I am still a bit hungover, and trying to watch wrestling ppv while also packing for a 7:30am flight, so forgive me if this is erratic and without the usual charm found in most of my entires.
This was a fun weekend, though I am paying for it now. First off, on Friday, Evan and I, thanks to Michael and also thanks to Charlie B at Warners, got to see the DARK KNIGHT IMAX footage that is going on the IMAX screenings of I AM LEGEND. Ok, it's the introduction of The Joker in the movie and it is the shit your pants awesome. Smart. Clever. Scary. They filmed this particular section in IMAX and man did it own. As you smarter folks know, the trailer just went up tonight, and man I think we have the best of movie of 08 already determined. It just looks can't lose and believe me, you know I know these things. I'm so glad our other movie, the one that just finished shooting on Friday, I am happy to say, is coming out like 6 months after....The mistake was seeing I AM LEGEND after, cause it was all downhill. Don't get me wrong, its a good movie. Will Smith is a super actor and really keeps this thing together. Francis, who did a movie you may recall mentioned here called CONSTANTINE, is a helluva director. The whole thing kinda falls apart at the end and the CGI is surprisingly below par. Also I don't think seeing all this in IMAX was the best idea either. Evan likened it to something like seeing broadcast TV on a High Def screen cause it didn't look right and honestly, it gave me a freakin' headache. But the movie is a huge hit and Will Smith is the biggest star on the planet and should run for President of the United States, cause he could win that election.
Anyhow, Saturday I went super crazy and cleaned MOGworld and got it ready for Christmas. Irene was VERY impressed. I thought I was gonna be out of town, so I wasn't planning on seeing Jared bring his new version of Chemlab to The Knitting Factory. However, plans change and I was psyched to see Jared do his thing. A phone call from Sean Cyanotic made it so I was going early to see these kids play, so after having some Pizza with Irene, I made my way down to the old neighborhood, which has changed quite a bit.
I can't lie to you. Industrial music, machine rock, etc. is my past and going to these things always reminds me why I have never gone to any of my High School reunions. However, Jared wisely didn't book this at That Batcave or some wack goth shit, so the venue, with its separate bar, would create a more comfortable environment for me to watch the angry music. Sweetly, Jared, who didn't know if I was coming to the gig or not, made sure I was on the list. It's weird to be recognized by people especially all these years later, but one of the true highlights was time spent talking with Wade from Christ Analogue, who was very nice to the aggression 10 years ago when we opened for him, and is still just as nice today. Great guy and he was doing sound for Jared (which makes me hate him simply because I am massively deaf today!). Anyhow, the respect from the other musicians is nice and appreciated.
I checked out Cyanotic and was really impressed with the energy of the live show. They imported the drummer from Front Line and he kept it massively tight. Sean has a good stage presence and these kids are enthusiastic, especially Dave, who I remember as a kid from the Crack message boards who went and made a nice living for himself as an engineer. 15 years ago they would have been superstars, instead theyre the sole flagbearers. I'd like to see these guys work on the songwriting a bit cause they have all the other elements needed to make good machine rock.
So finally, after a bunch of drinks with B and The Kidd, Jared took to the stage with his crew, now augmented with Jason from SMP on drums. And what I tell you is no joke, but they started with EXILE and from the first note, we knew that this gig was gonna be the goddammned best thing I have seen in ages. I can't tell you how much I loved every fucking second of Jared owning this fucking audience like a superstar. He ran through the crowd, got them moving and gave 3000 percent on stage. Great setlist. The band was awesome, the drummer was the missing ingredient cause he's brought everyone's game up to a new level. The joy I feel watching Jared up there, healthy, happy, looking fucking amazing just put a smile on my face. For one night, it was literally everything I loved about Chemlab right in front of me. We were dead into it. I truly never thought this could happen and it did. I love being wrong, Bob.
Despite being asked to comment on these things every so often, I honestly was going through a rough patch because certain suburban douchebags making vanilla midget music that no one gives a shit about had robbed me of what I loved about this music. In a single night Jared and company restored my faith and made it fun for me to love machine rock again. Now mind you, Mark Mohtashemi's not getting a phone call asking to dust off his teal green SG to bring the hate back, but now I can at least enjoy the music I spent my twenties making and listening to. Everything has its place, and this music now has that nice chapter in the book of Frank that we can look back on and say "that was fun!". And as always, Chemlab is still my favourite industrial band ever. Hugging and laughing with a sweaty Jared after the gig just topped it off. He was so happy and I was happy for him. He's amazing. A true star.
The vibe was good and since it was the last night of the tour, the band/crew were not exactly interested in going out, so B, Kidd and I brought it to the Lodge. And thank fuck Vincent himself was working. Thus we started OFF with free drinks. Then it was downhill. B didnt last long. He couldn't even walk straight so off he went into a cab, Connelly book in hand, off into the unknown. The Kidd and I had our beers, had our whiskey, did our drunk dailing, and kept it real to the wee hours.
All I remember after this is coming home while Irene and her friends, at 330am were watching ALMOST FAMOUS. I think she made me some soup and I was running around yelling I AM A GOLDEN DOUCHE! or something like that. I remember calling Danny a lot.
Today was painful. Now I have to go to LA. See you there.
F
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