djfolks's Blog

I can't recall the song off the top of my head, but the Hold Steady have a line that goes "I still feel pretty sweet." And, even with a lack of sleep, sore shoulders from carry everything and a pounding headache, I still feel pretty sweet. If you missed it, last night was my MPAD Showcase: Synth, Shoegaze, Surprize! and while I have a long list of "lessons learned" I think the event went extremely well.
My first "lesson learned" was never pick the coldest day of the year to have a show! The temp was somewhere in the subzero area with wind gusting. So the 110 people (which is a pretty good crowd) we had in the Pike Room braved the elements to see the show.

Let's start with the artroom. J. Celestino, Shawn Amberger, Paul Sizer and Marvin Shaouni had work on display. This photo contains work by J. Celestino. Everyone really like the artwork, and a couple of the artists sold a few of their works making the evening especially good for them.

 

 

 

 

 

Get this guy offstage so we can here some music! I had this crazy idea to emcee the night, so before the bands took the stage I came on and introduced them, while giving away PodShow t-shirts and other swag. It was fun and I hope it added a bit to the evening.

 

 

Deastro was the first to play.He threw out a blistering set of frantically paced, energetic, synth-bliss, that those unfamilar with Deastro came away with smiles and an appreciation for spastic dancing.

Otto Vector played next and were nice enough to play a couple of songs, they don't usually perform "Ponderance of a Lonely Girl on a Porch" being one of them, Their sound was especially tight and Renee's vocals were spot on. For one of the early bands, they got quite a reaction from the crowd with some dancing and lots of cheering.
Ether Aura was third on the list, and this was a good time to relax a bit to the ethereal sweetness of Kate, the lead singer's voice. They have a video on their MySpace page from their performance you need to see!














Lastly, 800Beloved took the stage and got everyone to their feet with one of those "it will go down in history" performances. I've never heard a band play so loud and sound so clear at the same time. Their set was shimmering with guitar effects, wonderful vocals and bouncing basslines. Their cover of the Rolling Stones (by way of the Sundays) "Wild Horses" brought a hush then a loud sheer from the audience. Their set ended with the crowd joining them on stage dancing. A moment I regrettably missed. If anyone has pictures from this part of the show please contact me!




I think the best thing for me about the show was everybody seemed to have a very good time. There was a sense of friendliness and a nice shrugging off the "ultra cool to hip to relate" attitude I enounter at a lot of shows. The show took a lot out of me to put on, but, looking back on it, it was worth every moment. Thanks to the bands, artists and friends that participated. It was really you that made the show a night I'll treasure.
This week's podcast, MPAD#128, will have more music from each of the bands that played and more from the show.

A couple of quick notes before I the podcast comes on Monday.

The pic you see in this entry is one from the Ziggy Marley photos I took on Labor Day.

Exciting news! I'm part of the PodShow Sirius block on Sirius Satellite Radio. The show airs this Tuesday, I'm on at 8:30pm eastern between A Girl A Guy and a Bottle and Yeast Radio. It will be a short best of recent episodes featuring Gary Numan , Hamell on Trial and the Nice Device .   There are a couple of new surprises on this show so you'll want to hear it. During this weeks podcast, MPAD#63 , I'll tell you a way you can get this special show without having Sirius.

It's amazing how we can get so wrapped into all the different goings on with the media, we can lost site of little pieces of news that mean so much. Arthur Lee of (Arthur Lee & Love) died on August 3rd. from lukemia. He led a troubled life filled with a few tremendous songs and seemed on the brink of a comeback for the past few decades. " Forever Changes ," both the original and live version rank high in my music collection and I plan on playing them again this week. Do yourself a favor and listen to "You Set the Scene" and give the man his due.
On a happier note, I'm seeing The Church at the Magic Bag on Sunday. This should be an excellant show you will hear more about on MPAD. Remeber this week's show is the big interview with Gary Numan. And, one more day of voting for me to win a podcast award !

 

This has been one crazy week. I've been incredibly busy but a couple of amazing things happened I want to tell you about. On Monday I saw Gary Numan live. I've mentioned it before, but if you don't know already, Gary Numan is my favorite artist. Yes, even above Morrissey! Having a podcast gave me the opportunity that very few people get to realize - I got to interview Gary Numan. We had a great discussion on his tour and career which will air on MPAD#58 on August 14.
On this week's show MPAD#57, I'll be talking about my experience at the show, reviewing " So You Want to Be a Superhero " and the latest issue of Q magazine . I'll go ahead and tease you with a couple of bands I'll be featuring -- Aberdeen City and My Robot Friend . So, make sure to check out MPAD#57 at mostpeoplearedjs.podshow.com on August 7.
Lastly, don't forget to keep voting for me daily at the Podcast Awards for best "Cultural/Arts" show. Thanks to all of you that have been voting.