Best Party Ever

I was at the liquor store on Tuesday evening, stocking up the beer fridge in preparation for the snowstorm that is scheduled to hit this afternoon. Two guys were pushing a cart around, apparently buying for a party. I overheard one of them say to the other:

“Dude, we should really mix it up – let’s get Bud Light and PBR.”

I would’ve asked for an invite at that point, but I was too busy trying not to laugh. However, in this increasingly divided world of ours, it’s good to see some young people with an appreciation for diversity.

On a side note, I heard My Sister by Juliana Hatfield on the store’s background music. Does anyone else remember when she was going to be “the next big thing”? Somewhere, in my vast piles of stuff, I’m sure I still have a signed set list from the first time I saw her live (at the much missed Backstage in Ballard). This was right after the Hey Babe album came out, before the hype really started, and I was quite smitten with her. She was opening for The Lemonheads, and Evan Dando wore a dress for their set. Speaking of which…

I saw the latest version of The Lemonheads a few weeks ago at The Bluebird. I’ve never been a huge fan, but I was curious enough to check it out. After reading so many articles mentioning that the new rhythm section was borrowed from The Descendants, I was a little disappointed to see that it was just some random guys on bass and drums. The show was pretty low key, with an older crowd, and the band sounded pretty good. Despite all of his well documented drug problems, Evan Dando’s voice still sounds pretty good, especially on the acoustic numbers. (It must also be noted that he still has no stage presence to speak of – he’s one of the most charisma free performers I’ve ever seen.) I recognized a few of the old tunes – It’s a Shame About Ray, Bit Part, Big Gay Heart, My Drug Buddy, and The Outdoor Type. It was an enjoyable show, if nothing overly exciting.

Buying my ticket that night, I noticed a sign taped up in the box office that read “absolutely NO stage diving or crowd surfing.” For that evening, maybe they should have changed it to “absolutely NO reliving of your 90’s heyday.” Checking out the crowd, I couldn’t imagine anyone in attendance participating in either activity. Hmmmm, maybe if they were to drink Bud Light and PBR….

Music, or oatmeal?

I’ve been hearing about a Denver band, The Fray, for well over a year now. Their rather swift climb “to the top” has been chronicled in the local press pretty extensively. If you were to show a photo of the band to me, it’s likely that I would immediately respond “oh yeah, that’s The Fray.” I’ve honestly seen that many articles about them. The music editor of the local arts weekly, Westword, has been an extremely vocal supporter. He mentions them in his column pretty much every week, and has devoted the entire column to them on several occasions. He has even gone so far as to chastise a few local radio stations for not adding The Fray to their play lists. This week, he excitedly announced that they had been nominated for two Grammy awards. At this rate, it wouldn’t surprise me if he was to arrange a parade through downtown in their honor.

Despite the hubbub, prior to this weekend I had never actually heard a song by The Fray. Not really all that surprising, seeing as I don’t listen to commercial radio, but still a bit curious. However, my blissful ignorance ended late Friday night when I saw one of their videos on VH1. First off, the title of the song was painful in itself – How to Save a Life. The song was downbeat, and incredibly whiney. Not sad, mind you, but whiney – like an annoying person who is always complaining and won’t shut the hell up. The video itself was even more painful, as it featured lots of close-ups of the band members wearing pitiful expressions. If that wasn’t enough, this was interspersed with shots of other people crying and looking really sad…I think there might have also been some hugging involved, but I can’t remember for sure. All I could do was sit there and think “So this is what all of the fuss is about?”

My friend Paul once described the band Coldplay as “the musical equivalent of the color beige.” In other words, they’re blander than bland. Riffing on that, I’d like to make the following statement: The Fray is the perfect band for people who find Coldplay a bit too raucous. You’ve been warned.

Satan Claus

A coworker was telling me a story recently, about when her son was very young and attending a Lutheran school. Her family isn’t religious, but they sent him there because the public schools near them weren’t very good. Like many schools used to do, they would put on an annual Christmas pageant. She said the pageant was cute at first, with all of the kids dressed in costume and singing and acting out short vignettes with a holiday theme. Later in the show, however, they had a young child come onto the stage in a devil costume. He had horns, a pointy tail, and a pitchfork – the whole nine yards. Upon reaching center stage, he was swarmed by other children who pelted him incessantly with Nerf balls. My coworker was a little taken aback by this, and felt bad for the kid playing the devil. This (among other things) led her to the decision not to reenroll her child at that school.

Now that I have a son on the way, I can only hope that someday he’ll have the opportunity to play the devil in a similar school production. I’m pretty sure this is what as known as “living vicariously through your children.” I never got to do this myself, which has led me to the conclusion that I had an incomplete childhood. Oh, and I promise to put it on a Christmas card if it ever happens.