Yes, another lame attempt at a tagline for my “rock weeks.”
So the last weekend in April I was lucky enough to fly down to Georgia and see some of my old friends. Taylor and I are founding members of a group of friends called Gajataash (we took the first letter of everyone’s name and invented a word) who met while at Jump, Little Children’s Dock Street 9 performance series. We’ve since shortened it to Gaja to accomodate other friends who have become close. The website I linked is incredibly out of date, but I prefer it that way. Whenever we get together it’s like when my mom and her sisters get together – loads of rehashing of old stories. Despite the fact that a triple murder occurred nearby, the trip was a blast.
Well, once I got back I got a message from my friend Vivian who happened to have a spare ticket to the Flight of the Conchords show the following night! Of course I took her up on it. A co-worker of mine swears she saw Jemaine walking a block away from our store entering one of the four-star hotels next to us, and as I left to meet up with Vivian I saw a big tour bus circling the block, so I’m sure my co-worker was correct. Their opener was the comedian Eugene Merman (the guy who plays their landlord on the show) and he did this great bit about why he hates Delta Airlines with the intenisty of a thousand suns. It concluded with John Wesley Harding taking the stage, along with a member of the Mekons, to sing a song Harding wrote especially for Merman’s hatred of Delta. Then Merman handed out postcards he’d printed up that read “I hate you!” with his story on the back, and instructed us to deluge Delta with them. Awesome.
Then the Conchords themselves took the stage. I’m afraid I haven’t seen anything of their show’s second season (I don’t have cable), but I devoured their first once it came out on DVD. And their album. “Foux du Fafa” is still a favorite. Luckily for me they didn’t play loads of songs from the second season (though they’re so funny out of context it didn’t matter), and were very charming on stage. Before their “political” song “Think About It” they said they were very concerned with current issues, and said they want to raise money to get tissues to the pigs! They get swine flu, too, you know!
At one point they announced that they were touring with the New Zealand Symphony, and introduced the Symphony to the stage – which turned out to be one guy with a cello. (I guess you had to be there, but I was in stitches.) They said that due to budget cuts it was just the cellist, but it used to contain a trumpeter and one dude who danced in the corner. And one interesting choice they made was to not play “Robots” or “Business Time” – two songs I would claim to be their hits. But I can respect that. After seeing Jump, Little Children and Jay Clifford a few dozen times you kind of wish they don’t sing “Cathedrals” and replace it with something more obscure. In the end it was a fantastic show, and I was grateful for the last minute ticket opportunity.
Thursday I FINALLY got to see Franz Ferdinand. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s been a thing with me for a few years to see Franz Ferdinand. Ticketmaster gouged me a little, but I kept saying it would be worth it. I’m sorry to say, it wasn’t totally. I think the main problem was I attended the show at the Riviera by myself. I had no one to bounce energy off of. The opener (I never caught their name) sucked. Just… blah. I don’t understand how so many blah groups get great opportunities like opening for Franz Ferdinand and not be better. Luckily they had a short set.
Franz had a screen behind them with some lights set up, and during many of their songs images and video loops would play behind them. It was pretty hot, I do say. I was amused to notice that the setlist was composed of almost the entirety of their debut album, a number from their latest release, and hardly anything but the single from their second. (Their sophomore album just wasn’t up to snuff, and I have yet to hear the entirety of their latest.) So I liked that. Nick, the guitarist, busted his foot somehow earlier, so he was seated the whole night, leaving Alex, the lead singer, alone in his stage-thrashing. But that boy has moves. And what a luscious voice! I think people underrate his singing talents. Just the same, I didn’t find their show all that special, and really wanted to leave by the end. I stayed for the encore out of some groupie/fangirl force within me that would be insulted if I left earlier, but it was rather dull to say the least. Well, at least I can take that off my checklist now. I still say the band’s debut album is a classic, but that’s it.
Saturday my siblings and I saw X-Men Origins: Wolverine. TOTALLY worth it for the Hugh Jackman factor. I adore that man so much. However, it lacked actual origins. Who was his father? How did he and his brother survive? What was it like during the wars? I’m not a comic book aficianado, I just dig some of the films, so I know I’m missing loads of info by not reading the comics, but please. The film was a tad annoying with it’s confusing storyline. And the after-credits scene? What a gyp. But Hugh Jackman (and the way-too-little-on-screen-time of Ryan Reynolds) made the film watchable. Really, honestly, that’s what the ladies wanted.
