Showing posts with label Carbon Leaf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carbon Leaf. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Love Loss Hope Repeat
Wednesday Night Music Club: Here is another in my ongoing series “How I discover music”. Tonight’s topic: Carbon Leaf
When I go to shows I always show up in time for the opening act. Even if I don’t know who they are, I’ll be there to catch their set. I just figure that it is part of the price of the ticket. Plus, you never know what you might find. Usually they are less than memorable but sometimes there is a curve ball.
I was there to see Big Head Todd and the Monsters, a show that turned out to be a lot better in theory than in actuality. Not that the band sounded bad, in fact they sounded just like their records. Exactly like their records. I could have stayed home and had the exact same experience. Anyway, the opening act was this group called Carbon Leaf who I had absolutely never heard of. They took the stage and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a band that I hated so much on sight. They seemed to be a walking ad for Abercrombie and Fitch. My first thought was, “Great, a band for all the frat boys in the audience.”
It didn’t help that the lead singer…I’m not sure how to put this. Let’s say that he sings in the same manner that William Shatner acts. Every single line must be emphasized with hand motions and head turns. I stood there and just went “What a douche.” Except that the first song was great as was the second and the third. By the end of the set I was getting in line to pick up a CD.
I’ve ended up seeing the band five or six times now. They are probably one of my favorite live acts now as I can see how they play with passion. Yeah, it is college rock but the guys are just really cool, nice guys. It’s strange how wrong one’s first impression can be. Like I’ve said in the past, I always give an opening act a song to prove me wrong. Carbon Leaf proved me completely wrong, they’re probably one of the best bands you have never heard of. Definitely worth a listen.
I’m not making this up: I had forty dollars riding tonight on my ability to guess what state quarter someone had in their pocket. And I won the bet. Now that takes skill my friends.
Ugh, sorry if I don’t have much else to report tonight. One of the problems that I have with my travel schedule is I always end up getting the worst head cold imaginable. If you fly over a holiday weekend you should wear a hazmat suit or something. There is just something about the airport crowds and recycled air that pretty much insures that you will be coming down with something. On the plus side, it doesn’t feel like the virus of doom that put me in the emergency room in September. It just feels like someone is banging on my head with a small mallet. I’ll go take a nap now.
(Oh, and Brit apparently isn’t pregnant. Not sure if that is worth a breaking news alert but hey, I know that people rely on me for this information.)
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
What to look forward to
(For some reason I’m not quite sure of I am listening to Carbon Leaf’s “Love, Loss, Hope, Repeat” right now. Great album but I am still flummoxed by the line “Some things are best kept between a girl and her horse.” I’ve read Shakespeare, Joyce, Goethe, Faulkner and J. K. Rowling and even with all that literary background behind me I have absolutely no freaking clue what that line means. Do women tell horses secrets? Does that mean they somehow believe that a creature whose only thoughts are “I hope my leg doesn’t break” and “I wonder when I’ll get some hay” understand their every innermost thought? No wonder I can’t get a date, I’m using logic on girls who are dreaming of Barbaro.)
Reading through the past few posts I think you could get the sense that I’ve been…well, I don’t want to say depressed because that isn’t right. More like in a funk (and not in the Mayor Funk sense of the term.) It’s been more of a strange mix of never having free time and never having anything to do. I’m not kidding in the lack of free time, I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve been charting out my days in an attempt to just find a free half hour where I could read a book. Then again, the past few nights I’ve just been sitting around on my couch playing Playstation so obviously I have more time on my hands than I know what to do with.
Part of the problem is that I just do the same things week after week. Go to work, play trivia, hang out at the same bars. I really am stuck in a routine that I definitely need to break. I just need to meet a few new people, start hanging out in new places or just do something radically different with my life. My life isn’t very exciting right now and that a) isn’t much fun and b) makes the blog that much tougher to write. And to be honest, I need as much material as I can get.
The other thing is that I just haven’t had much to look forward to. I wasn’t even really looking forward to see Damien Rice because of the band lineup changes. I need to always have a concert on the horizon that I am just dying to see. Something that makes a bad day at work more palatable as I can just put on my headphones and know that in a few weeks I’ll get to be in front of the stage when this song is played. And thanks to Michelle at Davey’s I have one huge night to look forward to.
Because this August, Kelly Willis (pictured above), one of my favorite performers and the woman who ranked #3 on my Perfect Mate list (meaning that if asked “Would you marry her and spend the rest of your life with her to the point that you will be eighty five years old and sitting in matching recliners?” I would answer yes in less than a second.) is going to be playing at Davey’s. This is like the coolest thing that has happened to me all year. I haven’t had a chance to see her play in nearly five years and now she’ll be at the best place to see music in town. This is going to be awesome.
I’ve also decided that it’s going to be my goal to have my picture taken with her. This shouldn’t be too much of a struggle. I’ve actually met Kelly before after shows (back when I spent most of my free time at Fitzgerald’s) and while she won’t remember me at least I can mention shows she played where there were only a couple dozen of us in the crowd. Plus, she knows some of my friends in Austin fairly well. And Michelle owes me a few favors so all of this should hopefully mean my actually getting my picture taken with one of my Perfect Mates. (And before someone thinks I’m going to go off the deep end I’ve met Kelly’s husband Bruce a couple of times as well.) Really, all I’m looking for is to be in front of the stage listening to music that has gotten me through tough times for years. I can’t wait.
Reading through the past few posts I think you could get the sense that I’ve been…well, I don’t want to say depressed because that isn’t right. More like in a funk (and not in the Mayor Funk sense of the term.) It’s been more of a strange mix of never having free time and never having anything to do. I’m not kidding in the lack of free time, I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve been charting out my days in an attempt to just find a free half hour where I could read a book. Then again, the past few nights I’ve just been sitting around on my couch playing Playstation so obviously I have more time on my hands than I know what to do with.
Part of the problem is that I just do the same things week after week. Go to work, play trivia, hang out at the same bars. I really am stuck in a routine that I definitely need to break. I just need to meet a few new people, start hanging out in new places or just do something radically different with my life. My life isn’t very exciting right now and that a) isn’t much fun and b) makes the blog that much tougher to write. And to be honest, I need as much material as I can get.
The other thing is that I just haven’t had much to look forward to. I wasn’t even really looking forward to see Damien Rice because of the band lineup changes. I need to always have a concert on the horizon that I am just dying to see. Something that makes a bad day at work more palatable as I can just put on my headphones and know that in a few weeks I’ll get to be in front of the stage when this song is played. And thanks to Michelle at Davey’s I have one huge night to look forward to.
Because this August, Kelly Willis (pictured above), one of my favorite performers and the woman who ranked #3 on my Perfect Mate list (meaning that if asked “Would you marry her and spend the rest of your life with her to the point that you will be eighty five years old and sitting in matching recliners?” I would answer yes in less than a second.) is going to be playing at Davey’s. This is like the coolest thing that has happened to me all year. I haven’t had a chance to see her play in nearly five years and now she’ll be at the best place to see music in town. This is going to be awesome.
I’ve also decided that it’s going to be my goal to have my picture taken with her. This shouldn’t be too much of a struggle. I’ve actually met Kelly before after shows (back when I spent most of my free time at Fitzgerald’s) and while she won’t remember me at least I can mention shows she played where there were only a couple dozen of us in the crowd. Plus, she knows some of my friends in Austin fairly well. And Michelle owes me a few favors so all of this should hopefully mean my actually getting my picture taken with one of my Perfect Mates. (And before someone thinks I’m going to go off the deep end I’ve met Kelly’s husband Bruce a couple of times as well.) Really, all I’m looking for is to be in front of the stage listening to music that has gotten me through tough times for years. I can’t wait.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Acting like a college kid...
Just a couple of things on my mind tonight after a day spent doing laundry and cleaning my apartment. Or more accurately, a day spent lying on my couch watching old episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 while hoping that my apartment would begin to magically clean itself while the laundry elves attacked the pile of clothes in my bedroom.
In what I consider to be classic EC style, on my way to see Carbon Leaf in concert I roll my ankle while just walking down the sidewalk. Seriously, I’m so clumsy I can’t walk down the street perfectly sober without injuring myself. Didn’t do any major damage (thanks to the fact that I wear hiking boots for this very reason) but let me tell you, it is so much fun to roll your ankle and then stand for four straight hours without moving. Yeah, that was a new type of pain. The type where walking back to your car fills you with dread.
Thankfully, it was a great show. This marks the fifth time I’ve seen the band despite the fact that a part of me wants to hate the band because the lead singer is this good looking guy with a magnetic personality and I find it totally unfair for a guy to get to be all that and be in a rock band. However, the music is really good so that counters the fact that I’m a jealous bastard when it comes to other people being successful.
This was the first time that I’ve ever seen Carbon Leaf headline and you could actually tell that they weren’t used to it. Even the band seemed to grow tired after 70 minutes, like they were so used to being off the stage by that point. They’re a college rock band at heart but on a Saturday night in a college town that is exactly what you want to listen to. Not every band has to sing about saving the world. The highlight was easily the encore when the band did a completely unplugged, unamplified version of “Learn to Fly”. It’s always impressive when a band can pull something like that off and they had the musicianship and presence to do so.
In other news, it’s dawned on me that I do need to figure out what I’ll do on Wednesday night. Right now my options are a) play trivia, b) see Air Supply in concert at the casino or c) settle down with a bottle of Jack Daniels and moan about my existence. Wow, when playing trivia in a bar is the most psychologically sound option it tends to put your life in perception. I know, I know, this is my annual bitching about Valentine’s Day but it just bothers me that we have this one day a year that seems to exist solely to remind single people how alone they are in the world. It’s like a day dedicated to proving how meaningless your life is just because you happen to be really comfortable in your own skin and don’t have to justify your existence based on who you have next to you. Not that I’m bitter or anything.
Still, the number I saw today is that the average American will spend 120 bucks on Valentine’s Day. That’s a lot of trivia games in my book. When you factor in the people like me who spend nothing you wonder what that number really is.
Oh, and speaking of bitterness, is it right for me to be jealous of a cartoon character? On the Simpsons I was upset with Bart for a) not marrying Natalie Portman when he had the opportunity and b) getting to make out with Natalie Portman on general principles. Even though I was nicknamed Bart before the Simpsons ever aired and have viewed Bart as a somewhat alter ego I’m still upset about this. Not as upset as I am about the fact that the show seemed to jump the shark a good six years ago yet it continues to air and ruin its legacy but upset nonetheless.
The five random CDs for the week:
1) Jay Farrar “Stone, Steel & Bright Lights”
2) Alejandro Escovedo “Por Vida”
3) The Insiders “Not for Sale”
4) Jeff Buckley “Grace”
5) Belly “King”
In what I consider to be classic EC style, on my way to see Carbon Leaf in concert I roll my ankle while just walking down the sidewalk. Seriously, I’m so clumsy I can’t walk down the street perfectly sober without injuring myself. Didn’t do any major damage (thanks to the fact that I wear hiking boots for this very reason) but let me tell you, it is so much fun to roll your ankle and then stand for four straight hours without moving. Yeah, that was a new type of pain. The type where walking back to your car fills you with dread.
Thankfully, it was a great show. This marks the fifth time I’ve seen the band despite the fact that a part of me wants to hate the band because the lead singer is this good looking guy with a magnetic personality and I find it totally unfair for a guy to get to be all that and be in a rock band. However, the music is really good so that counters the fact that I’m a jealous bastard when it comes to other people being successful.
This was the first time that I’ve ever seen Carbon Leaf headline and you could actually tell that they weren’t used to it. Even the band seemed to grow tired after 70 minutes, like they were so used to being off the stage by that point. They’re a college rock band at heart but on a Saturday night in a college town that is exactly what you want to listen to. Not every band has to sing about saving the world. The highlight was easily the encore when the band did a completely unplugged, unamplified version of “Learn to Fly”. It’s always impressive when a band can pull something like that off and they had the musicianship and presence to do so.
In other news, it’s dawned on me that I do need to figure out what I’ll do on Wednesday night. Right now my options are a) play trivia, b) see Air Supply in concert at the casino or c) settle down with a bottle of Jack Daniels and moan about my existence. Wow, when playing trivia in a bar is the most psychologically sound option it tends to put your life in perception. I know, I know, this is my annual bitching about Valentine’s Day but it just bothers me that we have this one day a year that seems to exist solely to remind single people how alone they are in the world. It’s like a day dedicated to proving how meaningless your life is just because you happen to be really comfortable in your own skin and don’t have to justify your existence based on who you have next to you. Not that I’m bitter or anything.
Still, the number I saw today is that the average American will spend 120 bucks on Valentine’s Day. That’s a lot of trivia games in my book. When you factor in the people like me who spend nothing you wonder what that number really is.
Oh, and speaking of bitterness, is it right for me to be jealous of a cartoon character? On the Simpsons I was upset with Bart for a) not marrying Natalie Portman when he had the opportunity and b) getting to make out with Natalie Portman on general principles. Even though I was nicknamed Bart before the Simpsons ever aired and have viewed Bart as a somewhat alter ego I’m still upset about this. Not as upset as I am about the fact that the show seemed to jump the shark a good six years ago yet it continues to air and ruin its legacy but upset nonetheless.
The five random CDs for the week:
1) Jay Farrar “Stone, Steel & Bright Lights”
2) Alejandro Escovedo “Por Vida”
3) The Insiders “Not for Sale”
4) Jeff Buckley “Grace”
5) Belly “King”
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