The world’s less funny this morning.

I woke up early this morning only to find that George Carlin died on Sunday at age 71.  I’d like to think that he’ll be sitting in the Afterlife calling us out on our bullshit with Kurt Vonnegut.

Follow me, [don't] follow me to Philadelphia?

Image credit

So I know I promised to write about the two R.E.M. shows I went to this weekend, and I have.  The thing is, I wrote about them in my notebook and not this blog, so I still have to do that (and upload my pictures and videos, which takes forever).  So that will have to wait.

Instead, I write to let you know about the next surprise turn in the Summer of Brian – in eight hours I’m getting on a train to Philadelphia to go to my third show of the R.E.M. / Modest Mouse / The National tour!  Yes, I realize this is a bit obsessive, but I had so much fun at the other two shows and I really couldn’t turn down the chance to see the band again (even if it’s the third time in six days).

So I’m off to Philadelphia where I will be enjoying the show at the beautiful (or so I’m told) Mann Music Center.  About an hour ago, while looking for things to do while in Philadelphia, I realized that the Phillies and Red Sox are playing at 1:00, so I looked for tickets and ended up buying a standing room ticket.  Of course, my original plans involved going to the Museum of Art, getting a cheesesteak, and perhaps seeing some of the historical sites, but the lure of baseball was too strong.  This just means I need to leave my Mets gear at home I guess.

So sometime this weekend I’ll merge all three shows, share my pictures, and upload my videos.  Until then, I will be having a very long yet fun day galavanting around Philadelphia.  I’ll be twittering periodically, so check that out if you’re bored.

Bye Bye, Willie.

So (early) this morning, the Mets fired most of their coaching staff, including manager Willie Randolph.  At this point, I realize that this was an inevitability; all of the issues with the Mets – the poor performance, the fighting within the organization, Willie’s ill-received (but probably somewhat truthful) comments about the subtle racism embedded in media coverage – meant that Randolph and the Mets needed to part ways.

Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog summed it up best this morning, titling his post “I Feel Dirty.”

As a Mets fan, I’m embarrassed this morning, and I feel a little dirty.

I understand why Willie Randolph was fired.  In fact, due to the time I spend talking to people connected to the team, I am probably aware of why he was fired better than most people.

The problem is that, like in so many cases during this team’s history, the story today will not be about replacing Randolph with Jerry Manuel and moving forward, it will be about the way this situation was handled – and rightfully so.

Why the Mets fired their manager after weeks of turbulance during the middle of a series on the West coast is beyond me.  It’s just another event in the team’s recent history of mismanagement (just ask Steve Phillips, Bobby Valentine, etc.).  In Newsday this morning, Jim Baumbach points the spotlight squarely at the suits.

Today, we see firsthand Corporate America joining hands with a Major League Baseball team, 21st-century style. It used to be that teams did firings and announced negative news on Fridays, because the Saturday newspaper is the smallest and least read by the people who buy their tickets and paraphernalia.

But in this day and age where news hits the Internet in minutes and the news cycle is endless, the Friday bad news game is meaningless. So what do the Mets do? They wait until their team heads to the West Coast, wait until their fans are in bed, wait until Randolph returns to the hotel and fire him then.

This is not about whether this was the right move. Randolph probably deserves to get fired based on how much this team has under-performed for the past year-plus. But Randolph deserved better than how the Mets handled this, and so did the players and the fans.

There is no defending the Mets management today. They screwed this up royally, and it’s hard not to think they mishandled this mess for the past week simply to find the best way to make themselves look better.

I like Willie Randolph; if I was an athlete, I’d love to play for a manager like him.  However, it became clear that the team needed to go in a different direction.  My problem is that Willie deserved better than this.  For his sake, I hope he lands on his feet and gets a managing job again.

And if Bobby V wants to come back to the states (and I wouldn’t understand why, he’s the biggest figure in Japanese baseball), we’ll keep the Groucho Marx glasses ready for him.

“Tired and wired we ruin too easy”

So this past weekend I went to see R.E.M., Modest Mouse, and The National in both Massachusetts and Long Island and both were wonderful, unique experiences that I will never forget for different reasons.

I’ll be writing about the two shows tomorrow, but first I wanted to share one of the videos I took Friday night.  I was able to capture The National playing a slightly different arrangement of “Apartment Story” from last year’s Boxer.  They played an exteremely early set (over by 7:15!) and thus the sunlight provided a strange glow especially when my camera zoomed in.  Also, the crowd was practically empty; this was the audience’s loss, as the National put on an awesome set.

So here’s the video of “Apartment Story” from the Comcast Center (or, Tweeter Center or Great Woods if you prefer those) from Friday night (6/13/08).  More later

Best Google Calendar Reminder Ever

Not that it was necessary, of course.  This weekend, I’m going to see R.E.M. twice – once in Massachusetts, once at Jones Beach in NY.  I’ve been following the tour updates from the first show in Vancouver through yesterday’s show in DC and each night I’m more and more impressed with the setlists.

I’ll be bringing my camera with me to both shows to take pictures, and I’ll probably Twitter from the shows as well.  I’ll save the rest of the commentary until after the shows.  Woo!

Also, Mike and I have been writing about some R.E.M. tracks at Make Me Fries, our collaborative blog, so head over there for some reflections on some random R.E.M. tracks.

PS – for the R.E.M. tour page, here’s the tags for this weekend’s two shows – #remtweet and #remjones

Quick Heads Up

Stay Positive, the new Hold Steady album that triggered a mini WEB SHERIFF banter session that amused the hell out of me, is now streaming on the band’s Myspace page.

If you were me, you’d be listening to “Constructive Summer” roll into “Sequestered in Memphis” with the volume (and air conditioner) very loud right now.  I suggest you do the same.

If you’re looking for something to read while listening (or, in place of listening I suppose if you’re at work), check out producer John Agnello’s studio diary for Paste Magazine from the Stay Positive sessions.  They’re quite informative and often very funny.  Here’s a link to the third installment, posted this morning.

Jamie Lidell at Paradise in Boston, MA (06/07/08)

This should come as a surprise to nobody, but I’m a big fan of the internet.  In particular, the internet has changed how I listen to music (or, more appropriately, how I encounter and interact with music).  Specifically, the plethora of resources available to research, discover, and acquire music makes being a fan entirely different than it was ten years ago.

However, before this introduction becomes a full-on digression, I only bring this up to suggest that very rarely do I encounter something without at least reading something about it, let alone hearing a track or two, seeing some pictures, or reading a review.  I suppose this is the price to pay for being exposed to so much music (and, therefore, discovering lots of new and exciting things).

So when Jenny invited me to come see Jamie Lidell with her this past weekend, I was intrigued to say the least.  I’d read things in passing about Lidell – I knew he had some kind of association with Beck, played some kind of electro-funk hybrid (or perhaps the Beck thing suggested that), and will be opening shows for Elton John in the near future – but had no concrete idea what he sounded like.  After realizing this, I openly embraced the chance to genuinely experience something new and foreign to me.

Simply put, I’m glad that I did – it was one of the most bizarre, fun evenings of music in a long time.  After spending the early part of his career as a producer/DJ/electro-whatever, Lidell moved towards a sort of neo-soul/funk mix.  On record (granted, only after a couple listens over the last day and a half), he comes across as a slightly less charismatic (albeit equally capable) Justin Timberlake vocally (with some damn good songs – don’t be surprised if “Another Day” starts popping up places this summer).  In the live setting, Lidell proudly waves the freak flag in every sense of the word – he came out in a gaudy black and gold jacket over a t-shirt, pajama-like pants with bare feet, and his thick-rimmed Coke-bottle glasses (with his band decked out in similarly absurd manners – mustaches, Evel Knieval jumpsuits, etc).

When the music starts, it’s a full-on onslaught of keys, percussion, saxophone (at times, the sax player played an alto and barritone simultaneously) and visual effects (we gawked over the video mixing equipment during Jennifer O’Connor’s tepid opening set).  Lidell himself danced, spazzed out, and propelled himself around the Paradise’s small stage, careening between his various band members, his dj equipment, and his record player that spun toy records for show.  I’ve never seen Gnarls Barkley live, but this is how I imagine their band should sound – taking rock, soul, funk, hip-hop, and effects and producing a joyous blend.

While the music was exceptional, the antics are also worth noting.  About twenty minutes into the set, Lidell moved over to his samplers and started looping his voice for the song “A Little Bit More” (among others).  As he added and twisted new layers of vocals, we turned around to see members of his band in the audience dancing with the crowd.  Then, a bit later on in the set, a bagpipe player (what looked to be a local fireman, but that’s pure speculation), marched on unannounced, played for a couple minutes, and marched off as well.  Somehow, the local touch managed to be surreal and endearing rather than out of place.

Finally, Lidell returned from the encore with a TV (and his turntable) on his head to sing a heartwrenching ballad.  Well, I assume it was heart-wrenching, but I spent most of the song trying to get a decent picture of this site on my cell phone.  Instead, I’ll borrow this one from Brooklyn Vegan’s review of his show the following night:

Two things that I think summed up the evening well.  Upon returning, I sought out copies of Multiply and his new record Jim and have been enjoying both.  Additionally, while waiting for the T, I told Jenny, “there’s no way that Old Man Elton John can go on after that.”  It’s probably true.

(As a side note, this show was proof that I should bring my camera to every small venue show I go to from now on.   Think of all the YouTube clips I could have shot!)

Rilo Kiley Live at Lupo’s in Providence 05/30/08

First, I will say that I will try my best to keep this objective because subjectively I had an awesome weekend in Providence.

That out of the way, Rilo Kiley put on an excellent show in Providence this past Saturday night.  I last saw the band three years ago in Northampton and was floored by how intense the band was live.  The show this weekend might not have been on the same level, but it was still excellent.

I don’t pull too many punches with the band; I love their 2003 album The Execution of All Things and have liked each of the ensuing albums less and less.  Still, the new songs sounded much better live, in part because the band are first class musicians and in part because Jenny Lewis exudes charisma on stage.  She slinked off the stage, climbed into the crowd, and bounded over to one of the unused bars near the front of the stage.  I remember writing for my college newspaper that More Adventurous was Lewis’ star-making moment, and even if the resounding success that some of her contemporaries bask in (Death Cab for Cutie just had a number one album?!) eludes her band, the expanded audience and Lewis’ stage presence display this growth in her public persona.

Personally, the highlights were the old songs the band included.  I was surprised at how many words I knew to the Execution of All Things era songs in particular.  Even if the Under the Blacklight songs (with the exception of “Silver Lining” – one of their finest moments as a band and (in my opinion) the exception that proves the rule) don’t explore the same sonic or lyrical depth as some of the other songs in their catalog, the crowd had a lot of fun (the unspoken criteria for a show – if a crowd had fun and doesn’t act like complete jerks, the concert experience increases exponentially) and the band fed off of this energy and returned it appropriately.

Two notable omissions before I share my two personal highlights.  I like Blake Sennett’s voice, and in particular I enjoyed the song “Ripchord” far more in person than I do on the record, but I would have preferred his turn behind the mic came with Execution’s “So Long.”  Similarly, the band closed with a raucous version of “Portions for Foxes” that segued into “Spectacular Views.”  The transition was seamless (and, quite honestly, worked extremely well) but meant that the band only played half of one of my favorite songs.

As for highlights, the song that surprised me the most was “The Absence of God” from 2004’s More Adventurous.  Lewis slowly roamed the stage as Sennett strummed along gracefully, letting her voice take center stage.  This, along with some other predictable moments (see: vocal acrobatics in “I Never”) that Jenny Lewis has serious pipes.  I wish I captured this song to share with you.

I tried to take some pictures, but only a couple came out (the rest were blurry, I guess it’s hard to bounce up and down and still take still pictures).  I did manage to capture a minute of “With Arms Outstretched” and I’ll share that with you here.

All in all, a wonderful show – the flaws I pointed out were minor when compared with the band’s triumphs.  I will gladly see this band at any point.  I might actually give Under the Blacklight another listen too!