Saves the Day

Here's my review of tonight's Saves the Day show at the Kool Haus in Toronto.

This was my first time at the venue which looks exactly like what you think a rave club would look like, warehouse type.
Not a bad place for a show.

The 2 opening acts, I admit, I was clueless about.
The first was Circa Survive.
The set started with just the lead singer yelling into the mic, no instruments. Actually, yelling is wrong and unflattering, he was singing in a high volume with great intensity, sounded awesome, then the performers joined him to kick it off.
He, Anthony - according to the Girl who claimed to love him, has a great voice and put on a great show.

I love my artists to express intensity, they have a message to deliver and they should be passionate about it. Anthony had that, like Ian Curtis of Joy Division, he's so intense that his body was contorted. Loved it.

At this point, I was like wow. The crowd is very young (16-23 range) but this is good. Some were singing along too, which seemed to imply maybe I'm more out of the loop then I thought. That feeling only intensified later.

Second was to be Moneen, after the longest most brutal sound check ever.
Again, I never heard of this band so I had no idea what they looked like.
The lights go out and a single guy with a guitar comes on to do some solos. He's good, but not so much to justify the crowd's glee. He then ripped off his track pants and played on.

Turns out he was the roadie, and the people I thought were roadies, were the band. How did no one recognize them? I know they're not well known, but everyone knew all their songs, even the new ones.
I was in the second row after the mosh pit. That's right, a mosh pit. And the kids today, have no clue how to do it. How is that enjoyable - essentially starting a series of fights instead of listening?
The band performed well, was full of energy (as a stage experience think Finger 11, but better executed - not a musical comparison) but they weren't pulling me in. Maybe it was the mosh pit, but I think the vibe was just bad juju. People seemed the wrong kind of angry, like an unnecessary fake rage instead of angst which would have been appropriate. There was a rather large amount of wallet punks, people who get mommy and daddy to buy designer clothes they think make them punk (think Good Charlotte).

The show started at 7PM and it was now just after 9PM.
Before we get to Saves the Day, let me explain why I was there in the first place.
I had no records of theirs at the time of ticket purchase. I knew them from one song - At Your Funeral.
But this song had achieved a near mystical proportion for me. Easily in my top 20 all time. It's always been in the top 2 of the play count on my iPod (Johnette Napolitano's Suicide Note being the other - Suicide Note & At Your Funeral, I wonder if there's a connection there).
I knew them as an Emo rock band, like Weezer.
So that was my expectation. I did purchase their 2 biggest records and listened about twice to each of them, nothing there to change my mind.

They get on stage at 9:30 and right away, I'm floored. The lead vocalist has hot pink short hair. A far cry from the short hair and thick glasses expected.
But the first 2 tracks are good, and the mosh pit is going nuts, but I'm further back, having learned my lesson (the buffer would be fully eroded by the end).
The 3rd song is the one I've been looking for and it was performed like on the album, but that's it. Nothing special, and people were moshing. I was a little hurt, because it's such a sad song with deep meaning for me, the vibe was wrong, but I still enjoyed it.
That was the highlight, they seemed almost disinterested in being there, it was a hard rock set for the most part, not what was expected.
And a short set, under 45 minutes.

So, for the first time ever I left a concert disappointed.
This could mean 2 things - stay away from any Johnette Napolitano concert or just do my homework before buying tix. If I knew it was a hard rock show, I would've skipped it.

At least I got to see someone who understands his craft - Circa Survive.

Ciao!

NBA playoffs

I figure I should do the NBA playoffs too.
My favorite players in the league are Wade & Shaq, so you can guess where this is going.

East:
Detroit over Cleveland ... Although if Lebron advanced it would be awesome before he went to the Knicks.
Miami over Indiana, but no upsets were supposed to happen in the East in the first round.

West:
Dallas over San Antonio. Dirk, like Diggler, is too much.
Suns over Clippers. No way Kobe gets through, the basketball gods can't allow it.

Finals:
Dallas over Miami in 7. Just too much, with the 9-man rotation from Avery Johnson.

Have fun!

Draft Day

Well, few days are more important to me every year as this one.
For once I was able to watch the entire first day of the draft thanks to the NFL network. Here's some thoughts...
Mario Williams was a great pick at number 1. Bush is not Michael Jordan despite what that insane troll Mayock might think.
New Orleans now has a superstar to market in Bush, and I could make a joke here about how this Bush got to NO much quicker than the other, but I won't.
Vince Young was a mistake, Leinart should have gone first at QB, unless you can wait, in that case Cutler was the pick. Young will be Aaron Brooks, average and frustrating with flashes of brilliance. Leinart will be Carson Palmer. Cutler will be Favre ... I'm fearless, bring it on!
Suzy Kolber asking Leinart (drafted in the top 10, voted one of the 50 most beautiful people, a Heisman winner, 2 time College Champion, dating Supermodels and hanging out with celebrities) if he has any advice for the kids who are outcasts out there !!!!!!
My neck almost snapped when I spun around to make sure I heard that and wasn't hallucinating. Leinart, an outcast??? Sure, and while you're at it ask Donald Trump for his advice to the homeless.
The rest of the first round was very unsurprising. My beloved Fish selected Jason Allen, a defensive back who can play multiple positions. I was hoping for Jackson, a receiver, but we got Hagan a very sure handed position receiver in the 3rd, so I'm happy.
But why did the OL drop so far? Winston & Justice ... Very weird.
Denver got Cutler, Javon Walker & a solid Tight End ... Very solid draft.
The Texans was able to add Eric Winston to Williams, for a good day as well. The Bills screwed up all kinds trading up to pick guys not on most boards, very sad. (hee hee)

I'll post another message soon with my thoughts on women sports and the title IX rules (special request), so stay tuned.

On another note... Stay away from Silent Hill. Unless you love the games, in that case wait for the DVD. Brutal!

Weird Stat

I saw this on espn, had to put it here ...
44 years later, the Astros finally return to a .500 franchise record (3,507-3,507). The last time they were .500 was 6-6 in '62.

How's that for futility. For a franchise that had Nolan Ryan and the great run in the mid 80's that's pretty sad.

Iguchi

I know it happened Saturday, but I can't stop thinking about what I saw.

Here's the deal. We're in the afternoon and I'm playing Strat with a buddy in a pub on the Danforth (street near Downtown, for the out-of-towners). The Blue Jays are playing the ChiSox on the big screen next to us.
We see Bobby Jenks come out in the 9th inning for the save (we notice this because Jenks is known as Gerald in our neck of the woods - but that's an unrelated matter). We're barely paying attention, I like the Sox, because of Guillen mostly and don't care for the Jays, and we see Glaus reach first with one out.
Bengie Molina is up to bat next and he hits a slow grounder on the first base side of the mound.
Tadahito Iguchi charges for the ball, dives head first, but there's no way he's making that play. Molina reaches first, with Glaus on 2nd and immediately Molina heads to the dugout, we laugh thinking he knew the Jays would want a faster runner right away (they were down by 2).
But we were wrong. Iguchi sacrificed his body and his face to make the most unbelievable play ever. We were speechless and simply stood up and bowed - the pub was pretty empty. Sweet Fancy Moses! What a play.

Here's the official description.
In one motion, Iguchi pushed himself up slightly with his glove hand and made an acrobatic, sidearm throw to Konerko at first.
When Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen first saw Iguchi try to throw as he was falling, he was thinking, "We got second and third with one out."

Click here to see a photo, and here for a smaller one.

I've been unable to find video. But if you go to TSN.ca this week and check out the plays of the week you will see it at around the 1 minute mark.
I'm saying it here, the only team that can beat my beloved Athletics are the Pale Hose.
Un-freakin-believable ... What a play!

RNR HOF

After Beth we drove to Cleveland and last Saturday visited the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

I was hoping for a boatload of Janis, Jimi, Sex Pistols, Doors & Lou Reed. With a heavy dose of history, including John Lee Hooker, Chubby Checker, Little Richard and the other pioneers.
I did get some of that, but it was a lot of Elvis, Ricky Nelson and the others from the bland 50's & 60's ...

The first thing when you get there is a huge sign from Moby & Gwen (Stefani) ... Not exactly hardcore R&R. After paying the 20 bucks and being forced to check the cameras - because no pictures are allowed!! - we stepped into the exhibit hall. The first thing there is 2 short films 15 minutes each about the history of Rock. The first one was without dialogue and covered everything before Elvis. I was disappointed because I wanted acknowledgement of where Rock came from, but they only showed LeadBelly, Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters, they never explained what they meant. The second film was better, only because it had Janis and Patti Smith's Babelogue that she recites before Rock & Roll Nigger. But even that was interspersed with Madonna talking about Sex.

How does Michael Jackson (twice) and Brenda - Rocking around the Christmas tree - Lee make it in, but there's no Pearl Jam or Nirvana, and the Sex Pistols & Black Sabbath just make it in now. That's like having a Baseball Hall of Fame and not including Babe Ruth, the person or band that changed music.
There was stuff from Madonna and Britney & Christina Aguilera, all very disturbing.

The Hall has many interactive stations, which are supposed to be the reason for the fee and should be a highlight. I'll agree that the ones on the 4th floor, with all the inductees was cool. But the others were sorely lacking. The ones with the top 500 songs (how that was determined is unnerving in itself, with the 90's having very little representation and the bulk being in the 60's - not the cool part) was the worst. You can't listen to the music while you navigate through the menus and the accompanying text is cropped to fit the screen but is missing huge chucks making it frustrating more than anything else.

In all, there's some cool stuff like the Ramones lyrics' pages and the poster for the Mookie Blaylock concert (Pearl Jam's original name). But for 20 bucks I was expecting more.
The memorabilia for sale was almost all Elvis & Rolling Stones, nothing for Dylan.

Plus without the ability to capture any of the stuff on camera, I have to rely on a failing memory.
At least P-Funk was acknowledged ... Now let's get funked.

Beth Orton

It's been awhile, but I have a few things to say.
First, I need to talk about Beth Orton and the evening of bliss she gave me last week.

She played the Carlu in Toronto, a small club on the 7th floor of a building adjacent to a mall downtown. Opening for her was Willy Mason who was accompanied by the very lovely and talented Nina Violet. She apparently has a solo record coming out. A must buy.

I've always liked Beth, she has a great voice that's sweet and endearing. She Cries Your Name & Stolen Car were her big hits, but the new album (comfort of strangers) was filled with great songs, so anticipation was high.

She killed! Her voice has the power of Janis but can be as sweet as Tori's. She didn't do her 2 hits until the 2nd encore and she changed them and made them fresh, it was truly an awesome experience. People who had never heard of her, were moved by songs like Shadow of a Doubt and Heart of Soul. And of course Comfort of Strangers was a highlight.

She's vaulted herself into my top 5 current Ladies, with Tori, PJ Harvey, Bjork & Beth Gibbons (Portishead). Go and buy her albums.
So I thank Beth & her guitar for a great night.