Monday, November 23, 2009
Русский Блог
Здравствуйте! Меня зовут Кэти Демески. Я студентка в Монтклар Штат Университете. Я живу в Халдоне.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
All Tomorrow's Parties & the Bearsville Theater
This weekend, I was able to go as a guest to the first day of All Tomorrow's Parties in Monticello, New York. Of course, it just had to rain that day. When we got there, it was quite cold and nasty and we had to wander around for a bit and be directed to several different places in order to check in as guests. After we got settled, we walked into the venue (Kutsher's) which is a "resort." It was old, weird, smelly, labyrinthine and extremely creepy. It basically looked like the hotel in The Shining, but not as nice. In other words, it was a dump. Also, there was royal blue carpet on the wall in some places.
I was able to see a bit of the Drones', Suicide's, and Panda Bear's sets, but I only watched the Feelies' and Iron & Wine's performances in full. The Stardust Ballroom in Kutshers made the sound very rumble-y. This made the bass shake the room in such a way that you felt it, and it wasn't pleasant. That's why I only watched one song by Suicide and a few by Panda Bear. I put my lens cap down on a ledge during Suicide's set, and it vibrated off the ledge and I lost it: that's how bad the rumbling was. I must admit though, I don't actually like Suicide's music, but I figured I'd never get a chance to see them again and I kind of like the idea of them. So I went in fo their first song, and they made me laugh. Think about it: two old guys: one with Bozo the Clown hair wearing iridescent goggles and playing a heavily distorted synthesizer, and the other an even older man (I believe he's 70 or 71) yelling into a microphone. They actually made my brother angry. He kept saying, "That's not music!" But I think that's kind of the idea. I guess it was worth my lens cap to be able to say that I saw Suicide.
As for the Drones, they were ok. Panda Bear was good, but could have put on a more visually interesting show, but I guess seeing Black Moth Super Rainbow live has made me a bit jaded on this subject, because their shows are so visually stimulated, you kinda feel like you're high.
The Feelies (and, I assume, most of the bands that played earlier) were not allowed a soundcheck either. However, they sounded as good as possible in that place and played well (as always). They played the newly re-issued Crazy Rhythms in it's entirety and were able to get two encores in, probably because Crazy Rhythms is so short. I really wished that they had played the also newly re-issued The Good Earth, because I like it better, but it was easier for them to ply Crazy Rhythms because Bill didn't have to do as many guitar changes.
After the Feelies' set, my mom, brother, and I ate. The food was actually pretty good. We all had wraps and sesame noodles. Unfortunately, since the food was outside, it was quite uncomfortable to eat there.
We pretty much waited around until Iron and Wine came on. In between, we caught a half hour or so of Gimme Shelter, which I'd never seen before and has re-awakened my love for the Rolling Stones. We had to leave at 10:15, though, in order to make it to the performances we wanted to see.
My mom and brother went to see Eugene Mirman, played the landlord on Flight of the Conchords, and David Cross, who was on Arrested Development. They said Mirman was hilarious, and Cross was good, but not as good as Mirman. I'm glad my brother was able to enjoy something other than the Feelies, though. He was pretty angry at having to be at what amounted to a hipster convention. He kept saying how he hated being amongst the hipsters. For the record though, they kinda smelled. Like musty-unwashed-clothes-greasy-hair-cigarette-and-booze-ish.
Iron and Wine was amazing. I've never been so moved by live music, and I was so close. I could not stop smiling. Apparently, the dude who was there taking pictures for brooklynvegan.com noticed that. Hence, my picture wound up on the site in this entry. There was another guy there with a Hitler-Youth-ish haircut standing right in front of me taking pictures of me also, but I can't seem to find those online. Anyway, so I've loved Iron and Wine's music for years now, and it was just so beautiful, not to mention a relief from the very... harsh music that I had heard earlier. It was just Sam Beam with his acoustic guitar. Someone blew balloons with song suggestions on them too. Sam Beam talked to the audience a lot too. He got us all singing along to everything, and we even clapped the beat to an entire song without stopping. I've never seen that happen at a show. That set was sooooo worth staying at that creepy place a few extra hours for.
One last thought on that day, I'm VERY glad we didn't see the Jesus Lizard, it would've been exhausting and apparently they kept saying "Happy 9/11!" which I find to be... quite unpleasant.
The next day, we had a completely different experience. My mom, my brother, and I wandered around Woodstock for the day, which was really cool. We got to the Bearsville Theater in late afternoon. Let me tell you, this place is BEAUTIFUL. The interior is all hard wood and it smelled nice. There was a sizeable green room, with nice couches and a table, these crazy spiral staircases, and it was in the middle of this clearing with a fountain and stone benches. Albert Grossman's even buried there. Anyway, I pretty much hung out with my family and Cala, Glenn's daughter most of the time. We ate at this cute and nice Chinese restaurant called the Little Bear. Also, it was just so chill there. I wish all the places they played at were like the Bearsville Theater.
One highlight of the day was listening to Dave tell stories and stuff right before the show. He told us that where he works, he's supposed to greet customers, and sometimes he does it in a Cockney accent. He demonstrated and we were all laughing.
The show was also a lot better than the night before. They played their usual lineup, and had four encores. The crowd was good too, and there weren't really any skeevy people either.
Anyway, it was a great vacation. There should be a few more Feelies shows coming up in November too.
Pictures from ATP & Bearsville:
The Drones
The movie lineup for the day
The crowd for Suicide
The Feelies
I couldn't take a picture of Dave, cause he was blocked by an amp, but I got a picture of his and my dad's shadows.
Iron and Wine
Where we ate dinner in Bearsville
Woodstock
Pretty lanterns at the Bearsville Theater
The stairs
Souncheck
The doors
Albert Grossman's Grave
I was able to see a bit of the Drones', Suicide's, and Panda Bear's sets, but I only watched the Feelies' and Iron & Wine's performances in full. The Stardust Ballroom in Kutshers made the sound very rumble-y. This made the bass shake the room in such a way that you felt it, and it wasn't pleasant. That's why I only watched one song by Suicide and a few by Panda Bear. I put my lens cap down on a ledge during Suicide's set, and it vibrated off the ledge and I lost it: that's how bad the rumbling was. I must admit though, I don't actually like Suicide's music, but I figured I'd never get a chance to see them again and I kind of like the idea of them. So I went in fo their first song, and they made me laugh. Think about it: two old guys: one with Bozo the Clown hair wearing iridescent goggles and playing a heavily distorted synthesizer, and the other an even older man (I believe he's 70 or 71) yelling into a microphone. They actually made my brother angry. He kept saying, "That's not music!" But I think that's kind of the idea. I guess it was worth my lens cap to be able to say that I saw Suicide.
As for the Drones, they were ok. Panda Bear was good, but could have put on a more visually interesting show, but I guess seeing Black Moth Super Rainbow live has made me a bit jaded on this subject, because their shows are so visually stimulated, you kinda feel like you're high.
The Feelies (and, I assume, most of the bands that played earlier) were not allowed a soundcheck either. However, they sounded as good as possible in that place and played well (as always). They played the newly re-issued Crazy Rhythms in it's entirety and were able to get two encores in, probably because Crazy Rhythms is so short. I really wished that they had played the also newly re-issued The Good Earth, because I like it better, but it was easier for them to ply Crazy Rhythms because Bill didn't have to do as many guitar changes.
After the Feelies' set, my mom, brother, and I ate. The food was actually pretty good. We all had wraps and sesame noodles. Unfortunately, since the food was outside, it was quite uncomfortable to eat there.
We pretty much waited around until Iron and Wine came on. In between, we caught a half hour or so of Gimme Shelter, which I'd never seen before and has re-awakened my love for the Rolling Stones. We had to leave at 10:15, though, in order to make it to the performances we wanted to see.
My mom and brother went to see Eugene Mirman, played the landlord on Flight of the Conchords, and David Cross, who was on Arrested Development. They said Mirman was hilarious, and Cross was good, but not as good as Mirman. I'm glad my brother was able to enjoy something other than the Feelies, though. He was pretty angry at having to be at what amounted to a hipster convention. He kept saying how he hated being amongst the hipsters. For the record though, they kinda smelled. Like musty-unwashed-clothes-greasy-hair-cigarette-and-booze-ish.
Iron and Wine was amazing. I've never been so moved by live music, and I was so close. I could not stop smiling. Apparently, the dude who was there taking pictures for brooklynvegan.com noticed that. Hence, my picture wound up on the site in this entry. There was another guy there with a Hitler-Youth-ish haircut standing right in front of me taking pictures of me also, but I can't seem to find those online. Anyway, so I've loved Iron and Wine's music for years now, and it was just so beautiful, not to mention a relief from the very... harsh music that I had heard earlier. It was just Sam Beam with his acoustic guitar. Someone blew balloons with song suggestions on them too. Sam Beam talked to the audience a lot too. He got us all singing along to everything, and we even clapped the beat to an entire song without stopping. I've never seen that happen at a show. That set was sooooo worth staying at that creepy place a few extra hours for.
One last thought on that day, I'm VERY glad we didn't see the Jesus Lizard, it would've been exhausting and apparently they kept saying "Happy 9/11!" which I find to be... quite unpleasant.
The next day, we had a completely different experience. My mom, my brother, and I wandered around Woodstock for the day, which was really cool. We got to the Bearsville Theater in late afternoon. Let me tell you, this place is BEAUTIFUL. The interior is all hard wood and it smelled nice. There was a sizeable green room, with nice couches and a table, these crazy spiral staircases, and it was in the middle of this clearing with a fountain and stone benches. Albert Grossman's even buried there. Anyway, I pretty much hung out with my family and Cala, Glenn's daughter most of the time. We ate at this cute and nice Chinese restaurant called the Little Bear. Also, it was just so chill there. I wish all the places they played at were like the Bearsville Theater.
One highlight of the day was listening to Dave tell stories and stuff right before the show. He told us that where he works, he's supposed to greet customers, and sometimes he does it in a Cockney accent. He demonstrated and we were all laughing.
The show was also a lot better than the night before. They played their usual lineup, and had four encores. The crowd was good too, and there weren't really any skeevy people either.
Anyway, it was a great vacation. There should be a few more Feelies shows coming up in November too.
Pictures from ATP & Bearsville:
The Drones
The movie lineup for the day
The crowd for Suicide
The Feelies
I couldn't take a picture of Dave, cause he was blocked by an amp, but I got a picture of his and my dad's shadows.
Iron and Wine
Where we ate dinner in Bearsville
Woodstock
Pretty lanterns at the Bearsville Theater
The stairs
Souncheck
The doors
Albert Grossman's Grave
Monday, July 6, 2009
A Year After The Reunion
So the Feelies shows came and went and, again, they were amazing. On the first night, three of my friends came. One of them, Matt, was even at the sound check. The sound check itself ran a little late, but in the first hour or so, Glenn started playing "Billie Jean". Then Dave started singing in falsetto and playing his snare to the beat. It was absolutely hilarious and kind of made my day.
Anyway, so we ate at Maxwell's and my other friends, Dan and Liebold arrived. It was pretty packed that night, but we were able to get pretty good spots. As for the actual show, this year the Feelies started things out with some more mellow songs like "When Company Comes," and a cover of "Sunday Morning." New additions to the lineup included "Egyptian Reggae", "Moscow Nights", "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey," and "Invitation" (although, as mentioned in a previous entry, they added that song on New Year's Eve). There was even one new song, "Bluer Skies" on which Brenda's husband, Rich Barnes of Wild Carnation, even played keyboard on it while sitting on the little crate that is used as a step to get to the stage at Maxwell's.
Friday night I went to the sound check with my dad because my mom and my brother were going to take the train after my mom got out of work. Anyway, Dave again started singing Michael Jackson when Andy the sound man told him he could sing into his mic if he wanted. So he sang "Thriller" and I felt the need to text Matt and inform him about it. I just chilled at Maxwell's for most of the afternoon, reading Under the Banner of Heaven by John Krakauer. The show was pretty much the same as the day before, except I was standing next to a particularly obnoxious tall drunk man who got more and more drunk as the night progressed. Regardless it was fun.On the Fourth of July, I took the train to Hoboken with my mom and brother and it was pretty damn crowded especially for the Hawthorne train station. My dad had asked me earlier in the week if I would help Bill's nephew, Ben, film for his Feelies concert movie. Ben and his friend (Nick, I think?) had attatched a camera holder-thing to a pole and I was instructed to put the end of the pole in my pocket and film from a little farther away than I had been standing, using the screen on the camera to keep track of the shot. Ben also had all of the Feelies go into the dressing room alone and he filmed each of them for five minutes, not asking them any questions or anything. When Bill came out he said, "I feel violated."
The show, again, was great, but my mom, brother, cousin, and I had to leave a little early to catch the 12:55 train back to Hawthorne.
The band actually had quite a bit of interaction with the audience during these three shows. These are come of my favorite cheers from the crowd and things that the band said: "Haledon fucking rocks!"
"Percussion god!" (at Dave)
"Let Stanley sing!" (the guy who said this actually asked me if my dad would be offended if he said that.)
Brenda: "Thank you." Someone in the crowd, "No, thank you!"
Glen: "Hey watch your mouth, my kids are here."
Brenda: "Did you guys see the fireworks?" Someone in the crowd, "No I'd rather be here!"
One thing I kind of regret is that I didn't take too many pictures of the band, but I was more focused on enjoying the shows. Unfortunately, most of the ones I did take I accidentally deleted. I did take some interesting artsy pictures though.
To close this entry, I'd like to say that you guys should checkout my friend Matt's blog because he has an entry about the Feelies shows. Also, if you do read his entry, it refers to Dave as Dave "From the Band" Weckerman. There is a reason behind this. You see, every time Dave calls mine or my cousin's house, he says "Hi, this is Dave from the band." So my brother, cousin and I call him Dave From the Band.
So yeah, see you guys at All Tomorrow's Parties!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Yes.
Again, it's been a while.
Anyway, I'm gonna skip all the stuff that I did when I was not updating and move onto an actual blog entry.
So I have a fairly new obsession: Andrew W.K. Why? Because he's so happy about everything and his music and the other things he does reflect that. My best friend, Tubbs, commented that he's like the Meatloaf of our generation. Which seems very true as far as his attitude goes.
If you need further evidence of why Andrew W.K. is amazing, this should do it:
Feelieswise, they're playing at the Whitney this Friday. It's an "acoustic" set, which means it will be as acoustic as the Feelies can get, which isn't that feasible considering the importance of percussion in the music. Then next week, it's July 2nd, 3rd, and 4th at Maxwell's. Also, they will be playing in Chicago at Millenium Park. Aaannnnddd, although it's in September, the Feelies will be playing at All Tomorrow's Parties in Monticello, New York. I'm also super excited because I get to see Iron and Wine as well!
Anyway, I'm gonna skip all the stuff that I did when I was not updating and move onto an actual blog entry.
So I have a fairly new obsession: Andrew W.K. Why? Because he's so happy about everything and his music and the other things he does reflect that. My best friend, Tubbs, commented that he's like the Meatloaf of our generation. Which seems very true as far as his attitude goes.
If you need further evidence of why Andrew W.K. is amazing, this should do it:
Feelieswise, they're playing at the Whitney this Friday. It's an "acoustic" set, which means it will be as acoustic as the Feelies can get, which isn't that feasible considering the importance of percussion in the music. Then next week, it's July 2nd, 3rd, and 4th at Maxwell's. Also, they will be playing in Chicago at Millenium Park. Aaannnnddd, although it's in September, the Feelies will be playing at All Tomorrow's Parties in Monticello, New York. I'm also super excited because I get to see Iron and Wine as well!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
i must admit
I've been extremely lazy with this blog, but it's not just laziness preventing me from posting, it's figuring out what to post about. I mean, I don't want another online journal, I have a Livejournal already, and I also don't want to be repetitive and write about every Feelies show. Also schoolwork: during the school year I basically did my homework then slept/chilled with friends/worked when I didn't have school stuff to do.
Anyway, my Christmas and New Year's were nice, the latter more so than the former. On Christmas Day, my family party at my house was very short, so I told my cousin to come pick me up later because I was bored out of my mind. He did, then picked up his friend (one of my ex-boyfriends) and we drove to East Bumblefuck, New York so that my cousin's friend could get fancy Davidoff cigarettes. It was pointless, but it was something to do.
New Year's was pretty great, I went to see the Feelies again with Vivian Girls and Yo La Tengo at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair. First my mom, my two friends I brought along, Rana and Erin, and I went to Cuban Pete's for dinner, which was soooo good. Then we went to the Wellmont and met up with my friend from school, Matt. Vivian Girls were the opening band. I thought they were alright, but most of their songs do sound pretty similar. Also, they'd probably have sounded better in a smaller venue because in the Wellmont Theater, you couldn't hear their chord changes very well. My brother didn't like them at all, but he's pretty picky, especially when it comes to girl bands. However, I generally thought their set was short and sweet, whch was nice.
The Feelies came on and my friends and I were all dancing (especially Rana and me). That's another thing I liked about this show: there was room to dance for once. My friends though Dave was really awesome the way he got so into his percussion stuff. Also, the Feelies played "Invitation" live for the first time, which made me very happy. So yeah the set was awesome, as usual.
Before I talk about Yo La Tengo's set I'm going to say something. I like Yo La Tengo, they have a lot of good songs and are nice people. However, my friends (with the exception of Matt because he stayed for the rest of Yo La Tengo) and my brother and I decided to leave early because we hungry, tired of standing around for hours, and we were kind of put off by the really long noise solo in the opening song. Shortly after Yo La Tengo played Mr. Tough (my favorite Yo La Tengo song which I'm glad we stayed for) we left to meet my cousin (who had left already with his parents) at King George Diner.
Midnight passed while we were in the car driving through Montclair and listening to "Move It" by Thing One. At King George we played obnoxious songs on the jukebox and ate a lot of very unhealthy fried food. We got home at about 2 and I talked to my dad about the show a little and went to bed. A night well spent, says I.
Anyway, since then I really haven't done much of interest. I've been spending a lot of time at my friend Damien's (we call him Fat) house. I've also re-read the sixth Harry Potter book and just started re-reading the seventh. I think what got me into that is the fact that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has been on the movie channels constantly lately. I'm also reading Please Kill Me: an Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain. I haven't gotten too far with that, but I learned a lot of interesting stuff about the Velvet Underground and Andy Warhol so far.
Oh and F.Y.I. for you Feelies fans: Young Wu (Dave Weckerman's side project), Wild Carnation (a band Brenda Sauter is in), and East of Venus (a new band my dad plays in with Michael Carlucci of Winter Hours and Rob Norris of the Bongos) are all playing at Maxwell's in Hoboken on Saturday January 31st. I think it's a Winter Hours tribute too. Anyway, they're all good bands and are worth checking out.
Anyway, my Christmas and New Year's were nice, the latter more so than the former. On Christmas Day, my family party at my house was very short, so I told my cousin to come pick me up later because I was bored out of my mind. He did, then picked up his friend (one of my ex-boyfriends) and we drove to East Bumblefuck, New York so that my cousin's friend could get fancy Davidoff cigarettes. It was pointless, but it was something to do.
New Year's was pretty great, I went to see the Feelies again with Vivian Girls and Yo La Tengo at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair. First my mom, my two friends I brought along, Rana and Erin, and I went to Cuban Pete's for dinner, which was soooo good. Then we went to the Wellmont and met up with my friend from school, Matt. Vivian Girls were the opening band. I thought they were alright, but most of their songs do sound pretty similar. Also, they'd probably have sounded better in a smaller venue because in the Wellmont Theater, you couldn't hear their chord changes very well. My brother didn't like them at all, but he's pretty picky, especially when it comes to girl bands. However, I generally thought their set was short and sweet, whch was nice.
The Feelies came on and my friends and I were all dancing (especially Rana and me). That's another thing I liked about this show: there was room to dance for once. My friends though Dave was really awesome the way he got so into his percussion stuff. Also, the Feelies played "Invitation" live for the first time, which made me very happy. So yeah the set was awesome, as usual.
Before I talk about Yo La Tengo's set I'm going to say something. I like Yo La Tengo, they have a lot of good songs and are nice people. However, my friends (with the exception of Matt because he stayed for the rest of Yo La Tengo) and my brother and I decided to leave early because we hungry, tired of standing around for hours, and we were kind of put off by the really long noise solo in the opening song. Shortly after Yo La Tengo played Mr. Tough (my favorite Yo La Tengo song which I'm glad we stayed for) we left to meet my cousin (who had left already with his parents) at King George Diner.
Midnight passed while we were in the car driving through Montclair and listening to "Move It" by Thing One. At King George we played obnoxious songs on the jukebox and ate a lot of very unhealthy fried food. We got home at about 2 and I talked to my dad about the show a little and went to bed. A night well spent, says I.
Anyway, since then I really haven't done much of interest. I've been spending a lot of time at my friend Damien's (we call him Fat) house. I've also re-read the sixth Harry Potter book and just started re-reading the seventh. I think what got me into that is the fact that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix has been on the movie channels constantly lately. I'm also reading Please Kill Me: an Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain. I haven't gotten too far with that, but I learned a lot of interesting stuff about the Velvet Underground and Andy Warhol so far.
Oh and F.Y.I. for you Feelies fans: Young Wu (Dave Weckerman's side project), Wild Carnation (a band Brenda Sauter is in), and East of Venus (a new band my dad plays in with Michael Carlucci of Winter Hours and Rob Norris of the Bongos) are all playing at Maxwell's in Hoboken on Saturday January 31st. I think it's a Winter Hours tribute too. Anyway, they're all good bands and are worth checking out.
Friday, September 19, 2008
it's been a while
Sorry for the lack of updates, but I've been really busy. There's really been a lot going on, good and bad.
Anyway, for the Feelies fans, tomorrow and Sunday there will be 2 shows in New York: 1 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn (tomorrow), and 1 at the Bowery Ballroom. I will be going to the first one. I'm not going Sunday for several reasons: 1) I'm not 21. 2) I'll be burnt out cause I'm going to the city with friends tonight and the next day. 3) School work. Other than that, a show in Boston and one in New York State I believe have been planned for October. Neither show is sold out, since last I checked.
Oh and by the way, I'll be taking over my dad's website (www.stanleydemeski.com) shortly. My parents haven't had time to update it themselves, so I'll be re-designing and expanding it. Of course, everything has to get my dad's approval first.
So I started college and I'm actually at school right now, waiting for my next class in a lounge area. It's alright... There's not a whole lot to do as a commuter, except wait around, that is. I have one good friend that lives on campus and a few others who commute too. Usually I try to come here, get everything over with, and go home a.s.a.p. It's not like I don't have a life or am anti-social, but I have pretty much all the friends I need back in Haledon and its surrounding towns. However, I am gradually meeting new people and will probably make more friends soon.
Today is actually going to be the first time I'll be staying here after class. My friend who lives on campus invited me to the city with some of her friends whom I have met.
As for classes, I think I like my two honors classes the best. It's just a more relaxed and open environment, plus my teachers for those classes are really nice (and Feelies fans too haha). New Student Seminar is my least favorite class. I find it useless and I feel like an idiot for signing up for the 8:30-on-a-Friday-morning class. I think I may be the youngest one in my German class. It's about 7 people in there and I got placed in German Intermediate II. Speech is alright too. That's the class I'm waiting for right now.
I've developed several new habits since I've started school. One is hiding in the library. Being the brilliant honors student I am, I scheduled huge gaps between a good deal of my classes. Therefore, I may not have much to do in these gaps and would wind up sitting outside somewhere reading. I didn't like doing this, so I just started going to the library, plugging my headphones into my laptop, and putting on DVDs. I've been having a movies-adapted-from-jane-austen-books phase. This kills time, keeps me entertained, and from sticking out like a sore thumb sitting on an uncomfortable bench outside for hours at a time. Plus, I love a good mushy costume drama :D
Anyway, for the Feelies fans, tomorrow and Sunday there will be 2 shows in New York: 1 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn (tomorrow), and 1 at the Bowery Ballroom. I will be going to the first one. I'm not going Sunday for several reasons: 1) I'm not 21. 2) I'll be burnt out cause I'm going to the city with friends tonight and the next day. 3) School work. Other than that, a show in Boston and one in New York State I believe have been planned for October. Neither show is sold out, since last I checked.
Oh and by the way, I'll be taking over my dad's website (www.stanleydemeski.com) shortly. My parents haven't had time to update it themselves, so I'll be re-designing and expanding it. Of course, everything has to get my dad's approval first.
So I started college and I'm actually at school right now, waiting for my next class in a lounge area. It's alright... There's not a whole lot to do as a commuter, except wait around, that is. I have one good friend that lives on campus and a few others who commute too. Usually I try to come here, get everything over with, and go home a.s.a.p. It's not like I don't have a life or am anti-social, but I have pretty much all the friends I need back in Haledon and its surrounding towns. However, I am gradually meeting new people and will probably make more friends soon.
Today is actually going to be the first time I'll be staying here after class. My friend who lives on campus invited me to the city with some of her friends whom I have met.
As for classes, I think I like my two honors classes the best. It's just a more relaxed and open environment, plus my teachers for those classes are really nice (and Feelies fans too haha). New Student Seminar is my least favorite class. I find it useless and I feel like an idiot for signing up for the 8:30-on-a-Friday-morning class. I think I may be the youngest one in my German class. It's about 7 people in there and I got placed in German Intermediate II. Speech is alright too. That's the class I'm waiting for right now.
I've developed several new habits since I've started school. One is hiding in the library. Being the brilliant honors student I am, I scheduled huge gaps between a good deal of my classes. Therefore, I may not have much to do in these gaps and would wind up sitting outside somewhere reading. I didn't like doing this, so I just started going to the library, plugging my headphones into my laptop, and putting on DVDs. I've been having a movies-adapted-from-jane-austen-books phase. This kills time, keeps me entertained, and from sticking out like a sore thumb sitting on an uncomfortable bench outside for hours at a time. Plus, I love a good mushy costume drama :D
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
First Feelies Reunion Show: June 30th, 2008
Last night was the first Feelies reunion show, and it was awesomeeee.
Ohmahgah, for serious. So I'm going to attempt to describe it in some sort of a proper fashion.
Ok so my dad left around 3:00 to go to Maxwell's for a to pick up Dave (Weckerman) and drive them to a sound check and an interview with Jim DeRogatis, a rock critic. Jim also recorded the show along with Bill Million's nephew, who was videotaping it.
My mom, my brother John, my Oma (my grandmother), my friend Nicole, and I left at 7:30. My mom dropped my Oma. Nicole and I outside of Maxwell's and went to go look for parking. When we got there, I went and said hi to my dad who was eating with Brenda (Sauter), her husband Richard, and Bill. Then I went outside to meet up with some of my other family and greeted Glenn (Mercer) and his family. Parking was murder and my mom had to stop again in front of Maxwell's to ask my dad where she could park.
Anyway, Nicole and I decided to wait outside and walked around Hoboken a bit cause it was crowded even in the restaurant part of Maxwell's. When the rest of my dad's side of the family arrived, we went inside. At the entrance to the back room, the man at the door asked, "Are you on the list?" I said, "Yeah, I'm Stan's daughter." and he said, "Good enough for me!" and stamped mine and Nicole's hands. I just thought that was freakin' hilarious.
When we got in, Nicole and I made our way to the front and waited for the show to start. The rest of my family and the families of the other band members were either on the side of the room or towards the back. The band got on stage about 20 minutes later and, after a very warm reception from the audience, started playing. It was just amazing. I was ridiculously happy. It was like all the stuff I grew up listening to and hearing stories about and watching videos of was happening right there in front of me. I started snapping pictures with my DSLR and Nicole taped two songs ("The High Road" and "Away") for me on my digital camera. Granted, the video won't be great, but it suits my purposes. However, most of the time we just stood there enjoying the music.
About an hour later, the set ended and the Feelies walked off the stage. The room erupted in applause and cries for more. Nicole and I headed to where my mom and John were standing and found our Drum Corps teacher from high school (whom my dad had invited), Tim Alworth (drummer of Thing-One). Soon, it became a steady clap for an encore. A minute or so later, the Feelies got back on stage for a three-song encore, including a cover of "Paint It Black." When that was done, the crowd managed to convince the band members to do one last song. After that, the show was over and I headed outside and was introduced to several people who proceeded to tell me how great my dad is. One of them was Glenn Kenney, who had played in a band with my dad in my dad's college days. Glenn is also a very good movie critic and a really nice guy.
I didn't mention to these people, though, how my dad always calls himself a "legend" at home and has been talking about his "comeback" for years (jokingly, of course). By the way, it was so funny when I read all these articles about the Feelies' "triumphant return," and think about my dad and all his sayings at home. After the show he even mentioned something about how "his people," had come for him.
Overall, it was one crazyyyy night. It was so much to take in all at once that by the end of the night I found myself very jazzed up. I didn't get to sleep until after two A.M, after a conversation with my dad about how well the show went and how relieved he was to have everything go smoothly.
By the way, on the front cover of the Arts section on the New York Times today is an article on the Feelies and a photo which was edited to make it look like another Crazy Rhythms cover. And F.Y.I. : My dad was wearing a brown shirt that day, not light pink. (hahaha) :D
Ok, so that's it for today. I'll post a link to where more pictures and the videos will be up online when I get a chance to. Also, I'll be writing something on the highlights of the shows today and tomorrow and of course, the Fourth of July/Sonic Youth show. And thanks to freakgirl.com for linking to my blog and calling my writing adorable! :DD
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