Dumbek's Random Stuff

Bright Eyes/The Faint - 9:30 Club 5/26-27. Tickets are on sale now. Get them before it's officially announced and it sells out.

Crowded House's drummer hanged himself over the weekend. Very sad.



Queens of the Stoneage kicked my ass last night. Great show. Ridiculously overcrowded though. That can't be legal. Definitely a more "rock 'n' roll" crowd than I'm used to at the club. The guy checking IDs at the door told me I hid my age very well. Why thank you. :-)

John Doe at Iota tonight. I'd love to go, but I'm beat after a night of drinking excessively (Saturday) and the long day yesterday. I wish X would come out this way again. Maybe they'll tour to support the new live DVD/CD they have coming out this spring.

I'll probably hit Metropolitan's CD release party at the Cat on Friday, but I'll be laying low the rest of the week.

All Songs Considered Presents: Interpol Live

Hear Interpol perform live at Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club Saturday, March 26 beginning at approximately 7:45 PM ET. The full concert will stream live from NPR.org and include an opening performance by Blonde Redhead.

Schedule (Times Approximate)
Introduction 7:30 PM ET
Blonde Redhead LIVE 7:45 PM ET
Interview with Interpol 8:30 PM ET
Interpol LIVE 9:00 PM ET

The 4/23 Blowoff is going to be upstairs at the 9:30 Club. It's been so successful that they need more room. A good move in my opinion. My biggest gripe about Blowoff was that it was always uncomfortably crowded. I hope it doesn't turn into another Velvet, but the bigger space is definitely a welcome move.

Pitchfork has actually been pretty happening lately, with their feature on the R.E.M. re-issues, a review of one of the TeenBeat shows, and reviews of Unrest's Imperial f.f.r.r., The Evens and French Toast. I like the French Toast disc more than they do though. I'd give it an 8.

As for the R.E.M. re-issues, the only one I've purchased so far is New Adventures in Hi-Fi. There's really no point to buying more right now, being that I managed to blow not one, but 2 of our surround-sound speakers. Oops.



Saw Slint on Tuesday. The music was really tight, but they were incredibly boring to watch. They were completely motionless, save for the singer taking a step back from the mic when he wasn't singing, or when the guitar player turned around to change his guitar effects. No banter or engaging the audience at all. They made Interpol look like the Chili Peppers on stage. They'd play a song...the lights would fade out...then there would be darkness and silence for a few minutes until they started the next song. The music was terrific though. Great to hear. Boring to watch. And thanks a lot to the guy who insisted on putting his friend ON SPEAKERPHONE so the rest of us could enjoy his cackling during the incredibly quiet parts of the evening. Ass. DC Celebrity sighting: I almost accidentally bumped into Ian and Amy.

I'm the only music geek in town not going to see Interpol this weekend. That's by choice though. I saw them twice last year. That's enough for a while.

Bloc Party at The Black Cat is now sold out. I'm trying hard to wait and buy their new disc at the show. I can't stop playing the EP. I'm sure I'll breakdown and buy it before the show. I'm expecting Gang of Four and Decemberists tickets to go on sale any time now. Let's go already.

Sorry Mom. I have to leave Easter dinner early so I can catch Queens of the Stoneage at 9:30. Maybe Dave Grohl will pop by.

Cartel has a new 7" out. Go buy it. Despite the website saying it's released in April, they're already shipping them. Got mine last week. Get it now, then impress all your friends when Cartel is huge.

I was just informed I may be sent on a business trip to San Francisco this summer. I'd better buy a new suitcase to haul back all that booty from Amoeba.

Can you tell I don't feel like working today?

From the Dischord newsletter:

Dischord News and DC band and label updates:

The entire Dischord catalog, including albums long out of print on CD/LP, will soon be available for digital downloading at a number of download websites. We have always maintained that the effort to make
music widely available should always include independent options along with the usual mainstream outlets. With that in mind we have made our catalog available to the folks at Downloadpunk.com as well as the iTunes online music stores in the US and Europe. These sites have a large number of Dischord releases available right now and the entire catalog should be online within the month. The back catalog will also soon be available from Microsoft Music and In the future we hope to offer these services directly through our own website.

I haven't been to Cobalt in years, but I got this from one of the homo mailing lists I'm on. Sounds promising. I may have to go to this. I can't rightfully complain about the music in gay bars, if I don't support them when they do play good stuff.

=============================
Indie rock/Britpop at Cobalt this Sunday

Hey all, Cobalt has invited me back to DJ another night of indie rock,
Britpop, alt 80s, post-punk, etc., THIS Sunday, March 20. It's getting
down to the wire and I'm only now getting the word out, so do forward
this on to friends and turn up this Sunday! We had a great time and a
great turnout in November, and hope to do even better with this one. As
always, requests in advance are welcome.

Sunday March 20
@ Cobalt
R Street NW at 17th, upstairs
No cover...drink specials...adorable bartenders
9pm until ?

The screening of Burn To Shine: Chicago was fun. It was literally the very first screening, with them just finishing the editing hours (minutes?) before showtime. Brendan Canty said he hadn't even seen it yet. The opening animation/films were fun. I fully admit they were a bit difficult to follow, but they were fascinating to watch. The improvised music and live narration were a nice touch. The Weird War video was pretty cool. You can see it here. It showed a sillier side of the band I never knew existed. I like them more and more every time I hear them. The Dead Meadow video wasn't my thing, which is too bad, because I've heard lots of great things about them.

The highlight, of course, was Burn To Shine: Chicago. I assume most people were attending to see this. The place was packed. Maybe 80 or so people in attendance. A far cry from the screening of the first DVD, when it was me, Bob Mould and about 15 other people. The film was terrific. Same setup as the first one - an old house, ready to be demolished, bands arriving every hour on the hour, one song each, then the house is destroyed. I wasn't familiar with any of the bands (other than Wilco). They were all very different, and very entertaining. Everything from punk, to folk, to a one man band. Lonesome Organist was a great way to kick the whole thing off. Tight Phantomz were pretty crazy. Every band was quite engaging and the film just flew by.

Overall, I'd say I still prefer the first film. I didn't get as attached to the house as I did in the first one. Maybe because I wasn't as familiar with the bands in this one. I was already a fan of most of the bands in the first film. I also thought bulldozing the house didn't have the same impact as burning it down. But it's very easy to see why it had to be done that way, given the house's location. This is still a wonderful film though. It's a great series and I can't wait for the next one. I guess I need to be patient though, since this one isn't even out yet.

This looks most excellent.



SUNDAY MARCH 13th
THE WAREHOUSE THEATER
1021 7th St. NW
202.783.3933
www.warehousetheater.com

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
a night of music and film featuring
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

FILMS BY BRENT GREEN with live improvised score by Amy Domingues (Garland of Hours), Brandon Butler (Canyon/Boy's Life), Brendan Canty (Fugazi), and Jim Becker (Califone).

The premier of BURN TO SHINE CHICAGO featuring footage of Wilco, Shellac, Tortoise, Freakwater, The Ponys, Red Eyed Legends, Tight Phantomz, Lonesome Organist, and Pit Er Pat.

And the D.C. premier of DEAD MEADOW's "At Her Open Door" and WEIRD WAR's "Grand Fraud" videos directed by Eric Cheevers and Scott Mueller.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
ONE NIGHT ONLY!
TWO SHOWINGS OF ALL FILMS / PERFORMANCES
FIRST SHOW at 7:00pm / $6
SECOND SHOW at 9:30pm / $6
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

more information:

+++++++++++++++++++
BRENT GREEN
+++++++++++++++++++
"Hadacol Christmas," "Francis," and "Susa's Red Ears" are three animated short films by Brent Green with a special live improvised score by Amy Domingues (Garland of Hours), Brandon Butler (Canyon/Boy's Life), Brendan Canty (Fugazi),
and Jim Becker (Califone). "Hadacol Christmas" is a twelve minute story where Santa Claus invents Christmas with a belly full of cough syrup and a head full of dying crows. "Francis" is based on a dream in which an elderly woman at the end of her life taunts the lethargic bears in her backyard into finishing her off. Francis achieves liberation amidst the chaos of a Hollywood press conference, her exploding children, and a kleptomaniac narrator. It was written by Tim Rutili of Califone and animated and directed by Brent Green. "Susa's Red Ears" is a six minute short about a girl with a firetruck in her head. In the film the sun explodes. She doesn't save the world or anything. But she saves herself, mostly.

Brent Green is the recipient of a 2005 Creative Capital grant. He also received a 2005 Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Media Arts Fellowship, administered by Pittsburgh Filmmakers.

www.nervousfilms.com


+++++++++++++++++++
BURN TO SHINE
+++++++++++++++++++
BURN TO SHINE 02 CHICAGO is the second installment of a film series produced by Fugazi's Brendan Canty and directed by film maker Christoph Green. It features Wilco, Shellac, Tortoise, Freakwater, Tight Phantomz, Pit Er Pat, The Ponys, The Lonesome Organist, and the Red Eyed Legends performing in houses that are about to be demolished or burned to the ground. They document the doomed house, the bands, and the demolition.

http://trixiedvd.com/

There's an interesting article on Betty in the Blade this week. Betty is one of those acts that I've really wanted to see for about 15 years now, but still haven't gotten around to doing so. They seem to be doing incredibly well. They're doing the theme song for The L Word and have an off-broadway show based on their career titled Betty Rules.

Didn't Alyson used to work at the old 9:30 Club? I seem to remember her being a bartender there. She was always very cool - remembering me whenever I'd come in and happy to make small-talk between bands. If I'm wrong and she wasn't there - don't tell me. It'll ruin my made-up memory.

Ambulance, Ltd./VHS or Beta 3/5/05 Black Cat Washington, DC

Disco + The Cure = VHS or Beta. If that sounds good to you, then they were great. If not, then you would have hated them. The singer is far beyond "sounding a bit like Robert Smith." His voice is a dead ringer for Smith's. The ear-splitting keyboard soundcheck and 10+ minutes of "check check....check 1 ...check 2 ..." were quite annoying. Possibly the first time I've ever put in my earplugs before a band actually started playing. The first few songs were actually very good, but after a while, they all started to sound the same - except for that voice modulator thing, which was annoying in it's own right. I just felt like I was listening to an hour of Cure remixes. They did that very well, but it's not my thing.

Ambulance were great. They did most of the album plus a new song and (I think) a really old one. They have a bit of a harder edge live, which is always a good thing. Still, they were very smoooooth. I love that whole "lounge music meets The Velvet Underground" thing they do so well.

I took the boyfriend to this show as part of his birthday celebration. The celebration continued on Sunday with drinks at JRs followed by dinner at Annie's, complete with singing waiters. His birthday is actually tomorrow. I'm afraid the celebration is going to end with a "thud", because I'm sick now. Stuffed-up, achy, sneezy, coughy - all around blech. I'll see what I can do to suck it up and make tomorrow a good day for him though.

Meanwhile - back to bed and chugging Nyquil.

I love Dischord. I ordered a few CDs late Wednesday afternoon. They were in my mailbox Saturday morning. Along with 2 free promo posters and a hand-written "thank you" note. Nice.

The Evens - The Evens
The Warmers - Wanted: More
French Toast - In A Cave

Calm down, Beavis. I mean this Dickey:





This show was a total surprise. I didn't even know he was in town until Tuesday. This makes a good start for the boyfriend's birthday weekend.

I'm pretty sure this was one of the first (if not the first) shows of the tour. There were tons of equipment problems. So bad that the band came on stage 20 minutes late, did a little tuning, then decided things still weren't right. They all walked off (after an apology by Dickey) and came back 20 minutes later, after the crew fixed things.

But they did come out eventually and gave us a good, rockin' show. Blue Sky is always a treat, since it's our song. In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed had some high points too, but the drum solo/bass solo thing is getting old. To be honest, the first set left me a little flat.

20 minute break and it's time for set 2. Dickey came out rocking hard with followed by Back Where It All Begins followed by Southbound. Holy crap. I'm not sure what happened between sets, but these songs tore the roof off the place. Absolutely blazing. Damn. This is what it's all about. I suddenly forgot that I was dead tired and totally got into it. The rest of the set was good, but it was all downhill after these two.

A nice show, but not the best Dickey Betts show I've ever seen. Always worth the trip though. Even to Virginia. :-)

I haven't seen the Allmans in years. The bf refuses to go, since they kicked out Dickey. We used to go all the time though. They were the band that filled the void after The Dead were gone. We used to make the annual run at The Beacon, hit the sheds in the summer time (if you ever want to see a hot boy-fest - just go to an Allman's show in the summertime. Those southern boys love to take their shirts off. ) and one amazing run at the Fabulous Fox in Atlanta. The boyfriend loved that Atlanta run. He loves to tell the story about how he was in the front row, just leaning on the stage about 5 feet from Dickey all night. Can't say I blame him.

Ambulance, Ltd./VHS or Beta tonight.

According to VHS or Beta's website, they're closing the show tonight at The Black Cat. The Black Cat's page implies that Ambulance is closing. Who knows. Just get there early so you don't miss anything.