The Rolling Sloans @ Tommy Doyle's

On Thurs Oct 1, The Rolling Sloans played the first show of the 2009-2010 academic year at Tommy Doyle's in Harvard Square. Apparently, Tommy Doyle's used to be the original House of Blues, so we were playing in good company. The show was held as a fundraiser for Sloan Entrepreneurs for International Development (SEID), to help Sloanies get out to the developing world to help out entrepreneurs there. The show was great, and both turnout and funds raised exceeded expectations.
The band on stage. I'm rocking the bass.

The crowd seems to be getting into it.

I hand off the bass and get on the vox for a bit.

I also managed to learn to play bass and sing at the same time.

The band post-show.

No Pain No Gain

Last night was the first Rolling Sloans concert of the school year. We've been practicing a lot for it, and my fingers haven't yet gotten used to the amount of abuse a bass dishes out when you finger pick.

I threw back some advil for the show (which I'll post about when I get some pics), but a few songs in, felt something flapping around... only to discover that I'd ripped the nascent callus right off my middle finger. Ouch!

I think it's a rite of passage for a bassist though, and my middle finger's skin will grow back nice and strong for the next show. Flea used to pour super glue into the holes of his fingers when the Chili Peppers first started out.

Where Soul Meets Body

Death Cab for Cutie's Where Soul Meets Body reminds me of my favorite Madison, WI apartment - 142 Langdon St. We were in the middle of the UW's frat row, and ironically, were the loudest apartment on the street despite being a few years removed from college.

TF Hits it Again

Great article by Thomas Friedman summing up the current forces in American politics (basically Dems trying to do something, and Republicans not only doing nothing, but trying to shoot down all legislation). Came out yesterday, but seems all the more current given Joe Wilson's (R-SC) lack of decorum and any political common sense in heckling the President in the chambers of Congress while on national TV.

09/09/09

Today is 09/09/09.... Thanks go out to Google for alerting me to that fact. Now, to savor today as I need to wait 366 days until 10/10/10.

Back to school remeberances

As I walked to the corner store to get some Half and Half for my coffee this morning, I passed by our neighborhood elementary school which was the scene of once an year fanfare: Day 1 of school.

Lots of nervous kids, beaming parents, and my personal favorite, the pint-size possible kindergartners hanging on to mom's leg, not willing to go quietly into this strange abyss.

Although my first day of school (which may be the last one forever) is tomorrow, I couldn't help but relive some of the anxiety and expectation of my early scholastic memories back so many years ago.

BACK TO SCHOOL!

Why oh why

When I first heard Wolfmother's song "Woman", I wasn't too impressed... I thought that they sounded like a Led Zeppelin knock off... Then I heard a song or two more in the past few days which I liked, and on a whim bought the CD on the cheap on iTunes... and it's pretty good (in my humble opinion).

Yet, listening through their album, I felt as if just a little something was missing. I couldn't put my finger on it, but with a bit more musical maturation, these guys could be really good... Only to discover 5 minutes ago that the band has split up (the lead singer is going to keep the band name, but the other guys are out)!

Now we will never know. Why oh why?