Spring Fever

...more like Dawes fever!

Hello Hello, lots to update on tonight...
On the 3rd I saw Middle Brother at The Independent with Blake Mills (and The Botticellis) opening. Needless to say, I was kind of freaking out.
Blake's set was brilliant! Danielle Haim was on drums and Taylor Goldsmith sat in on bass for most of the set. It was so neat to see them play together. I know they've been friends forever and their chemistry is obvious. "Wintersong" is my favorite and I was so excited to hear it live. I wish there was some footage of the set but a few pictures will just have to do.

Photo by Jay Blakesberg

Then it was time for Middle Brother! Everything sounded great and they performed every song on the album. They just have a ton of fun with each other. Matt ran from mic to mic during a song, John was dressed like a hippie after he claimed to have ventured to Haight & Ashbury during the day, and at one point Matt carried John offstage so Taylor could perform a song. They were joined onstage by Griffin Goldsmith on drums, Wylie Gelber on bass for some songs, and of course Blake Mills. Jonny Corndawg was missed but not forgotten. They evening was perfectly wrapped up with Matt Vasquez, acoustic, on the sidewalk of Divisadero St. I heard him do "Lovers Waltz" by AA Bondy and then "Trashcan" by Delta Spirit. So much fun but made me really antsy for some new Dawes and Delta Spirit.

Which leads me to this amazing news...
New Dawes album "Nothing Is Wrong" is set to be released on June 7th!

 

I could go on about the new album for days so I'll restrain myself tonight.

Continuing on the music theme I got The Head and The Heart's album this week. I was hoping to see them Wednesday but the show sold out before I got my act together. So sad... Next time maybe?!
Dillon and I went to see Young the Giant at Slim's on Friday. That was good times. Strange Birds and Man In Space opened. Strange Birds are from southern CA and are good friends, if not related to, the guys in Young the Giant. Man In Space is a local group who are mostly ex-members of Dizzy Balloon. Their set was great. You can tell they know what they're doing. Their music is just really fun and has a unique funk/pop/hip-hop sound. I got their, I guess it's an EP. Listen to it here!
Now, this was my 3rd time seeing Young the Giant. The first time they played to about 40 of us while a rave was going on in the other, larger, room. The second time was at The Rickshaw Stop to a decent but comfortable crowd. This was little more crazy. I felt like one of the older folks in the audience. People were pushing and fighting their way to the front. Super rude and annoying. Just tried to not trip off it and enjoy the show. As you can see, by the last song craziness ensued. Caught my first stage dive ;)


This post is taking me forever to put together but I have to at least tell you about Travis' Birthday. The little man is 2 now! Ashley had his party at Howarth Park and he loved it. Every time the whistle on the train would blow he would stop, and his eyes would get all big, and he'd grab the nearest person and try to run to the train. So cute! James and his mom and aunt came. Candy, Vicki and Matthew came. Also, some of Ashley's friends including Matilda and her dad. They watch Travis every Tuesday so it was nice to finally meet them. Lots of toys, cake and the park. Mother Nature was on our side and gave us some sun too!

I still feel like there are things I'm leaving out but this will just have to do for tonight! Hope you had a Happy Easter!

Valentine's Day and Some Extras

Why, hello there!
I feel like I have lots to say but no patience to sit here and write about it.
I've been reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels a lot recently. (Thanks Crystal!) I got into the show True Blood last year and so I was really curious about how the books were the same/different. I just started book 8 out of 9. I haven't read this much in forever.
Sunday is Valentine's Day. I made Valentines this year for my family.

I was feeling creative until about half was through them. My V-day date is Nicole this year. She is here in Windsor while Anthony is in DC. I doubt he minds missing this holiday but me and Nicole will have a decent time. Unfortunately I have to babysit Travis that night so it's going to get cut a little short.
I saw Young the Giant in Santa Cruz on Jan. 29th. That was good times! It was kind of spur of the moment. I went with Matt and we drove down there but it was totally raining. There was this long line because some kind of rave was going on in another part of the place. We waited in line surround by a bunch of annoying kids in the pouring rain. Once we got inside, completely soaked, I quickly noticed we were one of the first people there. There was a group of guys standing around a pizza box and I realized those were the bands. I the Mighty opened and more people came. All in all there must have been like 30 people there. Young the Giant came on and did a ton of new stuff which all sounded so great. They are a talented bunch of guys and a ton of fun to watch live. I'm really excited for their first LP.

I've really been enjoying my new iphone (That's where these two photos came from). I thought it broke today but apparently I'm just not so smart sometimes. I wasn't paying attention and let the battery die I guess. I still think something else went wrong because I just charged it yesterday afternoon, so I'm going to keep an eye on it. Hopefully nothing else happens.

Well that's all for now. (This post only took me forever and a day to finish.) Happy Valentine's Day!