Soundgarden Played Terminal 5

On on Wednesday I went to Terminal 5 for the American Express concert featuring Soundgarden. Some people are acting weird because AMEX sponsored the show but if that means $15 tickets for Soundgarden then I don't give two flying fucks who sponsors it. Soundgarden is one of my all-time favorite bands and I've only seen them once before a couple summers ago in Philly. That was one of the best shows I've seen in years so I had high hopes for this one.

The show started a little after 8pm with the band jumping into "Been Away For Too Long" which is a decent track from their new album. From there they went to "My Wave," which is a track I love so things were looking up but the band never really picked up steam. The Philly show was chock full of harder and heavier songs from the early years but this set was mostly the singles. It's still great music but that's not what I want to see at a show. I'm sure AMEX had something to do with the lackluster set list. Check it out after the jump, you'll notice songs like, "Slaves and Bulldozers" "Beyond The Wheel" "Mailman" "4th of July" "Superunknown" and so forth are absent, all of which they played in Philly.

Tonight: Eddy Segal Photo Opening @ Pushpin Gallery (I'm A Model); VICE Cinco De Mayo Party @ Hudson Hotel

Back in like 2004 or so I was offered a gig as a fitness model for Nike. Despite my hatred for Nike I was pretty excited about it. Hell, stand around modeling clothes and get a big fat paycheck after a few hours? Fuck yes! I filled out the proper forms and waited to find out location and time. And then I got an email informing me that the gig got cancelled and with it my modeling career was over before it ever started.

Well tonight I get to relive the dream. My friend Eddy is an awesome photographer and has a photo exhibit opening at the Pushpin Gallery tonight. She asked me to model for it so you can go see my ugly mug up on a wall, all zoomed in and porous. Don't worry, there's only one photo of me in the entire space so it'll be okay.

After you've had enough there's an after party at the Hudson Hotel, which also happens to be the location of the VICE Cinco De Mayo party which has bands, booze and Mexican wrestling! That's my night.

Tonight, 6:30-8:30

@ Pushpin Gallery

(Fordham University Lincoln Center, 60th & Columbus)

FREE

Unseen NYC

Unseen NYC is a photo blog that posts images from all over the city. It's usually shit like graffiti, street art, weird structures, garbage and shit like that. Basically all the stuff residents see all the time but you'll never see on a postcard. Anyway, over the years I've been amassing quite a collection of exactly these types of photos so I sent some in. This weekend they posted a photo I took of a sidewalk chalk Virgin Mary (I think it's Mary, I'm not so good with religious idolatry).

Link:

Unseen NYC: Sidewalk Church

***If you want to submit your own photos just go here.

Rock And Roll Circus Night One (So So Glos & Japanther Destroyed)

Last night was the first night of the Rock And Roll Circus at the Big Apple Circus tent in Lincoln Center. The show was free and some of Brooklyn's finest were playing. That combined with the fact that it's a show in a fucking circus tent meant there was no way I was missing it.

I got to the show early because I was worried about getting in. Turns out the tent is gigantic so I had nothing to worry about. After I got in I roamed around for a few minutes and eventually went to grab a beer. There was a sign on the bar that said, "$8 Beer, $12 Mixed Drinks". I'm used to pricey drinks at shows but holy shit man! And the cups were little 12 oz. joints.

Luckily, it was at this point that I checked my email and found out I was on the press list which not only got me backstage and front row seats but also came with free Sixpoint and Belvedere from the VIP bar! Drink in hand I was ready to party!

We entered the back room of the tent which was a big circus ring. There was a huge lit up "Big Apple" sign overlooking the circle with a slide coming down from a platform onto the floor. The show started with a huge drag queen who cracked a few jokes and announced the first band, Electric Tickle Machine. One by one the band members slid down the slide into the circle and took their places.

The tambourine player/hype man of the band was wearing a crazy balloon thing on arms with high waisted leather pants and green shades. I've seen ETM before at a DIY show at Shangri-La in Greenpoint. They were pretty good then but man, they've come a long way. They were fucking amazing last night! Super high energy, amazing songs and a great presence. They even included a cover of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" which was pretty damn good, and it ain't easy covering the Beatles.

After ETM finished up we went back for some more booze and wandered around a bit more. They had all types of booths set up for face-painting and shit like that but no carnival games. I would have dug a few carnival games but it's cool.

We missed the first song or two by So So Glos, they were already playing when we made it back to the circle. They sounded great but the vibe was kinda mellow for an SSG show. They noticed this too and invited everyone onto the floor to dance. At first everyone looked at each other wondering if they were serious and if rushing the floor would be kosher. Then our favorite drummer and good friend, Jamen of Regal Degal, ran out there and, upon seeing one person do it, a stampede followed.

Now there were about 75 kids on the floor dancing and crowd surfing and just having some fun. It was quite a sight with the circus tent and "Big Apple" sign as a back drop. They played about two or three songs with the crowd just going totally apeshit.

Then they announced that they had one more and upon kicking off the last song it got even crazier. Halfway through the last song of the set security rushes the crowd and

Tonight: Benefit Party For Jessie Lee

Porn star and Burning Angel, Jessie Lee, was recently in a really bad car wreck. The story, from what I've gathered, is that she does not have insurance and needs to raise money to pay the bills. Her photographer friends and Burning Angel are throwing an art show fundraiser at Beauty Bar tonight to help her out. Go get drunk and look at photos of naked girls...for charity.

Link:

Jessie Lee Fundraiser

Black Angels "Secret" Show Last Night (Photos & Video) + Playing Letterman Tonight

Last night I voyaged out of the house for a "secret" Black Angels show at the Angel Orensanz theatre. I've never been to the venue before and I had very little details about the event. All I knew was Black Angels were playing. Whether or not anyone else was, or not, I had no idea.

When I got to the show I was happy to see the line outside wasn't too crazy. Once I got inside I was very much impressed by the interior. The stage has a massive church facade as a back drop. I was also impressed by the fact there was free booze (Hob Nob wine & Coors Light). I ran into some comrades who informed me that only Black Angels were playing, which was just fine by me.

They started playing not long after I entered. The first half of the set was their new album, Phosphene Dream, in it's entirety. The songs were good but, of course, lacked familiarity. For this reason I can't tell you the name of the super awesome, and surprisingly upbeat, tune they played about halfway into the album. I also can't tell you the name of the song they closed with which had an intro that is exactly the same riff as "Police Truck" by Dead Kennedys, but way slowed down. Overall, I dig the new stuff but of course was looking forward to hearing some old gems.

After they played all the new tracks they took a break. It was around this time that I discovered that the upstairs balcony had it's own little bar hidden

Smell The Glove Was Awesome...Or So I Hear

I was on vacation last week so I missed Smell The Glove, which went down on Thursday. Let me tell you, missing your own party sucks. I heard all types of awesomeness ensued and all types of people dropped by including Andy Rourke of The Smiths and members of The Bowery Riots, Wild Street, The Party Death, Panzie and even some of the creators of "Lemmy: The Movie". Luckily, Igor from DrivenByBoredom was there to capture the debauchery.

Link:

Smell The Glove Gallery

More Smell The Glove:

Twitter/SmellTheGloveNY

Facebook/SmellTheGloveNYC

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Wild Yaks Played The Charleston

Last night started with some Big Buds at Rosemary's on Bedford. They had the baseball games on and while I don't particularly give a shit (not in non-athletic hipster way, I play/watch sports, in the baseball is a snore way) some of the people I was with were into it.

We were there until about 10:30 killing time before the Yaks went on. I stepped out to head over to The Charleston and Martin from Yaks was walking by so I asked when they were playing. He said not until 11:30 so we went back in for another Big Bud.

When we finally got to the show the Yaks were all at the bar drinking. I asked the dudes when they were going on and it turns out there was still another band before them. So it was looking more like midnight which prompted us to grab some beers and free pizzas.

After the band downstairs finished we all headed downstairs. The Yaks were plugging in and setting up. There were two additional members with them. They had a guy on sax (which I've only seen play with them once before) and a second rhythm guitar player (who looked like the neighbor in Office Space). After tuning up they started into some loud noise shit which built up and right when everyone expected a song to bust out they put down their instruments and headed back upstairs for beer. The chorus sigh of disappointment from the crowd was pretty damn funny.

About 10 minutes later they were back downstairs with fresh beers. I've seen Yaks so many times now and I have to say this was one of the best shows ever. Maybe it was because the added guitar gave Rob more freedom on the mic. Maybe it's because of the seedy punk rock basement show vibe at The Charleston. Maybe it's because I was with a bunch of drunk friends, all of us dancing and singing front and center. Maybe it's because this is one of Zach's last shows ever with the Wild Yaks.

That's a lot of maybes so let's say collectively those elements made for one hell of a show. It's a huge bummer that Zach is leaving the band but the sunny side of that is the Yaks will be able to tour more. If you want to see them with Zach I believe they have three more shows lined up before he hangs it up. Check their MySpace page for dates and locations.

Did I mention their might be a surprise guest at my birthday show? Kinda weird I would randomly mention that in this post isn't it?

2009 Gathering Of The Juggalos: The Photo Essay

I used to hit the occasional trailer park party when I was growing up in South Jersey. The Juggalo thing was just getting started back then. It amazes me how much this has blown up since. This fucking shit fascinates me...

***Update: If you're here for the Tila Tequila shit here's a more recent post about it.

Link:
Photo Essay

In case you don't know what this is:

NYC Loves Apes And Androids

Last night Apes and Androids performed to a packed Hiro Ballroom. I'll save my full review for later but a few quick notes. The crowd was an unusual mix of people that kinda proves this band has a much further reach then some people give them credit for, I'm sure the Rolling Stone write up doesn't hurt either. From a musical stand point this was probably the best I've ever seen them perform, although the stage show was a bit lacking. But that's a good thing because it means they're such an incredible band right now that giant robots and viking ships are no longer necessary... but we still love that shit.

**More Updates to come**

Photos:
Ski Club Set (90 shots)

Washington State

Last week I spent 5 days in the middle of nowhere up in Washington state. This is what I saw while I was there.