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April snows bring May… gutter flows? The weather is blowing my mind, and my face, off, so I’ll just jump right into this.
Just spent $9 on a bunch of vintage Rolling Stone magazines, great hip-hop records, a plaque (don’t ask) and a few other things. Where, might you ask, would a young man such as myself find such a bargain? The Boise Public Library holds its annual booksale this weekend, in the warehouse on Capital, next to the Anne Frank Memorial. The sale offers tons of weird shit: VHS, 8-track, and regular cassettes; weird knick-knacks; thousands of “throw-away” books; luggage, video games, typewriters; more records than are worth your time; probably a lot off dust. The sale continues through Sunday and on that day, everything will be half of – or so I understand.
If you’re calling me in regard to a Poison T-shirt I have for sale, please consider the following anecdote:
April, 2008. After a friend (Jaymes Crowe, an artist/musician living in Oakland now, or so I hear) turns me on to the full potential of Craigslist – the real benefits of anonymity and humor – I make a fake post with the contact information of my then-roommate, Zak Hella. The post read like this:
“FREE – 4-Man Caterpillar Costume
Originally made this for a Chinese New-Year parade but my friends chickened out at the last minute. Now it’s just taking up space in my living room – I can’t even sit down!”
Zak received 20+ calls in the first hour. Finally, he asked one caller: “What are you going to do with this costume?” The caller replies: “I don’t know… wear it around my backyard?” Anyway…
March, 2009. I begin receiving many, many anonymous calls that go something like this:
Caller (yelling): “Where’s the Poison T-shirt? Where is it?”
Me (confused): “What?”
Caller (yelling): “[Obscenities].”
I eventually piece together I’m being pranked, but decide to make the best of it. To find out who is pranking me – with a hunch in mind – I send a text out to a few sneaky kittens: “Hey man, did you hear I have a Poison T-shirt for sale?” Only one person replied – Zak Hella. His text said this:
“Hey man, did you hear every rose has its thorn?”
With that in mind, I am in the market for a Poison T-shirt, for one reason and one reason only – to prove Zak wrong.
The show at Grainey’s Basement Sunday went off without a hitch. That venue is killer! While embedded in the heart of 6th and Main (BOOOOO) it’s got a ton of amazing punk-rock memorabilia, a great dance floor, and killer sound. Saw DJ Eric Rhodes for the first time and he really got me moving. Talk of Rhodes touring with ATTN and In the Shadow of the Mountain abounds, at least for one show. It would be a fairly obnoxious tour, considering the two bands preceding the DJ set would most likely be the only ones dancing in the dives we’ll be playing.
Last night, did a little more sampling of the new kitchen menu at the Modern – it is so choice. Had the trout/dill/cucumber/lemon pita with creme fraiche (side note: WTF is creme fraiche?). Had many of the tartinis last week, and I gotta say: the Modern is a full-service destination by now. You could stay there for weeks – if you’re floating the cash – wtihout going anywhere.
Tuesday, I finally saw new Boise band Black Cloud. The band features members of The Franklin Cover-Up, Behold the White Horse, Fighting Bears By Hand, Songs From the Radio, etc. They pretty much rip. While not as slow as I’d expected, considering the immediate influences of Gaza, Black Sheep Wall, Jument, etc., they really bring some heavy funk. Heston, on drums, has tightened up considerably since the last time I saw him. They sound a like a Minor Times/Botch/Converge baby child, and certainly hold their own.
The Franklin Cover-Up, too, stepped it up: they’ve dropped one guitar and changed their bass player. They sound more comfortable and rocking.
The band of note from that show, however, was El Cerdo new-incarnation Elitist. Heavy, heavy, heavy, fall-on-your-face vocals, dirty-soul drumming, louder than god. As one member from another band joked: “They only play with bands who have vintage equipment.” Whether or not that is true, heavy music fans should check these guys out.
The new music venue at 28th and Davis is tiny and has three rules:
No Drugs
No Alcohol
No Assholes
Rule #2 might be a problem for a lot of Boise music dudes (I saw Cantrell, Bug, and Luke there, not to mention Jeff, and all the band dudes) but it’s a pretty cool place. Bigger than the Myrtle Morgue, but not nearly as punk. The ceiling is low and constrained and as a result the cymbals really cut. But the shape of the room makes guitars sound dead when wearing ear plugs. It’s a brutal trade… can you take it?
Played the VAC last night with In the Shadow of the Mountain. Broke my bass drum head at probably the most crucial moment of bass drumming, but flipped the drum around for a quick fix. Also on the bill was Finn Riggins (ripping as always) Low Red Land, and The Universal. The Universal headlined,, with good reason. They ripped, totally comfortable, together, loud, pretty, and solid. That new shiny drumset is so pretty I wanted to kiss it. But I didn’t. Thanks to Sam at the VAC and thanks to everyone for coming out on such a pitiful Thurs.
What’s going on this weekend? For once, I don’t have any plans, but I know a few things going on:
Seattle crooner Damien Jurado is at the Neurolux tonight, with the standard (yawn) set from DJ Revolve coming on later.
There is a secret show at Calabozo featuring Hummingbird of Death and Pile of Maggot Infested Viscera. Do you not know where this place is? I don’t think you’re supposed to.
Sunday at the Knitting Factory: The Maine, 3oh!3, Family Force 5, Hit The Lights, A Rocket To The Moon. Probably a lot of money. Probably a lot of fun.
“Hotel for Dogs” and “PUSH” are playing at the Egyptian all weekend.
TTYL LOL
Dale W. Eisinger
