Tragically Hip Wrap Up

Obviously the mobile blogging idea didn't really work out. I have no idea what it was during the concert that made it "real." Like most times I see a Canadian band, I partook a little too much in the pregame.

Solid show though.

This concert just became real.

Pregame: Drinking some Labatt Blues on the train listening to the new Hip album. I think I might do this with every new album I get. I'm having an infinitely better listen to it in this environment than the first time I listened to it. Now I'm actually hoping they play The Last Recluse

Tragically Hip - Nokia Theatre Times Square - New York City - 5/8/09

I went to college in Buffalo. Being so close to Canada I started to develop a taste for some things Canuck like Labatts, Molsen, poutine, Sloan and Tragically Hip. I actually lost touch with the Hip since I left college. Three albums came and went without a blip on my radar.

A few weeks ago, thanks in large part to Facebook mostly, I caught up with friend from college who was still very much into them. He asked if I wanted a ticket and here I am.

I'm going to live mobile blog it tonight

Ray Lamontagne -- Shubert Theatre 4/8

In a rather spontaneous moment, I decided to purchase tickets for Ray Lamontagne from some guy selling a pair on Craigslist. The seats were second row from the stage, but all the way in the left corner. I had some concerns, namely:

-- I never purchased tickets this way before and thought I could potentially be out 200 bucks
-- what if the seats were obscured by a big amp or something
-- what if I didn't get the tickets in time for the show

To my glee, the tickets showed up at my doorstep two days prior to the show (and two days after I ordered them) and they looked legit. So, my lady and I left work a little early and ventured out to New Haven, CT -- which happened to be the closest venue he was playing at.

After some dinner and drinks at a vast, empty Italian restaurant, we walked over to the Shubert. As soon as we made it into the lobby, I was taken by two things:

1. The place was opulent (I think that means what I want it to mean). Bright, velvety, ordained with memorabilia in the form of playbills and posters from a bygone era. It was like stepping into a great room from The Shining hotel, minus the impending doom.
2. The bar service.

My girlfriend and I waited on the drink line, chatting up some other concertgoers, who touted how good Lamontagne was live. After ordering (Jack and Coke, my go-to choice when I want to maximize buzz while minimize return trips), we made our way to the seats. At this point, I'm feeling really good about my decision.

As we walked toward the stage, we kept getting stopped and re-directed. Once we reached our row, the usher pointed to the two seats tucked off in the left corner. Looking back, the first usher could have saved all the confusion by saying: 'Just sit directly in front of the HUGE F'IN AMP.'

The only two people who had worse seats that us was the couple directly in front of us. If they leaned forward, their heads would touch the amp. We all bonded over our misfortune and I think made peace with the situation.

The opening came out a few minutes later. From what I could make out, it was a three-piece band comprised of strange-looking multi-instrumentalists. The male lead singer had a somewhat collegiate look about him, sort of a mixture of coffee shop troubadour and date rapist. The female singer/bassist/drummer/washboard thingie wore something closely resembling a potato sack (made of hemp, I'm sure) with a smart red sash (possibly making that up). The emotional center of the band was the high-energy Philipino percussionist, who jumped from behind his kit to other instruments with the vigor of a... Philipino percussionist. He looked like Danny Trejo's less tatted, more musically inclined brother.

I can't remember anything about their music. I was focusing all my energy on trying to see around the amp. Not only did I want to look at them, I was also convinced that the percussionist had a scythe.

After the set, we went back to the lobby for another round of drinks and some Ben-Gay for our necks. Although the seats weren't ideal and the opening act was a bit of a downer, the vibe was still good. I just love concerts, especially at an old venue. Seeing a show with my girlfriend for the first time definitely put it over the top.

We made it back to our seats with a few minutes to spare. We noticed that the entire second row in the middle of the stage was still vacated. We agreed 'go in' together with the couple in front of us, should the seats still be empty by the third song. After a few minutes of chatting, Ray Lamontagne took the stage...

Whether you are a fan or not, one thing is without question: he is the real deal. Standing stage left with no added spotlight, the guy in the plaid shirt and long beard just starts playing. When he sings, the sounds from his voice seem to originate from his feet and flow through his entire body. There is no artifice, no affectation, no 'mailing it in.' The dude just sings his ass off. Even when he whispers a lyric, it sounds like his vocal cords are fraying.

We got so caught up in the music, we didn't realize that the couple in front of us had moved to the empty seats and were waving us over. I take it they weren't fully on board with the attack plan. Rebels. After a song or two of consternation, we decided to join them.

Best decision ever.

For the remaining hour of the show, we had the perfect seats, the perfect buzz at a perfect couples' first concert.

So I Saw I Love You, Man

Now that March has ended I finally had to stop watching college basketball. So the first Friday I was able to go somewhere where I didn't have to have a piece of paper with a set of brackets in it was to go see a "Bromantic" comedy...I hate that word.

Let me kick this off by saying that this movie would have absolutely not worked as a PG-13 movie. I respect the filmmakers for going for the R even though it probably would have done alot better box office as a PG-13.

I read some message boards and discussed this movies potential with some friends before I saw it and the biggest fear people seemed to have was that Paul Rudd was miscast as the "straight man" in this. I didn't have that fear. I don't know if it was that Paul Rudd is generally good or it was just that I didn't have any fear that it wouldn't work playing off Jason Segel. Looking back, Jason Segel was good but his character wasn't that funny. The whole movie was pretty much a one-trick pony. Segel would set Paul Rudd up with a way try and say something cool but it would come out as something nonsensical followed by Rudd kicking himself for saying it. All that being said, and I know that didn't sound like a glowing review but I thought the movie was hilarious. It worked for me. There were some funny sight gags and some scene stealing work from Thomas Lennon and JK Simmons(as always).

Lott O Excitement

Tonight's lottery is for an assload of money. Don't quote me, but I think it's something like $860 billion. I might be mistaking the amount for that new stimulus package, I'm not sure. But I'll tell you one thing: the thought of winning enough money to do whatever the hell I want, certainly stimulates my package. I literally have a giant surplus in my pants just pondering the notion of all that bank!

I thought about posting all the things that I would do if I won millions, but I'm sure it's pretty much what everyone else would do... quit the job, throw a party, take a vacation, buy a monkey, take the monkey on vacation. Instead, I'd like to point out a few reasons why I think I have a real good shot at cashing in on the dream tonight. For instance:

-- A bunch of guys in the office chipped in to buy tickets. According to my research, 40% of all lottery winners are a bunch of office guys. Math, bitches!!

(Interestingly, another 40% of lottery winners live in states that begin in a vowel: Ohio, Indiana, Idaho, etc... A bunch of office guys from Oregon could really f$*k us here.

-- We went quick pick. We let a computer decide our fate. That is such a better strategy than using your kids' birthdays combined with your favorite number or baseball player uniform. Whenever I see someone standing by the ledge of some card store, erasing and toiling over the numbers like it was the SAT, I say to myself, 'no f&*king way are you winning.'

-- The numbers were purchased at a run-down, local card shop. Lady Luck hangs out in those places like a retiree who knows the owner, so he'll just lean on the counter and talk to him all day.

-- God owes me one. I'm sure He knows what I'm talking about.

So, there it is.

Science, bitches!!

This could very well be my last post as a poor person. Will all that money change me? No, I don't think it will. Will it change the people around me? Probably. But they'll never see me again, anyway.

Revisitng The Dave Matthews Band

I used to be a huge Dave Matthews fan...HUGE. I had stickers on my '85 Buick Skyhawk, over ten t-shirts a few posters and one drunk night after an awesome DMB show I was seriously considering a Fire Dancer or Dancing 8 tattoo. Thank f'in god I didn't.

I don't exactly know what happened but it was around the Everyday album that I started drifting away. I've only seen DMB in ampitheatre type of venues and it was routinely awesome. Everyday turned out to be a huge album for them (I was only lukewarm on it) and then they started selling out Giant Stadium. I refuse to see a band in a stadium. It doesn't do it for me. Then I got my hands on The Lillywhite Sessions which I thought was outstanding and argueably my favorite DMB album (despite never officially being released).

When I heard that DMB was doing another studio album I was, again, excited. I don't know if I just wasn't as internet saavy as I am now or what but I didn't realize that Busted Stuff was just going to be re-recordings of the Lillywhite Sessions (which I didn't like half as much) with two new songs on it. I was disillusioned and little by little DMB started disappearing from my rotation.

This past week I stumbled across Two Step and Jimi Thing on the radio and really enjoyed it. It was time to go back. The Cove is rocking an all DMB playlist these past two days and I've got to say...I'm enjoying it.

Hendrix

As Axis: Bold as Love spins in the Cove 2.0, I think back to my formative years as a Jimi Hendrix disciple. I remember hanging the posters on my bedroom walls, listening to Electric Ladyland on vinyl as I pored over liner notes and raking the neighbor's yard cranking his Smash Hits through my boom box. Putting aside his well-deserved mantle as the greatest rock guitarist that ever lived, Hendrix brought this mixture of mysticism, sexuality and bad-assery that made him seem more like a Greek myth than an actual human being. He was like rock's version of a superhero: mysterious and powerful, possessing abilities never before seen. He wore costumes, had a murky past and probably even saved a few lives.

And, apparently, his Kryptonite was in sleeping pill form.

Even though he's known more for harnessing fury in a re-strung Fender, I think his greatest recorded achievement is Little Wing. It's just a beautiful song, plain and simple. It's also one of those songs that leave you wanting more... like you wish there was just one more verse before it fades out. The only other song that comes to mind that is like that is The Smiths' Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want (the title is only slightly shorter than the song).

I think the Cove 2.0 should invest in a Hendrix poster. It would give us instant cred.

The Cove is Back!!!

441 long days ago we had to move out of the office that was Southpaw Cove.

Today...it's back.

The office is in a different location but it's the same CD rack, same printer, same monitor and same awesomeness.

Favorite Three-Letter Words

din
ply
vie
mar
lay
bog
sop
ale
cog
yes

My Biggest Regret

OK it's not my biggest regret, but one of the biggest regrets I have in my life thus far is that I didn't live in New York City for any period of time. Living on Long Island my entire life I've been there hundreds of times but I generally keep to Madison Square Garden, my 5 or so favorite city bars and concert venues. I don't think I've ever actually gone in just with the agenda to explore and just get to know it. So I'm considering it a New Year's Resolution to make a few extra trips to the city this year with absolutely no agenda other than walking around and checking stuff out.

My Morning Jacket - Madison Square Garden - New York City - 12/31/08

New Year's Eve is usually the most overrated holiday of the year. People stress out about trying to do something "extra special" but the payoff is rarely worth it. I finally had one that lived up to the hype.

It's no secret to anyone who knows me that I've liked this band for a few years, but 2008 became the year I became borderline infatuated with them. My fiance can attest to me probably making more "Devil's Three-Way" jokes (involving me, her and Jim James) than is comfortable.

I'm not going to spend a ton of time on the concert itself because I'm almost positive that these guys are incapable of putting on a bad show and since it'll probably read alot like the one from September, so I'll just mention a few highlights:

-HORN SECTION!!!

-I'm not a huge covers guy but the Marvin Gaye song with Nicole Atkins was really good.

-I feel very fortunate that I've seen MMJ twice and both times I got Phone West West and Cobra. The first time I saw them they played Cobra and I honestly had never heard it before. I was more prepared this time around and it is a great song to hear live.

-Get Down On It cover. It's my 2nd favorite disco song so I got a kick out of hearing it covered.

-The countdown, confetti and balloons. It just looked cool.

-You'd be hard pressed to find a better closer than One Big Holiday.

Biggest regret of the night was not picking up a concert poster. Limited production and now going for a few hundred on eBay. That's not even mentioning that it's just a sweet poster.

Setlist (from the MMJ Website)

1. Move On Up (Curtis Mayfield)

2. Evil Urges

3. Off The Record

4. Gideon

5. The Way That He Sings

6. Thank You Too!

7. I'm Amazed

8. Golden

9. Librarian

10. You're All I Need (Marvin Gaye)

11. Express Yourself (Charles Wright)

12. What A Wonderful Man

13. Lay Low

14. Phone Went West

15. Look At You

16. Dondante

17. Smoking From Shootin

18. Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt.2

19. Run Thru

20. The Wanderer (Dion)

21. Dancefloors

22. Magheetah

New Years!!!

23. Celebration (Kool & The Gang)

24. Get Down On It (Kool & The Gang)

25. Wordless Chorus

26. Highly Suspicious

27. Cobra

28. Islands In The Stream (Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers)

29. Bring It On Home To Me (Sam Cooke)

30. Cold Sweat (James Brown)

31. Anytime
32. One Big Holiday
33. Auld Lang Syne

Special Guests:

NYE Horns (2, 3, 11, 12, 20, 21, 23, 24, 28 , 29, 30)

Will Johnson (8)

Nicole Atkins (10, 28)

BEST...NEW YEARS...EVER

Just got home from the My Morning Jacket at the Garden. Awesome setlist which will be coming soon along with some more detail about my experience.

I always fancied New Years as a "couples holiday" so kudos to my fiance who gave me this one. To see what is most likely my favorite live band, on New Years and in the Worlds Most Famous Arena was as good as it's ever been on a December 31st.

Happy New Year

Top 10 Albums of the Year

Here is my Top 10 Albums of the Year. The list could probably change in a few weeks since I'm leaving off a few good albums that I'm uncomfortable putting on a Top 10 with only one or two listens under my belt.

10. Ben Folds - Way to Normal
9. Jack Johnson - Sleeping Through The Static
With Ben Folds and Jack Johnson you pretty much know what you're going to get and I find that comforting.
8. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Seeing "Kids" performed live was one of the highlights of my summer. I liked the first two singles off the album and was pleasantly surprised it turned out to be a pretty solid album throughout.
7. Mates of State - Re-Arrange Us
If I was doing a list of Top 10 singles of '08, "Get Better" would be jockeying for a top spot. I'm a sucker for male and female harmonies.
6. Gary Louris - Vagabonds
I loved The Jayhawks and for awhile I was on Team Mark Olsen, but within the last few years I've jumped ship. This is a solid album with some great guests. Don't be surprised to see the Mark Olsen/Gary Louris collaboration on my Best of '09 list next year.
5. Okkervil River - The Stand Ins
Unfortunately this album would have been a top 3 for me but I'm too easily swayed by how a band is live. And if you read our comments on the Okkervil River show this year you know I was disappointed. Maybe they'll just have to be a really good studio band for me...like my Steely Dan perhaps.
4. She & Him - Volume 1
I'm very much looking forward to Volume 2. It was exciting to learn that her voice carries over live too. It gives me the same kind of feeling as the Matthew Sweet and Suzanna Hoffs : Under the Covers Volume 1 gave me...which was good.
3. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
I feel like I pork MMJ enough on this blog so go back and read it if you really need to know how I feel about this album.
2. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
Getting to see them twice on their Stay Positive tour helped out this ranking alot. Not to say that it wouldn't have been top 5 but I listen to this album and it brings back great memories. Constructive Summer might be one of those songs I play on a loop every Memorial Day for the rest of my life.
1. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Crazy harmonizing. I actually got into the game really late with this album. But since I got it a few months ago I haven't been able to go more than two consecutive days without listening to it. I'm looking to putting it on during a heavy snowstorm while drinking some sort of seasonal winter lager.

I'll drop some honorable mentions in there too:
-Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Would have easily been in there if the year ended in September. Enjoyable album except for the Blake's Got a New Face song which is my least favorite songs of the year. They started to wear on me a tad so they fell a little.
-Weezer - Red Album
If for no other reason that every time I hear Weezer it brings me back to some happy teenage places. Average album compared to the Blue Album and Pinkerton but still enjoyable. "Greatest Man Who Ever Lived" would probably have a spot on my Top 20 song countdown.

My apologies to:
Deerhunter, Matt Costa, Death Cab for Cutie, Jenny Lewis, Bon Iver, Neil Diamond, Aimee Mann, Calexico and Blitzen Trapper. For one reason or another I didn't spend enough time with your 2008 release or just haven't gotten it yet.

1. The Shield - Possible Kill Screen - Original Air date: 11/18/08

This is another penultimate episode of a series. The series finale of The Shield could have easily had my top spot as it was one of (if not the best) series finales ever. But the reason I chose "Possible Kill Screen" instead was because it had the best scene in television this year. When Vic Mackey sits in front of that microphone about to confess all of his sins I actually almost had to pause it to compose myself. Then to actually hear him say it all (and who was around to hear it) was as intense as fiction can get. It was honestly the only non-sports related thing I've ever watched on television that I couldn't sleep afterwards.

**Bonus note** -- The Shield gets kudos from me for having an episode title so fitting to the plot and also a great pop-culture reference. "Possible Kill Screen" is reference to King of Kong which is one of my favorite documentaries.

2. The Wire - Late Editions - Original Air date: 3/2/08

Series finales usually show where characters are going to end up after the show finishes, but penultimate episodes is where the s**t goes down. So with The Wire being one of the best shows ever to on television, it was no surprise that they ended perfectly. Seeing the final actions that lead all the characters down their future paths is both heartbreaking and satisfying.

3. Lost - The Constant - Original Air date: 2/28/08

As I mentioned earlier, when I watch a serial based drama, I like my payoffs. I've always watched Lost and was going to watch it til the end regardless of it's quality. I've invested too much time not to see how it ends. Lost spent a good season and half not telling us anything and actually went from must-see on Wednesday night to something I could watch on DVR the next day. This past season though got back to what was great about Lost and this episode was the "gamechanger" for me. Not only was it based around my favorite character (Desmond), it was just a complete mind "F" of a concept. Somehow they fit a crazy time jumping adventure and an epic love story into 44 minutes and it didn't even seem rushed. I still haven't deleted it from my DVR yet.

4. 30 Rock - Subway Hero - Original Air date: 4/17/08

David Puddy (Seinfeld) was probably my favorite recurring character on a television show ever. I don't know if he's passed him yet, but Dean Winters' ("Beeper King" and Exonerated Sex Predator) Dennis Duffy on 30 Rock is gaining on him fast. Out of his five appearences so far, Subway Hero was his best episode. He saves someone's life in a subway station and becomes a local hero. Everything out his mouth has been quoted by me and my friends a couple of hundred times since it aired. And the "B" story about Jack trying to pull Tracy over to the Republican Party was good for some laughs too.

"I knew that girl was eighteen. She told me her last boyfriend was Asian, and that crap doesn't start until college." --Dennis Duffy

A Best of 2008 List - Television Edition

What fun is having a blog if you can't force your end of the year lists upon people. My first crack at it is going to be my Top 5 Best Episodes of Television in 2008. I'll try to do at least one a day for the next week.

5. Mad Men - The Jet Set - Original Air date: 10/12/08
When I'm watching a serial based drama I usually like my payoffs early and often. Mad Men does not do this. The whole series is a slow burn. But it does it in a way where, not only I'm I not annoyed, but I don't even care if they tell me anything new. For the first time in Mad Men we leave the East Coast and see Don Draper make some uncharacteristic decisions. We know that he's unfaithful and he lies so it's not a leap of faith to believe he would have a dalliance with someone in California, but to blindly follow a woman and blow off work responsibilities in the process was actually as exciting you can get on Mad Men.