josh is stupid and boring and self-centered and stupid and has crabs

Okay, so it's become readily apparent during this blog's existence that only posting when I'm feeling particularly clever or I had a good highdea the night before simply does not provide the regular, constant updates which the blogosphere demands. Readers want content, content, and more content (for their sexy bods... blog joke) and if I maintain my rather more discriminating standards I simply can't deliver it. So...

I've decided to start posting reviews of the shows I work at Joe's Pub on a semi-regular basis. These reviews will not only be my jaded take on the quality of music and the live show itself, but also more personal insights into the kind of people these bands are. "Hey asshole," I hear you saying, "who the fuck died and made you king? You don't know these people, and if you did you'd kill yourself when you realized how much cooler they are than you."

Well, here's the situation: I work as a stage manager at Joe's, a job which requires you to be as personable and accomodating as possible. This means that I enter into contact with an act wanting very badly to like them because then it is just that much easier for me to treat them well. I think how a band/act behaves towards someone they know to be in this position speaks worlds about their character (and from my experience I can be quite confident in telling you they do in fact understand the power dynamic there, whether they admit it or not).

Having laid that down I'd like to do a brief review of the CocoRosie set last night...

The set itself was pretty good. The band plays what I can only describe as trip-hop a lá the New York indie scene. They had the simple, repetitive chord changes, with soaring, filtered female vocals, and the loping feel of trip hop, but interjected with some beatboxing and odd found-sound sampling. The songs were pretty and the crowd seemed absolutely riveted, but I found the material a bit samey by the end of the set (which is sometimes my response to genres like trip-hop).

As for the band... Well, I had mixed feelings. The second vocalist was very nice and seemed to quite motivated for someone who, when I first met her, was so high that she could barely remember how many people were in the band. The lead vocalist on the other hand was a bit more of a diva than I might have expected from an indie act. She delayed the set about ten or fifteen minutes putting on makeup, doing vocal warmups, and tuning her harp, and then one of the band members had the nerve to be somewhat cross with me when they ran over on time and only got through 2/3 of their setlist. Sorry guys... You may be the next thing on the indie scene but that makes you only a bit less disposable than an American Idol runner-up, and we have to clear the room by 9pm for the next set.

Ok, so this isn't gonna be one of those carefully planned, stylishly literary, sardonically funny posts (although I am already editing for word choice). This is more of a "let's fill cyberspace with some personal blog detritus." Not that friends, family (hi mom!), and secret crushes aren't interested all the same...

Anyway... Chaos! Last week was a bit off kilter and I still haven't quite shaken out the crazies yet (read: gotten blind drunk). I'm actually feeling pretty centered now though. I think we all need to grab life by the throat and give it a good shake every once in a while just to remind ourselves what our priorities are. Here's what fell out of life's pockets:


1.) Single again. I'm not getting into it here because it involves someone who has no say in the content of this blog, and that doesn't seem fair. Let's leave it at this: Hard, but under the circumstances it was necessary. It would have felt hollow and deceptive to keep going.

2.) The internships. I laid it down at Sacred Noise this week to the tune of, "I'm bored as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore." Ok, not really, because I want to keep my stellar reference from Michael intact, but I did give them a solid final day (the 5th, two weeks earlier than I initially told them). I'm so disengaged there; I spend all day reading blogs, appropriating their music and software libraries, and drinking beer (obviously it isn't all bad... I'm just crawling out of my skin with boredom). As for Joe's, well apparently I have some pull there now. Not only am I allowed to order steak for my comped meal (although I generally don't), but I can grab a few drink tickets for people I know. One of the bartenders is a total bitch sometimes, but I just tell myself that it's hard for her, in the dwindling autumn of her youth, to be around someone as vivacious and full of accumen as myself.

3.) The trip home. Coming back to Massachusettes is always a bit surreal. I see all these people whom I haven't been in regular contact with for years. In a sense we can sort of pick up where we left off because we have so much history, but I still feel lonely when I'm here. When I try to say something funny I just get blank stares or painful misunderstanding, like people can't even tell I'm joking. I spend a lot of time feigning interest in the conversation too. It's not that I don't care, I'd just rather be talking about which Kill Bill you liked better or how you feel about the Middle East, instead spouting an endless litany of Family Guy quotes.


So those are the gears grinding in my head right now. A least I'm being honest about it though. (Admitting you're not happy?!?! WEAKLING!!!!!) So here's hoping that by the end of summer I can go back to being an extraordinary machine.