Very busy weekend music-wise. On Friday I saw The Killers open for Stellastarr*. I went mainly for The Killers, though Stellastarr* were also good and I'll probably pick up their CD at some point. I was also kind of taken aback by how much people were into them. I knew they had a chick on bass, but I didn't realize how hot she was. Evidently she's a "classically trained cellist." She's also hot. Well, she's very attractive, but the fact that she plays bass in a pretty good rock band really puts her over the top.


J Cortez and Amanda Tannen. I like 'em both. For very different reasons.

On Saturday it was a very different vibe; I got there around 9:30 and it was totally empty. I really like The Sleepy Jackson so I was kind of like, shit, where's the love? They had two openers so there was time. Luke Steele, the frontman for the Sleepies was at the bar a while drinking and talking to the bartender. He looks kind of like a black-haired elf with a cheesestache and eye make-up--like those little toys with the hair that sticks up that you put on the ends of pencils. On the Speakers opened and were pretty good, the lead singer was funny and made the most of the skeptical crowd. Then Ambulance Ltd came on and were *really* good. I was in the front row next to some of the bass player's family members which was funny. Rather than try and act cool he was looking over and joking with them throughout the show, which was kinda cool I thought. Definitely not the kind disaffected rock star shit a lot of bands try to pull. The crowd was going nuts after their set so they came back and did an encore even though the stage people were telling them there wasn't time.

I bought their CD the next day (they ran out of CDs at the show) and really like it. Kind of tough to pin down: reminded me of Manic Street Preachers more than anything else (I know, that probably doesn't mean anything to most people). Very chill guitar rock, not really soft but kind of spaced-out production, a lot of polyphonic harmonies. Most of their songs take a really good guitar riff and then build the song around it. Nothing dynamic, but very good. I find myself both playing it loud in the car as well as playing it as I fall asleep.


Luke Steele: "Which one of these buttons calls my parents to pick me up?"

So back to the show. The Sleepies finally came on around 12. Their songs are generally very carefully produced, with a lot of backing vocals (choirs, women, even little children), so it makes seeing them live a cool thing. Plus I always like seeing how they electrify and give the "rock out" treatment to their more country-tinged songs. The highlights for me were, I guess not surprisingly, my three favorite album tracks: "Rain Falls for Wind," "Come to This," and "Tell the Girls I'm Not Coming Out." They're a four-piece and everyone in the band has some vocal duties. My personal favorite is the bass player, who's got this shaggy mop of curly hair but does all the falsetto parts. He pulls it all off too, which is impressive considering how many female vocal parts there are on the album. There were two very interesting performances. First was Luke Steele's solo rendition of "Morning Bird," midway through the set, which is a track he wrote and then had his friend's daughter sing. It's not often that a grown man can sing the vocal part that you're used to hearing an 8-year old sing (in the same key). The rest of the band came back on stage and sang a new song together. The drummer came and sang with the lead guitarist, so no drums. At that point the lead singer of On the Speakers came on stage and started playing drums during the song. Evidently it wasn't planned because the Sleepies manager told him to get off stage, and as he was leaving Steele told him to "get the fuck off the stage." Steele's guitar strap then broke for a second time and he started getting pissed, so he launched his guitar off stage. He's known as pretty combustible (he once kicked his brother out his band), so he immediately turned to the crowd to calm them down and show he wasn't about to go fucking nuts. The show ended with him donning some electronic hardware that he put around his neck and hung down past his waist. It's in the picture there, and I'm still not sure what the fuck it was, but it had a lot of lights and made some type of noise. It looked kind of like the chest piece from a Darth Vader suit.

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Perhaps the best trailer I've ever seen is for the new movie "Garden State." It's a dramedy written and directed by Zach Braff, the guy from Scrubs. The reviews from Sundance make it seem pretty promising, but whatever...the trailer is just really cool I think. Definitely pretentious witha lot of "Don't move! Look vacantly at the camera!" type shots, but whatever. I love the song, which is called "Let Go" by Frou Frou. It kind of becomes token trip-hoppy in the middle, but the beginning is very good. Go HERE.

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I'm a fan of the new Miller commercials, especially because they have Bob Odenkirk in the Miller for "President of Beers" ads. Not that it's really funny, but it's good to see Bob Odenkirk getting work.

In a related Mr. Show note, Arrested Development continues to be a great show. There are so many great characters, not the least of which is David Cross' Tobias Funke. He's so fucking pathetic it's great. I'm gonna be really pissed if they cancel it (fucking ratings).