Recently I have made a significant step toward seeing every band I want to see live… well live. I finally got off my a** and allowed myself to be dragged down to Boston by my good friend and Chinese lover Pin Tao to see They Might Be Giants (TMBG to those in the know). Pin Tao has been upwards of six times to see these guys. That almost indicates some kind of neurosis. I also know that he is not an obsessed fan with this band. So why would he drag himself all over hell’s half acre to see these guys? I am proud to say I can now tell you.

So I must admit that I am myself reaching a certain level of fan obsession with another band. It almost feels like cheating with my girlfriend. Sneaking off in the night to go drink and get extreme auditory pleasure. Its a good thing she has seen these nerdly, Victorian, carnivalesque, educated, music pirates with me or I would feel more guilty. Come to think of it that kind of sound like a threesome… me my girlfriend and The Decemberists!

These bands have very different shows, but yet they are both very similar. TMBG puts on an explosively high energy show. They pander to the kid inside all of us, and I am not talking pregnant people here. They are monsters of stage presence. John Linnel and John Flansburgh the mighty frontman of this juggernaut of musical fun have been doing shows for practically ever (read since the 80’s) and seem to have really mastered the art of the small to midsized show. I saw them in the Avalon in Boston and I knew we had found the right crowd when we noticed that within arms reach there were three computer nerds (one with a Unix command line shirt and the other with a Quake shirt), an old couple (man wearing tie and woman wearing sweater and pearls), and a man dressed as a cowboy (full length duster and broad brimmed hat). Yes my friends this is the bizarre (but appropriate) crowd that follows the way of John and John. At this point I have to plug the opener for TMBG, Corn Mo. Corn Mo is insane, yet awesome. He goes on crooning rants about what happened in highschool all set to amazing accordion stylings. So TMBG takes the stage and goes through their high energy musical blastoff of a concert, the high point of which was definitely the Corn Mo vs TMBG version of Particle Man in which Corn Mo accordion duels with John Linnel… simply breathtaking.

I have seen TMBG only once (which will soon be corrected) but I am at four for The Decemberists. The most recent viewing was also the smallest venue, Portlands “Big Easy.” It is wonderful to watch a band that you respect work up close and personal, and that is exactly what the Big Easy is. The crowd was great, no crushing up against the stage, none of the obnoxiousness that can go along with other bands, but everyone was into it. Just being there listening to the band kind of makes you feel like maybe they are corsair minstrel wretches of diverse backgrounds in some island prison off the coast of England, and you are the soldiers guarding them and forcing them to play you baudy, sad, and explosive tales. Maybe its just me.

Now how is TMBG like The Decemberists? Well I am glad you asked. The Decemberists have a much more relaxed show, usually smaller venues, but they are there for the audience. They interact in a way a lot of bands simply don’t. The same is also true in reverse. The crowd for both of them is into the bands. The venues are always small enough that you feel like you are hanging with the band and a few of your friends. There is no pretention. Everyone seems to realize that in this small vingnette of life the band is only there by the grace of the audience and the audience is only there by the grace of the band. So the long and short of it that both of these bands are perfect for fans, or anyone who wants to see what a solid concert should be like. The music is accessible to almost anyone, and the concerts are consistently good.

-Andy

Hello boys and girls. This is going to be a short one because my ship is going down and the ocean’s name is pchem. I have to man the pumps like all night tonight. Nothing too hard it just takes for !@$%&^# ever.

So here is what’s on the line up from me. Music reviews in the vein of live music reviews of They Might Be Giants and The Decemberists, indie rock’s favorite nerds. Movie goodies along the lines of “hott new movies.” Stuff that is just out or soon to be out. The stuff that flips my swithches and revs my engine.

Soon…

-Andy

PS: You can read my music reviews and more at Flip Your S*** [caution fould word in title of zine], WBOR 91.1 FM’s (Bowdoin College’s radio station) official music “webzine.” That is a short web magazine for those not hip to the lingo. Most of the reviews I write here will *hopefully* end up there, however they did say they are a touch longer than they want… boooo.

I’ll be taking my annual trip up to Small Point with the usual croud this weekend, and won’t be around to look over these systems. Thus, the restricted content section will be offline, available again Wednesday, October 13th.

It looks like the INDUCE act (read no more technology for anyone ever because Orinn Hatch is an old tech ignorant a**hole) has been stalled for now. I am not sure if anyone got involved when I wrote about this [see sept. 10th]. But I did some calling to Maine and Indiana senators so I feel involved and important.

Basically the crux of this act (in vague and obscure language) was to hold manufacturers responsible for illegal acts done with their programs/equipment/ etc, claiming that some companies “induce” illegal behavior in people. So I guess personal responsibilty means nothing? I may be crazy but last I checked if I was to choose to download illegal, copyrighted music from the internet it was my fault, not the guy who wrote the code for the ftp client I am using. What I see this as is a way for the RIAA and MPAA to stop suing their customers who are doing illegal things (its always unpopular to sue large amounts of your customers no matter what they do) and sue smaller companies (who do all the innovating anyway, but are small so who cares right?) that produce software for sharing information.

I for one am glad that this bill has been stopped. I hope that it goes the way of the DoDo and we never hear about it again except for in old history books and outmoded cliches. Imagine what our world would be like without innovations that can be used for illegal purposes. No VHS, no photocopiers, no COMPUTERS… good lord knows that they have been used for more illegal things than I can shake a stick at. So does Apple “induce” me to illegally copy DVD’s because they make totally sweet dual processor G5’s that make the process accessible to anyone with $3,000 pocket money? Or is it the guys that wrote the, dare I say brilliant, software that allows for DVD ripping and easy encoding? I mean I am all for squelching technologhy here in the US, because that is what makes us great… killing innovation.

Anyway as you can see I am all riled up.

Also I am apparently the sole survivor of some kind of Brunswick, Maine apocalypse that has wiped out anyone that might usefully contribute to this site.

Hugs and kisses,
-afischer

PS: Cool anti anti-innovation merch here in support of the (awesome) EFF