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October 24, 2002
A Few Links
I got a chance this evening to make my rounds and found a couple of winners on BoingBoing.net as well as some other interesting tidbits. Somehow, it's all rather geeky.
Computers Are My Forte
BoingBoing has this strange contraption – a 1920's typewriter wedded to an 1980's Macintosh. Created as a prop for a game and inspired by the movie Brazil, the Electri-Clerk even has promotional materials included with it. Want to tell other people about the Electri-Clerk – send them a Retro-Gram!
Halflings, Nogothrim and Quendi Prepare for Winter
Movie distributors in Norway are creating a village of cabins and tents for LOTR fans waiting in line for the Two Towers. The goal is to protect fans who have started waiting in line now for the December 18th release of the movie in Norway. I'm not sure which I found odder – the article about Norwegian Tolkein fans or the photo essay - It's Lutefisk Time!
Bruce Springsteen vs. Robert Pollard
I was Googling about and saw this post on the clear advantages of spending your hard earned on seeing Guided by Voices rather than Bruce Springsteen. Amen to that!
October 23, 2002
Richmond – Rock City
Last Thursday, I managed to finesse not just one, but two shows in one evening. Strangely enough, Captured! By Robots and the Reverend Horton Heat were both in town that night. And no, it wasn't quite a full moon.
I hitched a ride with Matt and his friends, John and Mike. We headed to Grace St, where Captured!By Robots was headlining an early show at the 929 Cafe. Getting my hand stamped in the glass brick alcove of the former Twisters brought back lots of old memories of Grace Street in the early nineties. Of course, the Lee X theater and the Red Light Inn aren't there anymore, but at least the Biography/Grace Street Theater is still empty. And of course, there is the hulk of the VCU parking deck visible on the Broad Street side of the block. Crap, I've been in Richmond too long – I'm starting to refer to placed by their old names.
Captured! By Robots
After a fine dinner at the Village, we headed over to 929 to see Captured! By Robots. The second opening band, Automaton, was on stage while we got a pitcher of beer and played foosball. However, according to some Byzantine ABC regulation, we can only have beer at the bar – not at the foosball table 18 feet from the bar – during an all-ages show. The bartender apologetically asked us to keep our glasses at the bar while we played and we complied. I suppose that the ABC averted some grave threat to social order by preventing us from taking a sip of beer between goals.
While in the back of the bar, we managed to get a glimpse of the robotic members of Captured! By Robots. During most of the opening band's set, they were covered by bed sheets. However, Jay-Bot uncovered his band mates and we got a close-up look of them. The most impressive robot in the band is the GuitarBot 666. Looking like the mutant offspring of a player piano and a high school stoner's wood-shop guitar, GuitarBot 666 has both a six-string and bass guitar built into it. A series of dampers hold the strings to the frets while hammers can strike individual strings or even play chords on the six-string. While Jay-Bot is clearly the lead guitarist of the band, GuitarBot 666 was a powerful rhythm section. And yes, both GuitarBot 666 and DrumBot made the actual music. In fact, it was striking how much they sounded like any other punk band - only with meaner personalities. To Richmond's credit, the 929 was nearly full for the headliner.
The Reverend Returns
After most of Captured! By Robots's set, we headed to Alley Katz in Shockoe Bottom to see the Reverend Horton Heat. The last time I saw the Reverend Heat was at the Flood Zone – four years ago. The close confines of Alley Katz may have added a little to the impression, but I'd have to say that the Reverend put a whole lot of heart in that night's show. Alley Katz was packed – with a different crowd even. The Reverend played a few cuts from his new album as well as some old favorites and even some County Western tunes. Say what you will about the Reverend, he puts on a fine display of Rock and Roll.
I Wanna Be Your Carrie Brownstein
The Rock and Roll highlight of the month, maybe even of the year, had to be this Sunday's Sleater-Kinney show at the 9:30. Mike and I rolled up straight into DC, up 14th to the club. Our only disappointment was that the Yeah Yeah Yeah's had to bow out since Karen O had a bad case of bronchitis.
After V for Vendetta warmed up the crowd, Janet, Carrie and Corin came on stage to an ecstatic shriek from the crowd. Sleater-Kinney played over half of the songs from the new album as well as songs from the previous three records. Out of the songs from One Beat, Hollywood Ending and Remainder were phenomenal live. By the time they played Turn It On, the entire club was bouncing up and down. For the encore, SK played I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone and Little Mouth from Call the Doctor. After Little Mouth, the three of them transitioned into a brief sonic jam, them ended the show with Dig Me Out.
So, was it really the best show this year? While there are some fine contenders, S-K left them in the dust. Live, every song was different from the recorded version – more intense, more passionate and a little more personal. You couldn't package their live energy because it would melt through a CD jewel case. Sleater-Kinney also doesn't seem to mind playing through their back catalog either – You're No Rock and Roll Fun and Little Babies seemed as fresh and new as Light Rail Coyote and Combat Rock. The three rockers from the Northwest were there to play some serious music and have fun with the audience at the same time.
Don't feel band that you missed them. At least you can see them on Conan O'Brien on October 30.
What? No Links?
Sadly, I have not been cruising the 'Net much recently. I hope to make better use of my time next month; I may not have enough time to participate in National Novel Writing Month, but maybe I can teach myself a little Java and spruce up my site's use of CSS. If Wired News can do it, then why can't I?