Webster Fall

The sun shines on a lovely Sunday morning at MOGworld as I prepare to head down to the studio for what will certainly be a productive day. We're very close on cracking this new song, the former CREATION PHASE and the current AZUMI (yes, named after the movie cause I had just met the director when I started writing it). This song, some remixing, and something new related to the world of comics has taken up most of my creative energy, but here I am, your hero, again ready to give you the score...

It was an interesting week as Brandt and I put our musical adventures aside and took our significant others to see two very different gigs at the same location, the dreaded Webster Hall. The first gig, KASABIAN, was obviously highly anticipated as it would be the first outing of the new mateiral from EMPIRE and the other, THE KILLERS, was a last minute "secret" show previewing songs from their forthcoming album SAM's TOWN.

Let me say there is one thing I learned from this experience is that Webster Hall is the absolute worst place on the planet Earth. Not the venue itself, which is a nice size, has a good sound system, etc. but the douches that go to this place amazes even a hardened New Yorker such as myself. Had either of these gigs been at Irving Plaza or Roseland or any place else, I don't think half the douches would be there (especially at The Killers). It's like they let the dorms out of Jersey and the suburbs and told the kids to go to their first Bar Mitzvah. Seriously, this venue, no matter what the band is, brings out the worst people on the planet Earth. At least the Kasabian gig had the X-Pats (who always make a gig that much better), but the Killers gig, forget it. I seriously thought this was an NYU freshman orientation gathering. Anyway, the music, please....

I am biased towards Kasabian. Yes you have read it here so many times, you KNOW. Well, theyre a bit different than the last go around. They have a new guitarist, an AMERICAN no less, and he's kind of a tool. Oh, he plays fine and actually brings a nice added set of balls to the proceedings (which works well for the new songs), but he kinda rocks out, well, like an American, and that makes him kind of annoying. But happily the new songs work well and to open with a song no one in America has heard yet (the forthcoming single SHOOT THE RUNNER), and to turn it into a bluesy rock jam is balls. Respect. They wisely played a smart combination of the first two albums, and while Brandt missed the fact that they didnt play any b-sides this evening, I think its early in the Empire process and they have an album to sell. You know they'll be back. The new songs were a real treat live, especially the tunes I'm into like SUNRISE, and BY MY SIDE. They played B's new fave, THE LAST TRIP and that was a train of awesome. The sight of Serge dancing sans guitar to PROCESSED BEATS is a keeper right there and Tom Kasabian has taken quite a few tips from Liam as he's much more laid back (and off the drugs), and is still an earnest frontman. Yes they kept the drummer which to me was the crucial element to any future Kasabian success. Wisely, the band never left the stage and played straight through their encore, which was great as they had super momentum. The new guy played bass on CLUB FOOT, and was less of a tool because the crowd went nuts for it and I guess he was more focused on the bass, but then they went into a bliding fucking best ever version of STUNTMAN you will ever hear. And as soon as they finished with LSF the first thing Irene and I started to discsuss was going to the UK to see them when they announce Wembley (cause theyre GONNA, you know). Anyhow, simply put, fave band comes through yet again and doesn't disappoint playing new material.

Two days later, we were back at this scumbag magnet venue for B-Flo. I'm going to keep this one simple. I like The Killers. I was late to the game on the first album until Irene started playing it a few years ago and I thought, hey this isn't bad. Plus B-Flo is a nice bitchy interview and if I'm spending 5 bucks a week on the NME, i want that. I actually agree with him most of the time as he seems to have been raised on musical diet that I can relate to. I honestly never got the Duran comparisons but thats just me. Anyhow, Ash sums their first album up perfectly when he says "there are six great songs". Anyhow, my interest in the follow up album would be casual, but their extremely smart idea to bring in Flood and Alan Moulder to produce the album suddenly makes this record anticipated.

So the venue is decked out in some wild west casino bullshit (ok, youre from from Vegas we get that), and they come out looking like, well, some wild west casino bullshit, complete with really poor facial hair and, in B-flo's case, shit haircuts. Now, I'm not a guy who bases his musical interests on looks (though the aggression WERE handsome), but this was extremely distrating. During the first songs (which was new) I'm immediately shocked by several things: one and importantly, B-Flo is about as cool as my cousin singing Karaoke in the suburbs, two: the guitarist looks like a chick in drag and actually isn't very good, three: the drummer IS My Name is Earl (and I swear on my mom when I tell you I heard at least 5 people say this while walking out of the gig), though I felt he was more John Riley in Boogie NIghts (YOU GOT THE TOUCH!), and the bassist is Kruger if he stayed in music. Anyhow, again, I'm talking looks, which is wrong, so lets get into the music. The new songs are ok I guess, it seems more of the same, but with some more cheese added to it. I honestly have to hear the album before I totally write these guys off, but I feel Flood will come through. Live, the band is pretty standard, nothing super, nothing terrible, though when they play the hits, the energy level rises and they have the confidence to back that up. But nothing grabbed me here, nothing made me love them and I so wanted to, but then, during the second song, we discovered THE WORST:

Hidden behind the bass rig is ANOTHER musician. He is sometimes playing keyboards, he is often playing guitar, he is better looking than the rest of the band, he is ROCKING OUT, but most of all he is TALLER than the bass rig, so there, the entire gig is this guy (who we believe was the session guy who played bass for Garbage for a lot of years) basically backing up all their shit. BEHIND A RIG and never acknowledged. When Kasabian had their new guitarist, they gave him a nice little mention, but this guy? Forget it. He's actually a better guitar player than the guitar player. This was the most insincere shit I have ever seen in my life. Is this band so insecure that they can't acknowledge another musician backing them up? If someone is helping you present your music live on stage, you acknowledge them, you respect them, you don't throw them behind a rig hoping people won't see. Wow. Even if they played every gig after with this guy at the front of the stage, this band has lost me. I can't respect that, though if I had known better, I would have done that with Kieran (I'm kidding, don't Email me complaining, its a joke). This was truly the shit friend action. I just can't respect this band.

Anyhow, I couldn't wait to get the fuck out of there, the people were disgusting, the band was frustrating and it made me wish we had gone to a few more Kasabian gigs. Anyhow, fast forward a bit and last night we saw JACKASS 2, which was so beyond sick I couldn't handle it. Irene, who is a huge mark for Jackass (though her mom is a bigger mark), almost vomited twice and poor Danny spent 11 dollars (of my money) to cover his eyes for 90 minutes. Me? I just laughed and thought how lucky I am to be alive cause if they had this (and hardcore wrestling) around when I was a kid, I would be a lot less healthier (and Danny would be dead). Everyone walked out of this movie in silence as it just beats you into submission. This is a good thing.

And now, the tunes...

F