New Times Crossword, May 11, 2010

We stopped to fill our gas tank at Wawa on the way home last night and something happened that I am not proud of. Angie went inside to get us something sweet and as I was pumping gas a song came on the p.a. system that caught my attention. It took a moment to realize what it was but the attention I paid led to my demise. You see, he was a punk and she did ballet. He wasn’t good enough for her. Years later, he was on MTV and all her friends had tickets to the show. He wasn’t good enough for her. Then some voice interrupted things and tried to tell me all about an iced tea sale. When the song came back, I was told that’s how the story ends. I want to know what happened, but I will not let you get under my skin, Avril Lavigne.

Update: Was Will Shortz at Wawa last night too?

This post could have been something great.  It could have been completely about my ridiculous amount of excitement over going to see Lady Gaga in September.  Well I guess it still can be a little:

I AM REEEEEEDICULOUSLY EXCITED TO GO SEE LADY GAGA IN SEPTEMBER!!!

Ahhhhh.  Much better.  What I am not excited about it how expensive it was.  And how impossible it was to buy tickets.  Presale plus the moment they were available and Section 214 is the best available?  I wanted General Admission  🙁  Ok… $85…. It is going to be an amazing night.  Worth it.  Tack on all the fees/charges etc, and it actually ended up being over $100/ticket.  But at this point I was committed.  I was already going in my head and could not back down.

Then the tickets came.  And I was excited again. I wanted to take a picture of the tickets so that I could write up a post about my excitement.  That caused me to look closely at the tickets.  In Pennsylvania, you cannot scalp tickets.  It is illegal.  It’s considering scalping them if you sell them for more than face value.

I’m not considering selling these tickets.  I don’t want to give up this night unless something comes up that would prevent me from being able to go.  But I am annoyed about what is considered face value.  Where are al the stupid fees I paid?!  How is one fee listed for $3, but all the other fees are not?  Why if I sell my ticket at “face value” am I losing $15?  Four tickets, +$18 in fees per ticket.  We spent an unexpected +$72 more than we saw coming.  How is this legal?  How is this not bait and switch?  For four people to go to a show, we nearly had to pay for 5 tickets.

Nonsense, Comcast!  I call shenanigans!

Circa Survive

I should start out by acknowledging the fact that it’s probably inappropriate for me to review Circa Survive’s Blue Sky Noise. I’m undeniably biased when it comes to Circa Survive. Many moons ago Anthony was in a band called Audience of One and Colin was in a band call This Day Forward, both of which released a record on a label that I was associated with at the time. I constantly root for them both to succeed. Having said that, as good as their first two full lengths were, those songs just weren’t what I was looking for from these guys.

Anthony Green is a chameleon. His voice sounds completely different on each of the projects of which he’s been a part. So I really shouldn’t have been surprised that on the first two Circa Survive records he didn’t sound like the singer of Saosin, but that’s not what I wanted from him either. I wanted the Anthony Green who sang on the first Zolof the Rock and Roll Destroyer record to sing over heavier music. The first time I heard “Get Out” off of Blue Sky Noise, it was like the Circa Survive I heard in my head had finally become real.

Circa Survive have crafted an interesting sound for themselves ranging from spacey prog to driving punk inspired rock. Anthony Green never takes the easy road with his vocal and lyrical phrasing which offers many unexpected treats. The record hits it’s strongest moments when Anthony’s highest vocals give way to intense screams over top of dueling guitars and driving beats.

The production level of Blue Sky Noise blows away anything the band had released to date (as it should considering it’s their major label debut). It’s easy to imagine these songs getting some radio support. Highlights of the album include: “Get Out,” “Imaginary Enemy,” “Strange Terrain,” and “Frozen Creek.”

If there’s anything to complain about it’s that the record is long. I’ve rarely made it all the way through the final tracks of the album. This may have more to do with how enjoyable the first six or seven songs are than demonstrate a lack of quality in the last few tracks.

The deluxe version of Blue Sky Noise features a few bonus semi-acoustic/reimagined versions of songs off the album. It’s interesting how different they feel. These versions remind me of the mid-90s Layne Staley project Mad Season. Definitely worth a spin.

This has been a fantastic week if you like what I like!  So many great things have come together that I almost feel like it was planned.  Well, it was all planned, just not by me.  These are the things that made this week so nice:

X-Men Marvel Masterworks

The Marvel Masterworks line collects older comics in classy hardbound volumes.  The first 6 X-Men Masterworks volumes covered issues 1-66 of the book spanning 1963 to 1970.  Once those were published, I assumed the run would be over as at that point the X-Men were “cancelled” and the next 27 issues were reprints of previously published stories until the series was relaunched in 1975 with Giant-Size X-Men #1 and continued with issue 94 (collected in a separate set of Uncanny X-Men Masterworks).

Imagine my surprise when I learned that a 7th volume was being released last year reprinting X-Men appearances in other Marvel titles during the “cancelled” years (a period in which new stories of the X-Men were told in John Byrne’s X-Men: The Hidden Years series a few years ago, a title I loved but was cancelled prematurely by Marvel).  These are books I have been tracking down for years and I was thrilled at the prospect of a Masterworks edition collecting them.  The 8th and final volume was released this week and is currently in transit to my home.

Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine

Tonight I get a rare treat in being able to see one of my musical heroes, Jello Biafra, perform with a full band at my all time favorite Philadelphia venue, The Trocadero.  Before this show was announced, I almost bought tickets to see them in Brooklyn since it was the only East Coast show listed.  It would have been nice to see them twice, but an out of town show on a Thursday is tough, so I’m glad I waited.  After seeing Jello perform with the Melvins a year or two ago, I’m really looking forward to seeing him again (almost as much as Angie is dreading it).  It should be a great night of music from the new album, Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine, Jello’s work with the No WTO Combo and other songs from throughout Jello’s career with the Dead Kennedys.

WrestleMania featuring Bret Hart

This is one thing I really hoped I’d eventually get to see, Bret “the Hitman” Hart returning to WWE.  I know it’s all fake, and it’s not the highest form of entertainment, but I’ve been a fan of Bret Hart since I was around 11.  As you may have noticed, despite getting older I tend to hang on to the things I loved in my youth.  There have been countless times where I thought things were aligning for Bret to return (and I’m sure Kevin and Brian will be quick to point out how often I was wrong), but now it’s happening and it’s great.  They even threw in a Monday Night Raw with Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin; it was like 1996 all over again! This Sunday, we’ll get one last WrestleMania appearance from the Hit Man, resolve the 13 year feud with Vince McMahon, and a legendary wrestler will get the send-off he deserves in one of the strongest WrestleMania line ups in years.

A week of deliciousness

Angie is the greatest.  For years now she’s been honing her culinary skills and has even gotten to the point where she’s so excited about the kitchen that she has to share it with the world.  This week she let me choose the menu and pick out some of my favorite meals in her extensive repertoire: pasta with chicken bolognese, enchiladas, and last night’s étouffé (my number one seed in Angie’s March Madness of Meals).  She was even willing to take a night off from cooking to get Chabaa Thai take out on Wednesday.  Above everything else this week, I am one lucky well-fed guy.

A music post by me?!  Shocking, I know.  This may seemed delayed, but our DVR has us well trained to never watch live television.  We just finished watching our Monday shows – which this post is about.

Wednesday night Pete and I sat down to watch the latest episode of Gossip Girl.  It was an episode where not much happens, but you are reminded that these “kids” are only 18 and you question why they are at university sponsored parties drinking mojitos.  Towards the end there is a song that we both clearly enjoy.  It sounds so familiar!  Maybe we already own it?  We just had to know what song it was….Out comes the trusty iPhone to let Shazam identify it for us.  It was familiar!  I had THE SAME song tagged on my phone from Tuesday.  Then we had to figure out what show we had tagged it in.  Turns out we tagged it during the season finale of Secret Diary of a Call Girl.  Which also airs on Monday nights.

Since these are both shows you don’t watch….I feel like I need to share the song with you.  Two shows using it on the same night seemed odd to me.  How often does that really happen?  Check it out on iTunes now.  It is Florence + The Machine’s Dog Days Are Over.