And my heart goes....

I checked out Ebony Bones at Mercury Lounge earlier this week and the show was unbelievable. Opening act The Fire and the Reason started off the early show (doors were at 7:00). They have a bit of a electro/rock thing going on and remind me of theStart. The NY duo is made up of guitarist/beats generator Steve Narvaez and singer Bella Saona. It's difficult being an opening band, especially when most of the crowd is unfamiliar with your music. However, The Fire and Reason played a pretty lively set that got the crowd warmed up for Ebony. And while Bella announced that the song "Do It Again" would be the song to make them rich (or at least she hopes so), it was a slower song of theirs that impressed me. Of course I don't remember the name and it's not on their MySpace page so I couldn't tell you what it is. But if I ever heard it again, I'd know it for sure.





Ebony was next and she and her crew made quite the entrance. I couldn't wait to see what fantastic outfit she'd have on and when she came out in this leopard print number, I was not disappointed.


Ebony opened with "We Know All About You" and also danced and wailed her way through "Warrior," "Story of St. Ockwell", "The Muzik," "In G.O.D. We Trust," "Guess We'll Always Have NY," and "Bone of My Bones." They even did a pretty kick ass cover of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall."

I've never seen an audience more into a performance than the audience at this show. Someone passed out whistles and masks before the show, so a good number of the crowd wore the masks and blew their whistles throughout the show. EVERYONE was taking photos (a guy behind me was practically spooning me to get some good shots) and the outfits some of the people there were wearing were pretty outrageous. There was a amazingly dressed boy standing in front of me wearing a shiny waist length jacket with the hugest shoulders I've ever seen. And his hair looked like Prince's in Purple Rain. Fabulous! I even think I say Lady Miss Kier of Dee-lite in the crowd, so that was pretty cool too.

Ebony ended the show with "Don't Fart On My Heart" and said that she would see us soon. Soon for me means February 13th at Southpaw. I'll be there for sure, with my whistle on.

More pictures here.

I feel better now I've seen you

It seems like I have less and less time every day for blogging, but I figure at the very least, I can try to write short little recaps of shows I go to. Now that can't take too much time right?

Last night Georgia, Dirk and I saw Lightspeed Champion at Mercury Lounge. I had been looking forward to this show for some time and Dev did not disappoint. But first...

The opening band was Hey Hey My My all the way from Paris. Check out some songs here. Don't worry, they sing in English. I really enjoyed their set, especially when what seemed like quiet songs at first would explode and be rocked out towards the end. I particularly enjoyed the "get along, get along" song, and regret not singing along when the lead singer invited the crowd to join in.

During said performance, Dirk went to get a drink and spotted Dev in the crowd. He told him that I was a big fan and was standing up front so that I'd have a good spot for Lightspeed's set. That's true. He also told Dev that I was too nervous to go up and say hi. Dev, that's totally not true. And as a matter of fact, after Lightspeed's set, Georgia and I crowded around with some others and waited to say a quick hello. But I'm jumping ahead.

Once Hey Hey My My finished their set, everyone moved up to get a closer spot for Lightspeed. I've decided that it's so silly to stand in the middle of the floor when you know you really want to be right up front. Don't wait for other people to go right up front. If you want to be in the front, dammit go up there and stand by the speakers and be proud of the fact that you're such a big dork. It didn't bother me in the slightest.


Dev received a warm and generous round of applause when he took the stage. Only other person on stage with him was Mike Sidell playing violin. Dev seemed genuinely humbled and happy to have a sold out crowd there to see him perform. He said that he was nervous, but I couldn't really tell, he did such a fantastic job. He played "Galaxy of the Lost," "No Surprise" (a song he wrote for his mother), "Dry Lips," "Tell Me What It's Worth," "Midnight Surprise" and "Everyone I Know Is Listening to Crunk." He made the crowd laugh after every song and seemed to be having a great time. He also did a cover of the Strokes' song "Heart in a Cage" which sounded brilliant. After "Dry Lips," he said that he only had one song left, and everyone made that sad booing sound. But he actually had two left (I guess he always forgets about "Tell Me What It's Worth"). And while "Midnight Surprise" was meant to be the last song, cheers and yells from the audience brought Dev back on stage to play one more. After several suggestions were shouted from the crowd (my vote was for Waiting Game) Dev and Mike settled on "Xanadu!" I LOVE Lightspeed's version of this song, and myself and a few others really enjoyed singing "Ju Ju Bug. Xanadu!"

After the final song, the club tried to hurry everyone out so that they could get ready for the night's next show. Georgia and I were able to say a quick hello to Dev before being ushered out. All in all, Lightspeed made a fantastic return to the big city and a good time was had by all.

On the train ride home, we saw John Waters in the next car and got super excited. I really wanted to tell him how much I love Cry Baby, Hairspray and A Dirty Shame, but I'm sure he gets that all the time. Ok, well maybe not so much for A Dirty Shame 'cause I don't think that many people have seen it, but definitely for the other two.

I'm about 75% sure that I'll attend the Union Pool show on Saturday. I've never been to Union Hall, and you know how I love going to "new" venues! If I go, maybe I'll get to hear Waiting Game.

For more pictures, go here. Oh and just so you know, I'm still trying to figure out how to maneuver all of the 8 million different functions on my camera, so don't expect expert pics or anything. I just do what I can.