There's more to life than books you know, but not much more

Brand New, Manchester Orchestra, The Builders & The Butchers @ the San Diego HOB 10/21/09

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:16:37 GMT

The Setlist (in order):

1. Sink

2. Vices

3. Gasoline

4. In A Jar

5. Sowing Season

6. The Archer's Bows Have Broken
7. Okay I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don't
8. Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fades
9. The No Seatbelt Song
10. Jude Law And A Semester Abroad
11. Luca
12. Jesus
13. Degausser
14. You Won't Know
15. You Stole
16. Bought A Bride
17. At The Bottom
18. Play Crack The Sky

Raquel, Shana, Alba and I were first in line this time. We were holding Terrance and his lady's spot but when they should up security made them turn around which is fair, I understand. All in all this was one of the greatest Brand New tours I have seen. Jesse's voice has evolved beautifully. Brand new is still blowing my mind with everything they do and it makes me happy to see them so greatful for their fans. I don't remember which show it was that Jesse told the crowd that he doesn't forget how lucky they are that the only thing they have to worry about is being in brand new. Security was really strict this time around, however I still sneaked some pictures with my blackberry. They were on top of everyone making sure no one pushed. Honestly, it ruined the show for me. There was no atmosphere to it. I feel like if you're going to a show, you should know what you're getting yourself into. I don't know, that's just my opinion. Andy joined Vinnie and Jesse on Play crack the sky at the end. This was the first show that I really paid attention to Vinnie and he went crazy at one point even though he was really sick. I shouted "go Vinnie!" and they heard me and they laughed. haha. I cannot get over how Raquel and I are greeted by smiles from the band. They looked at us both constantly through the show. It was cool. I talked to the guys from the builders and the butchers and got them to sign my vinyl it was really cool. I bought merch from everyone except manchester. I am excited for the red brand new pull over sweater it looks very comfortable.

Brand New, Manchester Orchestra, The Builders & The Butchers @ the San Diego HOB 10/20/09

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:12:27 GMT

The Setlist (in order):
1. You Won't Know
2. Degausser
3. Okay I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don't
4. Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fades
5. Jaws Theme Swimming
6. The No Seatbelt Song
7. Vices
8. Gasoline
9. Sowing Season
10. You Stole
11. In A Jar
12. The Archer's Bows Have Broken
13. Jesus
14. Bought A Bride
15. Sink
16. At The Bottom
17. Play Crack The Sky

I love downtown San Diego. I also love the House of Blues. The show here was insane! I was really impressed with brand new's lighting and their little videos they showed during songs that were off Daisy. They put a lot of detail into their show. Security was annoying but eventually they gave up trying to stop people from taking pictures. Of course, I only had my blackberry so the pictures are not that great, but pictures non the less. I will say that I have never been more uncomfortable in a crowd in my life. I was behind these two really big lesbians ( I have nothing against big people or lesbians) but they were very tall and I am very short. I was trying to see past them but I guess they thought I was looking at them so they decided to put on a show of their own. It got so bad that I almost left. But luckily they could not handle the crowd during brand new and they bailed. There were a lot of people crowd surfing. At one point of these girls grabbed a crowd surfer by the legs and pulled him/her down. It was insane she followed that by slapping them in the face and yelling "what's wrong with you?!" I didn't have anything to hold onto since I was in the 2nd row of people so I had to fall into them. At one point one of the girls grabbed my arms and put them around her girlfriend and told me to push back and protect her. Only she didn't notice I guess that I was like 2 inches shorter about 60 lbs lighter and I just could not help her. I tried. But they could not take it and they left. Good for Raquel and I 'cause we got all the way to the barricade and we could see. Again we were greeted with the band's recognizing smiles. And all was relatively well until I got kicked in the face by a crowd surfer. Honestly, it didn't hurt a bit, I figure that was so because my adrenaline was so high up. But my face bruised. The first time I ever got a significant bruise at a show. I do not regret it. The show was incredible. One of the best brand new shows I have ever been to, including the last show at the palladium. I would do it over again. I cannot get over how great Daisy plays live. It's amazing. Also, I found it incredibly cute when Jesse's little brother came out. Jesse wanted him to sing the last part of play crack the sky by himself and he nodded "no" he seemed so shy so Jesse, his brother, and Vinnie finished it off. It was amazing.

my eye got blacker as the days went by haha.

Brand New, Manchester Orchestra, The Builders & The Butchers @ The Hollywood Palladium 10/18/09

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:08:39 GMT

The Set List (in order):
1. Sink
2. Vices
3. Gasoline
4. In A Jar
5. Sowing Season
6. The Archer's Bows Have Broken
7. Ok I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don't
8. Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fades
9. The No Seatbelt Song
10. Jude Law And A Semester Abroad
11. Seventy Times 7
12. Luca
13. Jesus
14. You Won't Know
15. Degausser
16. You Stole
17. Bought A Bride
18. At The Bottom
19. Play Crack The Sky

I cannot begin to describe how amazing this show was. I feel like everyone was fully present. Jesse and Garrett seemed to be having a great time. We even got Seventy times 7 (2nd time seeing it live) which means they had to have been feeling it. This was one of the best brand new shows I have ever seen and I've seen many. Raquel, Alba, and I got there really early this time. We waited in line for hours but it was totally worth it. We were in a great spot. I love that the band recognizes Raquel and I just because we are always standing in the same place and we are at all their southern california shows. It feels really cool to get a smile from them followed with a look of surprise as if they're thinking "hey you guys are here again!" I'd like it to get to the same point as Kevin Devine and Brian Bonz, who just know us already. haha. Good times. The pictures for this night were way better (they were a mix between my blackberry and Alba's digital:

Brand New, Manchester Orchestra, The Builders & The Butchers @ The Hollywood Palladium 10/17/09

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:55:22 GMT

The Set List (in order):
1. You Won't Know
2. Degausser
3. Ok I Believe You But My Tommy Gun Don't
4. Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fades
5. Jaws Theme Swimming
6. The No Seatbelt Song
7. Vices
8. Gasoline
9. Sowing Season
10. You Stole
11. In A Jar
12. Luca
13. The Archer's Bows Have Broken
14. Jesus
15. Bought A Bride
16. Sink
17. At The Bottom
18. Play Crack The Sky

I had to be at work at 6 am in order to be out soon enough to leave for Brand New. I got out of work 2:30 and rushed home. Raquel, Alba, and I left Elsinore at around 3:00 pm. We arrived in Hollywood late, the line was huge! I knew it was a sold out show going in but wow, I guess I just never got there late enough to see how many fans brand new has. Anyway we took our places and waited in line. There were a lot of annoying people in the crowd, I did not get there early enough to get to the front, I was in about the 2nd or 3rd row of people stage right. So I couldn't take many pictures and the ones I did take were pretty bad. I will say that I was very impressed with the Builders & the Butchers. They were amazing, and they were from Portland. I love Portland, I shouted that out. I love all things that come from Portland haha. I loved their sound, they have a sound similar to Delta Spirit's but it's more folky, I guess. Manchester Orchestra was not as good as I thought. I didn't like that I had to wonder about Andy's mood. I mean, I could deal with Jesse's mood swings, but Andy too? I also didn't like that they neglected their older songs. I feel like ILAVLAC was the album that made people fall in love with them and they just ignored it. They played well but the few old songs they did play they butchered them so it was hard to follow. Brand New's setlist was awesome. I wish they would have played Daisy or Noro. I could understand why they would choose against playing Bed. ha. But I like that they're all exicted and happy about touring again. They all seem to be communicating well and even Derrick seems happier.

I'm a wandering soul...

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:23:46 GMT

For all the work I do and that I only seem to notice I decided to give myself an early Christmas present. My buddy Scott initiated a day trip to LA which I could not refuse for the following reasons: 1) I needed to get away 2) I had not seen this guy in months. Anyway, I bought myself a fujifilm instax camera which is basically a newer version of the polaroid camera. Of course the polaroid is 100 times better but the instax mini is good too in a different way. It took me an embarassing amount of time to figure out how to put it together and then use it. But here are the results.

I have to master the angle on the camera because the lense makes it seem like you have a wider shot then you actually do. That is my only complaint. I also kept forgetting to change the flash setting. But I will get the hang of it soon enough.

I've been listening to Daisy a lot. I don't know why people are bagging on it as much as they are. Of course it's going to be different, every new Brand New album is different. Besides everyone who is a big enough fan of the band knew from the beginning that Vinnie was the mastermind behind it this time. Sure some lyrics perhaps could have been better written but hey! it's still a good album. I am not disappointed. Brand New keep it up. I'm excited for the tour I am going to be at all 4 southern cali shows documenting everything.

I've been listening to a lot of paper rival and modest mouse lately too. It's an odd mix. I have been working too much lately. I am excited for my project and even more excited at the possibility of going on tour this summer. I'm ready for adventure in which ever way it may come.

Every picture you paint....

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:43:00 GMT

It makes me really sad that I haven't done anything like this in a really long while. I decided to do this for my kid sister Melanie A.K.A Melanoma. We were shopping around for a Jo Bro backpack but all the ones we saw every where were really tacky. In simple words they were butt. So, I proposed to design her a backpack and she accepted. I felt like it was going to be fairly simple. I've stenciled more complicated things before. But holy crap that logo was a pain! It went all wrong, the stencil bled horribly. I tried to fix it. I basically free-handed the rest of it. I finally showed my finished product to Melanie, it was horrible at best. I explained that she would only have to carry this the first week of school and that the following week I'd make her a new one. She said, "no! I want this one, this one is perfect, thank you, Tracy." Kids can sometimes be so brutally honest that they ruin your day. But other times, it's that very same honesty that makes your day.

7/19/09 Brand New & Dios @ The San Diego Epicentre

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 06:24:29 GMT

The setlist in order:
1. Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don't
2. Sic Transit Gloria...Glory Fades
3. Jaws Theme Swimming
4. The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows
5. The Shower Scene
6. Sowing Season
7. The Archer's Bows Are Broken
8. Jesus
9. Flying At Tree Level
10. Mix Tape
11. Seventy Times 7
12. Jude Law And A Semester Abroad
13. Bed
14. Bought A Bride or "trees" or "brickhouse" I'm not sure haha
15. Gasoline
16. Degausser
17. You Won't Know
18. Oh, Comely (NMH cover)

Man oh man, this day started out awful and ended amazingly. I was surprised to find that the epicentre was conveniently located only ONE hour from my home, straight away on the 15. Right away when we got there we saw Jesse walking around in bright red shorts. WHAT A SIGHT! Anyway even though we got to the epicenter at 4:00 pm for a show that started at 7:30 pm we were far off in line. I mean we were relatively close but there was about thirty people in front of us. I had what they call "hard tickets" for a show that was supposed to be will call only. The venue security made everyone who had hard tickets stand in a line separate from everyone who was on a "list." They proceeded to tell us that everyone on that list was going to be let in before us. If there were less than 525 people (venue capacity) then they would start to let us in until they reached that number. Normally I am very calm and collected and I am very civil but there was some retard telling me that even though I had paid for tickets which I purchased through a pre-sale that was put on by the promoter of the show "livenation" that I could not go in. I was enraged. I went up to the one of the guys and showed him my tickets and he says "these are fake, these aren't even real, you can't get in." It made no sense, I paid just like everyone else. Sure, this was not my first time seeing Brand New but that is no excuse to miss the show. So luckily I am always prepared with my trusty blackberry. I busted out the email conformation, my id, my debit card, my bid number, my reciept, and my tickets. I was so mad as I explained that I was going to go in for all the reasons that were formentioned. Then the main guy was just like "honor her tickets let her in." I swear I did not breathe until I got in. But got in, I did, HELL YES. Raquel and Shana were like "go, Tracy." haha Anyway....I digress.

I would just like to say that this was my sixth time seeing Brand New perform and they are always amazing. I've never left one of their shows dissapointed. Jesse was happy! He made jokes about this show being the last show they ever play ever but he was like "Just kidding, just the last show for now." I am very excited about Daisy coming out. I'm sure it's going to blow my brains out. I was stoaked that they played Seventy Times 7 and that Jesse played Oh, Comely solo at the very end. The show was insane. A lot of girls in heels and dresses were injured. As soon as they started playing, they got into the chorus and up everyone came. I love it, there's nothing like participating with other fans as passionate as you are at a live performance. It adds other dimensions to the music, it just means more somehow. Jesse thanked all of us for listening to them play "songs we never play anymore." ha It always bothers me when people shout requests out, and tonight was no excuse. I say, let Jesse play what he wants! It'll be good either way. But yes the show was amazing. This show in particular was my buddy Shana's first brand new show ever and it was a good one for her to go to. It was my friend Raquel's fourth.

Sidenote: When the show was over we were pulling out of the parking lot and thinking about where we were gonna go eat. We go to make a U-turn and I glance on the street I see some guy and I think to myself, "that guy is really cute..." immediately I verbalize "holy crap that's Jesse Lacey!" Raquel busts another U-turn and we drive past him and bust another U-turn to try to speak to him but we lost him again. The only logical thing to do is go home and just try again when they tour later. We're talking about what we would have said even if we would have caught him and they couldn't think of anything. I probably wouldn't say anything just like when I saw him at the Roxy, I'm too shy and too self-conscious to say anything. I joked I would say, "nice pants, lacey." Anyway we were on our way home when we spot him again. So we bust another U-turn and they roll the windows down and my buddies were like "Tracy, say something!"I can't do anything unless I'm pressured because that way I don't have time to overthink it. I didn't know what to say so I shouted from the window the first thing that popped into my head which was, "NICE PANTS, LACEY!" How embarassing. He smiled and waved at me. I am basically a 20 year old child. Anyway onto the pictures: which were bad.

Dios played really well.

mewithoutyou, bear colony, deer hunter @ the glasshouse 6/21/09

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 06:26:29 GMT

The set list, in order:
1.A Glass Can Only Spill What It Contains
2. Every Thought A Thought Of You
3. Brownish Spider
4. Messes of Men
5. Goodbye, I
6. Four Word Letter
7. C-Minor
8. Carousels
9. My Exit, Unfair
10. Bullet to Binary Pt. 2
11.Torches Together
12. The King Beetle on a Coconut Estate
13. Timothy Hay
14. Disaster Tourism
Encore
15. "Whatever comes, let it come" January 1979
16. Allah, Allah, Allah
17. In A Sweater Poorly Knit

I will say that mewithoutyou was better the second night. Aaron seemed to be more present. I will also say that the glasshouse is in a great spot. The shopping centers near it look amazing. I had never been to the glasshouse but I fell in love with the scenery. It looks like a great place to hang out even if you're not catching a show. I ran into Scott there which was really weird. As far as I knew I didn't even know he liked this kind of stuff. But it was a plesant surprise nontheless. I don't know if he liked the show because they get kinda wreckless but he caught a great one. I hope he was ok. The other bands played great. Excuse the cellphone photography, I forgot my digital.

Mewithoutyou, Bear Colony, Deer Hunter @ The El Rey 6/20/09

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 06:18:39 GMT

El Rey Set List:
1. Messes of Men
2. Goodbye, I
3. Yellow Spider
4. The Dryness and the Rain
5. Cattail Down
6. Tie me up! Untie me!
7. Bullet to Binary Pt. 2
8. C-Minor
9. Son of a Widow
10. Timothy Hay
11. O, Porcupine
12. A Stick, A Carrot, and String
13. January 1979
14. The Fox, the Crow and the Cookie
Encore
15. Torches Together
16. The King Beetle on a Coconut Estate
17. In a Sweater Poorly Knit

Kevin Devine, Miniature Tigers, Brian Bonz @ The Troubadour 5/17/09

Sun, 24 May 2009 20:10:25 GMT

The set list in order:
1.You'll only end up joining them
2. Cotton crush
3. Carnival
4. Time to burn
5. No time flat
6. You're trailing yourself
7. Go haunt someone else
8. Hand of God
9. Fever moon
10. Longer that I'm out here
11. Me and my friends
12. Buried the buzz
13. I could be with anyone
14. Yr husband
15. Tomorrow is just too late
16. Brooklyn boy
17. Ballgame
18. You're my incentive
19. Just stay
20. Brother's blood

Today started off weird. I left work really late and picked Raquel up really late. We caught mad traffic and we got lost because google maps failed us. Luckily my nifty blackberry got us to the Troubadour just in the nick of time. There was more people at this one which was nice especially in Hollywood. I was excited that Brian Bonz and Kevin mixed it up and didn't play the exact same songs as last night. Brian Bonz also had his keyboard and laptop set up this time, last night's performance was basically acoustic. He didn't play superconnected but played others which were just as good. The Miniature Tigers' set was the same although I don't know for sure because I didn't pay much attention. Tonight's show was longer. This was my 5th time seeing Kevin Devine. He never ceases to amaze me. I love that he's so grounded. Brian Bonz kept staring at Raquel and I like he couldn't believe we were there again. I love Brian and Kevin's stories. They're so entertaining and random. I could probably sit and listen to them for hours. We went after the show and he's all "where's your cd?" and he signed it for me. I told him he had played an excellent show and he seemed very happy about it. Kevin thanked us again for going twice. It was pretty cool. OH, ALSO, Brian Bonz has a moleskine! That is one of the coolest things ever. Anyway this time I remembered my point and shoot camera, I handed it to Raquel since she had a better angle. I tried to take some pictures with my blackberry which turned out okay.

Kevin Devine, The Miniature Tigers, Brian Bonz @ HOB San Diego 5/16/09

Wed, 20 May 2009 23:35:20 GMT

The set list in order was:
1. Cotton crush
2. Carnival
3. Another bag of bones
4. No time flat
5. You're trailing yourself
6. Go haunt someone else
7. Hand of God
8. Murphy's song
9. The longer that I'm out here
10. Buried by the buzz
11. I could be with anyone
12. Yr husband
13. Tomorrow is just too late
14. Brooklyn boy
15. Ballgame
16. You are the daybreak
17. Just stay
18. Brother's blood

I am in love with downtown San Diego. It reminds me a lot of NYC, a cleaner safer NYC haha. Every time I go I hear an internal voice telling me that I am somewhere I could settle. I guess that is why I did not mind driving around endlessly trying to find reasonably priced parking. Raquel and I eventually settled on a place about 3 blocks away for $10 (hey, don't judge me alright, we are in tough economic times, I do what I can ha). Raquel was more excited than I was since she had missed the Kevin Devine/Jesse Lacey/ Brian Bonz tour last year. This show was incredible. It was very small -a lot of older fans- Kevin said that he felt we were all just chillin' at his house and not at a show. Brian Bonz opened and I was very excited to see him and Mike play again. They played Kid Shit, Judy & the Alpha Queen, Dee the Dinosaur, Seafence and Superconnected, a Broken Social Scene cover. I got audio of it but I have to get around to uploading it. Those songs are not in order and that list is probably incomplete, my memory fails me at the worst times. I did not think to write down the set list until Kevin came on. :/ Miniature Tigers went on second. Their drummer had family in the crowd and they brought them all up at the end. I have to say they played a good show, but I was not really feeling their music. There seemed to be people in the crowd who did enjoy them. They reminded me of Weezer, a bad Weezer. To each their own, right? There was a prom going on across the street and Kevin kept making jokes about how he had seen a bunch of versions of himself. He was predicting their future outcomes, which was pretty funny. There was a little girl in the crowd that Kevin brought up to play the tambourine during one song, it was really cute. I was talking to Kevin about a possible release of Brother's Blood on vinyl. He told me that he actually is going to release it on vinyl (mid summer) and that the only reason it didn't come out when the album did was because of a miscommunication with the distributor. I bought the album because I hadn't and I bought the EP. I gave him a $20 and he forgot to give me $5 back and when I asked him for it he got so red as was I. I asked him to sign my album since I'm too self-conscious for pictures and he wrote "sorry I tried to rob you xo KD" so now I'll remember it forever haha. I bought the Brian Bonz album as well and told him that he played great, and I had purchased the EP at the Roxy last year and loved it. I told them both that we would be seeing them tomorrow and Brian told me to find him and said he would sign my album. Kevin said it was cool that we did "the double show thing." So he told us he'd see us tomorrow and we waved them goodbye. I love that they're so accessible. I'm not one to go all crazy over musicians but they seem really grounded, I appreciate that. Anyway on to the pictures: DISCLAIMER: I took these with my blackberry because HOB SD doesn't allow cameras. So excuse the poor quality, I tried.

This could be the thing that puts the blood into your skin and keeps it there

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:01:56 GMT

I'm thinking about all those wagers I used to make with God before I went to bed when I was younger. All those irrational fears I had made me put some pretty serious things on the line. I don't know if he took them seriously but I remember I would wager things I thought I'd never have and in turn would speak about consequences that I thought were impossible. But those things did come true, somehow I ended up wanting all the things I told him I could do without.