Monday, September 17, 2001

helplessness is an illusion

yeah, i'm no saint. i want to hurt back as well. a helpless wounded dog.
however i feel that helplessness is the belief that love is not enough.
do you believe that?
what have you built out of fear or anger that you are proud of?
forgive me this cliche:
you are surrounded by darkness?
for god's/allah's/jehovah's/buddah's/pete's/fuck's sake turn on YOUR light.

(my apologies to neil diamond)

by the way, if you're receiving this + are wondering who this rambling lunatic is, let me know + i'll take you off the email list. otherwise, i'll see you out on the town.

crystal method | 9.29 | warfield

cousteau w/david j | 9.30 | slim's : ever since that vw commercial, everyone is being compared to nick drake, including this band cousteau. i'm not saying there's not a genius out there paramount to nick drake, but cousteau ain't it. they aren't even close. they're more like tears for fears, except with slightly better lyrics. that's not meant to be a dig. 'everybody wants to rule the world' was a great song. david j (who's also been compared to drake for chrissake!) of bauhaus/bubblemen/love+rockets fame opens.

kristin hersh | 10.7 | slim's : if you missed the throwing muses reunion, she's back solo.

old 97s | 10.12 | fillmore : i'm an enormous fan of the altcountry movement, but for some reason i still haven't gotten into these cats. i've heard they're fun live.

john hiatt + the goners | 10.17 | slim's : such an amazing player. i saw him in an 'in the round' performance once with emmylou, jimmie dale, + willie. poor jimmie dale had to follow him + expressed his anguish at that. here's a chance to see him with one of his best bands, the goners, which features sonny landreth playing a mean slide. i mean mean.

beulah w/starlight mints | 10.20 | gamh : several people have told me i should catch locals beulah. this would be the time for me to. the starlight mints are brilliant. their sound reminds me of the flaming lips, who is also from oklahoma. truly bizarre psychedelic garage rock mixed with world sounds. also if you're a fan of neutral milk hotel.

stereolab | 10.22-23 | fillmore : two women onstage who look like angst ridden supermodels who'd really rather be somewhere else than onstage. sounds terribly pretensious, + perhaps it is, but the music is genius + well they are pretty...

travis | 10.25 | warfield : brilliant pop. they're not playing for free this time

buddy + julie miller | 10.26 | slim's : buddy's considered a 'paid his dues' kind of songwriter. julie is the friggin jewel. she has a voice that can't help but gut you emotionally. it's a quirky voice, don't get me wrong. in the same vein as iris dement or victoria williams. her songs are just too powerful + dead on as well. she has this one where the lyrics are so simple, i'm almost ashamed that it can bring me to tears, you know? i mean to bring me to tears you should have to write something amazingly complex with incredible depth. the words may be simple, but the emotion behind it isn't. if iris is the female jimmie dale, the music world has its work cut out for it to find julie's counterpart.

rocket from the crypt | 10.27 | gamh

jane's addiction | 10.29 | oakland arena : did i miss a headline in a fanzine somewhere? what the hell is this?

black heart procession | 10.30 | gamh : i have several friends whom i went to see this show with last time they were through town. they love this band. i love them on record. the jury's still out for me on the live show. on their behalf i'll say if i were trying to be socal's answer to nick cave, i wouldn't want to face a crowd that was amped up after seeing the ex. at midnight to boot.

loudon wainwright iii | 11.4 | gamh : yeah i've got a soft spot for singer songwriters, but i'll tell you, loudon will have you in tears laughing at your own fears, trials + tribulations. + he's not afraid of coming off as some bitter old bastard either (his songs are incredibly personal) he also has an amazing talent for coming up with a song on the spot. he played the cactus (where i worked) the night that bush (sr.) sent ground troops into iraq. he'd already written an entire song about it. he couldn't have had more than 2 hours to write it. by november he should have a double album ready. yeah rufus (the tit man) is his son.

built to spill | 11.8-12 | slim's : this time for five nights. they'll probably sell them all out. bless them for not playing the warfield

u2 | 11.15 | oakland arena : yeah, whatever.

previously mentioned:
p j harvey | 9.18 | warfield
sade | 9.18 | chron pav
they might be giants | 9.19 | warfield
nick cave | 9.20+21 | warfield --cancelled
the radiators | 9.20-22 | gamh
the damned | 9.26 | gamh
southern culture on the skids | 9.28 | bimbos
lake trout | 9.28 | justice league
poi dog pondering | 9.28+29 | fillmore
pedro the lion | 10.2 | gamh
curt kirkwood | 10.2 | BotH
sigur rÛs | 10.4 | warfield
my life with the thrill kill kult | 10.5 | slim's
charlie hunter quartet | 10.5 | fillmore
apples in stereo | 10.9 | gamh
midnight oil | 10.11 | fillmore
the derailers | 10.12 | slim's
el vez | 10.12 | gamh
sam butera | 10.12 | bimbo's
widespread panic | 10.12-13 | greek theatre
bob dylan | 10.13 | bill graham civic
los straitjackets feat. big sandy | 10.13 | slim's
ray davies | 10.16 | warfield
bjˆrk | 10.17 | paramount -oak
quasi | 10.17 | gamh
st germain | 10.18 | warfield
the waterboys | 10.18 | fillmore
jon spencer blues explosion | 10.19 |bimbo's
dirty dozen brass band | 10.20 | justice league
all tomorrow's parties |10.19-21 | ucla campus
the breeders | 10.23-24 | slim's
travis | 10.25 | warfield
oysterhead | 10.26 | greek theater - berk
pernice bros | 11.1 | BotH also 11.2 at starry plough in berkeley
jane siberry | 12.9 | gamh