Month: May 2003
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Nightmare Gig for Baltimore Band in Philly
It’s bad enough when you get screwed on a local gig (hasn’t happened to me in forever, if ever, but that’s easy when you play for next to nothing), but when you’re traveling it stinks. When you bring a busload of fans, it reeks.After a final check on the bands to make sure the buses…
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BECK @ the Electric Factory Next Week
This just in – BECK will be playing the Electric Factory on Thursday June 5, 2003. I realize that by mentioning it here it increases the chances of it being sold out before I can buy tickets at 10:00AM this Saturday. I’m willing to take that risk, because I figure I like at least half…
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Open Mic Recap @ The Carribean Crab
I haven’t been to the Crab in ages, but I went last night because I heard Justin and Kevin were going to be there. The new guys who run the open mic now are pretty cool and seem interested in getting the sound right, which is a huge plus. I played “99%,”I Hope I Die…
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Software
I added a software category to the downloads section for programs I’ve written over the last few years. The three programs in there so far are Crazyball, a neat C++/DirectX demo with balls bouncing everywhere, Nuclear Beach Party, a game written in x86 Assembly where you must destroy the sun, and Sphere Renderer, a 3D…
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Shaughnessy’s Cold Saturday
I forgot to mention John Shaughnessy’s gig a little while back at the Collingswood Farmer’s Market. I meant to, but I kept putting it off and now it’s over. He posted a recap of his $19.00 gig on a cold Saturday morning.”When the Nor’easter passing through threatened to call it off I wasa little let…
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Local Under 21 Scene Thriving
There’s a great article in the Philadelphia Inquirer about the growing under 21 music scene. They play in churches, community centers, VFW halls, and anywhere else. I’ve heard of a handful of the bands they mentioned. All across the South Jersey and Pennsylvania suburbs, unlikely venues have become home to a thriving do-it-yourself music scene…
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The Tree House is Bringing Back the Open Mic
Formerly known as the Living Room, the Tree House emailed me today and said they are definitely bringing back the open mic. Interestingly enough, the Christian open mics stayed open because the Christians agreed to work for free.”the only reason why christian night stayed is because a few of us worked for free to keep…
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Where Do You Practice?
Local band Phoenix Rise had to deal with losing their practice area when a nearby room was found to be housing a meth lab.We were lucky enough to find a room in an industrial park in the northeast. It was a second floor loft and a comfortable size. but there were soo many windows that…
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Reju @ Grape Street Last Night
I know every time I see Adrien and her band play I rave about how great they are, but they were terrific last night. The last time I saw them was at 3 Beans in Haddonfield and the superiority of Grape Street’s sound system was impressive. Adrien’s voice sounded great, and the band sounded very…
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Reju Tomorrow Night @ GSP
Tomorrow night you should defnitely check out the Reju CD release party at the Grape Street Pub. The band is fronted by my friend Adrien Reju, who I’ve mentioned a million times on this site. She’s really talented and writes terrific songs, and I’m sure you’ll be impressed. They go on first which usually tranlsates…
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The Living Room = Tree House Coffee Shop
I drove past the Living Room today and it looks like they’re changing the name to the Tree House Coffee Shop. I have no idea whether someone bought it or the owner just changed the name, and still no word on whether they’ll ever bring back their open mic. They still have Christian open mics…
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Adam Brodsky’s 50/50/50 Plan
Philadelphia Anti-folker Adam Brodsky has a master plan to get listed in the Guiness Book of World Records or at least get interviewed on NPR’s All Things Considered. After giving up on past record attempts of pogo-ing and eating strange objects, he’s decided to be the first solo performer to play 50 shows in 50…
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Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks @ the Troc
I’ve always kind of liked Pavement, but I never got any of their albums until a few months ago. So far I’m really impressed and feel dumb for not getting into them sooner. My friend Kevin is a big fan, so I went with him, Adam, and Melissa to see Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks…
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Open Mic Recap @ the Grape Street Pub
Attention musicians: Give up. That’s how I feel every time I listen to Jeremy Hollis at the Grape Street Pub open mic. There are two types of good musicians: those that inspire you and those that make you want to throw your guitar in a dumpster. I ran into a lot of people at the…
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John Shaughnessy – Fortune Teller
Local artist John Shaughnessy put up some random thoughts he thinks would make great fortune cookies. Here are some of my favorites. FORTUNE COOKIES by JS You will soon visit a zoo and find a sad monkey. When in doubt, shave it. You are already infected. See that guy over there? He wants you. If…
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New Cell Phone
I finally got a new phone so I’ll have to start returning a few messages people left for me when my old phone died. This time maybe I won’t drop it down into the mechanic’s hole at Jiffy Lube. The phone is very similar to my old one, but the blue lighting looks a lot…
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GSP Sound Man on Fez Selections
The Grape Street Pub’s sound guy and host of the Monday night Anime screenings, Mike, criticized the Y-100 Feztival selections last year as being out of sync with the expected crowds.the only local bands that got any attention whatsoever on any stage were the Red King and Pilot ’round the Sun? The problem was that…
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TRL is Bad
Former Living Room open mic host, Roz King, wrote a chaotic indictment of MTV’s Total Request Live.TRL a good sign that are children are sexually frustrated as they should be or a sign of absolute social failure to it’s main biologicial objective (to teach it’s children and evolve the mind of man)? I call pop…
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Goodbye Super News Feed
I took down the link to the Super News Feed because it was broken as much as it was working. It could have something to do with the ever growing headline database taking longer and longer to return the latest 100 links. Everything would be fine if my host allowed me to cron the update…
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Greg of Chelsea in Orbit: Philly Sucks
Chelsea in Orbit won a few local awards last year for their self-titled CD. In an interview with the Philadelphia Musician Resource Kitchen, Greg from Chelsea in Orbit has the following to say about his home town and its music scene:”The scene lacks enough quality musicians. Parts of South Jersey may as well be Kentucky.…