Thursday, October 06, 2005

Rock and roll revival

I’ve got a lot of material to cover and it’s extremely late and I am still bouncing off the walls from this evening so I’ll try to make this as sensible as I can.

I went back on Ticketmaster to see what it would cost me to see Stryper. For those interested in spending their Wednesday night in Kansas City with the world’s first Christian heavy metal band you will be pleased to know that this experience will cost you $19 (of course, that is prior to Ticketmaster surcharges and event fees). $19? I really want to know what else comes with that. I mean, if I’m paying $19 to see Stryper on a Wednesday I better be given the opportunity to be the drummer for at least one song. I seriously wonder what the crowd will be for a show like this. The only people who know who the band is are guys like me and we’re old now and even the ironic nostalgia probably isn’t enough to make us show up.

In much better concert news, I just came back from the New Pornographers show, featuring the lovely and talented Neko Case. A great set from probably one of the best power pop bands around today. Don’t be scared off by the name (taken from Jimmy Swaggert’s quote “Rock and roll is the new pornography), this Canadian supergroup (critic’s term, not mine) has put out some great music over the past few years. Definitely give them a listen.

The biggest surprise was the opening act Immaculate Machine, which put on a really neat set. Highlighted by the keyboardist/vocalist Katherine who I… ok, I think I fell in love with her during the opening set. And then she came out to play with the New Pornographers and well, despite the fact that I thought this was technically impossible, she got me to take my eyes off of Neko Case. Remember Neko is ranked fourth on my perfect mate list, was named by Esquire magazine as a Woman We Love, and is probably in the top three of most beautiful women that I have actually had a conversation with. To divert my attention from her is quite a feat. I can’t even tell you why, I just liked her look and her red hair and her eyes. I have a feeling that she is going to be showing up in one of my stories someday.

Another story from Lawrence. I feel that much of your life can be defined by the opportunities that you missed. Steps you know that you could have taken but you hesitated and now those doors are closed to you. This happened to me as I walked down Mass Street only to discover that the Extreme Christian Clothing store has gone out of business. Yes, the place that I have been meaning to review for months closed before I could ever step foot inside the fine establishment. One of my goals in life is to live every day without regret but I have a feeling that when I am old and gray I will look back on this and know that for this one instance, I missed my goal.

(It is being replaced by a tattoo parlor. I swear, if I could be as creative as the world naturally is my novel would sell like hotcakes.)

Oh, and those cheers you heard this evening from me and a few fellow White Sox fans in BW3, watching the Sox maintain home field advantage. This game gives the White Sox their first chance to win a playoff series since 1917. Given that history, I will state that I am mildly confident of our chances. The big thing is the way they came back from four runs down to win this game. It just shows that they will not just roll over and die. This is when we start to think that maybe, just maybe, life might go our way.

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