them to adopt the Scorpions moniker - eventually bringing Michael Schenker back after his drinking got him booted out of UFO in 1979. While we're at it, did you know that Don Dokken (of Dokken...fame) filled in on vocals during recording of the Scorpion's 1981 album, Blackout? Klaus Meine was recovering from throat surgery at the time. Fascinating, no?
Here's a 1972 clip of the Scorpions.
There's no use denying it. The second album from Vampire Weekend is good. Really good. It's been just long enough since I digested their self-titled first album. And as the gray skies, the sleet, and the cold wind try to bring me down, Contra is forcing me to look forward to brighter, warmer days. No doubt I will feel like an old man at the playground and it won't compare to their first show, but I'm also looking forward to their April 3rd show - even though it's at the retched DAR Constitution Hall.
The Beatles Rock Band is a big hit. All things Beatles tend to be. Did you know there is a Trivial Pursuit - Beatles edition? Emma Peel gifted me one in celebration of the Jesus birthday. We broke 
it out Saturday night with Emma Peel's dear ol' dad, who is not only a Beatles fanatic, but is also British (foreshadowing).
What was the color of the coat that "Man On Train" was wearing in A Hard Day's Night?
Wasn't that movie in black and white?
In the traditional trivial pursuit, if you didn't know a subject well, you'd skip it until you had to go for the pie. For me it was Arts and Literature (brown). And then you'd pray that the question you got was something covered in school, or something that you saw on PBS accidentally. With Beatles trivial pursuit, there's no dodging the subject. The question you get will indeed be about the Beatles, and worse, something rather tangential to the Beatles.
This is not a casual game. This is a game you train for, and Emma Peel's dad is an Olympian when it comes to the Beatles. He goes so far as to add on more facts when he answers the impossibly obscure questions. That's actually how I managed to compete at all. I was simply paying attention as he over-answered some of the questions. "Keep going," I thought. "You're bound to give away something I can use later on."
He manage to answer 12 or so questions straight away, from the first roll. I think he had three pieces of pie before anyone else had picked up the die. Jimbromski is DCRC's resident Beatologist, and I think there is a tournament in the making.
Since the "Movies" category seemed to do me in more than any other category, I thought I'd share with you the trailer to the 1965 motion picture, HELP!.
Andrew, our Senior Youth Correspondent is picking up our slack. Here's his take on the recent Greenland show.
Greenland w/ Dennis Kane
Wednesday, January 13 2010
Black Cat backstage
When you are on winter break from college, Wednesdays are a lot like other days of the week. So this past Wednesday I pretended it was the weekend and headed to the Black Cat for local heavies Greenland. Dennis Kane opened to a decently sized crowd. Dennis is the main sound guy at the Black Cat, it was nice see him have a go from the other side of the room. He played gruff garage and post punk songs backed by a three piece band that included the Mrs. on bass. His songwriting brought to mind a more fierce Bowie or a less fierce Iggy. I didn't love every song I heard, but the overall performance was solid and Dennis get points for Fender Jazzmaster usage.
New material was the order of the day once the Greenlanders took the stage. Greenland is an indie-rock/post punk quartet that channels Joy Divsion and Wire as astutely as they do Neil Young and Queen. The band opened promptly with staple "Salome" and proceeded to a handful of fresh songs the band perhaps jokingly claimed were to appear on series of 3 upcoming EPs the first of which would come out in 2012. ("Be patient, guys") Lyrical content was as engaging as the music per usual. One tune about college was right up my alley: "Baby, baby/got caught by the RA." I happen to live in the basement of my dorm so I tend not to run into my resident advisor, but still it was nice to have some of the emotional spice of college life set to reverb soaked post punk. Potsy, Slice, you still remember going to college right? The new stuff sounded really solid, including older new songs "Black Lighting" and "Coffee" (both streaming here). I discovered these guys at Fort Reno in 2006, and have been a big fan ever since. If you have not checked them out yet, do it, they are easily one of the most original and enjoyable local bands currently active.
SPOON - returning to the 9:30 Club March 22nd (and 23rd). New album (Transference) released next week (1/18). Listen to the album via NPR ahead of time.
Here's a peek at live performance of "Written in Reverse":
Charles Bock meet Jimbromski.
Jimbromski, author Charles Bock.
I believe you two have something in common.
Former Swervedriver frontman Adam Franklin and his Bolts of Melody play DC9. Local rock heros, The Jet Age are also on board (and on the burger menu).
It looks like it might be Rock Club's first night out in 0-ten. See you there (maybe).
On August 6th of 1994, some friends and I drove from Binghamton, NY to Barrie, ON (that's Canada folks) to see Soundgarden and NIN play something loosely resembling a festival at Molson Park. Also on the bill but barely remembered were:What I remember from the Molson Park show (besides the beer prison) was that Soundgarden wasn't all that good. Chris Cornell makes some good records (with Soundgarden that is, not with Timbaland), but his vocals at live performances are hit or miss from what I've seen. NIN on the other hand was pretty awesome. Come to find out, that Molson Park gig was apparently Trent's favourite Canadian show of his career.
“We had a chip on our shoulder about Soundgarden because their record [Superunknown] came out the same day Downward Spiral came out, and they beat us to No. 1 on Billboard. That became a kind of professional showdown. And we did show them.”
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