WHERE HAVE I BEEN?

Tutoring Nijay and writing for other places! It's true! In fact, if you somehow missed it because only like, 9 people read this and all of those 9 people probably already saw this, I wrote this!

This Right Here.

Thanks, Relevant Magazine. Wohoo!

Bonnaroooooooo

As i write this, I lay in bed in expensive air conditioning trying only to recover from the 4 day heat fest of Bonnaroo. Having only experienced Lollapalooza in 2007, Bonnaroo 2010 was a whole new world. Some highlights, including, but not limited to:

1. Mumford & Sons joined by Old Crow Medicine Show, Dave Rawlings, and Gillian Welch to perform Wagon Wheel. And the entire M & S set before that. I've never had goosebumps for over 40% of a concert until this show.



That video captures it pretty well. And Rolling Stone was correct, choosing between Mumford and Avetts was nearly impossible, but one had to choose.

2. Dawes. For those of you who know me, this is obviously a biased choice, but the Troo Music Lounge was my home away from home this past weekend and I'm at least partially inclined to lust any band that played there. (It was tiny, had chairs, a water-spray/fan station, and was located about twenty feet from a budwesier stand). I can't blog anymore about them, but just know it was a highlight and go google them for yourself if you're still interested.

3. Angus and Julia Stone. Despite Weezer being SO F-ING LOUD, Angus and Julia (brother and sister, we finally discovered) played a hauntingly beautiful acoustified set in a cafe tent off the beaten path to a crowd full of adoring (and surprisingly male dominated) crowd.


4. The Middle East. Once again, Weezer can burn in hell for its obnoxiously loud set that nearly dominated these guys in the Troo Music Lounge (yes!), but they still managed to capture my ears. Great Lake Swimmers meets The Low Anthem meets.....a girl with a flute.

5. Dave Rawlings Machine, mostly because of this insane song:

6. Kevin Devine. He changed his lyrics to include the oil spill and other pertinent and disastrous world events, and he proved to everyone that he needs to be f-ing listened to. So, if you haven't heard him by now -- even though you're about three to four years late -- go listen to him for your own good.



I feel like giving only six highlights because I could mention Regina Spektor's scintillating voice and Jonathan Tyler's pervasive sex appeal, but perhaps I will save that for a later date. Oh, but if you ever go to Bonnaroo, make sure you hit up the silent disco. It will be the most shameless experience of your life.

Tallesttt Man On EARTH!

Obviously I loved The Tallest Man On Earth before I went to the show this past Fri @ Lincoln Hall, but now i really love The Tallest Man On Earth. To avoid being cliche and redundant with all the Dylan comparisons and lengthy descriptions that nobody will read, I'll just say this: It's amazing that one guy with one guitar can captivate an audience like this guy. He literally needs no support whatsoever. He played nearly an hour and a half set, and only at the end for an encore of Dylan tunes (no, but seriously, he did some covers--so i had to reference) did he bring anyone else out on stage. And here's the magic that happens when he did:

first yearrrr

i'm sorry, i just love this video.

Two things.

There's a few reasons I teach, and this video is one of them.






and there's a few reasons i teach english, and this poem is one of them. glad you agree, quille.

Song-Allen Ginsberg

The weight of the world
   is love.
Under the burden
   of solitude,
under the burden
   of dissatisfaction

   the weight,
the weight we carry
   is love.

Who can deny?
   In dreams
it touches
   the body,
in thought
   constructs
a miracle,
   in imagination
anguishes
   till born
in human--
looks out of the heart
   burning with purity--
for the burden of life
   is love,

but we carry the weight
   wearily,
and so must rest
in the arms of love
   at last,
must rest in the arms
   of love.

No rest
   without love,
no sleep
   without dreams
of love--
   be mad or chill
obsessed with angels
   or machines,
the final wish
   is love
--cannot be bitter,
   cannot deny,
cannot withhold
   if denied:

the weight is too heavy

   --must give
for no return
   as thought
is given
   in solitude
in all the excellence
   of its excess.

The warm bodies
   shine together
in the darkness,
   the hand moves
to the center
   of the flesh,
the skin trembles
   in happiness
and the soul comes
   joyful to the eye--

yes, yes,
   that's what
I wanted,
   I always wanted,
I always wanted,
   to return
to the body
   where I was born.

                       San Jose, 1954

Vooooteee for your (least?) favorite blogger to go to bonnaroooo!

Go vote for us over at

http://www.lightning100.com/bonnaroo.php

we are video # 4--"Bonnaroo Band" --You can vote everyday til Friday. Caitlin Stubner will make out with you if you vote every day!

josh ritter, joe pug, and two double gin and tonics later

The minimum charge for a credit card at the vic theatre in chicago is 25 dollars. this is also how much it costs to park directly across the street. two things i learned the hard way. luckily, one can get two double gin and tonics and a bottle of water for just this price. (I would never pay such a price at Mercy Lounge)--HOWEVER, josh ritter and joe pug did not play @ mercy lounge, but they did play "speak plainly, diana" together--a song that's somewhere else on this blog-- and rock a sold out crowd for abbbouttt 3 hours last night.

and then joe pug seemed really creeped out when i told him i had his phone number already and then asked where he lived. i'm not sure why.

he's really sexy. got some smashing blue eyes. i don't think i told him that. he'd heard enough.

anywho. josh ritter's epic set made me feel good about the state of the musical world, and joe pug standing on a huge stage playing just a little ol' acoustic guitar while douchebags talked too loudly =awesome.

i think this was one of my faves. it is so obvious that he loves what he does.