I'm highly impressed by this band The Bees. They're southern-fried, but not too southern-fried. Folky, but not too folky. Bluesy, but not too bluesy. 70s rock, but not too 70s rock. Psychedelic, but not too psychedelic.
Are you sold yet?
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Good Listens
I'm highly impressed by this band The Bees. They're southern-fried, but not too southern-fried. Folky, but not too folky. Bluesy, but not too bluesy. 70s rock, but not too 70s rock. Psychedelic, but not too psychedelic.
Are you sold yet?
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Hello, wheelhouse.
from Pete:
Well if this isn't a story that is all-encompassing what this blog stands for, I don't know what is. I'm too excited to properly editorialize.
Well if this isn't a story that is all-encompassing what this blog stands for, I don't know what is. I'm too excited to properly editorialize.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Chew on This
It seems this blog is in some sort of spring doldrum. Come on piles. You aren't playing with friends in the streets or anything, and none of you live near a major league ballpark. You can watch House on your own time. Post some shit.
So to fill the online void I've added to my rotation this jem. If there are two things I love, its burritos, and writing about subjects that don't need commentary but get it anyway. Not surprisingly, its based in San Fran (most things are that weren't created by a)farmers b)quakers), but I think this is a great opportunity for east-coast-Nebraska residents to add their take on local burrito direction. Look forward to it.
And for God's sake, someone add a burrito review for the Planet.
So to fill the online void I've added to my rotation this jem. If there are two things I love, its burritos, and writing about subjects that don't need commentary but get it anyway. Not surprisingly, its based in San Fran (most things are that weren't created by a)farmers b)quakers), but I think this is a great opportunity for east-coast-Nebraska residents to add their take on local burrito direction. Look forward to it.
And for God's sake, someone add a burrito review for the Planet.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
This is Good
Man Dressed as Darth Vader Spared Jail for Attack on Founder of Britain's Jedi Church
From FOXNews.com
The article should’ve started: “Out of frustration for never getting laid…a man dressed as Darth Vader…
Well 177, theres the softball...lobbed right into your wheelhouse...
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Beale St. Music Festival 2008
My second ever Beale St. Music Festival started off with the certain knowledge that there would be rain and mud. I drove home from work the Friday that it kicked off in an absolute downpour. I knew I would be completely soaked that night and that my feet and legs would be covered in mud all in the name of the festival. I knowingly chose to don flip flops and slosh through the mud and feel the slimy earth of Tom Lee Park between my toes.
On my initial walk down toward the south stage the rain was still falling pretty hard about 6 pm so the friend I was with and I decided to do what any logical music fan should have done and ducked into the blues tent to tak in some of Richard Johnston's set of blues standards and general blues guitar showmanship. While there I saw an extended jam made out of 'Bang, Bang, Bang' and really liked the other extended Booker T. and the MG's style base boiling. It was high energy and great blues showmanship that really set the tone for the festival for me.
After the set we headed to the south stage to see Flyleaf and the very young crowd gathered around the young pretty metal band. If you know nothing about Flyleaf just know that the most visually memorable things are the young short pretty female lead singer who thrashes and head bangs with her long black hair nearly always covering her face and the base player with similar long dark hair and black eye makeup thrashing and jumping off of everything on their set. It was youthful high energy metal, though I've been told that acoustic versions of their stuff is available and very pretty. Something to look into...
After a good dose of that metal sound it was time to head to the north stage for the upcoming later acts and to catch the end of the set Project Pat w/ Computer, Yung D & Lil Wyte. Yes, this is some local rap and yes, there were probably 100 people on stage when we got there. Some were obviously 'with the band' and many of the newly added crowd members were females anxiously windin' and grindin, up on that stage... you get the picture. I remember chanting along to the only song I recognized from some local radio play 'I was raised in the projects, projects' only I replaced projects with suburbs. Hey, it was funny to me.
The main reasons for going to this stage was a set with Ben Folds, set to play at 10:20 pm and the Roots to follow. Mother nature would simply not allow for this to happen. I had manuvered my way to about 5 rows back and center stage in anticipation of these sets, but at about 11 pm and while soaking wet I made the call that it was not going to let up and it didn't appear that anything was happening on stage, so I went home. I later read that Ben Folds and the Roots cancelled their sets. Boo, Ben, Boo ?estlove, that's sucky.
Saturday I attended with a friend and many of her friends who were milling about in the mud and muck, though in dry and overcast conditions. I donned the flip flops again and covered my feet in mud. The first couple of shows I saw were decidedly feminine, but still musically entertaining at points. I saw Sara and Teegan who are identical twins from Canada who are self proclaimed part time comedians and part time musicians. They had an odd and eclectic mostly acoustic and soft rock sound and very funny though very cute stories from life and traveling and making weather comparisons to Canada and other places they have played and fainted at. I doubt I will buy any of their stuff, but it was a very entertaining hour.
The next set at the north stage was Colbie Callat. I know what you're thinking, yes she is very processed california pop in some aspects and yes she only has one album. When she slows it down and gets a little soulful the girl can sing in a way that will give you chills if you let it. An added bonus to the set was that her man on rythem guitar also occasionally plays ukelele. Awesome!
After this set we took an hour break or so to wash off the mud and put shoes on, have dinner up on Main St. and get warmer clothes on for the night. The first set we made it back to just in time for the twilight portion of the evening was John Butler Trio. I had been hyping them up to everyone who would listen from when I saw them last year and they did not disappoint. It was as jammy, musically virtuostic, and uplifting as last year. Just think hippies dancing in the mud, that pretty much describes them. John plays an incredible slide guitar, really makes it sing, and probably one of the more notable points in the show was the extended drum solo where their drummer plays his gigantic set which includes a massive standard drum kit, African drums, timpani, go-go bells, and countless other percussive oddities while literally running around and throwing mallots and sticks all over the stage and into the crowd. It was ridiculous.
After the hippy fest I was talked into going to see Disturbed. If you're not familiar, they are hardcore heavy metal, and operate onstage under the guise of a self help psychological analyst with one notable quote, "now is the time to take everything that is dark and black and loathsome in your heart and let it out." Yes, they are very wierd. I'm happy to say that even though I was standing way back by the sound booth that no one who was attempting to crowd surf, way back there even, kicked me in the head like I saw actually happen.
Sunday afternoon we started out with Gavin DeGraw at the south stage and plenty of sunshine and even more mud. I'd seen Gavin open for DMB a couple years ago and was impressed by his piano, guitar, and mostly voice and propensity to have fun on stage. Of course we heard the old standards 'Chariot,' 'I don't wanna be,' and the current hit 'In love with a girl.'
After that we headed to the north stage for some musical potpouri with Umphrey's McGee. They are essentially a jam band from Chicago with something like 7 guys on stage who can play some blues, but in a jammy way that came across as almost ambient electronica when they really amped up the pace. It was very engaging and very building with extended songs featuring rotating and almost conversational solos. They had a propensity to occasionally even build into a metal or trance like hardness which was somewhat odd at first, but became a natural progression to the creshendo of their set. Very fun.
My favorite set of the weekend came from Michael Franti and Spearhead, who I didn't even know existed prior to this year's music fest. Maybe it was that it was a Sunday afternoon with the late sunshine at my back and the couple beers I had while standing in the mud watching the real hippies dance in it. It was just very good and energetic and uplifting regge. I had my doubts withe their peace sign American flag on set and military camo mesh covering the drum kit, monitors, and front of the keyboards that it was going to be hyper political and a huge bush bash, because they were from San Francisco. It was not hyper political. It was very thoughtful and intelligent and questioning about what we could do to better the world and how we could all love each other, dude. Maybe I'm really just a hippy at heart. They did a nice regge medly in the middle of their set that covered all the Marley biggies and others. I highly recommend catching them in concert if they're at a festival near you.
My final set of music fest was O.A.R. I got to hear '3am' and 'Crazy game of poker' and others I recognized from my friends in college who were way into them. It was a fun set and great cap to the weekend. I would have loved to have stayed for The Black Crows who followed, but I knew I had a long day of work and travel the next day (turned out to be about 18 hours worth) so I shut it down early that evening.
I do have some regrets from this year's fest. I wish I would have seen Jonny Lang, Keb Mo, The Roots and Ben Folds if they would have played, Buddy Guy, Santana, Aretha Franklin, and maybe some others. I almost wish that their blues tent also would have had its own weekend, rather than running concurrently with the rest of the stuff.
Oh, I forgot to mention that I saw a couple songs of Matisyahu, yes, the regge rapping Jew. He was in his full garb with side burns and cool hat. He is tall, skinny, and pretty incredible. Fun times, kindof seems like a gimmick, couldn't really understand him.
I hope to see y'all down on the river in the mud next year, and look forward to being ridiculed for what I missed.
On my initial walk down toward the south stage the rain was still falling pretty hard about 6 pm so the friend I was with and I decided to do what any logical music fan should have done and ducked into the blues tent to tak in some of Richard Johnston's set of blues standards and general blues guitar showmanship. While there I saw an extended jam made out of 'Bang, Bang, Bang' and really liked the other extended Booker T. and the MG's style base boiling. It was high energy and great blues showmanship that really set the tone for the festival for me.
After the set we headed to the south stage to see Flyleaf and the very young crowd gathered around the young pretty metal band. If you know nothing about Flyleaf just know that the most visually memorable things are the young short pretty female lead singer who thrashes and head bangs with her long black hair nearly always covering her face and the base player with similar long dark hair and black eye makeup thrashing and jumping off of everything on their set. It was youthful high energy metal, though I've been told that acoustic versions of their stuff is available and very pretty. Something to look into...
After a good dose of that metal sound it was time to head to the north stage for the upcoming later acts and to catch the end of the set Project Pat w/ Computer, Yung D & Lil Wyte. Yes, this is some local rap and yes, there were probably 100 people on stage when we got there. Some were obviously 'with the band' and many of the newly added crowd members were females anxiously windin' and grindin, up on that stage... you get the picture. I remember chanting along to the only song I recognized from some local radio play 'I was raised in the projects, projects' only I replaced projects with suburbs. Hey, it was funny to me.
The main reasons for going to this stage was a set with Ben Folds, set to play at 10:20 pm and the Roots to follow. Mother nature would simply not allow for this to happen. I had manuvered my way to about 5 rows back and center stage in anticipation of these sets, but at about 11 pm and while soaking wet I made the call that it was not going to let up and it didn't appear that anything was happening on stage, so I went home. I later read that Ben Folds and the Roots cancelled their sets. Boo, Ben, Boo ?estlove, that's sucky.
Saturday I attended with a friend and many of her friends who were milling about in the mud and muck, though in dry and overcast conditions. I donned the flip flops again and covered my feet in mud. The first couple of shows I saw were decidedly feminine, but still musically entertaining at points. I saw Sara and Teegan who are identical twins from Canada who are self proclaimed part time comedians and part time musicians. They had an odd and eclectic mostly acoustic and soft rock sound and very funny though very cute stories from life and traveling and making weather comparisons to Canada and other places they have played and fainted at. I doubt I will buy any of their stuff, but it was a very entertaining hour.
The next set at the north stage was Colbie Callat. I know what you're thinking, yes she is very processed california pop in some aspects and yes she only has one album. When she slows it down and gets a little soulful the girl can sing in a way that will give you chills if you let it. An added bonus to the set was that her man on rythem guitar also occasionally plays ukelele. Awesome!
After this set we took an hour break or so to wash off the mud and put shoes on, have dinner up on Main St. and get warmer clothes on for the night. The first set we made it back to just in time for the twilight portion of the evening was John Butler Trio. I had been hyping them up to everyone who would listen from when I saw them last year and they did not disappoint. It was as jammy, musically virtuostic, and uplifting as last year. Just think hippies dancing in the mud, that pretty much describes them. John plays an incredible slide guitar, really makes it sing, and probably one of the more notable points in the show was the extended drum solo where their drummer plays his gigantic set which includes a massive standard drum kit, African drums, timpani, go-go bells, and countless other percussive oddities while literally running around and throwing mallots and sticks all over the stage and into the crowd. It was ridiculous.
After the hippy fest I was talked into going to see Disturbed. If you're not familiar, they are hardcore heavy metal, and operate onstage under the guise of a self help psychological analyst with one notable quote, "now is the time to take everything that is dark and black and loathsome in your heart and let it out." Yes, they are very wierd. I'm happy to say that even though I was standing way back by the sound booth that no one who was attempting to crowd surf, way back there even, kicked me in the head like I saw actually happen.
Sunday afternoon we started out with Gavin DeGraw at the south stage and plenty of sunshine and even more mud. I'd seen Gavin open for DMB a couple years ago and was impressed by his piano, guitar, and mostly voice and propensity to have fun on stage. Of course we heard the old standards 'Chariot,' 'I don't wanna be,' and the current hit 'In love with a girl.'
After that we headed to the north stage for some musical potpouri with Umphrey's McGee. They are essentially a jam band from Chicago with something like 7 guys on stage who can play some blues, but in a jammy way that came across as almost ambient electronica when they really amped up the pace. It was very engaging and very building with extended songs featuring rotating and almost conversational solos. They had a propensity to occasionally even build into a metal or trance like hardness which was somewhat odd at first, but became a natural progression to the creshendo of their set. Very fun.
My favorite set of the weekend came from Michael Franti and Spearhead, who I didn't even know existed prior to this year's music fest. Maybe it was that it was a Sunday afternoon with the late sunshine at my back and the couple beers I had while standing in the mud watching the real hippies dance in it. It was just very good and energetic and uplifting regge. I had my doubts withe their peace sign American flag on set and military camo mesh covering the drum kit, monitors, and front of the keyboards that it was going to be hyper political and a huge bush bash, because they were from San Francisco. It was not hyper political. It was very thoughtful and intelligent and questioning about what we could do to better the world and how we could all love each other, dude. Maybe I'm really just a hippy at heart. They did a nice regge medly in the middle of their set that covered all the Marley biggies and others. I highly recommend catching them in concert if they're at a festival near you.
My final set of music fest was O.A.R. I got to hear '3am' and 'Crazy game of poker' and others I recognized from my friends in college who were way into them. It was a fun set and great cap to the weekend. I would have loved to have stayed for The Black Crows who followed, but I knew I had a long day of work and travel the next day (turned out to be about 18 hours worth) so I shut it down early that evening.
I do have some regrets from this year's fest. I wish I would have seen Jonny Lang, Keb Mo, The Roots and Ben Folds if they would have played, Buddy Guy, Santana, Aretha Franklin, and maybe some others. I almost wish that their blues tent also would have had its own weekend, rather than running concurrently with the rest of the stuff.
Oh, I forgot to mention that I saw a couple songs of Matisyahu, yes, the regge rapping Jew. He was in his full garb with side burns and cool hat. He is tall, skinny, and pretty incredible. Fun times, kindof seems like a gimmick, couldn't really understand him.
I hope to see y'all down on the river in the mud next year, and look forward to being ridiculed for what I missed.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Summertime = Country Concert Time
What are peoples plans for attending anyone of the numerous Country Concerts this summer? I have looked at Nebraskaland Days and wasn't too impressed, although the 2nd night headliner isn't bad. Does anyone know who else is playing that night? I am also going to try and see if I cant arrange things so that I can attend Cheyenne Frontier Days, and hopefully the Rascal Flatts/Taylor Swift Concert. I wouldn't mind looking into the Country Stampede either. These are all just thoughts running through my head.
Anyone...
Anyone...
Monday, May 05, 2008
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