Ciao!: At the Rocket

At the Rocket

03.14.2005

Last night's show at The Rocket Star was just the kind of break I needed. Pas/Cal was a lot of fun, w/ their over-the-top SoCal popstyle. And the openers were an eclectic mix: the ever-improving (they were fantastic to begin w/) Bridge Over River Qua; the groovy, soulful fun of Kelly Caldwell (ex Saturday Looks Good To Me) w/ her special guest Betty (current Saturday Looks Good To Me singer); and the child-like playfulness of The Claire Wood & Annette Merva All State High School Sitting Band.

Also, I've come up w/ a great idea for an incredibly fun concept band: A multi-person iPod dancing band. Imagine a half-dozen people w/ iPods plugged into a PA system, each iPod loaded w/ mixes & loops, each person syncronized to start a specific mix/loop at a set time. All while up on stage just dancing like nobody's business. No fancy MOOGs or other equipment. Just the play/pause & back/forward wheel on the iPod, switching from track to track as necessary. It's only a matter of time. Who's in?

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ADDENDUM: This is probably more embarrassing than anything else, but I've uploaded three Morgan tracks. Morgan was the band Corine & I formed our junior year of undergrad (and it lasted almost exactly a year). This is a single-take, live recording in a basement. So it's crap, especially since it's a ten-years-later digitized copy of a copy of a copy. You may have to turn up the volume quite a bit, and you can't really make out the bass at all. The songs are: G.A., Ghost Train, and Charlie Brown. Still, that's me on a vintage Ibanez solid body.

Posted by Miguel at 07:05 PM

Comments

These tracks sound incredibly familiar...is this the tape I transfered for you?

I'll be interested to see the results of the ipod band :)

Posted by: josh at March 15, 2005 12:07 AM

Yes, I should've stated that these were the tracks Josh Upson transferred for me from cassette to mp3. Thanks again, btw.

Oh, and I'm quite serious about the iPod concept band. I plan to work on it this summer, recruiting people, rehearsing, and perhaps putting on at least one show. Feel free to give some creative imput (e.g. Gameboy noises).

Posted by: Miguel at March 15, 2005 12:40 AM

Okay. Haven't lsitened to G.A. (what does that stand for?).

Charlie Brown sounds good. I like it.

Posted by: Stephanie at March 15, 2005 01:14 AM

G.A. stands for "graudate assistant". Corine had a crush on a graduate assistant; he turned out to be a jerk.

To the best of my recollection, these are the lyrics:

I've been watching you
like a grey memory
like no one in your 23 years
had any sympathy
I've got one feeling for you
it's tired eyes
a faded smile
a little empathy

So even if I'm shining
you can't see the light
behind my broken style
and I hardly know you
though I tried to for a while
in your superficial social life
and even if I'm shining
you can't see the light

I can feel it in your eyes
knowing what you do
you say you're busy
and I've some respect for you
but East Coast will never be
something that's a part of me
this time so sad and far from you
I'm leaving no trace for you

And even if I'm shining
you can't see the light ...

Posted by: Miguel at March 15, 2005 01:24 AM

I liked the tracks. Unrefined, yes, but likably familiar. Reminded me of some of the bands of the time: Belly, Lush, Elastica, a wee bit of The London Suede, Pulp, Moose. Definitely similar to Juliana Hatfield.

Ahh. Sweet musical memories.

Posted by: tom at March 15, 2005 03:28 PM

Yeah, we were pretty much the only non-grunge college rock band in Mount Pleasant at the time (not that Mount Pleasant, MI, ever had a large "scene"). But it was 1996, before indie pop/rock made a comeback, saving us from the excesses of grunge.

But, yeah, totally unrefined recordings. Makes me sad; I wish I had a decent recording of us. But we ended up just breaking up the band 'cause Corine & I wanted to focus on school our senior year.

Oh, and the other members where Rick (drums) & Evie (bass).

Posted by: Miguel at March 15, 2005 04:18 PM

good stuff. I didn't realize you were so musical. Miguel=never ceasing to amaze

Posted by: Erin M at March 15, 2005 08:29 PM