All of December has been amaizng - but the first week was totally epic.
Love of Everything - recording at a real studio!
look how much fun we're having
Then we got to play at the Empty Bottle with my favourite band of 2009 The Dutchess and The Duke This show was exactly 10 years and a day to Bobby's first Love of Everything show!
last song of the night featured me playing tennis balls - mind blowing
Also, I did a photoshoot for Time Out Chicago - I got to eat all this food!!!
Hand Model
The recording went so well! It was major fun working with Neil and we had some awesome friends come in and help out with some songs. We also managed to record and mix 11 songs in 2 and a half days!! So efficient :)
I'll post some more stuff about the new album very very soon.
Top Metal Sabbath of the Year [Me·tal (ˈmɛtəl) the genre of music Sab·bath (sæbəth) day of rest and worship]
Traditional way to celebrate - go to Kuma's!!
Eating High on Fire while listening to Pantera
then Opera Box seats for GWAR!
Oderus and Obama pre-decapitation
me in the moshpit trying to take a photo with a ziplock bag over my camera
those who stayed safe
covered in blood and alien jizz - love it
After the show I took Andy home and then on the way to return Ashleigh to her house we stopped by the store to buy some Komboocha. That's when I saw my face in fluorescent lights and realized that the fake blood/green shit had dyed my skin!! I looked seriously diseased.
All in all I really need to go to more metal shows.
It's not my ideal way to see No Age play...in fact it's probably the exact opposite of how I want to see them. However, I'm not complaining that I got to see Dean and Randy again AND that they got to open for the Pixies!!!!!
The Aragon
No Age is so tiny on this huge stage
3 of the best dudes ever!
Debaser!
the whole VIP section was friends
Pixies Rule!
me in the backstage stealing beers and being vain
True Story: Bobby reaches into a sink to grab a bowl full of mystery white with a giant spoon in it and starts eating it! Luckily it was just hand whipped whipcream - yum!
This was such a fun night! No Age is totally my favourite band and even though the sound wasn't the best it didn't really matter it was still totally awesome.
Seeing the Pixies was kinda epic. They played some b-sides then ran through all of Doolittle which is Bobby's favourite album. The whole place was full of people singing every word to every song. I rarely get to experience that. Fucking Amazing.
With the exception of the 40 degree weather, yesterday felt a lot like summer. In one night Bobby and I managed to successfully see 3 totally amazing shows.
First stop: The House of Blues to see our friend P.O.S from Minneapolis. I actually can't remember the last time I saw Stef preform, no wait that's a lie last year he came to Chicago with his hardcore band Building Better Bombs, who fucking rule. But last night was a major reminder how fucking awesome he is on his own.
Proof - this music video is the BEST music video (well, after the Mannequin Men Video) and it's also a fucking amazing song.
After that we took the train back to our neighbourhood to see Mannequin Men's alter ego Thee Hardy Mums at a free show in a tiny/kinda fancy bar. They totally get better every time they play so rad.
Somehow timing worked out perfectly and we ran around the corner to catch almost all of A.V Murder's set. They are quickly becoming my favourite thing to see in Chicago. They put on a total balls out show, which unfortunately resulted in Jim smashing his face on a mic and possibly ruining his face. Hope your teeth stay in buddy :)
For real - this was the best song they played and probably the reason that 90% of the crowd had ever heard of this band. I'm rarely negative about anything, but maybe I was just so stoked for this show that I was expecting something much more awesome.
Halloween is by far the best day of the year (well I guess our wedding anniversary is now a close second) but it was extra special this year because Ponys got together to play their first show together in 2 years!!
The Ponys hold an extra special place in my heart because I met Bobby at their show in Vancouver in 2007. Also they are 4 of the nicest people I could ask to be friends with :)
Beth and Sean always kill it on Halloween - perfect Gatekeeper and Key Master
Laura and Kevin looked totally awesome
The costume that made me laugh the hardest goes to Joanna as Matt Williams
The return of SPARKLE DOG and his new friend Scooby Doo
Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen looked fucking perfect
This costume is more of an inside joke - All the male staff of the Empty Bottle dressed up as Bob Johnson, the best door guy ever, and this is a specific "drunk bob on halloween" costume
My favorite costume of the night - TEENWOLF!
And my flawless Lady Gaga costume - if only people knew who I was supposed to be....
Even The Ponys dressed up - all as classic wrestlers, Jered was a rad Ultimate Warrior and I have no idea who Melissa was supposed to be but she was totally hot in a zebra bodysuit.
The show was epic, the band was fucking amazing, and the whole place was full of friends in killer costumes. There was a high percentage of home made and creative costumes which might be the best part of this whole recession. I only wish there were more holidays that involved candy and dressing up.
Linoleum Stickin' in my Eye Perfect Government Mattersville new song The Brews Seeing Double at The Triple rock Reeko another new one...maybe. I forgot to keep track of the new ones Fuck the Kids The Man I Killed Soul Doubt Franco Un-American Liza and Louise ..getting my hopes up about playing The Decline Seperation of Church and Skate kill all the white man
Encore of a Broadway musical style song about racism - for real
Ok, so maybe that's not really the set list, but those are the songs that I texted Ashleigh and after each one I wrote "I'm sorry I'll stop now" but then they'd play something else and I'd lose my mind and text her again.
Also, before this glorious moment Bobby and I went to Schuba's to see Japandroids who fucking killed it. Totally stoked that these guys are selling out shows :)
Then Bobby ditched me for the Metro to see Dead Milkmen, which was the best day of his life and I went to the Congress to see Nofx for the best day of my life!!
The night was split and ended (for me) with the purchase of a 7inch
Bobby went to Schubas to see Dave from Maps and Atlases other band Cast Spells, then ran to the Hideout to see one of my favorite local bands Disappears who, as always, fucking killed it.
I stayed in the neighbourhood so I could finally see The Subjects. Last time they were in town was Canada Day and I couldn't leave the party/the scheming against Nora Dunn so they came over to my house after the show. Raddest dudes, but also a fucking tight band.
Bought the brand new 7 inch which is the greatest thing on earth.
It's October 1st already and I haven't had one thing to post for an entire month?
That can't be true, I blame laziness. Here's a recap of all that was awesome in September.
(totally rad sunshine by me)
We had Sunshine - and that was awesome!
Infact a lot of days in September were way better than all of summer
(photo by me)
see - look at the fucking beach
(photo by Mahmood)
I also got to go to my first White Sox game!
(sexy photo by Derek Walker)
Vacations played a fucking awesome show - every time they play they get even better. So much fun!
(rad photo by me)
Got to see a lot of friends at the Beat Kitchen for Owen and even made 2 new ones. I manged to interrupt the show to get Mike to ask if Melody was in the crowd, but then I couldn't see her and like a bunch of people raised their hands, then I looked like a fool. Oh well, the show was great as always.
New Owen video with Bobby and I + my 2 new friends Dan and Lindsay :)
(great photo by John Sturdy)
A couple days later at the Empty Bottle was local sweethearts Old Fake opening for Wavves
(pretty good photo by John Sturdy)
Wavves - Nathan Williams with Zach Hill on drums
best description of the show goes to Jason Stoops, 'serious gap in skillz'
(awesome photo by John Sturdy)
Next night, a totally sold out free Monday at the bottle for Davila 666 and these kids Smith Westerns. They totally ruled, but I was exhausted and didn't stick around for Davila, sorry dudes, I missed you back in July too.
(stolen photo by Tommy Au)
Almost had to go toThese Arms Are Snakesalone, but luckily found a friend who 'didn't hate them'
Not going to lie, I fucking LOVE seeing Steve's skinny, sweaty body jump onto a crowd of screaming 17 year olds.
(this photo was stolen off flickr and actually taken in Vancouver, I gotta start bringing my camera to shows again)
(photo by me)
ever heard ofDeath?
If not, get into it.
(iphone photo by Hannah Adams)
The last weekend of September was full of awesome shit I didn't get to do because I had to work. However, Bobby got to see Beach House/hang out with Beth, see The Oh Sees and went to see Danny do stand-up finally.
But on Monday something even more awesome happened: Bobby and I got to play a show!!
It's been almost an entire year since we played together in Chicago and I must say that it was about 10,000,000,000 times better!!!
I'm going to make a serious effort to update more in October..and maybe even convince Bobby to post something as well.
I feel like I've been waiting months for this music video to make it's way to the internet! This is, without exaggeration, the best thing I've ever seen :)
This song is off Lose Your Illusion, Too and has definitely been stuck on repeat for the past few months (due to a stolen promo copy out of the flameshovel office) do yourself a favor and get to know this band.
Almost 2 years ago I came to Chicago for the very first time - and within hours of getting off the plane I met Radley.
Most notable family member of the Empty Bottle and favorite feline. At the estimated age of 19 Radley had experienced more than some humans, had more friends than I ever will and saw some seriously awesome shows.
