did i tell you?

We’re playing a show May 31 at Roboto with The Drift, who are on Temporary Residence and are related to Tarentel and are very good. But also, if you’re more into the acoustic side of things, the most amazing songwriter is playing that night at ModernFormations. Her name is Cubby, she’s in a band called Lovers. She’s touring with one other person. I might be that uncouth dunderhead who leaves the show early to go see the other show, just because she writes the most beautiful songs imaginable and I’ve been unable to catch her the last THREE TIMES she’s played here. I forget what the issue was the first time, then the second time I didn’t find out about the show till the day after it happened and the most recent time we were playing a set on WPTS. I think it’s reasonable. Although I’d prefer to pull off catching The Drift as well if possible.

Also, that show will be the closing night of Beth Steidle’s show at ModernFormations, which is absolutely precious and wonderful and probably my favorite show there. Even if you don’t go that night, check it out while it’s up. It’s something to take your time and inspect.

shootin’ blanks, 1877

Someone yesterday brought up on the message board the long-defunct Project 1877, the physical embodiment of Revolution Summer 2003 in Pittsburgh. I’ve come to regard that space and that summer as the time when a lot of my idealism withered and gave way to somewhat bitter realism. I actually became overly cranky about all things related to activism and organizing around the time it all ended, and only recently have I begun to recover and feel a little more positive about things (though there’ll never be another winter of 2002/03 for me).

The ultimate undoing of 1877 was of course a huge plan (community center, show space, resource center, host to organizations, messy-ass free store) without the resources to sustain it. There was a lot of theoretical planning but not enough human power and momentum to keep the place afloat. On a more abstract plane, it felt like all the energy we gathered during the year or so leading up to it losing its direction and careening all about the scene like a drunk driver. There was plenty of downright bad stuff happening that summer, like the resistance gods were smiting our spirit for having gotten so far so fast the previous fall and winter. The winter was our 1968, but 1877 was our Altamont.

It bugs me the way so many people remember 1877 as “a pretty great venue.” It’s a misconception that keeps coming back and kicking my ass. There were LOTS of good things about 1877, yes. But it was meant to be, and was, a lot more than a venue, and its development into something that was primarily being used as a venue and not nurtured as a community space was a very big part of what eventually was its undoing. I wished at the time people would’ve taken more stake in it than just going to shows there (though admittedly the structure really wasn’t well established for doing so), and in retrospect I wish people would understand what happened.

Another part of its undoing, in my opinion, was its very opennness — obviously an important facet of its existence, but also the reason the energy being put into it wasn’t able to be harnessed. Keeping the doors open all day so that kids from the neighborhood can come in is fine; letting said kids run roughshod over the place and make other people feel uncomfortable or annoyed to be there is not. Hosting events of all sorts wherein the people in charge care about the space and are interested in the community (geographical and ideological) is good; letting shady rave promoters come in and take over for a night, exploit the place and the people there, potentially attract police attention, make some money and leave is not.

(As an aside, one of my most surreal memories of the place, and possibly ever, is of watching the Anti-Flag IMC benefit show there while the rave promoter and his shady crew of kids came in to set up for the late night’s activities. The space wasn’t double booked per se, but kind of one-and-a-half booked. The result was Anti-Flag playing whatever their songs are, plus weird big pink stuffed things and shit hanging from the walls, and ravers trying to teach punk girls how to do the invisible globe thing.)

In retrospect, there are simple things to take away from the experience: dream big but start small, don’t rely too heavily on already-taxed individuals for a great deal of volunteer work, have someone clean out the food piles regularly when you’re constantly getting food that’s coming from dumpsters anyway or else things will start to smell pretty rank. There are plenty of other ways to chalk it up in the end — bad timing, bad vibes — but more than anything it was a big learning experience for a lot of people. A lot of the same issues that came up there have come up in other collective organizations I’ve been a part of or have been close to. I’ve been planning for a while to put together a zine of people’s collective organizing experiences in Pittsburgh — Toni B and I came perilously close to actually doing it last fall but then things got crazy. Perhaps I’ll get back to work on that.

reading right now

I’m currently starting:

The Bride and the Bachelors, published in 1976, profiling Marcel Duchamp, Jean Tinguely, Robert Rauschenberg, John Cage and Merce Cunningham. Obviously interesting subject matter, and reputedly very well-written from a reader’s standpoint. I’m about to find out.

Rauschenberg is a favorite of mine, and I didn’t know too much about him when they last had some of his stuff up at the Warhol (a couple years ago) but I enjoyed it immensely then and want another chance now. It’s a little bit like when I was four and my family went to see Bo Diddley at the Rib Fest and I was a whiner because I was cold and tired and I didn’t end up enjoying Bo that much (despite liking his name a lot). Now I’d be all over seeing Bo live, especially for free. Please, world. Give Andy a second chance or two.

droney tony and rhys’s pieces

I found myself looking forward to last night’s Table of the Elements show at the Warhol with a giddy nervousness the likes of which I had only felt once in the past couple years (that being the Mountain Goats show).

Tony Conrad opened the show, and put me in a special place. He really ought to have been last — while he was the least loud of the three acts, his intensity level was through the roof. How can you have been doing this stuff for 40 years and still have that in you? How has it not gotten old? That only makes it that much better. It’s hard to describe in writing what some of those moments in the middle of that repetitive violin screaming did to me. I found myself thinking a lot about dreams, and feeling inspired to do much more important and interesting things than I have been.

Jonathan Kane is an astounding drummer, while his current band (”Jonathan Kane’s February”) doesn’t really seem to feature it that much. They had some good moments for sure, but on the whole I mostly just felt like their set could’ve been a bit shorter.

Seeing Rhys Chatham in person, a couple feet from me, was fairly religious in nature even before he picked up a cheap Ibanez and closed out the set with “Guitar Trio,” arranged for SEVEN GUITARS. Here was me, second row, with a bunch of awesome people I know, watching Rhys Chatham and 8 other guys total performing “Guitar Trio,” in Pittsburgh. When will this happen again? Possibly never. Totally worth my money. I was sorry to have missed the other shows (I just presumed I wouldn’t be able to get into the Brillobox at midnight, though I hear in retrospect that it wasn’t sold out), but I definitely don’t regret having made the decision I did.

an interesting pointer

There’s a special election next week for the city council seat for District 3, which Gene “More Bike Traffic In the City Is Dangerous To Cyclists” Ricciardi vacated in order to become a judge (*gulp*). THe district covers the South Side and those hilltop neighborhoods to the south as well as much of the student ghettos of Oakland. There are a couple interesting/amusing things about this race:

1. The P-G endorsed candidate, who opposes the Mon-Fayette coming into the city and seems pretty okay as local politicians are concerned, is named Bruce Kraus. There is another candidate named Bruce Krane. Is this going to confuse voters? You can count on it.

2. The guitarist late of Jumbo, more recently of the on-hiatus grind band Commit Suicide, is running as a Republican. He’s a pretty libertarian dude, I disagree with him on a lot of issues and I think a lot of his views aren’t well thought-out or are based on faulty logic, but the point is — there’s a Republican running for office who’s in a grind band called Commit Suicide. Woah.

this is happenin!

What am I amped on this week?

1. Spring break. Okay, for me all that really means is Friday off. But it’s better than Friday at work. I’ll appreciate what little they give me. (I hope it’s nice enough outside for tennis, but I’m starting to think maybe that won’t be the case.)

2. Tony Conrad and Rhys Chatham and Jonathan Kane at the Warhol Friday night. Woah.

3. Assuming I make it and don’t fall asleep or fail to make it on time, Oxford Collapse, Part Chimp and Centipede E’est at the Brillobox Friday night.

4. Secret things upcoming.

What am I not amped on?

1. Missing the Phil Boyd solo release featuring Mikey C Friday night at Modernformations.

2. Spending so much on shows coming up Friday that I probably won’t go see Mi & Lau tonight at Garfield Artworks.

okay chorale

I wrote this email to a friend this morning and it sums up most of the thoughts I’ve really had time to think today, so I thought I’d share it with y’all. Otherwise, today has been all work (no student workers as it’s spring break, but lots of requesting done by faculty) and business (getting practice space stuff ironed out) and rice pudding.

Dear XXXXXX,

Do you know the Elton John song “All the Nasties”? It’s the
next-to-last song on “Madman Across the Water.” The one that sounds a
little like a church song or something — like it was the first step
on the road toward “The Lion King.” There’s the first part, the main
body of the song, then it gets real quiet and this choral part with a
full choir builds, and they’re all going “Do-do-do-do-do doooo doo do
. . .” and he comes in and keeps saying “Ohhhh my sooouuuul . . .
Ohhhh my sooouuul . . .”

And then, the drums kick in . . . the bass drum drops like fucking
cannonfire, HUGE . . . there’s so much reverb on that track it should
probably be illegal.

That’s how drums should sound. Next time we record, that’s how my
drums are going to sound.

If you have that record, or if you get that record, or if you’re in
someone’s house and they have it, and you listen to that song, listen
close and think about that.

That’s my thought for the morning.

How was your weekend?

xo
andy

rock and snacktivism

Two-show weekends are exhausting, and while we’ve theoretically sworn them off, we did it this weekend and it was smoov, with the exception of the fact that I left my cymbals at Gooski’s last night and Doug has them so I need to do something about that. Elsewise, two wonderful shows with awesome friends — Flotilla Way were cute and great (Jai is an excellent drummer!) Friday night. Last night at Gooski’s we had by far our best bar performance ever — when the quiet parts came, you could hear a pin drop over the guitar parts. No one was talking, no one was laughing, no one was yelling. Everyone was listening. Amazing.

A few quick shout-outs to things that I’m thinking about lately: Jude mentioned the Steve Kurtz case the other day because she’s done organizing surrounding that situation, and I hadn’t heard much about it lately. Motions for dismissal were denied in January and the case is headed for a full trial. Read up on it at that link if you’re not familiar — Steve is a professor and a member of the Critical Art Ensemble who was swept up in a truly Kafkaesque nightmare in the name of homeland security. I’ll keep tabs and update you in the future hopefully.

Ben Folds is playing Bigelow Bash at Pitt this year, which is sweet. I will never go back on my contention that this dude rules, even if I think he crossed the line from bittersweet and awesome to plain depressing when he started playing solo. I will be there.

I’ve been offered a show in May that will be stoketacular if it pans out — I’ll announce it as soon as I’m sure of the situation. Get ready for something really good though.

Last but not least, after receiving a coupon for them through campus mail from the generous Law Library staff, I purchased new Cheez-it Crisps (so new they don’t even have a web page!) the other night. The verdict: not as good as the original, because original Cheez-its can do no wrong in my eyes. But, if looked at as something that’s not trying to be a Cheez-it, not bad. The cheezy powder stuff on them is a little bit addictive, and gets all up on your hands like Dorito powder. The texture is the real sweet point of these — reminiscent of those flaky, delectable Munch ‘Ems. On the snack scale of 1-10, I’ll give them a 7.

quick-like!

Two shows this weekend that I am playing: tonight (Friday) at Roboto, a benefit for the Big Idea, with Fuckedupmess and Flotilla Way, and tomorrow night at Gooski’s, with Young Men’s Dept. and Warzone Womyn. Come watch us get crunk yet remain solemn and brooding.

Remora ruled the other night, and if he’s coming to your town, with or without The Czars, you should check him. His music is like a weird mix of Joy Division, maybe the Microphones, maybe a little Beat Happening, and some heavy sedation. He covered the Journey song “Faithfully” for us, which was wondrous.

It’s cold out but sunny. Bundle up but keep your eyes on the skies. Good things are on the horizon.

show announcement, 2 of 2

April 21 at Roboto, 7pm, $5

Slingshot Dakota
Sweet pop like Rainer Maria but less pretentious
Allies
Loved local rock
Flotilla Way
Local lady-flavored pop
.isha&zetta.
Outerspace guitar + hockey drums

Do it!