So I'm still alive. I survived 3 concerts and a Magic prerelease in 4 days and didn't die... yet anyway. I'm fighting the plague hardcore, and I'm more than a little creaky. Throw in a handful of other unpleasantnesses and it's a cocktail for an exhausted and cranky Cliff. Oh well.
Here's a quick rundown of the last few days:
Saturday morning: Prerelease for the new Magic set, Lorwyn. Scrubbed out after three rounds, which was kind of okay because it meant I was home in time to get a shower and do a few other small chores around the house. It's bad in that I got my ass handed to me and didn't get any prizes. Oh well, you can't win them all. I like the way the new set's looking, but there are a handful of ridiculous bombs that I'm going to have to watch out for. It'll be an interesting set to draft, which we're doing tonight (assuming I live that long) so I'll have more to report after that. Of course, I haven't had a chance to try a Planeswalker yet, so I'm curious how that'll go.
Saturday evening: Dave Matthews Band. I didn't care for the opening act much (Bob Marley's kid) but I think that's just because I'm not into reggae. It's okay, I suppose, but it all sort of sounds like the same song to me, after a while. While I was off getting a t-shirt, Dave Matthews came on stage and no one let us know, so Christy and I missed the first song, which pisses me off, but oh well. The show itself was pretty good. There was a drunk asshole off to the left of me who kept belting out the words to most of the songs off-key. I told him to shut up a bunch of times. After one particularly gruff time, he wandered off a ways then came back fifteen minutes later and resumed drunken idiotness. Fucking moron. There was, however, a funny drunken guy wearing a shirt with the number "22" on his back. He would wander by with a plastic cup full of beer in each hand. He'd look around, confused as to where he was, trying to find his friends, then sort of wander off in a random direction. He did this FOUR TIMES each time with full beers. So, either A) he was continually lost each time he went for beer, B) he got lost, drank the two beers and went back to get more beer only to get lost again, or C) he brought his friends the flattest two beers in history. I personally find B) the most entertaining option.
Sunday morning: Slept through all of Sunday morning. No joke.
Sunday evening: They Might Be Giants in the city at the Fillmore. Sat in one of the balconies with a very nice couple who had brought their son and his girlfriend to the show for his 18th birthday. The son and gf were down on the floor, which left us plenty of space to watch TMBG. There was also a good opening act, Oppenheimer, who I enjoyed. There was, however, no poster. Damn you, Fillmore. Jesus and Mary Chain are playing there at the end of the month, and I'm tempted to go, but I'm also afraid I'd lose my hearing, even with earplugs. Plus, while I like JAMC, I wouldn't call me a massive fan. The Pogues are also playing there soon and while the idea of seeing the drunken Irish folk-punk legends in person sounds cool, tickets are way more than I'd like to pay. (That and I'm pretty sure the show will be chaotic.) TMBG was taking phone calls on stage from dead people. Jerry Orbach called. (Or, rather, Jerry Orbach Impersonator Man.) It was a fun show, overall. Song selection was a little odd, but TMBG is a little odd over all.
Monday day: Work. Fighting cold.
Monday night: Watched How I Met Your Mother, and Journeyman, which I'm now hooked on. Good show, if you haven't seen it.
Tuesday day: Work. Still fighting cold.
Tuesday night: Jimmy Eat World at the Catalyst. Opening band bored the crap out of me. Jimmy was great, although, really, they should have been front-lit at least some of the show. They were backlit the entire time, which was cool for some songs, but really, some front lighting wouldn't have killed them. Good song selection, like what I've heard from the new album, got a cool t-shirt (got shirts from each band I saw in the last three days that I liked, so DMB, TMBG, Oppenheimer and JEW) and they played a couple of songs I was delighted to hear. ("Disintegration" is just as cool live as it is on the EP.) I also wanted to throttle whoever was running their soundboard. I'm convinced there must have been a second soundboard somewhere, because the guy upstairs wasn't paying any attention to the board in front of him. If there was some other guy running the soundboard, though, he needed a punch up the bracket. Far too often the lead guitar was turned down too far and the rhythm guitar was turned up too far. I often wonder if I should just start trying to run soundboards. I realize I'd have a lot to learn, but hell, a lot of shows, I'm wondering what the hell people are doing... All in all, the Catalyst was a very nice venue, but not as good as The Fillmore. (Circulation was TERRIBLE, which was one of the big killers.) Despite that, I'm going to keep tabs on who else is playing there in case there are other good shows to see. It's certainly one of the better venues I've seen shows at.
One more show later this month (Blue October/Yellowcard, at the Warfield, which means nice views, sitting down and the ability to enjoy the show without shoving for room) and then I think I'm good for a while. We'll see. Both The Pogues and The Jesus and Mary Chain were tempting shows, as was the Dashboard Confessional one, but certainly not enough to make me want to go out for another concert. We'll see. I'm sure someone will sneak in a great show in November or December for me to go to.
So I'm holding it together, but I'm exhausted and battling a cold like nobody's business. We'll see how the rest of the week pans out.
Here's a quick rundown of the last few days:
Saturday morning: Prerelease for the new Magic set, Lorwyn. Scrubbed out after three rounds, which was kind of okay because it meant I was home in time to get a shower and do a few other small chores around the house. It's bad in that I got my ass handed to me and didn't get any prizes. Oh well, you can't win them all. I like the way the new set's looking, but there are a handful of ridiculous bombs that I'm going to have to watch out for. It'll be an interesting set to draft, which we're doing tonight (assuming I live that long) so I'll have more to report after that. Of course, I haven't had a chance to try a Planeswalker yet, so I'm curious how that'll go.
Saturday evening: Dave Matthews Band. I didn't care for the opening act much (Bob Marley's kid) but I think that's just because I'm not into reggae. It's okay, I suppose, but it all sort of sounds like the same song to me, after a while. While I was off getting a t-shirt, Dave Matthews came on stage and no one let us know, so Christy and I missed the first song, which pisses me off, but oh well. The show itself was pretty good. There was a drunk asshole off to the left of me who kept belting out the words to most of the songs off-key. I told him to shut up a bunch of times. After one particularly gruff time, he wandered off a ways then came back fifteen minutes later and resumed drunken idiotness. Fucking moron. There was, however, a funny drunken guy wearing a shirt with the number "22" on his back. He would wander by with a plastic cup full of beer in each hand. He'd look around, confused as to where he was, trying to find his friends, then sort of wander off in a random direction. He did this FOUR TIMES each time with full beers. So, either A) he was continually lost each time he went for beer, B) he got lost, drank the two beers and went back to get more beer only to get lost again, or C) he brought his friends the flattest two beers in history. I personally find B) the most entertaining option.
Sunday morning: Slept through all of Sunday morning. No joke.
Sunday evening: They Might Be Giants in the city at the Fillmore. Sat in one of the balconies with a very nice couple who had brought their son and his girlfriend to the show for his 18th birthday. The son and gf were down on the floor, which left us plenty of space to watch TMBG. There was also a good opening act, Oppenheimer, who I enjoyed. There was, however, no poster. Damn you, Fillmore. Jesus and Mary Chain are playing there at the end of the month, and I'm tempted to go, but I'm also afraid I'd lose my hearing, even with earplugs. Plus, while I like JAMC, I wouldn't call me a massive fan. The Pogues are also playing there soon and while the idea of seeing the drunken Irish folk-punk legends in person sounds cool, tickets are way more than I'd like to pay. (That and I'm pretty sure the show will be chaotic.) TMBG was taking phone calls on stage from dead people. Jerry Orbach called. (Or, rather, Jerry Orbach Impersonator Man.) It was a fun show, overall. Song selection was a little odd, but TMBG is a little odd over all.
Monday day: Work. Fighting cold.
Monday night: Watched How I Met Your Mother, and Journeyman, which I'm now hooked on. Good show, if you haven't seen it.
Tuesday day: Work. Still fighting cold.
Tuesday night: Jimmy Eat World at the Catalyst. Opening band bored the crap out of me. Jimmy was great, although, really, they should have been front-lit at least some of the show. They were backlit the entire time, which was cool for some songs, but really, some front lighting wouldn't have killed them. Good song selection, like what I've heard from the new album, got a cool t-shirt (got shirts from each band I saw in the last three days that I liked, so DMB, TMBG, Oppenheimer and JEW) and they played a couple of songs I was delighted to hear. ("Disintegration" is just as cool live as it is on the EP.) I also wanted to throttle whoever was running their soundboard. I'm convinced there must have been a second soundboard somewhere, because the guy upstairs wasn't paying any attention to the board in front of him. If there was some other guy running the soundboard, though, he needed a punch up the bracket. Far too often the lead guitar was turned down too far and the rhythm guitar was turned up too far. I often wonder if I should just start trying to run soundboards. I realize I'd have a lot to learn, but hell, a lot of shows, I'm wondering what the hell people are doing... All in all, the Catalyst was a very nice venue, but not as good as The Fillmore. (Circulation was TERRIBLE, which was one of the big killers.) Despite that, I'm going to keep tabs on who else is playing there in case there are other good shows to see. It's certainly one of the better venues I've seen shows at.
One more show later this month (Blue October/Yellowcard, at the Warfield, which means nice views, sitting down and the ability to enjoy the show without shoving for room) and then I think I'm good for a while. We'll see. Both The Pogues and The Jesus and Mary Chain were tempting shows, as was the Dashboard Confessional one, but certainly not enough to make me want to go out for another concert. We'll see. I'm sure someone will sneak in a great show in November or December for me to go to.
So I'm holding it together, but I'm exhausted and battling a cold like nobody's business. We'll see how the rest of the week pans out.
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