A night of some driving around taking care of things, in the pouring rain. As if the rain coming from the sky weren’t enough, around 10 am this morning there was a water main break in Essex at an intersection I need to cross to get to the gym, and by 5 pm today they had still completely blocked the road off, with police cars and everything. Unfortunately the area where I live now is a coastline of small peninsulas; if the main road from the main road down the peninsula is closed off, there are no options for getting across from one peninsula to the other. Hence the lack of access to the gym.

Neither here nor there, though. Tonight I make an open apology to Gabe Dixon and his band for hate-loving his CD a few posts ago. Almost every track on The Gabe Dixon Band has been an earworm for me since I bought it. I am heartbroken that they’ve disbanded (no pun intended) for the time being so they could each go work on solo projects, one of which is a new baby (Gabe Dixon’s). Hey, if all three original members of Guster could procreate in the space of one and a half years and still keep the band together and tour, these guys have no excuse!

If you like piano rock with a contemplative vibe, treat yourself to this CD. I am smitten. So much so that I’m adding Gabe Dixon to my List of Sexy Chubby Guys (FYI, that’s Jano Rix, the drummer in the first shot in the below; Gabe is the main vocalist and keyboardist).

When you don’t know where you’re going and you don’t know why
Feels like another day’s bleeding into the night
Lay your head on my chest while my beating heart pounds out the secret of this life

The higher you reach, the further the sky
The more miles you walk, the longer the road
The steeper you climb, the harder you stand to fall
The stronger you get, the heavier the load

I wish I could give you the answers in paper and ink
I wish I could stop all the tears before they start falling
But we’re feeling our way and we’re always beginners
We’re all cuts and no scars

The higher you reach, the further the sky
The more miles you walk, the longer the road
The steeper you climb, the harder you stand to fall
The stronger you get, the heavier the load

“Further the Sky,” by Gabe Dixon and Tia Sillers

The nostalgia train continued to wind its way through my week when I attended Guster’s Lost and Gone Forever 10th anniversary tour Friday night at Rochester’s Main Street Armory. This comment from one of their facebook fans summed up my sentiments nicely:

“Guster… Rochester, Ny… Lost & Gone Forever Ten Year Anniversary Tour: That makes me happier, it was what I wished for, and either way… it makes me feel like I am the center of attention. Like I’ve just been shot from the barrel of a gun all the way up to heaven. Now that’s two points for honesty on a rainy day where I spy myself looking in the mirror wishing I was someone else, me and no one else. Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa… I’ll never be the same again.”

Impressive. (Okay, they missed “So Long.” Still.)

I distinctly recall making an art project sophomore year of high school that prominently featured lyrics from “Either Way” and “Center of Attention,” and lovingly taped an acoustic version of “Barrel of a Gun” off of 94.1 back in the day (which I desperately need to figure out how to transfer to mp3). Consulting my old music notebook (which is a blog post in itself — this thing is intense), I had LAGF at #6 on my top ten all-time favorite albums list in early 2002, and at #3 when I re-evaluated the list in March of 2005.

So, yeah. You could say I love this album. (Although you could also say I just love the late ’90s, since 3eb’s self-titled debut and BNL’s Stunt were numbers one and two, respectively, on this later list.)

With all this pent-up adoration, I couldn’t have been happier to score a pair of tickets to this concert, one of only eight stops on the tour. I’ve been to seven or eight Guster shows now — by far the most of any band I’ve seen – and they amaze me every time. If you haven’t seen them yet and have the chance, you must. You’ll be blown away, guaranteed.

What made Friday’s show — and the tour itself — so special was that the band played three sets, one of which was LAGF in order and in its entirety. I’d never seen an album performed that way, and it was cool, if a bit surreal, to know exactly what was coming next.

super blurry cell phone pic #1

While the first set was wonderful, of course, and featured some of my Keep It Together favorites like “Amsterdam” and “Come Downstairs and Say Hello” (seriously, how great is that song?), the LAGF set was, well, what I wished for. Hearing songs I hadn’t seen them play in years, alongside perennial favorite “Happier” and classics like “Fa Fa,” only further cemented my love for this group and this album. (PS, how ridiculous is that “Fa Fa” video?!? I completely forgot it existed. Ah, the power of YouTube.)

I love me some audience participation, so fulfilling Ryan’s request for us to whistle and clap during the appropriate moments in “All the Way Up to Heaven” was especially fun (I love me some whistling, too), and the powerful closing one-two punch of “Two Points for Honesty” and “Rainy Day” left me simultaneously supremely satisfied and starving for more.

Once again, Guster gave it to me (that’s what she said), bringing down the house during the encore with yet another stellar version of “Airport Song” (with vocoder!), punctuated by the crowd pelting them with ping pong balls. And coming in a very close second to the awesome that was the LAGF set, Ryan, Brian, Adam, and Joe ended the show by coming to the front of the stage to perform a mic-less, acoustic rendition of “Jesus on the Radio” (which you can stream and download — along with the entire show — here).

super blurry cell phone pic #2

It was great harmonizing with my fellow concert-goers, and this last gesture from the group was the best, most intimate send-off we could have asked for. Like I said, Guster just keeps getting better. Here’s to a great decade, and here’s hoping their music legacy will last a million years, or more.

Do you have any Lost and Gone Forever memories you want to share? What was on your top ten albums list in high school? (Were you even that obsessive?) And what’s your favorite song that features whistling? Leave it in the comments, kiddos.

In my frustration, I tried to find a decent version on YouTube of Guster’s “Keep it Together”. No go on that one (just adds fuel to the fire).

TFA strikes again at making my life miserable! Tomorrow I’m going into my first co-investigation with my PD. We have a good relationship since she was the one who trained me this summer and has seen me in the classroom before. But for some reason, i just feel so much more pressure with this observation. maybe it’s because i feel like i’ve staggered off the TFA road of 5 step lesson plans and meticulously describing every little detail of my lesson in word form. I think the thing that’s killing me is I already feel like my lesson is going to be a total bomb. and she’s coming to visit my toughest class to manage and get to skill level. Pardon my language, but it’s going to be a shit-show of a day.

Speaking of language, where have all these swear words been coming from? I have found that I have developed quite the potty mouth and it comes out in full force on the weekends. I swear to god, I am slowly becoming a teenager again and that is scary (i almost wrote f’ing scary). really? i have no idea. i’ll try to clean it up folks.

I have only sworn at my kids once. I told them that “they were doing a shitty job.” I just got blank stares. But when i tell them to “shut up” it’s like i have said the world’s most rudest comments to them. It really is bizarre.

But I just have to make it through tomorrow. Because on Wednesday, a little thing called Veteran’s Day happens and i never knew i could love Veteran’s Day so much because it is the first day since Labor Day, that kids don’t have school and teachers dont have school either. It’s going to fantastic.

I can’t keep living for the weekends and holiday breaks. Teaching isn’t terrible, but I need to find something I enjoy more. Two years and I’m out (…..we’ll see!)

It’s been quite a while since my last posting. That has more to do with my schedule than anything else, but it doesn’t take more than half an hour to write an adequate entry, correct? No excuse other than sheer laziness, really.

Anyway, today marks the first day the wonderful, awe-inspiring, motivating, reinvigorating sun sets far too fucking early. Far, far, far too early.

I cannot stand the lack of sunlight. I can’t stand the darkness approaching at 3:30pm. Slowly conquering the last lingering sunlit days: first encroaching on them, then suffocating them, and finally stealing all color from their skies. Oh, but of course, it’s not actually night yet, so we don’t have any pretty stars. Just blackness. We have to endure this shitty situation for the next six months.

Darkness doesn’t matter to some people. They’re still emotionally balanced, regardless of the lighting conditions of the environment. Those people suck (but only because I wish I were one of them).

So I have to find some music that fits the early spread of darkness, the early obscuring of vision, the fact that leaving the house and entering the house is done in darkness every day. That fact that no matter how hard I concentrate, how much my imagination tries, I still can’t place the sun back in the sky. I still can’t see any light at seven o’clock. Some light should still hover around the periphery while eating dinner.

But I’ve had this problem my entire life; I just have to find a way to accept it. That acceptance will come reluctantly, indignantly, and stubbornly. But it has to come, or I won’t survive or succeed.

I find the best kind of music for these types of situations incorporates frustrated, gloomy lyrics within music with positive energy. Emphasis on positive—not just loud or angry; it can be loud, it can be angry, but the underlying tone has to be triumphant.

Good examples: THE GO STATION, Annie Lennox, Bloc Party, Civil Twilight, Guster, Pictures of Then, The Bravery, Great Northern, Ra Ra Riot, Delta Spirit, Woods, Metric, Conor Oberst/Bright Eyes, The Cloud Room, Elbow, incubus, Josh Ritter, The Killers, The Low Anthem, Matthew Good Band, Mute Math, Passion Pit, Pela (now very, very sadly broken up.  Anytown Graffiti has now reached another level, because I know I’ll never hear anything quite like it again), The Postal Service, Rage Against the Machine, The Rapture, Ray LaMontagne, Ryan Adams, Snow Patrol, The Stills, TV on the Radio, U2, The Uglysuit, The Weakerthans, Wild Light, Wintersleep, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and The Zutons. Examples from aforementioned bands forthcoming:

Guster's Lost and Gone Forever - 10 Year Anniversary Poster

This past weekend has been a mass of chaos, starting on Friday! Drove off to school to survive a wonderful day of Halloween dress up at school.  Then off to coach the JV football team to a monumental 30-6 win over a visiting Bucks county school.  After the win, I was back in the car for a 3 hour drive south to Washington, D.C. to witness the 10 year anniversary of Guster’s Lost and Gone Forever album at the 9:30 Club!

I literally arrived just in time for the opening of the band. They played a mixture of new music and some classics from other albums besides the honored album of the evening! Some of the best that they played that evening Demons, Two Points for Honesty, Satellite, G Major (I think), Manifest Destiny, The Captain, The Beginning of the End, Hang On, Airport Song, Jesus on the Radio, and others. I’ve been trying to find the setlist and I just don’t seem to be able to find it anywhere! What I did find was that Ryan Miller, lead singer of Guster who is on Twitter by the way @guster said of the show, which included a variety of different instrumentalists, and even a children’s choir from a nearby suburban school, that the audience was epic!!! We might even appear on a Live DVD!!! I hope so that would be awesome! Here are some photos from the epic show:

Guster at the 9:30 Club in D.C.

Jesus on the Radio - Acapella Encore

After the concert, back in the car for a three hour ride back home. Got into bed at 2:00 AM and then roughly awakened to drive to the Mountains to pack and move my grandfather!!! So much to do in such a small amount of time.  Highlight of the trip though, I did crack a safe!? How weird is that!? Grandfather is packed and now on his way to Florida.  and I am safely sitting at home getting ready for the Phils to play game 4 of the World Series!!!

We the Indie Music fans of the world have a duty.  The world we’re leaving for our children is in terrible peril! While the media has pumped us full of Save he Whales, Save the O-Zone, and Save the world from the likes of John and Kate, there is a much more threatening evil on our doorstep.

Yes Indie Citizens…I’m talking about carbon copy, teeny-bop, pop.

I’m talking about the Jonas Brothers. I’m talking about Hannah Montana…or Miley Cyrus…or Hannah Montana…oh whatever. I’m talking about The Cheetah Girls! Yes. It’s horrible. And it’s threatening to lead our children down the path of musical starvation, turning them into Star whatever point whatever and KIIS FM  zombies who won’t know the difference between a good song and a radio jingle!

In the same way that my father saved me from Debbie Gibson, Maddonna, Tiffany, Milli Vanilli, and Vanilla Ice with the Beatles…I believe we should all fight the mainstream music maleficence take and introduce our kids to good music. Music that doesn’t feature just 3 power chords. Music that doesn’t feature “jaded” in the lyrics . Yes, music that doesn’t suck.

Let me help get you started. Here are some songs that have gone over like the Berlin Wall on my kids:

• Mates of State – My Only Offer. My kids love this song. EVERY one of them, ranging from 8 years old to 4, even the 6 month old likes it.
• Architecture in Helsinki: That Beep: This song has been so requested at our house that I’ve almost had to hide the CD.
• Of Montreal: Brush, Brush, Brush. Ok, I don’t care that this song is off the soundtrack for the weirdest kids show on TV. Yo Gabba Gabba has the Teletubbies and Poobah beat for psychotic mental trip, and truth be told, I really can’t stomache the show, but this song is cool. And Of Montreal is one of the indie-est Indie bands on the planet.
• They Might Be Giants. (see video below). You can pick just about anything from John and John. Their music is fun and wacky, and they even do kid music. I’ve actually been listening to their kid stuff for years with my kids, and let me tell you: they sure beat Raffi! In fact, you don’t even have to buy a CD to get your kids started. Go right over to Itunes and subscribe to the Friday Night Family Podcast (or click here to watch it in “syndicate”). Other great TMBG hits your kids will love: “Experimental Film,” “The Mesopotamians,” “Man It’s So Loud in Here,” and even the classic “Birdhouse in Your Soul”. Below is a ditty from their new Kiddie Album.

• Rodrigo and Gabriela – Diablo Rojo. Pretty much anything by this duo will make your kids dance.

• Robert Bobbert / Apples in Stereo – We Are Superheroes. You can count on just about anything from Apples in Stereo. Robert Bobbert is the lead singer and has done his own stuff (like the link above).

• Dan Zane and Friends – Hello. Ok, this guy really IS a kiddie musician, but this song was featured in a recent Coke Ad, and it’s very cool. (sorry, no download link).
• Dogs Die in Hot Cars – Godhopping. Just a cool song all around. Fast paced, and it talks about children in poor countries…so bonus points for teaching kids social responsibility.
• 8 1/2 Souvenirs – Happy Feet. This is a great swing outfit. Their stuff is…well…happy.
• Forro in the Dark – Asa Branca (Featuring David Byrne). Brillian brazilian beats. Used to be a legit free download on music.download.com, I’m sure it still is somewhere.
• Guster – Amsterdam. Pretty much anything of this album (Let’s Keep it Together), is great. In fact, I think this album is one of the best (if not THE best) indie albums of all time. Yes. I just said that.
• Oingo Boingo – We Close Our Eyes. Come on, it’s Halloween. I had to include something from Boingo.

…And the horseman roams the streets at night… restlessly searching for his missing head.

That of course, is from the Legend of Sleepy Hollow – one of my favorites, although no one knows how the ghostly Hessian soldier actually lost his head. I’m going to go out on a limb right now and say that maybe if he had known about all of the great concerts going on in November in his own backyard, he could have found some solace.

Segue!

Pete Yorn

November starts off with a bang – Pete Yorn, who performed live for the peak in 2006 will be playing at the Ridgefield Playhouse TOMORROW the 1st. He just released his fourth record Back and Fourth this past June and if you look at the fine print, you’ll notice that Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes helped produce it. What’s more, Yorn put out another album right after that, with Scarlett Johannson this past September – Relator. And coming off touring with Coldplay throughout the summer Mr. Yorn is doing quite well for himself – make sure to catch him in Connecticut!

Popper visiting the troops

On November 4th, Blues Traveler is rolling through town. They’ll be playing a show at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza in the city. They’ve been going above and beyond recently in an effort to support the troops in any way they can. For instance they are offering a free download of “Forever Owed” – the first track of their 2008 record North Hollywood Shootout. This song was written for the troops, and they ask that in lieu of paying for the track you make a direct donation to the USO. Blues Traveler visited the troops in 2004, and in a letter to the men and women of the Armed Forces, John Popper writes,

In addition to the free download, they have been giving away free tickets to their shows for servicemen and women through the USO. So support this noble band by seeing them next wednesday.

The Monsters of Folk

Going back to Mike Mogis for a sec, the indie-folk supergroup, the Monsters of Folk, are playing at the United Palace Theater up in Washington Heights next friday, November 6th. These monsters include Mike Mogis and Connor Oberst, both prominent members of Bright Eyes; M. Ward - well known from his partnership with Zooey Deschanel called She & Him; and Jim James the singer from My Morning Jacket. I know, it’s a lot of names for one band. But it’s going to be a great performance. If you do miss them Friday, it wont be too late – they’re playing again at the Beacon Theater on Nov. 8th a week from this Sunday.

Bruce Springsteen with the E Street Band at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles in 2003.

In the end, however, no one compares to the Boss. That’s right, Bruce Springsteen is blazing through town after his tour de force performance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last week. Brucie and the E Street Band will have two performances at Madison Square Garden on Saturday and Sunday, the 7th and the 8th.

Rob Thomas Peak Performance at ACME studios on Sept. 5th, 2009.

That should tide you over for a few days, at least. We return then to the Beacon Theatre, where Rob Thomas will be performing a series of three shows on Thursday, Friday and Saturday the 12th, 13th, and 14th respectively.  You may know that Rob Thomas came into the studios this past September, and he’ll be one of the featured artists on the Peak Performances Vol. 2 that’s coming out this December.

And there’s so much more! The Cranberries will be playing at Nokia Theater on the 18th. After that, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones will be performing at the Community Theater at the Mayo Center for the Performing Arts on Friday the 20th, and the Smithereens will be following tham at the Community Theatre the on the 21st.

Also, Ani DiFranco will be playing at Town Hall on the 21st as well. New York’s backyard will also be graced with three shows from the Pixies on the 23rd, 24th, and 25th at the Hammerstein Ballroom.

Guster's "Lost and Gone Forever" 1999

Then November goes out with a bang, too, with two sold-out shows from Guster on the 27th and 28th back at the Beacon Theater. They’re touring right now for the tenth anniversary of their ‘99 album Lost and Gone Forever. They’re playing two sets each with one set being the record in its entirety. That album has some truly great tracks like “Barrel of a Gun” and “Fa Fa”.

So happy concert-hunting, and if you do seem to have misplaced your head, then let some great world class rock steer you home.

—————————————

Peak Keyword: ICHABOD

Since seventh grade, Guster has been one of my favorite bands.  Now, it’s crucial to note that my music taste has changed a lot since seventh grade.  In those days, I was hooked on any band that sang a sad song (Dashboard Confessional, Fall Out Boy, Plain White T’s.  Ugh.) but somehow my taste led me to Guster and they’re one of the few bands I still listen to and love.  I’ve seen Guster twice before in concert, both times at Wolf Trap, a beautiful outdoor venue.  Seeing them play there became one of my favorite summer rituals, especially since they often toured with my favorite singer-songwriters (Ray LaMontagne, Pete Yorn).  After touring for “Ganging Up on the Sun,” though, the members of Guster had some babies and took a well-deserved break.

Over the summer, I caught wind that they were planning a seven-date tour in support of the 10-year anniversary of “Lost and Gone Forever.”  Lucky for me, two of these dates were in D.C.!  So, I picked up tickets for the Friday night show and waited in anticipation for October 3o.  Which, of course, was last night.

Basically, the show was awesome.  Guster played two sets: the first was a mix of songs from all of their albums, and the second was “Lost and Gone Forever” in its entirety.  The opened the first set with one of my all-time favorite songs of theirs, “Ramona.”  This tune was a great choice to kick the show off- upbeat, and a chorus made for singing-along.  The crowd was in a fantastic mood and everybody was bopping (not dancing, bopping) along to every song and singing choruses with earnest devotion.  Guster’s brand of rootsy power pop has held up very well over the years; Even songs from their earliest albums are fun and fresh sounding live.  In this first set, the band covered tunes from albums as old as “Goldfly” and as new as…unreleased! (Yes, the band played a few wonderful new tracks that will hopefully make an appearance on next year’s new album).

The second set was a fun and vibrant run-through of “Lost and Gone Forever.”  For most of these tracks, Guster brought horn and string players on stage to enhance the sound- to great effect.  “Fa Fa” + the horn section that appears on the album= Perfect.  On “All the Way Up To Heaven,” a small children’s choir came on stage to perform harmony and whistle.  It was as adorable as it sounds.

For their encore, Guster played “Hang On,” “Airport Song” (ping-pong balls aplenty!), and a literally unplugged version of “Jesus on the Radio.”  This last song was a highlight of the set- it sounded like the best camp sing-along ever.  Guster may have some cheerful and pitch-perfect pop albums, but to see them live is the best way to take them in.

I got a chance to chat with Brian and Ryan after the show as well as the #gustererngerhunt winner Tim Brown (@tkbtweets) of Arlington, Virginia who saw a tweet via @guster, got in his car and scored free tickets + access to the after show party.

Hunting for @guster on the Washington Mall

So how did you find the tickets?

@tkbtweets: I got the blog and the twitter account [and was] looking at the Charlotte tickets. Today, I went home — I’m unemployed (Note: he’s an Art Director – check out www.adtkb.com). Hey, exactly! (laughing)

I saw the tweet with the video and I knew exactly where that was! It was the Washington Monument by the reflection pool. I had nothing else to do, so I got in the car and drove down there. I pulled out the tickets.

How long did it take you to get there?

It was seven minutes up [on Twitter] when I left my house. So I drove down there. It must have been 20 minutes. I walked up [to where the tickets were stashed in the wall] and there was a guy eating lunch. I know he must have thought I was crazy spy or something, because I walked up to the wall and pulled the piece of paper out and walked away. He was probably like, ‘What the hell was that?’”

Ryan Miller on Tweeting, Democratizing Music and Secret Shows

It’s entirely possible that when I get home tonight VERY late after the Guster show I will be too exhausted to report on whether it met my expectations. In which case I’ll make up for it this weekend.

Crazy evenings this week, the good kind, with my friend Eric in town staying with me while he looked for a place to live in Annapolis. He starts a new job with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources in three weeks, and he’s moving here from Rhode Island. I managed to introduce him to a bunch of my friends while he was here. I think he’ll like living in Maryland, even though he’s mostly stressed about it now.

All the socialization has left my introverted soul without a lot of time to write long, thoughtful posts this week, however. So I’ll talk about music.

Guster: Brian, Ryan, Adam, and Joe

Tomorrow night I am going to see Guster at the 9:30 Club in DC on their 10-year anniversary of their Lost and Gone Forever CD tour. I’m so excited I’m beside myself. LaGF is my favorite Guster album, and it’s the one that the band also considers a highlight of their careers. I can’t believe I will be hearing them play “All the Way Up to Heaven” (my favorite Guster song) and “Center of Attention” live tomorrow night. In fact they’re playing the whole LaGF CD from start to finish. T.R., although not (yet) a Guster fan, is going with me, and we’re meeting my friends Rob and Ellen and Rob’s niece Nikki (Rob and Nikki are also Guster fans) there.

Now for some musical geekitude: I would bet a lot of money that I am the only person to have a LaGF CD signed by Tony Levin. T.R. and Marty and their friend Chad all happen to be Tony Levin fans; he is most famous for touring with and playing bass and Chapman Stick on many albums of Peter Gabriel, who Marty idolized. When Marty found out that Tony Levin had contributed to a few tracks on LaGF—and Steve Lillywhite, Peter Gabriel’s producer, produced LaGF—he suddenly saw Guster in a new light. For a brief moment, he elevated them above “boy band” status.

A few years ago, Marty, T.R., and Chad all went to a progressive rock music festival where Tony Levin was playing. I sent my LaGF CD along with Marty asking him to get Tony Levin to autograph it, somewhat as a joke. T.R. and Marty are autograph hounds, so along with my (measly) CD, they also had other things to ask various people to sign. It turned out that the festival put a limit on the number of things each person was allowed to ask an artist to sign, so poor Chad ended up standing in line with my Guster CD and presenting it to Tony Levin. Chad tells me that after Tony Levin had signed an endless stream of his own and Peter Gabriel’s albums, he was shocked to see LaGF. He looked up at Chad and said “I’ve never signed this before.” So I joke with Chad that I was responsible for giving him a completely unique fan moment with Tony Levin.

Now if I could only get the guys from Guster to sign it…

WEDNESDAY:

Food
Breakfast: Fiber One w/ Lite Vanilla Soy Milk (250 cals)

Lunch: Tuna Casserole (~400 cals)
Banana w/ Peanut Butter (~200 cals)
Dark chocolate (30 cals)

Dinner: Tuna Casserole (~400 cals)

Exercise
Walking, Moderate pace

Workout Song: “Happier” by Guster

Erika and I are headed off to go see Guster in Cincinnati. I’ve seen Guster a few times, so I wasn’t dying to  go to the until I saw that Lost and Gone Forever is turning 10 years old. The ol’ Gus will be performing a two set show, one with songs from their new album (due out sometime in late 2010) and one consisting of Lost and Gone Forever.

I remember hearing Lost and Gone Forever for the first time my sophomore year of high school. At the time, I was making a transition from playing Metallica riffs on my electric to joining a few friends around the acoustic, so Guster was a bit of an idol. Either Way was rather amazing to me at the time simply because I hadn’t heard such tight harmonies (aside from the Beatles) before. It’s really because of that album that I even started to like more “adult” rock. Needless to say, I’m excited about this concert, but mainly for nostalgia’s sake.

One of my favorite aspects of the film was the fact that it was the Twin Cities. What I mean by that is that so much of it is really and truly local. We get to see Porky’s, the Minneapolis skyline via lake Calhoun, glimpses of Uptown, and of course, a good chunk of filming happens at MCAD. Minnesota native Josh Hartnett, being the executive producer for the film, also made it to the premiere along with Guster frontman, Ryan Miller, who composed an appropriately indie soundtrack for the film. City Pages snapped some shots (a lot better than any I got…) of the premiere after-party.

It’s a rare night when you find a world film premiere in the heart of Minneapolis. And, who knows, this could be the first of more to come. (Also out this past weekend was the Coen Bros. latest, A Serious Man. I haven’t seen it yet, but it’s on my to-do list.)

Nobody opened to the general public at block E last Friday and is going to continue to play as long it’s supported. So, stop by and see what Nobody has to offer.

–Haley Rheinhart –

haley.dustbowl@gmail.com

Recommended by Jamie.

From:   Boston, MA

Genre:  Alternative

SIMILAR ARTISTS
-O.A.R, -Carbon Leaf, -Phantom Planet, -Better Than Ezra      

Recommended Songs
“Satellite”
“One Man Wrecking Machine”                      
“Keep It Together”

“SATELLITE”-GUSTER

picture from their Myspace.

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Shining like a work of art
Hanging on a wall of stars
Are you what I think you are?

You’re my satellite
You’re riding with me tonight
Passenger side, lighting the sky
Always the first star that I find
You’re my satellite

Elevator to the moon
Whistling a favorite tune
Trying to get a closer view

You’re my satellite
You’re riding with me tonight
Passenger side, lighting the sky
Always the first star that I find
You’re my satellite

Maybe you will always be
Just a little out of reach

You’re my satellite
You’re riding with me tonight
Passenger side, lighting the sky
Always the first star that I find
You’re my satellite
You’re my satellite

August 29^th 2009,

The Thunder-God himself

Getting to interview your favorite band of all time is a big deal. Fortunately for me, I was able to interview Guster. And fortunately for you, you get to read/hear all about it!

At long last, I have found myself in a position where I feel creative enough to give you (the reader) a review of a pretty awesome night. Not to mention that I deem it necessary to post something for those of whom are returning to school and need some material to hold them back from doing any ACTUAL work. Welcome back to school everyone! So sit back, relax, and enjoy this one because it’ll take a chunk of your precious work time.

On April 26^th, Spencer, his girlfriend at the time, Meghan, and I found ourselves in a position to see Guster (again, my favorite band of all time) and Ben Folds (whom is simply awesome) perform together at the same place: The Syracuse Carrier Dome.

Good so far? Okay, well it gets better. Prior to going to this show, Meghan helped Spencer (a.k.a. DJ Spence Money) and I get aboard the U.S.S. Campus Consciousness Tour as volunteers captained by Reverb; a group started by Adam, the lead singer of Guster, and his wife to help reduce pollution caused by touring. We helped promote this cause by giving out free Chocolate Silk samples, raffling off sweet prizes, and holding a donation stand. As a result of helping a good cause, we were able to not only stand front-right row for the show, but to meet the band as well.

Great so far? Okay, well it gets better. Right after discovering I was going to be helping the CCT, I managed to get a hold of the tour manager via-e-mail and work my way into an interview with Brian, the drummer of Guster. You could probably imagine the feeling I had when I received the word. (I believe it’s called an IndieGasm).

Here’s the order of events: I’ll start with the interview. Brian Rosenworcer is the youngest member of the band and manages to be the most abused. This is solely a result of beating the hell out of his hands on bongos. Though he tries to even the amount of time he spends playing bongos and his regular drum kit, Bryan still finds himself aiding his wounds with super glue and bandages. Though being a very subtle and hysterical character, it doesn’t take much to notice the very polite and sophisticated gentleman that is Brian Rosenworcer. The interview took place on the air-conditioned Gus-Bus (a good start to going green) and I managed to record it with some of the most high-tech gadgets known to man. The iPod and microphone accessory enabled me to capture a highlight in the life of Chris Spofford. And for your aural pleasure, here is the entire interview.

Guster

As expected, the show was great. That was the third time I had seen Guster perform and I can’t say I wasn’t disappointed by any means. Guster is very good about interacting with the crowd, like any good band should be. They had a fantastic set with all of their best stuff as well as a few numbers from their most recent album Ganging Up on theSun. One of the more memorable moments included a portion of “Don’t Fear the Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult after playing “Red Oyster Cult”.

We were then led to an area to meet up with the members of Guster, which naturally seemed to last as long as SR-71’s fame… not long at all. Regardless, it was pretty excellent to meet all of the guys and catch a glimpse of lead-singer Ryan’s daughter. I got the chance to talk to Adam, the lead guitarist and co-founder of Reverb, about the Campus Consciousness Tour for a few minutes and also record it. So, again, for your aural pleasure, click hear. Yes, that is intentional.

Ben Folds

My favorite part of Ben Folds’ set, by far, is Ben’s attempt (and success) in dividing the crowd into a three-part harmony for one of the last numbers. Even though this is not the first time I’ve seen something like this done, (Nate of The Format and the band fun.) it is one of the most impressive crowd interactions that I have ever witnessed at a show. Ben Folds was playing God.

It is now ticking late into the evening and I need to get some rest, and you probably need to get your work done for class tomorrow, but I will mention a few important notes before I let you go. Keep checking here often for updates, news, and reviews from my music involvement and discoveries on the West Coast. I’m finding new music constantly and I’ll be putting up my thoughts on those soon enough. Spencer will most likely be witnessing some pretty impressive stuff in Europe and will give you his perspective from the other side of the world, as our European Correspondent. And most importantly, DJ Christay and Jason Checkla will be holding it down and back on the air for WNYO with IndieGasm this fall. We will post the day and time during the week where you can catch their broadcasts.

You can obviously catch them on the old-school radio 88.9 FM or by going to www.wnyo.org and clicking the “listen live” link located at the top-right corner of the page and streaming it through your media player (when our show is up). To those returning to Oswego for classes, good luck and do your homework. But not before getting your weekly (or even daily) dose of IndieGasm. It’s what Jesus would do.

Much Love

Man Formerly Known As “DJ Spoff”
West-Coast Correspondent
Chris Spofford

I’ve got money NOW, but in a month my major source of income will be gone. Therefore, I’m saving. And not buying things I want. Really, really, really want. Like the items below.

The SECOND I get a job, I’m buying these things:

Bomber jackets. Tunics with tights. Bright red lipstick that is extremely out of character for me, but GORGEOUS. BOOTS!

Pretty dresses. Teacher cardigans.

Tickets to Guster’s 10th anniversary of Lost and Gone Forever tour. Together, though, two tickets (post-service charges) are $67. GAH.

PLEASE HIRE ME – I’m super passionate and I’m good at what I do