"It's lollipop time with you"
So yesterday rocked beyond all estimation, and today is going to be the best day of my life. (HA)
Tim and I decided to go to a They Might Be Giants show, kind of spur of the moment. He knew their songs, but is not and obnoxious fan like myself, so he was psyched, but not insanely. Well, we don't have tickets, and we head to New Haven in order to see the show and procure our entry passes. We wait around on the street in front of Toad's Place with all the hipsters and the nerds. We see a small girl who can kick over my head. She says that she used to do Tsang Tsu Do, or however you spell that, and that her dad was a marine. When someone's dad is a marine, that makes them tough, you know how it is. What bullshit. Anyway, we get into the show at about 7:30, let's say. We mill around until about 8:30, when this man comes on stage. He resembles Meatloaf in looks, except he has an accordion. He is Corn Mo.
Corn Mo is an interesting performer. His songs are manic in the most manic sense of the word. He has an insane amount of energy, and I think can be seen as outsider music. Amazing voice on that cat though. But man, his accordion playing was awesome. There was a guy who kept yelling for freebird throughout the first half of the show. It gets so bad that Corn Mo just spends 5 minutes berating this guy for yelling for that song, and then he plays it. Freebird, on an accordion. Not the full thing, but a good part of it. How badass is that? Maybe not badass, but awesome.
After Corn Mo, more down time, and then TMBG came out, and rocked it as hard as they usually do. They played a lot of newer stuff, but I must say that it really sounds good live. They did play a lot of really awesome tracks. They played "Don't Let's Start" which rocked my fucking socks off, and they closed the show with "The End of the Tour", which was amazing and made me laugh. Any time a show closes with the line, "And we're never going to tour again" I'm wildly amused.
After the show Tim and I hung around for a bit. I was wearing a ConnColl Freshman Orientation shirt, and a kid comes up to me and asks if I go to Conn. I say yes, inquire if he does, and find he does not. He did however see TMBG live there, at Floralia, in 1999. How much does that suck? Why can't they come by again? That would rule. Probably the last good band we've had here. In a funny twist he asked me what my major was. I said Anthropology, and he said, "Dude! I have a friend that graduated from Conn with an Anthro degree. He's unemployed...well, not really...he just started this new job selling switchboards or something..." I said everyone has to start somewhere.
Tim goes to the bathroom. Dan Miller, TMBG guitarist walks by. Tell him nice show, he says, "Thanks Bud." and walks away, trying not to draw attention. Tim comes back, we go to meet Corn Mo.
Corn Mo is imposing and commanding on a stage. In reality he's about 4 foot 9 and nervous. Said that I play accordion too, and he told me about this Rock Accordion Festival that some guy he knows runs. Shook his hand, introduced Tim, talked about our notion for a band, and he said if we ever get up and running to give him an email, maybe get in on that big accordion fest in the sky.
Who knows if it was the truth, but by god, it inspired me. Reading and intending to practice very hard from here on in.
On an aesthetic note about Toad's Place, the Iron Wall of Rock is gone. They redid the place. In the past the drinking area, or bar, was seperated from the main area of the stage by a chain link fence. This fence ran from the stage to the back wall of the club, and was awesome in its old school feeling. They have now ditched it in favour of plexiglass and wood. It looks pretty, but it's just not the same, at all.
Tim stole Linell's coffee cozy. You know the cardboard thing that goes around a coffee cup? That thing. It was sitting on his keyboard table after the show, and I was joking how that would be the uber nerd souvenir, and after I went to the bathroom he presented me with it. How awesome. I plan on really playing it up, possibly framing it.
And to cap that all off, I got accepted into the Worlds of Warcraft closed beta test. Who knew? I never win anything like that, and by win, I mean get selected for. What that means is that I get to test a video game before it's released. This is the second wave of beta testing, so hopefully it's not incredibly buggy...but I'm just happy to be there.
Going to try and talk to SOMEONE today.
"I wish you were my home"
(lyrics by Corn Mo. Check him totally out @ www.cornmo.com)
-ccm
So yesterday rocked beyond all estimation, and today is going to be the best day of my life. (HA)
Tim and I decided to go to a They Might Be Giants show, kind of spur of the moment. He knew their songs, but is not and obnoxious fan like myself, so he was psyched, but not insanely. Well, we don't have tickets, and we head to New Haven in order to see the show and procure our entry passes. We wait around on the street in front of Toad's Place with all the hipsters and the nerds. We see a small girl who can kick over my head. She says that she used to do Tsang Tsu Do, or however you spell that, and that her dad was a marine. When someone's dad is a marine, that makes them tough, you know how it is. What bullshit. Anyway, we get into the show at about 7:30, let's say. We mill around until about 8:30, when this man comes on stage. He resembles Meatloaf in looks, except he has an accordion. He is Corn Mo.
Corn Mo is an interesting performer. His songs are manic in the most manic sense of the word. He has an insane amount of energy, and I think can be seen as outsider music. Amazing voice on that cat though. But man, his accordion playing was awesome. There was a guy who kept yelling for freebird throughout the first half of the show. It gets so bad that Corn Mo just spends 5 minutes berating this guy for yelling for that song, and then he plays it. Freebird, on an accordion. Not the full thing, but a good part of it. How badass is that? Maybe not badass, but awesome.
After Corn Mo, more down time, and then TMBG came out, and rocked it as hard as they usually do. They played a lot of newer stuff, but I must say that it really sounds good live. They did play a lot of really awesome tracks. They played "Don't Let's Start" which rocked my fucking socks off, and they closed the show with "The End of the Tour", which was amazing and made me laugh. Any time a show closes with the line, "And we're never going to tour again" I'm wildly amused.
After the show Tim and I hung around for a bit. I was wearing a ConnColl Freshman Orientation shirt, and a kid comes up to me and asks if I go to Conn. I say yes, inquire if he does, and find he does not. He did however see TMBG live there, at Floralia, in 1999. How much does that suck? Why can't they come by again? That would rule. Probably the last good band we've had here. In a funny twist he asked me what my major was. I said Anthropology, and he said, "Dude! I have a friend that graduated from Conn with an Anthro degree. He's unemployed...well, not really...he just started this new job selling switchboards or something..." I said everyone has to start somewhere.
Tim goes to the bathroom. Dan Miller, TMBG guitarist walks by. Tell him nice show, he says, "Thanks Bud." and walks away, trying not to draw attention. Tim comes back, we go to meet Corn Mo.
Corn Mo is imposing and commanding on a stage. In reality he's about 4 foot 9 and nervous. Said that I play accordion too, and he told me about this Rock Accordion Festival that some guy he knows runs. Shook his hand, introduced Tim, talked about our notion for a band, and he said if we ever get up and running to give him an email, maybe get in on that big accordion fest in the sky.
Who knows if it was the truth, but by god, it inspired me. Reading and intending to practice very hard from here on in.
On an aesthetic note about Toad's Place, the Iron Wall of Rock is gone. They redid the place. In the past the drinking area, or bar, was seperated from the main area of the stage by a chain link fence. This fence ran from the stage to the back wall of the club, and was awesome in its old school feeling. They have now ditched it in favour of plexiglass and wood. It looks pretty, but it's just not the same, at all.
Tim stole Linell's coffee cozy. You know the cardboard thing that goes around a coffee cup? That thing. It was sitting on his keyboard table after the show, and I was joking how that would be the uber nerd souvenir, and after I went to the bathroom he presented me with it. How awesome. I plan on really playing it up, possibly framing it.
And to cap that all off, I got accepted into the Worlds of Warcraft closed beta test. Who knew? I never win anything like that, and by win, I mean get selected for. What that means is that I get to test a video game before it's released. This is the second wave of beta testing, so hopefully it's not incredibly buggy...but I'm just happy to be there.
Going to try and talk to SOMEONE today.
"I wish you were my home"
(lyrics by Corn Mo. Check him totally out @ www.cornmo.com)
-ccm
posted by CCMAS | 12:56 PM
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