My Old Music Reviews 2008

The day I saw Jonathan Richman was one of the hottest days thus far of 2008’s summer season. And I waited in this heat (by myself at first) for a few hours, because the show (lucky me!!) was at a tiny bar and was likely to be sold out. Now this bar, The Make Out Room, is a very warm location already, and combined with the weather and the sell out crowd, it was boiling. But I took it like a champ for one of my favorite humans of all time, Jonathan Richman.

When Jonathan stepped onto the stage and started setting up his minimalist equipment, so many burst of excitement occurred, most notably, a woman in front of me said, “He’s so humble, he sets up his own stuff!” Not like it’s hard, when you only have one acoustic guitar and a few various hand held percussion instruments. He disappeared again, and I took in the fact that I was almost surely the youngest person in the hot, sweaty crowd. Perhaps that is why there was so little whining about the heat, no under 21 people, save me, and I was complaining inwardly. To kill time I started devouring some melted Hershey Kisses that were still in my bag from the Islands show.

Finally, Tommy Larkin, longtime friend and drummer, and Jonathan Richman hopped out to play some songs. They started with El Mundo, which had a rocking dance jingle stick solo. Great way to start off the set. Next followed My Baby Love Love Loves Me, which is a song that always makes me happy to think that Jonathan Richman has a great life somewhere. Most of his songs do that, actually, especially ones about love. He just seems to get it; in a new song ¿ A qué venimos sino a caer ? he mentions that what is the point of living if everything is great all the time, there has to be some rough patches. Perhaps he’s old and wise (or dignified and old, as he wished to be). He also doesn’t have a cellphone, which was made painfully clear with his Cellphone song. “If I’m eating breakfast, I’m eating breakfast. If I’m at the beach, I’m at the beach, you can’t reach me there.” I thought, what if you have an emergency and there isn’t any payphone! And he seemed to answer me, singing “I’d just walk to find a phone.” The song also made my addiction to my phone painfully clear.

JR played one of my favorite songs, When We Refuse to Suffer, right before intermission. We were all suffering from the heat (disgusting, really) by this time, and he made me feel like that was okay. “When we refuse to suffer, that’s when the air freshener wins, and the real air loses.” He announced that he could only pantomime hellos to fans, since the doctor told him he should not be exerting his voice anymore than he had to. This did not stop me from giving him my band’s demo, and feeling so excited when he smiled at me with his big, round eyes as if to say, “thank you, lauren.” Too bad he doesn’t have anyway of reaching us, since if he doesn’t have a cellphone, there’s no way he’ll have a myspace or email. The break was short, and Richman and Larkin came back to do No One Was Like Vermeer, a song about how weird the painter Vermeer was both in style, and in what his paintings evoke. “Vermeer was eerie, Vermeer was strange, He had his own color range, As if born in a more modern age… may be oh a hundred or so years ago.”

Some things I realize about Jonathan Richman:
He knows what his fans like. That’s why he did I was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar with such gusto, that he compelled the overheated crowd to dance along.
His fan base are all marriage material. Many of them attractive, 20-30somethings. Many of them willing to suffer for him (in the awful heat). I could fall in love at a JR show.
He’s as real as it gets. Who else would admit to wanting to be more masculine as a high schooler and tell –nay sing! - stories about that awkward age. Who else could sing about how their parent died as Jonathan did on As My Mother Lay Lying?
He can lead successful singalongs to songs nobody has heard before. That’s a real talent.

Islands, Despot and Crayonsmith @ Bimbo’s

I found out Islands was playing about four hours before the show. It was sold out. I had to run on down, stand outside (like a loser) and hope for a miracle…a miracle that came in the form of a sixteen year old boy from Sacramento (ah, my nemesis town). He happened to have an extra ticket, and I bought it despite a huge ATM fee.

The first band, Crayonsmith, were very nice guys from Dublin. After the show I asked them a million questions about the foreign country of Ireland (from IRA to Bono’s asset). The three piece made a lot of noise without a drummer. Danceable, happy, and occasionally synthy music. At one point the singer left the stage abruptly, only to return in a furry, white costume and a roman-military style hat.

The second act was Despot, a pocketsized rapper from Brooklyn. The boy could dance almost as well as he could rap. I was particularly impressed by “the shrug” dance, which was just a shrug and a demure look. Despot’s rap stylings impressed me to no end. “Get Rich or Try Dying” was my favorite of his live tracks, though the set was pretty much flawless, as were his choice of samples (which he sang along with adorably). His DJ was just a guy holding an iPod, but apparently the position is highly prestigious, as one of the Chow brothers (wearing a name tag that said “DJ,” a hood and dark glasses) jumped on stage to fight with the DJ over the job. He then pushed around the rapper, knocked over some water, “You weren’t here when I started my set,” said Despot. The rapper told the crowd that he was too young for certain clichés, like “saying MY NAME IS…very special to me since my parents gave it to me. That’s from a bygone era.” Instead, Despot chose to do some aerobics, helped by the Chow brother that had earlier caused a scene, with the crowd. The aerobics consisted mostly of running and lifting your hands above your head, but the Islands audience was super enthusiastic. Definitely one of my new favorite rappers.

Islands. I’ve been waiting years to see Islands. So why did this show catch me off guard? It had been moved from April (when I wasn’t available) to June (lucky me!) and I had no clue! I found out about four hours before doors opened, and rushed down to Bimbo’s 365 in hopes that I could buy a ticket to the sold out show. I luckily met some wonderful teenagers all the way from Sacramento who had an extra ticket, and lovely manners. Some hours later, we finally got to see Islands. The stage was completely dark when the band made their entrance, lit only by plastic, glowing red trees. On the stage was a pleathora of instruments, including a huge chain to be dropped in front of a microphone for a certain sound, lots of maracas, three violins, a bass clarinet, and many other fun things. Islands started with “Vertigo” from their newest album, which was mellow, so I had no idea what to expect. The crowd kicked into gear for “The Arm,” which was what I expected them to start with, and pushed much of the front row back (not me, though, I’m a rock). A lot of the set was from the new album, though the crowd went completely wild for the “old stuff” like “Rough Gem” (where a hipster girl stepped on my foot with her heeled shoe) and “Humans” and “Where There’s A Will There’s A Whalebone.” Despot and his DJ joined the band for that last one, and expertly executed the rap sections. Every moment of this show was filled with something magical to watch.

A few highlights of this show:

*Putting candy on the monitor in front of me, seeing them slide down to the waiting hands of whoever happened to be in front of me, (most of the time it was one of the Chows not really brothers, by the way).

*Nick Thornburn’s glasses that were totally painted white. They later were found broken, and he looked pretty sad about it.

*The Chows playing the classic piano at Bimbo’s. Well, one was playing, and the other was sitting seductively on it, while playing violin

*Seeing some girl let Nick hold her puppy (that she brought to a rock show?). Another person said, “I have a cute dog too”…Nick: “well, is it here?!”

*Figuring out, due to people asking Nick about the vinyl coming out, that CDs truly are dead.

Juiceboxxx @ the Rickshaw Stop - May 2008

Current mood:peaceful

Juiceboxxx, the youngest of my favorite “indie” rappers, is worth just about anything to see. Even a sea of unappreciative hipsters. Even spilled drinks (on me). Even sweat.

When I met up with JB, I found him surprisingly charming for someone so tired. From what I could tell, the boy had flown from NY that day, by himself. Perhaps it was the drink in his hand (someone had gifted him absinthe!), or perhaps he just likes California. Either way I was more smitten with the now 21 year old rapper. He’s very independent, he’s lived on his own since he was a teen! And just his body and his lyrics and nothing else but an iPod filled with beats create a whirlwind of on stage punk rock energy. It was enough to move the regulars at “Blow Up,” an indie dance club night, who are usually too busy with themselves to notice a live act. But then again, not all the acts there jump into the crowd regularly.

Juiceboxxx had twenty minutes to impress, distress, and make the audience dance. He totally did it, too. He played some of my favorites, the ever lovable “Thunder Jam III,” “Center Stage,” and “Sweat,” which was the theme of my night since at the moment, my friend Brian was sweating up a Juice-inspired storm a little too close for comfort.

“They don’t want to see me, they just want to see themselves,” said JB before the show. It’s true, or it was true. But Juice, you really showed them. Not only did the crowd respond, the freakin’ loved this kid from middle America. And even if they hadn’t, hey, you still got some rent moneys.

Snowblink, Grand Ol’ Party, Rogue Wave @ da fillmeezy - May 2008

I arrived at the Fillmore to find two spots right in the front of line waiting for me due to some real fans who got there a few hours ahead of time that I am lucky enough to know. I feel like, at my age, I deserve that kind of treatment. I had talked to Kristen, singer of Grand Ol’ Party, earlier and decided she needed a super gift (a St. Christopher visor clip for a band’s van is a useful thing). I hadn’t really heard the music of GOP, but was very impressed when, a few hours later, I got the chance.

The opening act, Snowblink, was as charming as you can get. This bay area group was led by a nice young lady, Daniela, whom I harassed about many things, insisting that we’ve met before, and asking her to show of her engagement ring. Almost married, pretty, sings like an angel and has a wireless headset microphone: yep the girl pretty much is livin’ the life. Not to mention the rest of her band are pretty much just as charming, as they rock instruments like sticks, tambourines, a shared cymbal. For one song, a basket of bells was passed into the crowd and everyone grabbed one (or a few, as was my desire) and rang them. A fishing pole with ribbon was also utilized during the set. I’ll definitely be seeing this band again.

Grand Ol’ Party took the stage a little after 9:30. I was already tired at this point (aging, remember?) but got re-energized. The San Diego three piece –simply guitar, bass and drums – really got the crowd going, whom I assume had not heard of this act. The band is fresh off a UK tour with Rilo Kiley, played their last date with Rogue Wave that night, and will be back in less than a month with the Fiery Furnaces. The band probably draws comparison to the Furnaces, and probably the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, as it is simple, somewhat early rock and rollish, and woman led. Frontwoman Kristen pulled a Don Henley and sang with much emotion and energy (way better than anyone this side ofHenley) while playing drums. How she can do both at the same time is a mystery. Someone in the crowd near me muttered that it was a gimmick – if so, it was working because I, and my hard to please red head friend, were pretty much won over. The smoke machine and fan behind Kristen added a great effect, even though from my position in front of a monitor she kind of looked like a floating head singing into a headset microphone. It was two for two good opening acts that night. At the end of their set, I asked the bassist for his set list, and he said, “sure but you won’t be able to read it.” When I looked at it later, I discovered it was just a bunch of letters on a notecard.

By the time Rogue Wave hit the stage, I was beat from a long day, and from all the previous dancing. We giggled at how cute Rogue Wave’s older men vibe was, especially as we noted their guitarist’s horn rimmed, ben Sherman jacket wearing style. He was the best thing on stage, making faces, jumping around, being older, and he was only five feet away. I was happy to hear some of my favorite songs, like “Medicine Ball” and crowd pleaser “Publish My Love,” relative early, that way I could go home and not feel cheated. I was about to leave when I heard Zach Rogue asking Daniela to return to the stage, and one of my favorite men in town, John Vanderslice, to come sing a song with them. No words can describe my love for V-slice, I always love running into him. . I made sure to holla for him, and I also got Daniela to show off her ring a little more. Despite everything the show was a little sad for me; this is the first show in the bay area since Evan died. From sfweekly’s blog: “After an Elephants show at the Starry Plough in Berkeley on December 20 he slept at the home of Graham Lebron from Rogue Wave. When the basement furnace caught fire he woke everyone up in the house, but tragically was not able to make it to safety himself and died from his injuries three days later in the hospital.”

Colin Meloy @ the Fillmo

don’t know why i didn’t post this earlier, it’s been written. oops. xoxo

Colin Meloy, you are a gentleman and a scholar. Seriously. Who else could write a cautionary song about prostitute mothers and have it be so amazing?

I was running pretty late, and I was tempted to skip the Colin Meloy solo show at the Fillmore that my friend had gifted me his tickets to. But I persevered, and got to venue only a few songs into his set. It’s really weird to think of one guy getting a huge tour bus, but it seems pretty appropriate for a man with such an obvious talent. Everything about him is wonderful, according to my show companion, “He’s so good. He’s over thirty, esoteric, and wears glasses and stripes.” This thought would repeat in my head as I watched the hour long set of Decemberists and solo material. Also, every time he drank a sip of wine, she would squeal…something about older men and wine must be appealing.

For every solo jaunt, Meloy puts out an EP of covers by a specific artist. First Morrisey, then Shirley Collins, and now the wonderful Sam Cooke – the cover of “Cupid” can’t quite capture the power of the original, but Colin Meloy is a white guy from middle America who was born in the 70s, and did amazingly well making an EP of these song that I could listen to over and over. Colin sang many songs about San Francisco, much to our delight, including “Grace Cathedral Hill,” and “O Valencia.”

Meloy is a mix a musician and an actor, this is especially true when he is by himself, wearing no outfit, just jeans and a collared shirt. He still makes the story songs come alive, and even let’s the audience in a Decemberists secrets: like how bassist Nate Query has a mic in front of him only for one specific yell – the captains wail in “Mariner’s Revenge.” He also encouraged audience sing alongs, reminiscent to a school teacher, and regularly talked to the characters in the front row (they even got a few laughs out of him). It had been a few years since I’ve seen Meloy in any form, and this was a splendid reminder that he is probably a genius, but not the creepy kind, the kind that gets along with people.

Rilo Kiley, Whispertown, the everlovin Michael Runion @ SF Concourse

Rilo Kiley. It has been years indeed since I’ve last seen you. And, despite what people say, you have not changed! Not negatively, anyway.

Michael Runion, boy superstar and my favorite LA local, opened up the Rilo Kiley show by addressing the fact that the ads for the show all said 8 pm, when really, the show started at 7:30. “It’s hard to feel anything when it’s light outside,” he complained, in an endearing way. I’ve never seen Runion with a full band, but he had one, a five piece backing band that he seemed to really like. He even got to put his guitar down, wrap the microphone cord around his self and croon for a few songs, when Whispertown’s Tod picked up the electric. Michael Runion explained to the crowd that over thanksgiving, he had learned that his last name is Irish, even though he is Mexican: “I’d like to thank us, we built this state, and I’d like to thank the Europeans for stealing it.” Michael pleased me, although he didn’t play my favorite, “Don’t Let Her Hold You.”

Whispertown 2000, yet another lovely LA band, was more what the crowd was looking for: two attractive, short-dress wearing women (Jenny’s friend Morgan and Vanessa), a cute boy (Tod), and a mustachioed character (a fellow who replaced old W200 member Colt). They kicked off their set with “103,” a song about aging! The four musicians switched off instruments, which really impressed me! Whispertown even played some new material. The band ended with their signature jamboree style finale; all of Runions band returned to the stage, (except Runion who was very late for the jam session) picked up instruments, and rocked out. The guitar player from Runion’s band plucked the bass strings, while Whispertown’s bassist fretted the notes: it was too cool to believe. Runion finally made it back to the stage to play the acoustic guitar and jam out for a while before the set ended.

Rilo Kiley, the band that everyone was waiting for, came out at a respectable hour – 9:25.

Jenny Lewis, front woman, child star, solo star, all purpose ginger!, looked smaller than the last time I’d seen her, and everyone was swooning as soon as she stepped on stage. The band all had silver, black and white outfits on; they are an impeccably dressed band, but I would expect nothing less from ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Los Angeles darlings. I believe I saw Orenda Fink, one of my other favorite artists, playing with Rilo Kiley (trumpet, tambourine, keys). The lighting was brilliant – someone did a great job managing strobes, black lights, blue lights, red lights. The band kicked off the set with three songs from their newest album, Under the Blacklight, “Close Call,” “Moneymaker,” and “Dreamworld,” which sounded so much like a smooth 70’s song that I couldn’t stop smiling.

“Capturing Moods,” from Executions of all Things, was messed up by Miss Jenny, but noone would have noticed if she hadn’t stopped to apologize, which was adorable, as usual; one of the best sing along moments came during this song, when hundreds of people sang/screamed, “you could sell your baseball cards just to pay your rent.” At that moment all I could think was, ‘I’ve never owned baseball cards, nobody I know has ever owned them either.’ The lighting guy, whoever he is, produced my favorite moment of show: during the emotional high point of “Does He Love You” the stage was completely drenched in red light as Lewis sang, “your husband will never leave you for me” – it reminded me of how good of an actress she probably is, she can capture every range of emotion in the songs she sings.

Blake had an important announcement, he had to introduce his new guitar that he had driven all the way from LA to SF to retrieve from a craigslist ad in a bar. Can you imagine selling your guitar online only to find out it was for Blake Sennett, former child star, current rock star? He then went straight into “Ripchord,” from More Adventurous. So many sing along moments during this set. “Absence of God,” and “With Arms Outstretched,” were just two of the many songs that had the crowd hot and bothered and singing like mad.

I love balloons! I am putting that out there as a pretext to my next statement – I love balloons filled with glitter. Needless to say, Rilo Kiley had balloons filled with glitter and it made my freakin’ night. I texted my friend during the balloon song, “Silver Lining,” that ‘these balloons are floating and fucking huge…I want to marry one…and live happy with glitter latex children.” One balloon even made it to the end of the song with out it’s glittery insides being torn apart. However, an even luckier balloon got popped just as Jenny Lewis ended, “I never felt so wicked, as when I willed our love to die (POP).” She smiled at the balloon. The band “ended” with “I Never,” a song that holds precious memories for me – I was there the first time it was performed live – complete with an epic Blake guitar solo. Now it’s a sure fire sign that the show ain’t over if the band leaves something running, and sure enough Rilo came out to perform a few more songs, including “Picture of Success,” and “Portions for Foxes,” which made the crowd go completely nuts. I think Rilo Kiley is just a band that people can go nuts for…I was proved right when my friend Jen got a water bottle from the stage, and proceeded to yell “This is JENNY’S WATER!!,”and pour some on my head. I guess she thought it was a sort of holy blessing – maybe everyone at that show would agree with her.

NADA SURF @ THE FILLMO’

There are few bands that I will spend over $20 to see, and few shows that I would wait five hours outside the venue to guarantee a front row spot. Nada Surf is one of the few. My sister and I, along with two new friends, bonded over Japanese candy and the fact that nobody else felt strongly enough to come as early as us. By the time opening act Sea Wolf pulled up in front of the Fillmore, we had been hanging out for hours.

Sea Wolf took the stage right at nine, and played a standard 40 minute set. The six piece (guitar, bass, cello, drums, keys, and various other instruments). The young girls next to me were freaking out and singing along to the songs, trying to get the attention of the admittedly cute bassist. Sea Wolf had a great energy, and weren’t too bad looking either. But my attention just can’t be held very easily, and we were all very anxious to see Nada Surf.

The first time I saw Nada Surf, I only paid $8. This show was three times that amount. And worth it! The boys, along with their long time friend and collaborator on the keys, kicked off the set with “High Speed Soul” as usual, and proceeded to treat us two nearly two hours of music. As usual, I tried to keep track of the cigarettes that Daniel chain smoked while playing bass and lost track around five or six. And as usual, Ira was the man of the hour, being amazing by wearing a gold lame shirt, and looking so incredibly young for being over 40. The crowd was not as lively as I had hoped, but I had plenty of fun dancing. The band played songs from almost every record, including “Popular,” the hit that started their career way long ago. I cannot believe that song came out over ten years ago.

Nada Surf is one of the most fun acts to see live, and also one of the loudest, ever since I can remember I’ve noticed the two things are often connected. The band played a good portion of their new album LUCKY, including my favorite “I Like What You Say,” in which you could find me screaming, “baby, I only wanna make you happy,” along with Matt Caws and all the people around me. I felt a bit old, as I decided to wear ear plugs this year (I don’t want to go deaf, so I’m sacrificing some of my cool power to the bright orange plastic). The band also played yet more favorites: “Eighty Windows,” “Killian’s Red,” “See These Bones,” “Blonde on Blonde,” “Always Love,” and “Blankest Year,” during which Daniel hoisted many girls on stage, and others followed for a crazy dance party that always seems to come along with that song. After two encores, I was ready to go home and listen to some Nada Surf…without earplugs or fear of inner ear damage.

mountain goats @ bimbo’s (unedited early draft)

I SHOULD EDIT THIS LATER. WHO KNOWS IF I ACTUALLY WILL THOUGH.

It’s not every day that you get to see the Mountain Goats (John Darnielle, Peter Hugues and drummer John Wurster from superchunk). Fortunately for me, this Friday’s show at Bimbo’s was the first of three highly anticipated MG shows.

Peter and John entered the stage wearing suits. Well, Peter looked slightly under mafia wise guy status, and John looked a little like a metal head (he was wearing a sinister t shirt) that was forced to put on a suit jacket. The last time I saw MG my ears were expecting a quiet set and then got hammered with full out raging loudness. This time I was prepared for mayhem, and of course I got some. John Darnielle’s rock faces whilst playing guitar count as mayhem, right? If you’ve seen the man, you know what I mean. He’s pure emotion. At one time, this may have made him a butt of jokes (perhaps at open mic nights in college), but now it is whole heartedly embraced by his legions, and I say that with all the power it denotes, of fans. The rock face is what makes you love John Darnielle; oh and his lyrics. Can’t forget those. Every Mountain Goats show I’ve ever attended has come with a few seconds of abandon where we, the crowd, all lose our minds and scream, “I don’t want to die alone!” during Dance Music, a favorite song of mine. The set consisted of classics (like Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod, Going to Georgia, and You or Your Memory) in which the crowd sang along…loudly…and songs from the new album ‘Heretic Pride’ like Marduk T Shirt Men’s Room Incident and San Bernadino (which John introduced as a song about having a baby in a motel room). My favorite introduction to a song included a rant about how you might be able to get away with murder if you murdered everyone who came to check up on you because who would be left to come get you? “The math is simple.” A close second came when John explained How to Embrace a Swamp Creature, the reason why you really ask for your records back from an ex: “you know and I know why youre going over there…you could get that song off the internet like the rest of us… and you don’t need the vinyl, and you don’t need the CD. I know you need the intimacy, I know you want to see them again. We should both be honest.”

Of course when the set was over, nobody moved a muscle. We all waited, and sure enough, MG came back out with a cover of House Guest, my favorite lyric from that song runs along the lines of “I’ve done things in your room you wouldn’t have the decency to ask about.” When I felt the first encore was nearing a close, I handed John a little bracelet with the virgin mary on it, only to be looked at adoringly (I guess the man really is a Catholic). John then kissed me on the top of my head. I was embarrassed, but I’m also a fan of attention, so it worked out for me in the end. He explained (I’m paraphrasing mostly) that “boy, my church may be messed up, but I sure do love the Virgin Mary”, and commented that so many people in the room were awkward about his addressing the subject, “but you hear all those people who shout out for Golden Boy Peanuts? I’m never going to play it but the yell anyway. That’s true faith.” Did JD just compare people wanting to hear a song of his to religious faith? Could be the case, but it’s fitting, since so many Mountain Goats fans do have a religious kind of zeal. When I looked around during particularly slower, more sad songs I saw a girl hugging herself, and a boy nearly crying.

Before they left the stage after the second encore, John told the crowd how great they were and that he doesn’t say that to everyone, and if we didn’t believe him, we could look up previous Mountain Goats shows on archive.org. I’ve noticed that they are one of the most well documented bands on the site, but I took his word for it and didn’t look through them all, though I encourage everyone to do so, especially if you can’t make it to a live MG show.

John Vanderslice Meets Michael Showalter - Jan 2008

Current mood:vexed

John Vanderslice is kind of funny. But he’s more charming than funny. That’s why I was surprised to see him sharing a bill with Michael Showalter, who happens to be a comedian, and a very funny one at that.

When I walked in to the Eureka Theater, the first person I bump into is the always pleasant John Vanderslice. I had previously told him about a “cootie catcher” which I had made for him (and a slightly different one for the multitalented Ian Bjornstad), and now produced the aforementioned art project. John and Ian are always great to bump into, especially when cootie catchers are involved.

The theater was small, but a perfect place to see John Vanderslice, and as it turns out, stand up comedy. The show started off with Michael Showalter being introduced. I thought to myself, that’s weird, that he would be first even though the night was part of SF Sketchfest, a sketch comedy festival. Showalter commented on how the two were going to be doing mostly separate performances, so he decided to reenact meeting JV for the crowd. Thusly, the show started with the very apt meeting of Vanderslice and Showalter.

In some ways JV was like a stand up comic, he was all by himself on stage for the most part, and he had to keep the crowd’s attention, just like a comedian. And he had some genuinely witty stage banter to boot. The set included a great mix of songs new, many from his newest release Emerald City (Kookaburra, the Parade, the Tower, Time to Go, etc). John and his guitars, the acoustic was nearly as big as him, were all alone on stage although several of his band mates were around. At one point, John invited Ian onstage to lead the audience in clapping (which he did splendidly) and then commented on how buff Ian looked; I’m pretty sure he implied that Ian had “oiled up.” He also passed out vegan cookies! John Vanderslice ended his set by bringing out his two band mates and setting up a bass drum in the aisle of the theatre. The trio, with Ian playing accordion at one point, made the show even more intimate as they sang (Nikki oh Nikki, and my personal favorite JV song, Keep the Dream Alive) and played without amplification.

I had come for JV, but was surprised at how much fun it was to watch Michael Showalter. Needless to say, I’ve never made it a habit to see stand up comedy, but I may just get my act together and start. Showalter, who most know from Wet Hot American Summer, kept me laughing. He also diversified his media, making ample use of his Mac. My favorite moments consisted of Showalter’s projected images. He mashed up the faces of the presidential candidates (a response to someone saying he wasn’t political!) into horrifying yet hilarious photos, which he explained thoroughly. He also projected his online scrabble game; this especially spoke to me, as I am a huge fan of scrabulous on facebook, although I could never pull off a word like “shat,” which Showalter obviously can. The comedian also proved to be a good dancer, several different types of dancing. Hip hop dancing to Billy Joel was so simple a bit; I can’t believe no one has thought of it before. He also did an impression of West Side Story dancer…you’ll have to see that for yourself, because I can’t really explain it in an amusing way. I haven’t laughed or smiled so much that my face hurt in so long.

Dear Pop