Electricloseyland

My very own Rolling Thunder Revue

2008-06-06T20:59:00.000-07:00

Gaslight Society had probably its most unusual gig yet two weeks ago -- we were invited to play for Rolling Thunder, the group of biker veterans who ride into DC every Memorial Day weekend. For one day, we were "Official USO Band Gaslight Society."

I pulled up to the Navy Memorial before the whole ceremony began, and Pennsylvania Ave. was already lined with Harleys and other bikes. The plaza was packed with vets wearing denim vests with all kinds of patches -- military patches showing what units they served in, battles they fought in, POW-MIA logos, or patches that called Jane Fonda a traitor bitch.

They had a color guard bring out the flag, had some Navy officers and vets say some words, and then laid two wreaths.

Then it was time for the ROCK.

Truth be told, I was a little worried at first. Nobody could set up drums and equipment until the ceremonies were over, because we played on the stairs of the memorial. And while the first band moved the equipment in, the audience sort of thinned out.

But it all worked out well. Once the music started, there were still a lot of vets milling around, talking to each other, and when we started playing we got a lot of people coming back to watch us. Plus, the metro was right there, and we were able to pull in some pedestrians.

We opened with Janet singing "America the Beautiful," and it was one of those moments that made the little hairs on my neck stand up.

We then did a few of our songs and "Me and Bobby McGee." Below is Janet's song, "Rose of Sharon."

We closed with what we thought would be appropriate for the occasion. As some of you might have guessed, I'm a big Jimi Hendrix freak, and I always wanted to do a distorted "Star Spangled Banner" in concert. It seemed to be a good way to lead into "Rockin in the Free World" as a closer:

The crowd seemed to appreciate us in unusal ways. Before "Free World," a Bulgarian woman walked up to Janet and handed her a note that said, "Today your singing is joined with the Bulgarian culture." Apparently her voice reminded her of home. Go figure.

But it really was one of the coolest things I've ever had the chance to do. Standing in between these big ships' masts of the memorial, across the street from the National Archives, playing songs I and my friends wrote, and watching the vets bob their heads and have a good time...it's the kind of thing I'll remember for a long time.

If we were made of cellophane we'd all get stinking drunk much faster

2008-06-06T20:48:00.000-07:00

Ellen and I saw the Squirrel Nut Zippers at the Birchmere last night. Toward the end of the set, they projected this animated video behind them as they performed "Ghost of Stephen Foster":

Great show, by the way. They had the Firecracker Jazz Band, out of Asheville, open up for them. Then after the show, as we were on our way out, the Zippers and Firecrackers surprised us -- they all came out and started parading through the audience while playing, Dixieland style. I've never been part of a second line before, but I guess that counts!

And it plugged a very sad gap in my concert-going history. In the first month my freshman year at ECU, they came and played at the Attic, which was the best music club in Greenville at the time and literally across the street from my dorm. Some friends asked if I wanted to come see them, and I had no earthly idea who they were and stayed in that night. A few months later, "Hell" became huge, and any chance of getting them back to Greenville evaporated. I had been kicking myself ever since for missing them, but now I don't have to anymore.

Mayor Jerry Springer Memorial Cincinnati Chili

2008-05-29T21:06:00.000-07:00

My buddy Jon is having a chili cookoff on Saturday, so I spent last night cooking up a big pot. It's now sitting in my fridge, mellowing nicely. (It always tastes better a few days after it's cooked.)

My dad is originally from a town in Kentucky just across the river from Cincinnati, so I grew up eating the local cinnamon-flavored style of chili and learned how to cook my mom's recipe.

But I named it myself: "Mayor Jerry Springer Memorial Cincinnati Chili," after, yes, that Jerry Springer. He was technically a city councilman in Cincinnati at the time, until the vice cops in Fort Wright, Ky., busted a brothel there in 1974 and found a signed check. He admitted his whoring at a press conference, resigned, was reelected the next year and eventually became mayor. JER-RY! JER-RY! JER-RY!

Incidentally, my chili received a prize at my friend's first cookoff last year for "best name," and I think I got second place for the taste. That's why I cooked it a few days in advance this time--last year it just didn't have time to mature.

Anyway, here's my recipe:

- Crumble 2 lbs hamburger in 4 cups water, bring it to a boil.

- Once it's started boiling, turn the temperature down. Add 1 chopped onion, 1 1/2 tsp vinegar, 6 oz. tomato paste, 5 tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp cinnamon, 3 bay leaves, 1 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp red pepper, 1 tsp cumin, 1 garlic clove. Simmer it for at least 3 hours, stirring every 15 minutes.

- Add kidney beans, if you like. I personally don't, but I won't think less of you if you do.

Cincinnati chili can be served over spaghetti, with onions, cheese, oyster crackers and hot sauce. JER-RY! JER-RY! JER-RY!

My band's first press!

2007-12-16T19:48:00.000-08:00

OK, so it's a month old, but I just stumbled on this review of Gaslight Society's Velvet Lounge show.

From NBC4's DC Scene Blahg:

"And many thanks to the first band, Gaslight Society, for setting the show up. I look forward to hearing more of their punky, bluesy garage rock and seeing more of that soulful, jiggly hottie Janet fronting the band. She's a CBGBs-style frontwoman, carrying on the tradition of vocalists like Debbie Harry -- minus the sweetness -- and Chrissie Hynde -- with added punk angst."

Jack Bauer makes Chuck Norris cry

2007-11-22T08:05:00.000-08:00

IGN is conducting a poll to determine who would win in a fight: Die Hard's John McClane, or 24's Jack Bauer. JP, Grant and I decided it could beat out the "pirates vs. ninjas" debate and ran with the premise.

The following takes place between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., on the day before Thanksgiving.

Beep...beep...beep...

Me: John McClane never saved the world while going through heroin withdrawal.

Advantage: Bauer

JP: We have never seen John McClane cry.

Advantage: McClane

Grant: Hey, McClane had a really bad fuckin' headache!!

Me: Ooh...it's on now. John McClane has never volunteered -- nay, demanded -- to fly a nuclear weapon into an abandoned ravine.

Advantage: Bauer

JP: McClane teamed up with Samuel "Snakes on a Mother Fucking Plane" Jackson. Who does Jack get? Some douche named Chase.

Advantage: McClane

Me: McClane also teamed up with the kid from the Mac vs. PC commercials, but I'll give you that point. SLJ's coolness far outweighs the douchiness of the Mac kid.

John McClane has never kidnapped and threatened to torture the president of the United States.

Advantage: Bauer

JP: Who has Bauer fought? Mexicans, Arabs, Russians, Chinese, and his own family. All second rate players. McClane has fought man to man against heavily armed Germans! Really, who is tougher... the guy who defeats James Cromwell or the guy who takes on the freakin Master Race!?

Advantage: McClane

Grant: Not bad for an Irish flatfoot!!

And let us not forget that in McClane's first outing he defeated all the terrorists while jet-lagged in his bare feet, broken glass and all!!

Me: Bauer killed RoboCop.

Advantage: Bauer

Grant: McClane killed the T-1000!!

Advantage: McClane

JP: McClane also killed Snape and Seth Bullock. Plus he taught Reginald Vel Johnson how to kill again!

Advantage: McClane

Me: Fuck, you guys aren't going down easy. I thought Robocop would be game set match. OK, backtracking to the broken glass thing: John McClane never withstood a year of torture in a Chinese prison camp, all without saying a word.

Advantage: Bauer

JP: Protecting the ones you love: McClane never let his wife get killed. BONUS: His wife never suffered from amnesia and his daughter never got caught in a cougar trap.

Advantage: McClane

Me: Gettin' some lovin': John McClane was estranged from his wife in the first two films, pretty much divorced in the third, and long since divorced (with no sign of a girlfriend) in the fourth film.

Jack Bauer has hooked up with the hot Mexican sister of the drug lord, whatsherface from season two, the MILF in the beginning of season 5, and Nina Myers. Evil sex is the best sex of all.

On the other hand, there is his inexplicable devotion to Horse Face Audrey, and his failure to hook up with his hot sister in law after his brother was killed by Farmer Hoggett. But those two lapses do not negate the fact that Bauer's gotten way more in six seasons than McClane has in 20 years.

Advantage: Bauer

JP: McClane took out: A fighter jet with a gun. A 747 with a lighter. A helicopter with one bullet. Another helicopter with a car. And an entire floor of a building with C4.

And as far as romance goes, I believe a small chinese boy said it best: "No time for love Dr. Jones!"

Advantage: McClane

Grant: Yes, McClane is a true "man's man" action hero.

No time for women or crying...only time for action!!

Plus, he can actually negotiate traffic or work his way around it, whereas it is conveniently nonexistent in Bauer's world....plus he aims for mimes when taking shortcuts through Central Park!!

Me: Jack Bauer was tortured to death, and then rose from the dead. Later that day, he had a heart attack, but still defeated terrorists in hand-to-hand combat--in one case, by running up a wall and breaking a guy's neck.

Jack Bauer is clearly the risen Christ.

Advantage: Bauer

JP: John McClane is just a New York detective who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Without extensive military training he still manages to get the job done and not get captured and tortured. And as far as neck breaks, how can you beat McClane putting that guy in a headlock and throwing both of them down the stairs. That's a little something we like to call commitment.

Advantage: McClane

Grant: Nothing beats heart!!

Me: John McClane whines too much. There, I said it. It took Jack Bauer six seasons -- that's 144 episodes -- to complain once (when he told William Devane to shove it in last year's finale).

Advantage: Bauer

PS: I stand by my previous point. Jack Bauer rose from the dead.

JP: John McClane let Ellis get killed in Die Hard. That alone makes him a hero.

Advantage: McClane

Me: Jack Bauer shot his boss in the back of the head.

Advantage: Bauer

Neither JP or Grant ever responded to that last point. I assume they conceded to my overwhelming logic.

So the lesson of the day is, do not fuck with Jack Bauer. Especially when your best weapon is a worn-out catch phrase.

Yippee-kay-yay that, motherfucker.

Wow, am I a nerd

2007-11-06T16:22:00.000-08:00

I just took Rolling Stone's "Almost-Impossible Rock & Roll Quiz" and scored a 43 out of 58. That would get me a C minus in school, but it was still good enough for RS to proclaim that "I know my Bowie from my Bambaataa."

The Web page clearly couldn't tell that I didn't know that Bruce Springsteen and Afrika Bambaataa have both released dance mixes produced by Arthur Baker, or that "Hunky Dory" was not part of David Bowie's "Berlin Trilogy." (Sigh. My Thin White Duke-lovin' girlfriend is gonna kill me.)

But I did know that Jimi Hendrix was discharged from the Army for homosexual tendencies (ha ha) and the proper order for the runes on the cover of Led Zeppelin IV.

Yes, this is what I was doing when all the cool kids in school were going out and getting laid: studying my rock n roll history so that one day, I could earn a 74% grade on a Rolling Stone quiz.

Time well spent!

Shameless self promotion time...

2007-10-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

New music from my band's upcoming EP is online here.

And don't forget our upcoming shows:

- Nov. 10 at the Velvet Lounge with Adam West and the Scanner Freaks. (915 U St. NW, Washington DC)

- Nov. 18 live on the University of Maryland's Third Rail Radio, 88.1 WMUC (6 p.m.)

- Dec. 7 at the Red and the Black with Prabir and the Substitutes (1212 H St. NE, Washington DC)

- Jan. 4 at the Quarry House Tavern (8401 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, Md.)

Not to mention....

The Alphabetical Order...Gaslight Society...FESTIVUS 2007...coming soon.

Kid Rock in Waffle House brawl

2007-10-22T07:09:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it seems like the real news outdoes the Onion without even trying.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Music/10/21/kidrock.arrest.ap/index.html

Cleanin' out the closet

2007-10-20T23:53:00.000-07:00

This is not really my first blog. I've been writing from time to time on my Myspace blog (if you can call it that).

Check out the demands for my resignation here, here and here, my brush with presidential candidate Stephen Colbert, a Tom Wolfe lecture, and my Cheney-meets-Tarantino screenplay.

Why Electricloseyland?

2007-10-20T10:24:00.000-07:00

Simply put, I thought I was being clever. When I was in high school and just learning how to play the guitar, I became obsessed with this guy, and especially his album Electricladyland:

So when I got around to learning how to use AOL Instant Messenger (around 1999 or so, when I lived in North Carolina and was trying to keep in touch with my brother and my friend Jon Levy on the cheap) I tweaked his album's title, and voila, an alias was born.

I think there's an uncanny resemblance. What do you think?

Coming soon...

2007-10-20T09:31:00.000-07:00

Poorly thought-out arguments. Opinions stated as facts. Logical fallacies. Narcissism. Shoddy grammar.

Yep, it's a blog, all right.