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Riot Fest 2017, Day 3

Day three was a perfect day, really. I did miss Beach Slang. Hot Water Music was a working class punk group (with name of course from Bukowski). That Dog provided a welcome change from much of the rest of the lineup--breezy pop in the style of the Breeders or Throwing Muses. The vocalist was mildly humorous in an NPR host way. The Orwells are a proficient band from the area. Aside from the music, though, just as the singer's bum crack appeared (due to some ill-fitting pants), he disappeared off the side of the stage, climbing atop a structure, never to be seen again. The first guitar god I saw today was Doug Martsch. Whereas in the past, I have seen Built to Spill with three guitarists, today they were a three piece, playing Keep It like a Secret. The sound was very full. Despite the cruel scheduling conflict, we were able to see about four songs from TV on the Radio before heading over to see Dinosaur Jr. perform You're Living All over Me, an easy desert island pick of an a...
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Riot Fest 2017, Day 2

My mottos for the day were there's no way I'm going to see everything, so don't worry. Also, after getting very little sleep and squeezing in my morning class, sometimes I needed to keep moving to stay awake. In fact, I let myself nod off a bit during GBH. Hardcore punk will just never be my thing. Fishbone played Truth and Soul in its entirety, which didn't register with me at first. They will always be a great live band. Dead Cross seems to be a platform for Dave Lombardo (Slayer) to solo constantly and for Mike Patton to shout and yell without abandon. Not great. I watched some FIDLAR (a young punk band) and then had to get over to Bad Brains. H.R., sadly, didn't seem up for it. I left before Lamb of God's singer handled some of their more notable songs. I've been somewhat fascinated with Danzig of late. Any positive account of him doesn't seem to exist. He seems more an a--hole than a Satanist. Yet, as I read somewhere, his music is Black Sabbath...
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Riot Fest 2017, Day 1

Friday didn't start out very strong until Liars. This is a great band for people who like noise. But I didn't know what to expect, as the lineup and approach had changed several times. The singer wore a lovely wedding dress. And the chanting Birthday Party-like style I appreciate so much was on display. X is a band never to take for granted (it seems like we shouldn't take anything for granted these days). Literate punks who take to rockabilly and write occasional songs that cut to important social issues. Whether it was my state of mind or the band's performance, they sounded particularly good to me. The Buzzcocks played, but can we ever get a Magazine reunion? My goodness, how I'd waited for Ministry. A lineup of metal dudes (black hair, black clothes) took the stage. Looked like Danzig's band. And they brutalized us for an hour straight. Al indeed has written some new songs about recent events (sample lyrics: "a punch in the face," and "we ...
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Pitchfork Festival 2017

Things that get me excited in the 12th year of attending the Pitchfork Festival: It has added handicapped seating. This enables Brian, my concert viewing partner since the mid 90s, and I to remain seated for every set across the three days. We also immediately look for free stuff--Clif Bars, Wendy's salads, tote bags--I'm grateful for all of it. The very first act is Madame Gandhi, a former drummer for M.I.A. She's cut from M.I.A.'s cloth but has a way to go. Second, though, is Priests. Now Priests I can get into. Their singer smiles weirdly and shrieks. A little preppy and schlubby, but this is punk. Vince Staples is the most exciting artist in rap right now. Danny Brown is a seasoned pro. (Side note--did he get his front tooth fixed?) LCD Soundsystem rightfully headlines night one. Their sound is as melodic as New Order and as big as the Talking Heads. Going into day two, I know that there will be a lot to take in. Vagabon starts things off well, with hints of the ...
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I Rank the Remaining Republican Candidates

1. John Huntsman - He makes so much sense, too much sense for him to gain any traction among Republicans. 2. Newt Gingrich - Tough call, but I've always always appreciated Republicans who are willing to own their evil. Also, occasionally he will admit that some regulation is good. 3. Ron Paul - "One thing about Ron Paul, he's consistent." But see #2 above. In a Ron Paul-controlled country, corporations have no agencies holding them to task and there are no social safety nets to protect us in difficult times--that's scary. 4. Mitt Romney - Maybe Romney is a moderate, with his record as a governor as proof. But then again, he is tacking far right of his own record now (so who knows?), and his background as a corporate downsizer would not give us something we need more of. 5. Rick Perry - Willing to take pot shots at Romney, but the clock is ticking on him and that commercial mentioning "Obama's war on religion" is infuriating. 6. Rick Santorum - Wh...
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Dating as a Type B (or C) Man

Somewhere back in time, I registered on a site called OK Cupid. Not much has happened there, but out of the blue, an Indian young lady started talking to me there. This was intriguing to me. She immediately wanted to talk on the phone, so we did. Then she suggested meeting up. I had no idea what to do. I noticed that there was an arboretum by where she lives, so I mentioned that. As I was starting out to meet her, she called to say that she had a meeting and that we should meet up in a neighboring city's downtown instead. Okay, except that I know nothing about that city. I browsed in a Barnes and Noble until she showed up. She was more attractive than some pictures of her let on. We sat along the lake (I guess), where ducks and geese swam. She was a vegetarian but insisted that it was okay for me to eat meat--I'm not the biggest carnivore, so I had decided I would eat vegetarian as well. We went to a Mongolian grill (I think it was called that). The conversation w...
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Pitchfork Festival 2011

Friday - Walking around, walking around. Nothing much caught my attention until Battles. They are generally instrumental except for a couple of songs where the guest vocalists' heads appeared in stereo on video screens. Thurston Moore played with a band that is not Sonic Youth. There was a harp player, and though Joanna Newsom is my only point of reference, she was no Joanna Newsom. Frankly, Thurston was boring and I wished I were watching Curren$y instead, but my friend is more a sucka for established rock acts. Das Racist didn't do a single thing for me either, but my first great moment was watching James Blake. This would turn out as a better way to make dance music come alive than DJ Shadow. The first night closed with Animal Collective, who, except for one song, played all new songs that struck a balance between the tunefulness of Merriweather Post Pavilion and the dissonance of their other work. Saturday - Julianna Barwick is the worst version of Enya. Woods was...
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General Post

This is a general post. It's late at night, and I wish I had some ice cream. Maybe tomorrow. On Monday, I rode the train to Chicago to see Low at Millennium Park. Immediately after I boarded the train, I discovered that my phone battery was completely dead. This meant that I couldn't contact my friend, who is blind and was supposed to meet me there. I covered placed where he might be twice to no avail (including walking from the field back to the train station). Finally, I sat in the back row of seats, looking around as often as I could. Man, did the first act annoy me. He is some Irish gentleman from some romance movie that tied in music. So song after song was about luv, except that he played one Van Morrison cover (I love Van Morrison; this guy shouldn't have tried). I noticed young women all around me, all clapping enthusiastically after every song. I also noticed a few stretching out an Irish flag. Blech. Then Low started, really slow... The first time I ...
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No Politics or Religion

*Placekeeper post to tell me I need to write a new post, maybe a new Bible School Chronicles (okay, maybe some religion). It's summer; I might be going downtown to see Terrence Malick's Tree of Life .--aaand I still haven't gotten around to writing this post. But I did see Tree of Life , and it is very interesting. Set me off into looking into other Malick films.
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The Chronics

I will be glad when I am through II Chronicles. Such a considerable portion of what I've been going through lately has been recording history of wars and kings' rule. So many portions are phrased in exactly the same way. Most often, the record is that a particular leader did not please God, usually because he let idols to other gods stand and/or worshiped them himself. David is one of a handful of exceptions. He was a man of war, it to me he seems a womanizer, but many times he is depicted as trying to act rightly despite some of his subjects or those around him acting outside of God's will (through killing someone or trying to kill him). Something humorous that is repeated over and over is to the effect of, "As to the rest of King _____'s reign, is it not recorded in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel?" I respond to this immediately with, "I don't know," and then by wondering, what has become of this book? Was it decided that ...
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