I saw them stars go off at night

Saw Spoon last night, absolutely fantastic show. The played about 90 minutes, counting both encores, and might have played longer if it weren't an all-ages show which means everyone had to be out at midnight. They seemed to be having a lot of fun on stage, which always makes things better for everyone concerned. They ended up playing all but three songs from the new album, and lots of stuff from the others. Highlights for me were I turn My Camera On, and The Two Sides of Mister Valentine from the new album, and Lines In the Suit from Girls Can Tell.

It was at the Gothic, a venue which I am ashamed to say I have been avoiding for a long time, since the last time I was there it was still 70 year old movie theatre seats that were in lousy shape. It's been completely remodeled and is really pretty special. Capacity is probably 600-700, but it's well laid out for giving as many people a good sight line as possible, especially from the balcony, where I sat on a comfy padded stool directly behind the sound board and about 6 feet higher than it. My only complaint with the layout is that it was about 2 flights of stairs from there up to the bar and restrooms, where the projection booth used to be.

The Clientele, who opened the show, played a good and mostly pretty quiet set, though when they did rock out, they did it very, very well. I wasn't familiar with their work, but do plan to check out some of their recordings.

RANT: To the various and sundry folks shouting near and around me during various portions of Spoon's set. If you have to yell to be heard over the band, perhaps it's a sign that you're in an inappropriate venue for conversation. I would probably never pitch someone off the balcony, since that would almost certainly mean an end to the show, but that was one of the few things holding me back. Well, that and fear of the legal system.

In other news, I'm planning on creating a series of short films to sell to the History Channel for obscene amounts of money. Each will be a re-creation of a famous Civil War battle, with kittens cast as the Confederate and puppies as the Union soldiers. If those do as well as I expect, I'll do the War of the Roses with monkeys and penguins. Interested venture capitalists may contact me here.

Alan is going to keep on showin em out


P.S. I hate the fact that the link for cuts appears on the bottom of every post, but I don't think there's a way to fix it and still do cuts. Perhaps at some point I'll make it decorative and do something like Click Me -> when appropriate.