Pennsylvania

Color me impressed that @ChamberMonster managed to keep a secret for 2+ months, and tonight we’re seeing Stephin Merritt!

Last month I described Birdman – unfavorably – as a “series of carefully scripted temper tantrums meant to embody the struggle of making capital ‘A’ Art.” I wouldn’t have guessed that a short time later, another film fitting that description would knock me on my ass.

Whiplash is a trenchant examination of greatness, approaching the idea not by deconstructing a success story, but instead by observing an integral moment in the life of someone who … See more →

A technically adroit series of carefully scripted temper tantrums meant to embody the struggle of making capital “A” Art, Birdman pays lip service to the nuance that accompanies authenticity, but it tends to make its points as loudly as possible. This is probably about as good as overwrought showbiz navel gazing gets, and it’s still pretty off-putting.

McConaughey is excellent, but the redemption story is pretty by-the-numbers, and is ultimately overpowered by a rather shrill anti-FDA polemic.

All @mSutters ever wanted from an @AndrewWk show was a bloody nose, and now I have given it to him.

To my Philly people: I’m not saying I hadn’t been to an R5 show in ages, but the last time I saw the sound guy, he was clean shaven.

Realized tonight that Mike Watt chooses to play with guitarists who sound not like D Boon did, but how he would by now if he had survived.

Backstage, an hour before show time, the cramped green room buzzed and shuffled with conversation and preparation. Rhinestones and tassels adorned leather and denim, which adorned bodies aged eighteen to forty-eight, travelers hailing from as far as West Virginia. Many were veterans of the air guitar stage, and some had competed as recently as the previous night. Having failed to capture the titles in their home towns of New York, Boston, and Washington DC, they… See more →

Cheers to Paul Green School of Rock for this fest with kids from all over the US playing rock music. Jeers for letting Skoal be a sponsor.

Just saw what is sure to have been the best Bruce Dickinson imitation ever to be perpetrated by a teenage girl.

The Hold Steady has found the ears of the lite beer crowd.

These kids are exceptionally skilled musicians, but they can’t save this Yes song from itself.… See more →

Emperor X was so good tonight. Pretty much everyone I can think of would have enjoyed this show.

I like adjectives that are both crystal clear and totally vague. For example, you may be coming off a “good” weekend just like I am, but it’s entirely possible that the “good” elements of our respective weekends were completely different. Perhaps you were served an amazing slice of peach cobbler, or your blind date turned out to be George Clooney, or you finally disposed of some incriminating evidence that’s been haunting you for years. But… See more →

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Brooklyn is not terribly far from where I live, so waking up there this morning made a clear enough impression that I would be arriving home today. But I still just couldn’t get my head around the idea of being home and staying there. Perhaps in a subconscious attempt to slow the approach, I made a few stops on the way. There was a very nice breakfast with Stan and Shawn Morrison at DuMont in… See more →

My windshield gathered an impressive collection of insects today, arthropodal inhabitants of the five states through which Google Maps sent me (Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky). An apocalyptic downpour washed them all away, which would surely have made an anthropomorphized version of my windshield quite happy or quite sad, depending on whether or not it was the collector type.

Hopefully the good people of Florence, KY (Florentines?) will not be offended that I… See more →

Wondering what motivates people to spend money to talk over a band.

Apparently I’m a sucker for a cute girl with an accordion.

Stupid shrieking girls have no place at any show that would entice me to buy a ticket. DMB ain’t on the bill tonight, ladies. Please go home.

Don't ask me why, but the Art Brut vocalist reminds me of a cross between @lloydi and @adactio. Guitarists: Gareth Keenan and Bob Dylan.

The Hold Steady's Craig Finn is like an unlikely, overjoyed hybrid of @joshualane and my friend Ashley. Best fucking show I've seen all year

I killed my own summer. I took on more work than I should have, and hopefully I suffered the consequences more than my clients did. The summer is drawing to a close, though, and with its end, my schedule is finally becoming kind of manageable again. Today was the first day in ages that I was able to leave the house for something that didn’t resemble work.

In the early afternoon, I took in the… See more →

Another busy summer has come and gone, most of the fruits of which are still not quite ripe enough to talk about. I do, however, have a few things going on this month that are worth a mention.

Screens ’N’ Spokes

Throughout the year and across the country, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society hosts the MS Bike Ride, a lengthy cycling excursion whose participants have raised a considerable amount of money to fight the organization’s… See more →

For the last few years, I’ve been getting the bulk of my world news from a number of New York Times RSS feeds. I’m sure you don’t need me to extoll the publication’s manifold virtues. However, as a Philadelphia resident, one thing the New York Times can’t give me is detailed local news. As my schedule’s density has increased, my ability to absorb the local goings-on through my usual channels (free weeklies and sheer osmosis)… See more →