Gig Life Tour

Went to possibly one of the funnest shows I've been to in awhile: the Gig Life Tour with Set Your Goals headlining, and Four Year Strong, Polar Bear Club, and Fireworks opening.

We arrived late to the Glasshouse, but only a few minutes after they opened the doors so me and my best friend were able to get a great spot on the balcony after browsing the merch room (yeah, Glasshouse has a whole room for merch. Suck on that, two crappy folding tables at Chain Reaction). After we got a shirt from FYS and the Summer of George 7" from Polar Bear Club (on the grey tour only vinyl) apiece, we headed to the bar, got ourselves some root beer and headed upstairs and claimed a balcony spot. The night we went was Drive A's last night on the tour, and so some special stuff went on with them, which I will go into detail about a little bit later in this post.

After Drive A finished up, Polar Bear Club came on to my excitement. I have loved this band for awhile, and this was the first time for me seeing their live show. I was not disappointed at all. The trademark gravel-guzzling vocals that are associated with PBC were out in full force from singer Jim Stadt, and their set was a precursor for what was to come along next.

I was introduced to Four Year Strong a couple years ago at Bamboozle Left, and have subsequently seen them every time they have played out here since. They always put on a good show. Always. I have never left a set from Four Year Strong NOT feeling like my head was going to fall off from awesomeness. Thursday's show was no different, as they played a good show full of songs from Rise or Die Trying (their 2008 record) and two songs from their just released last month covers album, Explains It All. It was a great set from them, and I am genuinely stoked for their next tour when I can see them again.

Set Your Goals was headlining and came on last, and I swear it was worth it. Such a great show. High energy, wonderful sound, and a fantastic mix of tracks from their new album and their previous LP Mutiny! helped to make it a show worth remembering.

finally I've figured it out

I have understood why I have this need, a literal need, for the music I love. It's ridiculously simple, but the most true things usually are.

Music is the only thing, the honest to God only thing, that can pinpoint exactly what I am feeling.

You can't describe utter devastation in words. You can't accurately describe what is feels like to hate yourself and the way you are so much that you don't want to exist anymore because you feel you are too disgusting. Nothing can act as a synonym for total rage. Only sounds can emulate those for me, and can help me make sense of them. That is why I need songs. That is why I need to go to shows and be smashed alongside 300 other people singing the words to a track so loudly with those people that the singer is drowned out by us. It is a sense of community I am sure only vigorously religious groups can vouch for feeling as well. You either get it or you don't.

And I am lucky to be one of the few who gets it.

Who would guess?

Everything > hipster indie music

Here is the problem that I have with bullshit indie soapbox shouters Spin Magazine and Pitchfork: You swear that everything else is generic and a repeat of something from the early nineties, yet the bands you cream yourselves over are repeats as well. You fall head over heels for the newest, quirkiest sound out there, with names that are the biggest and stupidest non-sequiturs music has to offer, and you pronounce from your high and mighty websites and pages that this kind of music is good, that this music has the answers for everyone, and anyone who dares listen to anything else might as well be listening to the same cab horns and subway cars that blare through your studio apartment walls in Williamsburg. You hipster bitches think that by wearing clothes that make you stand out in a crowd, you are being original. But when you traipse over to see these God sends of music play, you all look exactly the same: bored, standing with a plastic cup of $20 beer, and wearing clothes that make you look like an idiot.

Sooooooo original.

So while you go off and enjoy bands that use a ukulele, bang pots and pans for drums, and sing songs about hippie shit while coked up and cracked out, I'll be at a show having a good time with a community that stands for leading a better life, stands for keeping our bodies clean and pure of the shit that you shove up your noses, and stands for something more than just getting your ugly Ray Ban wearing mug on Brooklyn Vegan.

death to the hipsters.

I love Media Mail

In the world of vinyl (for which this blog is about), I have some more cool things to show. I got a bunch of records in this week, most of which are below. I also received my Lily Allen It's Not Me, It's You picture disc, but I accidentally deleted the pic and am too lazy to take another one. So if you must see a photo of it, go google it.

Here are some of the new pieces of wax that arrived last week.

This is the Sideonedummy limited (out of /100) copy of Broadway Calls to-be-released on August 18th record, Good News, Bad Views.

My copy is one of the silk screened copies. It is number 17 out of 100. :-)

Pennsylvania's finest punk band Title Fight and their latest album The Last Thing You Forget

Lily Allen The Fear 7" featuring the first single off It's Not Me, It's You "The Fear" and the b-side "Kabul Shit"

The new gem of my collection, Verse's 2004 record Rebuild, featuring one of my favorite songs from them, "Saying Goodbye". Long out of print, and the fruits of my ebay battle labor.

on a side note, I saw 500 Days of Summer today, and I have to tell ya, it is one of the best movies EVER. The soundtrack is great, featuring cuts from the Smiths, and some from lead actress Zooey Deschanel solo and with her indie project She & Him. Go see it.

Back with a vengence

hey errbody. Been awhile, but I'm back.

Anyways. Pics galore to follow, but I think it's prudent to get the boring text part out of the way first. Picked up a truckload of new wax over the past few weeks, and my ebay madness is the main reason I have been so lame in the updates department.

Above is the complete first pressing collection of Bayside's latest 2008 studio release Shudder. Red as the general color out of 500, blue as the Victory Records exclusive out of 200, and the Hot Topic exclusive yellow, unknown pressing info on that one.

This is the second pressing of Fake Problems' It's Great To Be Alive on purple.

Broadway Calls' reissued 2007 self titled debut album on clear blue. Matches great with the artwork. Also available on gold wax from Adeline Records.

Brand spankin' new! Baltimore's best hardcore band Trapped Under Ice Secrets of the World on ice colored vinyl, which is a cloudy version of the clear, or a non blue coke bottle color. Beeeautiful.

Vinyl Collective exclusive, Ninja Gun Restless Rubes on green wax and a silk screened jacket.

Crime In Stereo Is Dead. Masterpiece of post hardcore.

Latest pressing of the 2007 EP, the Gaslight Anthem's Senor and the Queen 10" on clear red.

Fake Problems Dream Team 7" on white

Have Heart's last 7" You Can't Go Home Again. Powerful message from singer Patrick Flynn on the inside of the cover. One of my all time favorite bands right here. They are going on their last tour of the United States as I type, and I am honored that I get to be a witness to this tour. This EP features songs from their last LP Songs to Scream at the Sun.

Local LA band Final Fight teamed up with Life Long Tragedy to put out this sucker punch of a split on half yellow, half cloudy clear like the Trapped Under Ice LP above. Great stuff, and it's on iTunes so you can get the split for $3 bucks. Worth it, trust me.
Verse's final 7", Story of a Free Man, featuring the epic three track "story" from their final LP Aggression.