Dumbek's Random Stuff

I have jury duty today.

Please let there be someone cute to look at all day.

You know you're in for a good time when the band comes on stage wearing garbage bags decorated with neon-green tape, the guitarist is wearing a Wonder Woman-style headband and bracelets made of tin-foil and the singer comes out and starts doing cartwheels.

That would be Partyline. I caught them last night opening for Supersystem (who I didn't stay to see). All-girl punky rockin' stuff. No big surprise there, since the singer used to be in Bratmobile and Cold Cold Hearts. Tons-o-fun. Check 'em out. Even Pitchfork likes 'em. Don't hold that against them though.

Ted Leo was in the crowd checking them out. Apparently, he's in town recording or something.

Here's "Nuthaus" from their first EP Girls With Glasses

hmmm..let's see....

Last week I saw Eric Clapton in DC. Amazing. I didn't realize Derek Trucks was one of his other guitarists on this tour. Derek is a killer slide player - currently a member of the Allman Bros. He's not exactly Duane, but he's VERY good. If I can't see Duane and Eric playing "Layla", Derek's my second choice. Add Robert Cray sitting in for a few songs and I was in guitar-heaven.


I already talked about the Pet Shop Boys. That was fun. Even better was the Joan Jett show last night. Joan was really good - as expected - cranking through all the hits and a few new tunes. But the real highlight was the opening band. Holy friggin' cow. The Eagles Of Death Metal may just be the greatest band on the planet. Rocking, heavy bar-chord guitar riffs...hip-shaking, fist-pumping party rock at it's best. They've got the perfect amount of swagger to pull it off without becoming a complete joke. They know what they're doing - sort of making fun of everyone, while still pumping out raunchy bar-room rock. And a reasonable amount of cowbell. Hell yeah! My new favorite band. This week anyway...

There's a video here. I already regret not picking up one of their cds last night, but I'll probably remedy that this weekend.


Speaking of this weekend - American Hardcore opens at E Street. The book was ok, although a lot of people say it's factually inaccurate. I don't really care - I expect a ton of great old punk footage. Hopefully, a lot from the early DC harDCore days. I'm sure I'll be checking that out this weekend.


A little bird told me that The Slickee Boys are putting together a CD of early live material. That won't suck. Hopefully it'll be ready in time for their annual holiday shows. One show at the Ottobar in Baltimore has been announced already. I'm sure the DC show isn't far behind. I hope it's a 9:30 rather than Iota. I try to stay out of Virginia as much as possible these days.

Upcoming shows... The Hold Steady, Wreckless Eric, Dylan, Oxford Collapse, The Slits, Rustbuckit and The New York Dolls. Probably a few more. I may try to see Exit Clov and The Dance Party on Friday. We'll see.

Check out the DAM Festival. That's gonna be fun.

hmmmm - I guess that's it. Oh - I found a copy of the out-of-print Slant 6 cd Inzombia today. Score!

Me, Dinger, 2000 other gay men and about 5 women went to see The Pet Shop Boys last night. Closing my eyes, it brought back lots of memories of coming out in the late 80's/early 90's. ....Happy Hour at JR's....madras shorts....Izods with popped collars....the smell of Aramis and Polo filling the air....***shudder*** But the show was great. The new songs were pretty good and I forgot just how many hits they had. Dinger says they weren't as theatrical as they were some 10-15 years ago, but they still put on a heck of a show.

I can't imagine a gay world without the Pet Shop Boys. They've always been there, ever since I came out. Hell - I was listening to them before I came out. Helloooo.....wasn't anyone paying attention? They were always a bit of relief from all the other crap music I heard in the bars. Something about Neil's voice was just very comforting, even when I wasn't terribly sure of what I was feeling, or where I was headed. In college I'd be listening to The Dead Kennedys with my friends, then try to sneak-in a quick listen of my "West End Girls" 7" when they weren't around - lol.

Anyway - here's one they didn't play last night.

My very first trip to NYC was almost exactly 20 years ago. Four college friends and I piled into a borrowed car and drove from PSU to NYC. No real plans. No place to stay. Very little money. We ended up sleeping in the car, spending most of our money in bars and record stores, and generally having a ridiculously good time.

There were only 2 things I really wanted to do in New York. The most important of those was to go to CBGB's. When we got there I tried to be all cool about it, but I'm sure I failed miserably. I was thrilled to death to be there and it was hard to hide that fact.

Beyond that, however, I don't really remember much about it. I remember it was a dump. I remember the band really, really sucked. And I remember the bathroom being the scariest thing I had seen in the city so far. Yikes. No matter what you hear about the bathroom at CBGB's...well...it's probably true. Not the most sentimental memory of a musical landmark, but it's my only one. I never made it back.

After 30+ years CBGB's is closing this weekend, featuring sets by The Dictators, Debbie Harry/Chris Stein and Patti Smith. The Patti Smith gig is going to be broadcast on Sirius.

The other thing I wanted to do on that first trip? Go to the top of the World Trade Center. I got to do that too.

I am totally in the middle of a mid-life crisis.


Bubblemen - Take me away!