The 2004 Stars record Set Yourself On Fire splashed with a plunk into my tumult that year like a shimmery, potent anchor of harmonies belying the deeper layers of truth in their music. It remains a hard-and-fast favorite of mine, one that I still put on with regularity (often on long flights, for some reason) and should be part of every music lover’s collection.
In 2007 a remix/cover album of those songs came out called Do You Trust Your Friends?, where the fabulously talented musical community that Stars surrounds themselves with took shots at their own version of those songs, with sharp and illuminated results (I really like Jason Collett‘s contribution, and Apostle of Hustle’s caffeinated take).
This morning, Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie) tweeted this demo version of the title track that he recorded for the album, and which never appeared. It sounds like a terrific lost Postal Service track, and makes me so happy for interstellar collaborations.
The comments over on the Stereogum post about the pending nuptials of Ben Gibbard (DCFC) and Zooey Deschanel (She & Him, Almost Famous, and, most importantly, Elf) have made me double over with silent laughter about ten times. Well played, Stereogum commenters. It’s worth a post just to note the guy wondering what their celebrity couple name will be (“Booey Gibbanel or Zen Deschbard? I like Zen Deschbard. Or maybe Booey Deschbard.”)
Inciting the most indignation is the fact that people didn’t know they were dating (I know, right?! I thought we were BFFs). I generally don’t care about romances of famous people, but I have to admit being pleased in my heart when I heard this announcement because I totally called it back in August when they both appeared at that awesome music supergroup event at the Democratic National Convention event in Denver:
Female intuition INTACT!
And then they went and covered the Everly Brothers together all sweet-like, and I was like, CLEARLY.
So yeah. Sorry, heartbroken guys.
[…and whoa I am just noticed I’m totally at the end of the crowd panorama in that video. Carry on.]
As I approached from blocks away, the crowd was spilling in the street as they waited to get in through the half-lowered garage door entrance. A converted police car flashed multimedia exhibits onto the faded warehouse wall, with music pulsing loud enough to be heard at the Convention Center. Pandemonium!
Inside the thousand-degree gallery, I did some general browsing of the political artwork covering the walls, and then the requisite gawking and people-watching (most eclectic crowd ever – mixing political pinstripes with the indie kids and watching them try to dance side-by-side). This non-Dem was admittedly a little creeped out by a few of the near-deistic portrayals of Obama in various painted settings; a friend and I were talking about how we felt like we’d entered his shrine. But overall it was a cool expression of passion and commitment by the artists who contributed, with a few ace lighthearted inclusions (Stephen Colbert! Slaying evil!).
Comedienne Sarah Silverman started things off with her hilariously deadpan ruminations on the convention and the election, and she was dipped into an enthusiastic two-armed welcome (totally almost like this) by San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom (SCU Broncos represent!). Newsom then introduced Seattle’s mayor Greg Nickels, and after many words and rousing rhetoric, the five musicians finally climbed onto the small stage. Throughout the 70-minute show each artist took turns on lead, with various duets, group singalongs and covers. It was lighthearted and felt like a rare living-room collaboration.
This Is Not A Test (live 8/2/08, Newport Folk) – Zooey Deschanel & M. Ward Zooey was completely charming, and performed this song with her guitar. Halfway through she stopped abruptly and laughed at a small mistake she made, saying it was the first time she’d ever played guitar in public since she usually rocks the piano.
Love Hurts – Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris Johnathan Rice and Jenny Lewis sang this ’70s staple, and in a move of complete awesomeness, they dedicated it to Obama and Hillary.
Little Boxes (Malvina Reynolds cover) – Jenny Lewis & Johnathan Rice They didn’t sing this song. But they did lots of duets together, all lovey and gazing into each other’s indie-alt-country-couple eyes, and sounding good.
See These Bones (live on MOKB Sirius) – Nada Surf I loved every note and word that spilled from Matthew Caws last night (recall my fondness). I was unabashed dork fangirl, coincidentally ending up right at Matthew’s feet for the set, and I didn’t even bother to check my singalong enthusiasm. He kept eying me in bemusement as I sang “the lights of this city are more or less blinking…” with possibly more enthusiasm than he did.
Weightless (live on Leno) – Nada Surf You know those gorgeous Beach Boys harmonies at the end of this song? Picture the full gallery crowd and those other four voices on stage all swelling together behind Caws’ lead vocals. Jenny Lewis admirably played band leader, cupping her hand around her ear and waving her arms in encouragement. Nada Surf drummer Ira Elliott stood off to the right (in front of that massive Obama/Lincoln meld) and kept time with fancy claps for the whole song. You can take the drummer off the stage …
Cath (live at BBC6) – Ben Gibbard This song appeared on last night’s setlist but was substituted with “Sound of Settling,” which was great by me because we all got to “Ba baaa! Ba baaa!” heartily instead.
Military Madness (live 10-22-06, Bridge School) – Death Cab for Cutie, Gillian Welch, Neil Young The five musicians closed with this Graham Nash cover about military madness and solitary sadness. Ben Gibbard led on the piano, and despite one false ending (another chorus? should we stop? let’s do both) it was a stirring closer. This live mp3 is one I saw at the Bridge School Benefit in CA a few years ago with a slightly different lineup. ZIP: UNCONVENTIONAL ’08
The good folks at Barsuk Records notified me earlier today of this fascinating new side project from Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie. As Ben says, “It shouldn’t work, but it totally works . . . and that’s part of the magic.”
About fifteen minutes into the Kurt Cobain film About A Son, I realized that I was a little confused. This was not a traditional documentary-style visual narrative that I had been expecting, but rather something that unfolds slowly and rewards your patience.
About A Son has been on the film festival circuit since 2006, and is finally seeing DVD release February 19th (the day before Kurt’s 41st birthday) through Shout Factory. The film is narrated entirely by Kurt’s own voice (and, in the background, that of the interviewer/author Michael Azerrad) in conversations recorded in the after-midnight, predawn hours at Kurt’s home in Seattle. These were taped between December ’92 and March ’93 for Azerrad’s book Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana [Main Street Books, 1993].
Rather than trying to go back and recreate Kurt’s precise steps through a landscape that just doesn’t exist anymore, director AJ Schnack decides to accompany the story with an anonymous amalgamam of 35mm-shot images, panoramas, and stream-of-consciousness visual narratives. It reminded me of taking a car ride somewhere with Kurt and watching out the window as he talked. No images of the band even show up until 58 minutes in, no live footage of Kurt at all (other than some haunting still shots before the credits). As he muses, there are drive-by shots of rundown houses of Aberdeen, or a forklift loading a stack of logs, or a dead bird’s raw flesh on the seashore. There are faces of random people from the towns he lived, looking unflinchingly into the lens.
The images seem obscure sometimes; they’re often not tidily connected to exactly what Kurt is talking about, but as you watch, interesting parallels start to appear. For example when he’s sharing his thoughts on fame and the press and journalists, suddenly you realize we’re watching a sea lion swimming around in captivity through an aquarium glass in Seattle. In a way the visuals highlight the relative anonymity of most of his life, how he could have been anyone, just another alienated kid. It’s a thread that is echoed in Kurt’s own words, when Azerrad asks him, “Is yours a sad story?” He pauses and then he says, “It’s nothing that’s amazing or anything new . . . that’s for sure.”
Kurt talks circuitously through themes of alienation, sexuality, fame, marriage, success, art, community, and at several points he also makes reference to blowing his own head off to escape the pain in his stomach. Much is revealed about his life and his way of processing things that I had never heard. It’s intimate and sad at the very end where we hear Courtney’s voice break into the interview, middle-of-the-night, new-parent exhausted, asking Kurt to bring up a Similac bottle when he comes up, and not to forget.
The eclectic music used in the film goes admirably beyond the tired-out strategy of using famous Seattle music to talk about Seattle films. Instead, the music is a literal soundtrack to this particular story, to this particular life. There are some bands that Kurt talks about loving, ones like Queen from his early years, and also lesser-known musical contemporaries that he talks about admiring. It’s diverse: you’ve got Arlo Guthrie singin’ about riding on his motorcycle, and also R.E.M.’s “New Orleans Instrumental No. 1″ overlying a dizzyingly-colored surreal segment on drug use.
I appreciated how the songs tease out the conflicts between what Kurt saw and what he felt; for example, the brilliant juxtaposition of the Big Black song “”Kerosene” (“I was born in this town, lived here my whole life, probably come to die in this town”) and a cheery librarian shelving books at the golden glow of the Aberdeen public library where he would go when he had nowhere else to stay warm and occupied during his young & hungry days.
The original score by Steve Fisk and (Death Cab For Cutie’s) Ben Gibbard is ethereal, echoey, unsettling. I ripped the song that plays at the end of the film over the black and white pictures of Kurt laying on stage wailing his guitar, then held high atop the hands of the crowd, sitting on an unmade bed with mournful eyes, steadying Frances Bean as she tries to take a step. It’s the only images I recall of Kurt in the film. The score is out on vinyl through Barsuk, also on February 19th.
Ending Credits (Chaos & Resolution?) – Steve Fisk & Benjamin Gibbard
Star Sign – Teenage Fanclub (this was in the film –when he’s talking about Courtney– but not on the soundtrack)
GIVEAWAY: Leave me a comment with some thoughts and a way to contact you if you would like to be considered for the About A Son DVD I have to giveaway.
I know that I should try to be less of a punctuation stickler because, well, it annoys most everyone who is NOT as obsessed (same goes with my proper pronunciation of bruschetta, but don’t get me started). However, sometimes you just can’t turn a blind eye. I happened to have a camera in my bag this weekend while waiting at a red light, and wanted to comment on this sign I noticed a few weeks ago – one that taunts me every time I sit at this intersection:
If there’s one thing worse than incorrectly used apostrophes, it’s gotta be inconsistent application of your made-up rule for where they go. If you’re gonna be wrong, can you please have the gusto to do it consistently all the way through your sign? Thank you.
[end rant]
Onto this week’s batch of tunes to cheer up your ear’s (ouch).
Do The 45 Ryan Shaw I’ve been meaning to get my hands on 26-year-old Ryan Shaw‘s debut album ever since I heard this former church-choirboy from Georgia tear it up at the Boulder AAA radio conference last August. Everyone was buzzing about him and his formidable voice that recalls the confident ’70s funk of Stevie Wonder and some of the fantastic retro doo-wop of guys like Sam Cooke from years past. This is the opening track off a fine, fun disc (This Is Ryan Shaw) that I am finally getting a chance to appreciate. No one makes ‘em like this anymore.
Dynomite Explosion Mont de Sundua You may have seen the little mention over on Pitchfork this past week about the unearthed sounds of Jim James‘ pre-My Morning Jacket racket in a band called Mont de Sundua. I am enjoying the off-kilter spacey thump of this track from their album that was recorded back in 1998 and never released. It’s going to be out this year and it sounds as if they were having a lot of fun when they made it. Even if they do look like they are livin’ the thug life in that picture from their MySpace.
To Sing For You (Donovan cover) –> Brand New Colony Ben Gibbard [img] alternate link NPR streamed the whole acoustic set from Death Cab For Cutie‘s Ben Gibbard at DC’s 930 Club on Thursday night and this was the nice little cover he opened with, sort of laying out the foundation for how he’s gonna be your folky troubadour for the evening. Seriously though, Donovan is an underrated songwriter, and this cover is suited to Gibbard’s voice and truly lovely. It seamlessly runs into the Postal Service song ‘Brand New Colony,’ so you get that as a bonus. My imaginary office boyfriend John Krasinski (Jim Halpert) showed up at some point in the night to play a Wilco cover (?!). First the Shins, now this. Right on John.
From (unreleased, live on Daytrotter) Dr. Dog I have been resisting the lazy, hazy sounds from Philadelphia’s Dr. Dog, mostly because I’ve read this book out loud a few too many times and it just struck me as a silly name. Which it is. However, I came across this unreleased track from their excellent Daytrotter set and decided to give them a chance, finally. Man, I am so stubborn. Dr. Dog just finished a tour with Cold War Kids and Elvis Perkins, and their new album We All Belong has been called “one of 2007′s strongest releases, combining tight arrangements with picturesque vocals and a lazy fall afternoon BBQ vibe.” [bonus: great interview here]
From The Floorboards Up Paul Weller This last one is not a blazing hot new release, but this week I was listening to Paul Weller‘s 2005 solo album As Is Now and just marveling at how it sounds better than about 80 percent of the music I “screen” nowadays. Even after thirty years of making music (The Jam, Style Council, then solo), this is a fresh, tight, fantastic release that is “uncluttered and impassioned.” Listen to the ferocity with which Weller growls the lyric on ‘Come On/Let’s Go’: “Sing you little f*ckers, sing like you ain’t got no choice,” or enjoy how this song starts out with that unrelenting riff and ends with an abrupt yank that feels premature. Dude’s a master, and this whole album is worth some of your time.
I don’t watch The OC (well, maybe once out of morbid curiousity, plus it’s totally no good anymore since Marissa died, right?) but they have a pretty solid history when it comes to the soundtrack mixes that they put out, and the upcoming #6 is no exception.
This album is a inventive bunch of indie rockers covering indie rockers, including some covers of songs that are barely old enough to drive yet, much less be considered for cover material. I am looking forward to hearing these.
OC Mix 6: Covering Our Tracks Goldspot – “Float On” (Modest Mouse) Rock Kills Kid – “I Turn My Camera On” (Spoon) Lady Sovereign – “Pretty Vacant” (The Sex Pistols) Mates of State – “California” (Phantom Planet) Pinback – “Wasted” (Black Flag) John Paul White – “Can’t Get It Out Of My Head” (ELO) Rogue Wave – “Debaser” (The Pixies) Syd Matters – “Hello Sunshine” (Super Furry Animals) Tally Hall – “Smile Like You Mean It” (The Killers) The M’s – “Come Into Our Room” (Clinic) Band Of Horses – “The End’s Not Near” (The New Year) Chris Holmes – “Into Dust” (Mazzy Star)
PREVIEW: Here’s a live version of San Francisco’s Rogue Wave covering “Debaser” on 8/11/06 in Boston:
And speaking of Rogue Wave, that benefit a few weeks ago for drummer Pat Spurgeon was a sold-out home run success, thanks in part to those of you readers who contributed to the fund and the other bloggers who responded to my call to post up a little something about the fundraiser. Every little bit definitely helped.
The band writes, “Thanks to everyone who came out to see us this September, and thanks to all of those who donated to the Pat fund. We have raised a lot of money to help Pat through this difficult time, and you are a huge part of that.
In addition, world famous rock photographer Peter Ellenby photographically documented the night (shown here), and you can purchase copies of his prints here. All proceeds will be donated to Pat.”
In 1985, Pegi Young (Neil’s lady) helped to start a school in the San Francisco Bay Area for local children with severe physical and speech impairments (their son Ben is affected by cerebral palsy). The Bridge School helps to remove expressive barriers for these children through augmentative and alternative means of communication with the world around them.
The nice thing about being associated with a respected member of the musical community is that The Bridge School received the seed money needed to open, as well as ongoing financial support for the last 20 years, with an annual star-studded, quality benefit show organized by Neil & Pegi. The Bridge School Benefit has had some amazing artists over the past 20 years.
I’ve gone to as many of these shows as I could afford, and have seen more phenomenal acoustic performances than I can even remember. This year it was a happy & nostalgic coincidence that our family vacation to California to see family lined up with the 20th annual benefit show weekend. I was able to stay one extra night so that I could attend the Sunday night show after seeing the lineup this year: Devendra Banhart, Gillian Welch, Death Cab For Cutie, Trent Reznor, Foo Fighters, Brian Wilson, Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, and Neil Young.
There was not one artist going into this show that I didn’t want to see — we all know that often with festivals there are one or two duds that you could care less about, but for me I was curious to see everyone, so I spent the 15 minute set-change breaks running to get what I needed so I could get back to catch each artist’s performance. As I started the beautiful, warm, sunny afternoon at Shoreline I had a space on the lawn, then some kind and fantastic stranger walked up to me and gave me his single ticket in the seats for unknown reasons. So that was a huge bonus and one of those fine things that just reaffirms your faith in humanity. Thanks “Tom” (from your e-ticket)!!
After the usual 2-song opening dealie with Neil and Pegi Young, Devendra Banhart took the stage with his newly-christened band “The Bridge” (wonder how he came up with that?) which included Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch on guitar. Banhart was more rocking than some of his folksier and warbly works I’ve heard off his latest album Cripple Crow (“Quedate Luna,” “Luna de Margarita”). He seemed to channel a bit more rock, in the vein of The Black Crowes, and overall I liked him. He looked a bit overwhelmed with the massive crowd — I’d like to see him in a smaller setting.
Gillian Welch is a giant of the bluegrass/country/folk scene, and I get the feeling that she is very well-respected among her musician cohorts. Regrettably, I have not been super familiar with her work beyond her collaborations with Ryan Adams and her contributions to the O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack (I do a mean lullaby rendition of “Go To Sleep Little Baby” from that collection, a song that she performed at the show with the help of longtime musical partner David Rawlings and Petra Haden). She was confident and rocking, with a gospel tune in the mix, as well as a handful of her own songs and I believe a Neil Young cover (maybe “Country Girl,” it’s hazy).
Death Cab For Cutie may have converted me from hesitantly standing on the sidelines into a full-contact player/supporter/fan. I thought their set was really lovely and sounded great. Their cover of Graham Nash’s “Military Madness” with Neil Young was fantastic, and Ben Gibbard started the show with a solo “I Will Follow You Into The Dark,” which is an undeniably poignant & beautiful tune. Some of the other song choices may have been a little questionable (a note about the Bridge School shows: children from the school sit on the stage as a special audience), such as the “second most depressing song” in their catalog, “What Sarah Said” (“There’s no comfort in the waiting room, just nervous pacers bracing for bad news . . . who’s going to watch you die?”).
There was a bit of discomfort (or should I say, a sense of heightened awareness) listening to those lyrics being sung in that setting. Every year there is a conflict that I see of artistic freedom: the artists aren’t there to do a kiddie show, and yet there those little ones are, sitting there watching with their parents, ears and eyes wide open.
Speaking of that very conflict, Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) was up next. And he summarily blew my mind, moreso than any artistic act I have seen in the last several years. I cannot express how transfixed I was. I have been an unabashed Nine Inch Nails fan since I discovered Pretty Hate Machine in the mid ’90s, a disc that I think still sounds fresh and innovative and lyrically honest (brutally so). I wasn’t sure how Reznor would possibly fit into this acoustic setting. But he gets major, major props from me for meeting the challenge and using the opportunity of the setting to try something new. Get this: he comes on stage with a string quartet and a piano. The only percussion is little egg shakers. He has arranged 5 of his songs into orchestral pieces, and it was freaking *#%!! amazing. (AUDIO HERE)
He started out at the piano with a reinvention of “Something I Can Never Have,” almost unrecognizable at the start but then those familiar lyrics kick in and all that raging earnestness and nihilism is there, floating atop gorgeous strings and various dischordant sounds from striking the inside of the piano. He stands in front of the mike for the second song, holding the shakers and kicks into a steady rhythm. Not sure where he’s heading and then he whispers the opening lines: “Hey pig…” Fantastic. He also completely nailed “The Fragile” and “Hurt” (little blurry video clip here that gives you the idea). Mr. Reznor goes down in my book as an absolute genius for that set and I wish he would do a full tour like that. Amen for continuing creativity and not being content with staying musically static.
I seriously could have just seen Reznor’s set and gone home happy, but luckily there was more to come. I’ve never seen the Foo Fighters live before but thought that their set was great. Dave Grohl is an affable frontman (“Don’t invite me to your party,” he warned, after “clumsy Dave!” tripped over a microphone cable). After starting with “Times Like These,” they performed a nice rarity that Dave wrote on the spot a few years ago during a BBC interview, “Skin and Bones.” Even though the set was acoustic, Grohl headbanged his way through some ferocious strumming on the acoustic guitar, and drummer Taylor Hawkins tightly bashed and banged his way along. I thought it was notable to see Pat Smear perform with them again (he’s a bit of a legend in my book) and Petra Haden was sizzling on the violin and mandolin.
The bittersweet version of closing song “Everlong” was riveting — I never really listened to the lyrics before but ouch, they’re good and really shine in that arrangement. Dave recounted the story of a few years back at the Bridge School Benefit when they performed “Everlong” for the first time in such a stripped setting and Dave returned to his trailer and cried like a baby after it was over.
Brian Wilson was a bit puzzling and disconcerting. I was greatly anticipating his set, hoping for some of that same acoustic creativity that Reznor displayed. I know he’s not in the best health (I believe he has suffered a stroke?), and the bright and loud performance tried its best to camouflage that through amped up backing vocals, a huge band, and lots of assists on his microphone. Wilson seemed to often get lost in space or stare off into the distance. He was wearing a long-sleeved baggy white t-shirt and blue running pants, looking as if he had just come in from a sedate jog, or maybe practicing tai-chi in the park. He just ran through the standards, which were fun and I admit I sang along to pretty much every word, but something was lacking overall in the energy of authenticity. Neil Young joined Wilson to play organ on “Good Vibrations” which was full and gorgeous.
Pearl Jam took the stage next for their 7th year performing at Bridge School, and it is always great to see them. Perhaps I am biased, but I love how they dig deep for a great set of eclectic tunes. They started with an impassioned cover of Dylan’s “Masters of War,” followed by a soaring acoustic version of “Gone” off the new album. I was mightily hoping for “Parachutes,” which they had busted out Saturday night but it was not to be. The full setlist was:
(AUDIO FROM BOTH NIGHTS HERE) Masters of War Gone Around The Bend (hurrah! great song) Thin Air (another hurrah! video @ end) Lukin (ha) Betterman Black Throw Your Hatred Down (with Neil Young, WATCH VIDEO)
Every time that Pearl Jam plays the Bridge School, they dedicate a special song to a Bridge student named Maricor who has become a friend of the band. She always looks so embarassed, yet overjoyed. Saturday night it was “Crazy Mary,” and the night I was there it was the sweet gem “Thin Air” (“and I know she’s reached my heart, in thin air“). PJ honored another song request from one of the male students who, as Ed said, “likes it a bit rougher.” He then aggressively launched into “Lukin,” a one-minute hard punk song from 1996′s No Code. I laughed. The closer with Neil Young (from their joint 1995 album Mirror Ball) was impassioned.
Dave Matthews Band bored me to tears. I’d say I am a DMB fan, in the sense that I have their albums and they’ve written some crackingly good tunes over the years. But I felt his performance was just so standard and a little too indulgently jam-heavy. It was like your average DMB concert, instead of taking advantage of the setting to bust out some rarities or other acoustic gems. The songs they picked were just the radio hits, “Crash,” “Everyday,” “Jimi Thing,” etc. Each was stretched into 10-15 minute jams, during which I found my mind wandering. If I could have handpicked a better set (presumptuous! I know!) I would have voted for things like: “Say Goodbye/#41″ “Pay For What you Get,” “Busted Stuff” or “Lie In Our Graves” and a few covers. Neil Young joined him at the end for an almost 30-minute version of “Down By The River.”
How was Neil Young‘s closing set? Rumored to be with Elton John? Donno. My parts were freezing (toes numb, nose cold) and I was exhausted so I actually bailed early. I’d seen Neil already several times during the day with the other artists and sleep beckoned to me mightily.
Here are a few select tunes from Bridge School years past (links re-upped 11/12/06):
Some of the best news from the event was that in honor of the 20th anniversary, the Bridge School plans to offer a selections of songs from that last two decades for download on iTunes starting November 14. If they offer anything from Trent Reznor’s piece de resistance, I will download them as quick as lightning. It will be interesting to see what they select to make available, they have ample high-quality fodder.
Great music for a great cause, gorgeous day. Yay Neil & Pegi!
You liked their Descended Like Vultures CD last year? Yeah, me too. Well now you can give a little something back to the band that gave you suchgoodlistening last year. Kudos to these guys for organizing this and for all the caring (and really good) musicians who are contributing their chops for this show. Wish I could make it.
Rogue Wave Benefit Show
On Saturday September 30th 2006, San Francisco band Rogue Wave will host a benefit concert at The Independent to raise money for their drummer Pat Spurgeon, who is in desperate need of a kidney transplant.
Pat was born with one kidney and it failed. He had his first transplant in 1993, which served him well until now. After 13 years, it has started to deteriorate. He has been on dialysis since April and is hoping desperately to find a donor. Some of their friends have gotten tested to see if they are a match, but Pat has yet to hear good news.
Provided he finds a donor, there will be an enormous amount of costs that both Pat and his donor will incur. In a logical world, medical insurance would cover his donor’s and his expenses after the procedure, but it does not; so he and his family must carry the financial burden. The expenses can be huge. We are trying to raise money for costs like: donor’s travel, care, bills, lost work wages, etc., as well as Pat’s expenses, care, bills, etc. while he is in recovery.
If you cannot attend the show, we encourage you to donate whatever you can by visiting www.roguewavemusic.com. (Note from Heather: I just gave a little bit and wow! I feel like a better person)
Thank you for your love and continued support, Rogue Wave (Zach, Pat, Gram, Evan)
SUPER SHOW: 9/30/06 The Independent 628 Divisadero St., San Francisco, CA 94117 Doors: 8:30pm; Show: 9:00pm Tickets available now on www.ticketweb.com
Name: Heather Browne Location: Colorado, originally by way of California Giving context to the torrent since 2005.
"I love the relationship that anyone has with music: because there's something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out. It's the best part of us, probably, the richest and strangest part..."
—Nick Hornby, Songbook
"Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel." —Hunter S. Thompson
Mp3s are for sampling purposes, kinda like when they give you the cheese cube at Costco, knowing that you'll often go home with having bought the whole 7 lb. spiced Brie log. They are left up for a limited time. If you LIKE the music, go and support these artists, buy their schwag, go to their concerts, purchase their CDs/records and tell all your friends. Rock on.
If there’s one thing worse than incorrectly used apostrophes, it’s gotta be inconsistent application of your made-up rule for where they go. If you’re gonna be wrong, can you please have the gusto to do it consistently all the way through your sign? Thank you.
And speaking of 
There was not one artist going into this show that I didn’t want to see — we all know that often with festivals there are one or two duds that you could care less about, but for me I was curious to see everyone, so I spent the 15 minute set-change breaks running to get what I needed so I could get back to catch each artist’s performance. As I started the beautiful, warm, sunny afternoon at Shoreline I had a space on the lawn, then some kind and fantastic stranger walked up to me and gave me his single ticket in the seats for unknown reasons. So that was a huge bonus and one of those fine things that just reaffirms your faith in humanity. Thanks “Tom” (from your e-ticket)!!
I seriously could have just seen Reznor’s set and gone home happy, but luckily there was more to come. I’ve never seen the 
Name: Heather Browne
