May concerts and such
Well lookie here, I'm actually putting together a monthly recap not too long after the month actually ended. Wow. Wonder if I can keep this up?
Also, keep in mind that a portion of this month's recaps concerns a vacation I took to NY with my girlfriend. I thought about doing a full on post about it, but then I kept delaying it and delaying it and now I don't see the point. But in case you MUST know, I went to New York on a vacation with my girlfriend. We stayed at my best friend's place in Brooklyn. We were there for about a week. We had a good time and she had a great birthday. There you go. Feel free and inquire if I overlooked anything you were wondering about.
Now onto what went down in May.
Late Show with David Letterman - 5/7 @ The Ed Sullivan Theatre (New York, NY)
So part of my birthday present to Rikki, other than the whole trip to New York, et al, was tickets to see Letterman. Honestly, I didn't think I was going to get tickets to Letterman as I had signed up for the tickets months before and never heard a word. Then about a week before the trip, I got a call from the show asking if I wanted to go and asked me a trivia question about the show to "prove" I was a fan (the answer was Hello Deli). So I scored us tickets to see the show (even though we both would've probably preferred to see a taping of Daily Show or Colbert Report instead...). The guest for the show was Norm MacDonald, who was promoting some comedy club shows (the irony being that earlier that day, Rikki made the point of how Norm is the unfunniest comedian around, my vote was for Kevin Nealon). The musical guest was Animal Collective. Very boring musically and so boring visually that they needed to bring in some tripped out psychedelic Mummenschanz dancers to keep you interested. But even with two weak guests, it was Letterman for pete's sake. And it was so cool to see a late night talk show filmed live (in the afternoon by the way). We ended up waiting in line longer than it took them to film the show, crazy. And to top it off, there was a special appearance by Leonard Nimoy, who read the Top 10 list. "Live Long, Prosper And Keep It Hangin' & Bangin'."
Mastodon - 5/9 @ Irving Plaza (New York, NY)
So not only were we in NY, but fellow Atlantans, Mastodon were in town too. My friend Austin (whom we were staying with) got us tickets to the show. We spent much of the day walking around Chinatown and Little Italy, so by the time we got to the concert, Rikki and I were pretty worn out and tired. So much so that after about 1/2 hour of show, we went downstairs and crashed out on a couch for the remainder of their set. I've seen Mastodon before, so it wasn't a big deal to me and I seem to run into those guys semi-regularly when they're in town, so I don't think they'll mind. But the 1/2 hour I caught was really good if that makes up for anything.
The Toxic Avenger Musical - 5/10 @ New World Stages (New York, NY)
So when in New York, it's traditional to see a musical. The choices were Guys And Dolls or Toxic Avenger. The pros for Guys And Dolls were - Lauren Graham and er, Lauren Graham. The pros for Toxic Avenger were - cheaper ticket, better subject matter and last time I saw Evil Dead at the same venue and had a blast. So Toxic Avenger won out and honestly it was the better choice. Had a lot of fun and it was pretty hilarious. Not as good as the Evil Dead musical, but if you happen to go to NY while it's still showing, I highly recommend it. Then cap it off with a visit to Troma's world headquarters in Hell's Kitchen...
Atlanta Rollergirls Bout - 5/16 @ Yaarab Shrine Center
I've been to just about every home bout since the inception of the Atlanta Rollergirls. Never missed a single one. I have missed parts of a handful and this would be one. I only was able to catch the first of the double header bouts because I had tickets to see Cinematic Titanic later that night and former MST3K guys trump Rollergirls (it's a complex system, but that what it boils down to). And to be perfectly honest, I just barely had enough time to catch that first bout. But I at least caught a winner, with the Dirty South Derby Girls (aka the All-Star Team) decimating the team from Norfolk, VA. It was 200 to 58, kind of an upsetting upset, but then again, derby ain't fair.
Cinematic Titanic - 5/16 @ Alliance Theatre
So what could make me miss roller derby? How's about former members of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 making fun of a movie live on stage?!? Seriously, how could I pass that up? We went the second night and saw them rip into Danger On Tiki Island. I would've loved to have seen them on both nights so I could've seen what they had to say about East Meets Watts, but at around $75 for the pair of tickets for Rikki and I, I don't think $150 would've been a wise investment to catch both performances. But given that, the price we paid for the one show was money well spent. The guys (and gal) were in top form and there was an added bonus of Dave "Gruber" Allen, aka Mr Rosso from Freaks & Geeks as an opening act. Watching the show made me realize how much I miss seeing MST3K on the TV.
Kate Voegele - 5/18 @ Hard Rock Cafe (Nashville, TN)
Apparently it was important for me to drive up to Nashville to be there as Kate Voegele watched the One Tree Hill season finale with a bunch of fans and then play a few acoustic songs off her new album. Jealous? I truly pray that you're not.
Kate Voegele - 5/20 @ The Loft
This time I got to see Kate perform again, sans TV show and with a full band. Did it get any better? Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?
Gavin Rossdale - 5/20 @ Center Stage
So in the same building as Kate Voegele's show, Gavin Rossdale was performing as well. And easily the better of the two shows. Granted, Gavin has much more material to pull from his days with Bush and, well with Bush. There was a decent enough crowd there to see him, but if he just skipped trying to form new bands (I'm looking at you Institute) or trying to go solo, then he'd be selling out bigger venues. Look at his wife, she's back with No Doubt and they're selling out amphitheatres. Just suck it up and bring everyone in Bush back together or just call it Bush and watch the ticket sales soar through the roof. The one highlight of the evening was seeing Rikki almost pass out from ecstasy after getting a chance to hug Gavin for a photo. I'm such an enabler...
The Room - 5/26 @ The Plaza Theatre
Second time seeing The Room and it's just gotten BETTER. Me and Rikki dressed up and brought plastic spoons, roses and a football (makes sense if you see the movie with a crowd). Tried to get more people to go, but they just wouldn't listen to reason. This movie is brilliant. GO SEE IT. GO SEE IT WITH AN AUDIENCE. You won't regret it.
Black Diamond Heavies - 5/28 @ Star Bar
Almost missed this one. Just happened to be skimming through the Creative Loafing when their name caught my eye. Guess they threw a show together pretty quickly before they went off on a European tour. I almost didn't go because I knew they were going to go on late being that it was at the Star Bar. And I was right, they didn't go on until about 1AM. But you know what? It was still totally worth it. They are such a phenomenal live band. And this time they seemed to have a truly appreciative audience. Granted that same appreciative audience was getting on my last nerve, but the band seemed to enjoy the energy. And slowly but surely the word will spread and soon they'll be playing at the Tabernacle and I'll miss the days when I could just stroll up to the Star Bar late on a Thursday night to catch them. But I probably won't miss going home at 2 in the morning following their set...
Total May concerts - 8
Total May and such - 4
Also, keep in mind that a portion of this month's recaps concerns a vacation I took to NY with my girlfriend. I thought about doing a full on post about it, but then I kept delaying it and delaying it and now I don't see the point. But in case you MUST know, I went to New York on a vacation with my girlfriend. We stayed at my best friend's place in Brooklyn. We were there for about a week. We had a good time and she had a great birthday. There you go. Feel free and inquire if I overlooked anything you were wondering about.
Now onto what went down in May.
Late Show with David Letterman - 5/7 @ The Ed Sullivan Theatre (New York, NY)
So part of my birthday present to Rikki, other than the whole trip to New York, et al, was tickets to see Letterman. Honestly, I didn't think I was going to get tickets to Letterman as I had signed up for the tickets months before and never heard a word. Then about a week before the trip, I got a call from the show asking if I wanted to go and asked me a trivia question about the show to "prove" I was a fan (the answer was Hello Deli). So I scored us tickets to see the show (even though we both would've probably preferred to see a taping of Daily Show or Colbert Report instead...). The guest for the show was Norm MacDonald, who was promoting some comedy club shows (the irony being that earlier that day, Rikki made the point of how Norm is the unfunniest comedian around, my vote was for Kevin Nealon). The musical guest was Animal Collective. Very boring musically and so boring visually that they needed to bring in some tripped out psychedelic Mummenschanz dancers to keep you interested. But even with two weak guests, it was Letterman for pete's sake. And it was so cool to see a late night talk show filmed live (in the afternoon by the way). We ended up waiting in line longer than it took them to film the show, crazy. And to top it off, there was a special appearance by Leonard Nimoy, who read the Top 10 list. "Live Long, Prosper And Keep It Hangin' & Bangin'."
Mastodon - 5/9 @ Irving Plaza (New York, NY)
So not only were we in NY, but fellow Atlantans, Mastodon were in town too. My friend Austin (whom we were staying with) got us tickets to the show. We spent much of the day walking around Chinatown and Little Italy, so by the time we got to the concert, Rikki and I were pretty worn out and tired. So much so that after about 1/2 hour of show, we went downstairs and crashed out on a couch for the remainder of their set. I've seen Mastodon before, so it wasn't a big deal to me and I seem to run into those guys semi-regularly when they're in town, so I don't think they'll mind. But the 1/2 hour I caught was really good if that makes up for anything.
The Toxic Avenger Musical - 5/10 @ New World Stages (New York, NY)
So when in New York, it's traditional to see a musical. The choices were Guys And Dolls or Toxic Avenger. The pros for Guys And Dolls were - Lauren Graham and er, Lauren Graham. The pros for Toxic Avenger were - cheaper ticket, better subject matter and last time I saw Evil Dead at the same venue and had a blast. So Toxic Avenger won out and honestly it was the better choice. Had a lot of fun and it was pretty hilarious. Not as good as the Evil Dead musical, but if you happen to go to NY while it's still showing, I highly recommend it. Then cap it off with a visit to Troma's world headquarters in Hell's Kitchen...
Atlanta Rollergirls Bout - 5/16 @ Yaarab Shrine Center
I've been to just about every home bout since the inception of the Atlanta Rollergirls. Never missed a single one. I have missed parts of a handful and this would be one. I only was able to catch the first of the double header bouts because I had tickets to see Cinematic Titanic later that night and former MST3K guys trump Rollergirls (it's a complex system, but that what it boils down to). And to be perfectly honest, I just barely had enough time to catch that first bout. But I at least caught a winner, with the Dirty South Derby Girls (aka the All-Star Team) decimating the team from Norfolk, VA. It was 200 to 58, kind of an upsetting upset, but then again, derby ain't fair.
Cinematic Titanic - 5/16 @ Alliance Theatre
So what could make me miss roller derby? How's about former members of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 making fun of a movie live on stage?!? Seriously, how could I pass that up? We went the second night and saw them rip into Danger On Tiki Island. I would've loved to have seen them on both nights so I could've seen what they had to say about East Meets Watts, but at around $75 for the pair of tickets for Rikki and I, I don't think $150 would've been a wise investment to catch both performances. But given that, the price we paid for the one show was money well spent. The guys (and gal) were in top form and there was an added bonus of Dave "Gruber" Allen, aka Mr Rosso from Freaks & Geeks as an opening act. Watching the show made me realize how much I miss seeing MST3K on the TV.
Kate Voegele - 5/18 @ Hard Rock Cafe (Nashville, TN)
Apparently it was important for me to drive up to Nashville to be there as Kate Voegele watched the One Tree Hill season finale with a bunch of fans and then play a few acoustic songs off her new album. Jealous? I truly pray that you're not.
Kate Voegele - 5/20 @ The Loft
This time I got to see Kate perform again, sans TV show and with a full band. Did it get any better? Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?
Gavin Rossdale - 5/20 @ Center Stage
So in the same building as Kate Voegele's show, Gavin Rossdale was performing as well. And easily the better of the two shows. Granted, Gavin has much more material to pull from his days with Bush and, well with Bush. There was a decent enough crowd there to see him, but if he just skipped trying to form new bands (I'm looking at you Institute) or trying to go solo, then he'd be selling out bigger venues. Look at his wife, she's back with No Doubt and they're selling out amphitheatres. Just suck it up and bring everyone in Bush back together or just call it Bush and watch the ticket sales soar through the roof. The one highlight of the evening was seeing Rikki almost pass out from ecstasy after getting a chance to hug Gavin for a photo. I'm such an enabler...
The Room - 5/26 @ The Plaza Theatre
Second time seeing The Room and it's just gotten BETTER. Me and Rikki dressed up and brought plastic spoons, roses and a football (makes sense if you see the movie with a crowd). Tried to get more people to go, but they just wouldn't listen to reason. This movie is brilliant. GO SEE IT. GO SEE IT WITH AN AUDIENCE. You won't regret it.
Black Diamond Heavies - 5/28 @ Star Bar
Almost missed this one. Just happened to be skimming through the Creative Loafing when their name caught my eye. Guess they threw a show together pretty quickly before they went off on a European tour. I almost didn't go because I knew they were going to go on late being that it was at the Star Bar. And I was right, they didn't go on until about 1AM. But you know what? It was still totally worth it. They are such a phenomenal live band. And this time they seemed to have a truly appreciative audience. Granted that same appreciative audience was getting on my last nerve, but the band seemed to enjoy the energy. And slowly but surely the word will spread and soon they'll be playing at the Tabernacle and I'll miss the days when I could just stroll up to the Star Bar late on a Thursday night to catch them. But I probably won't miss going home at 2 in the morning following their set...
Total May concerts - 8
Total May and such - 4