eat breathe sleep rock

rock: MORE JIVE WITH S.M.

former pavement frontman (and my personal dreamboat) stephen malkmus commented recently that he gets recognized more in new york city than anywhere else in the world. he claims his usual response is "thanks for listening," for lack of anything better to say. when I met the yankees' 2nd baseman derek jeter I may have kept my cool, hell I've even sneered at matchbox 20's rob thomas during an introduction...but when I first met stephen in '99 I floundered. I suppose it was a strange case of fandom overload. so I wonder, if I ever bump into S.M. on the streets of nyc, what could I say that would evoke a different response?

Scenario 1:
MK: I own every piece of music you ever made, starting from the slay tracks 7" which cost me $60.
SM: thanks for listening.

Scenario 2:
MK: I'm actually a friend of a friend of yours, her name is G.
SM: cool...thanks for listening.

Scenario 3:
MK: wow you really are emaciated in person, atkins or south beach?
SM: f--- you. oh, and thanks for listening.

sovereign 12:00 AM, EDT - [Link]
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food: BREAD TRIBECA

sunday evening I met up with my dining buddy C at Bread Tribeca(301 church st. near canal), a hip but comfy italian joint. the white walls and ceilings were aglow with light from multitudes of votives in this one-room restaurant. there was a flat-screen television above the bar playing a black and white movie. the barstools were cute indented rosewood cubes, so much cooler than the grey plastic chairs they had in the dining area. I'm not digging this modern attempt at retro furniture lately...sadly, it comes off as cheap most of the time. I'm not saying it can't be done right(hello, ligne roset!).

bread had a pretty neat menu concept - a transparent overlay with an almost-abstract pasta graphic, with the printed menu lurking underneath on its own layer. the menu was predominantly italian, with pastas, pizzas, and mixed olives. I ordered a penne dish with basil paste and fresh tomato. C ordered a pizza with proscuitto and shaved cheese. both dishes were delicious, as was their...bread. for dessert we got the special, an awesome rum-soaked boba cake with candied fruit, vanilla cream, and a little star-shaped licorice decoration. yum yum.

the cost of eating at bread tribeca is mid-range; I spent $37 on my portion including tip. hey, better than spending $30 at Dip and not getting near full.
sovereign 12:00 AM, EDT - [Link]
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rock: MOVE OVER THURSTON MOORE

I attended the sleater-kinney/thermals show tonight at irving plaza. I hadn't been to this venue in perhaps three years, when elliott smith was on tour, and I forgot how nice it was. the thermals opened with an energetic set. I liked the singer's mechanical movements and quasi t-shirt, how the drummer set his high hat up uber-high so his arms swung wildly, the female bassist's massive locks. the bass lines themselves however were vacant and uninteresting...welcome to punk rock. I give her credit for making the repetitive notes look like fun to play. all in all, the thermals were a solid opener and they readied the crowd for s-k.

the first thing I noticed when s-k came onstage was corin's dress. the raggedy-chic one piece looked a hellofalot like couture. (if I knew where she got it I'd run there tomorrow and buy it, such a nifty dress.) carrie was wearing her usual blazer and jeans, but the blazer looked suspiciously well-tailored to her figure. is it possible that these olympian grrl rockers have begun spending big money on wardrobe a la courtney love? say it ain't so!



s-k put on a head-boppin', foot-tappin' set with few shaky spots...the biggest oops being when they went into a jam number. ok kids, this is why riot grrl bands should not jam live: the continuously pogo-ing crowd suddenly lost all their energy, as they searched the crowd to make sure they weren't supposed to be pogo-ing. equally suddenly, a huge cloud of mary jane shot into the air, which would make any jam sound swell now wouldn't it?

I was pleased that corin, carrie, and janet dusted off some of the old hits like "words + guitar" and "call the doctor," while interlacing the set with a couple all hands on the bad one tunes and a song or two I'd never heard them play before. the teenage girls up front gave the floor a good workout for a good portion of the set, though not as intense as a chicago show I saw in 1998. in closing, sleater-kinney's still got the rock...well, most of it.
sovereign 12:00 AM, EDT - [Link]
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rock: BETHLEHEM BOP

yesterday I drove to bethlehem, pa to play a gig with my band The Only Space. in the early afternoon, T brought J and myself to the annual bethlehem chili festival. there were booths set up all over the downtown southside area, each showcasing a different style of chili. I bought six tickets for $3, which got me 6 little bowls of chili. I tried some great recipies, most notably a curry chili and a spicy black bean chili.

after that, T brought us to nearby Lehigh University to hand out flyers at their spring music festival. the headliner was Less Than Jake, and I was hoping to find my friend A(LTJ's stuntman). unfortunately they were hiding inside their tour bus and I wasn't in the mood to knock on the door lest I be labeled a groupie. I have a feeling he isn't in the group anymore anyway. *shrug*

the show itself was excellent. when I first walked into this tiny local haunt called The Happy Tap, I noticed that the counter was full of odd-looking locals who wouldn't stop leering. I was getting pretty aggravated, but come 10pm when the overwhelming $4 cover charge kicked in, every single one of them cleared out. the other bands, The Ben Quick and The Roger Six were super-friendly and both played very enjoyable music on entirely different planes. The Ben Quick is a fast-paced, melodic, pop-punk foursome, with tinges of Pavement-esque stylings and vocals(bless their souls!). this being my observation during their set, I was quite pleased to discover afterward that the lead singer is a Pavement aficionado like myself. likewise, he was pleased to notice a pavement decal on the back of my bass guitar. we briefly discussed the idea of forming a Pavement cover band, but sadly there are about five-too-many hours between Pittsburgh and NYC.

lead singer Ernie from The Roger Six can be described as:
acrobatic
showstopper
crazy?
I thoroughly enjoyed ernie's headstands, handstands, and tumbling during the course of their set. the music was secondary for this act; the focus was on performance and general hellraising. at one point ernie was in a headstand on the bar roaring the words "I'm standing on my heeeeeeead," all the while playing his flying V with his superstrength...two bar employees on either side of him were trying to "reason" with this upside-down man to get down from the bar. good fun for all!
sovereign 12:00 AM, EDT - [Link]
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