Summer Camp (Part III)

Sunday did not have a whole lot going on during the day. So when 3:00 pm rolled around we headed over to the Sunshine Stage for Umphrey's to play an acoustic set. It was pretty awesome. I got to hear songs I have never heard before and then others that I have never heard acoustic versions of. It killed. Here is a little taste of an acoustic Prowler:



The whole set was really solid even though, being in the second 'row' i could not see Brendan at all. Boo-urns. Here is the whole set:

One Set
Hangover, Prowler > Resolution* -> Professor Wormbog, That's the Way^, Ride On Pony^, FF -> #Search 4, August

Notes
Sunshine Stage
Brendan and Jake on acoustic guitars
* with A Go Go teases
^ with Mike Rackey on steel pedal guitar
# with Dead or Alive tease

After that we met Jess and Zach over at the main stage to see Medeski, Scofield, Martin, and Wood. It was decent. I am not a huge fan. I did have fun just chilling, listening to music, smoking a little something, and drinking some margaritas. When that ended, we stuck around for moe.'s first set. We then headed over to see Willie Nelson. I stayed waaaaay to long there. It was slightly boring and started to get a little chilly. On the upshot, the sunset was beautiful.

After leaving that, we changed clothes into something warmer and sat at moe.'s last set of the weekend and waited for "things to kick in." It took a long while but eventually did. We were trying our hardest to get into the late night show at the Red Barn (which costed $125 extra, psh). Jess had an extra wristband so we were going to try the old 'don't latch and pull the switcheroo.' It didn't work. SVG tried first and they immediately took it from him and threw it away. Luckily, Zach's friends had gotten a laminent which was all access. So we met up with them outside the Barn and pulled the switcheroo. Hurrah! Free music! The late night show was sick. It started with the Easy Star All Stars (featuring Andy, Kris, and Ryan of UM) playing a reggae cover of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. It was so awesome to watch. After them EOTO came out and rocked my face off. Who knew two guys from String Cheese Incident could rock so electronically?!? Not I. After they left the stage Bassnectar came out. Once he started, I never once stopped dancing. It was really awesome. The whole late night set, I was really talkative, but no one would talk to me. So I basicaly talked to everyone else around me. Nice people. After that, around 4 am, the night/morning wound down and we hit the hay. Waking up was very bittersweet. The weekend was over and all I had was 60 some odd pictures and a brain full of memories. This was by far the best festival I have ever gone to and I can't wait for next year. Summer Camp 2010!!

GOERG out.

Summer Camp (Part II)

The second day, Saturday, started early around 10 am-ish. The sun was beating down super hot on our tent and I could stay asleep any longer. SVG and I woke up and pretty much went right to Jess' tent to cool our asses off. After putzing around all morning, I headed to the Port-O-John and, like a moth to a flame, I was distracted by the funky jams coming from the Sunshine Stage. I zombie-like walked over there and stood and listened to a good 35 minutes of a band the Family Groove Company. It was so funky and awesome. I was immediately a fan. The second song I saw them play was The Beatles' "Blackbird." It was awesome. Later they brought out Allie Kral from Cornmeal and played "Bennie and the Jets." It rocked. I didn't know anything else by them, but I loved every minute of it. The next band on the stage was Cornmeal so I stuck around. It was pretty decent and very folky rock. SVG and I lost some interest in it and went to meeet Jess and Zach over at the Campfire Stage to see Brainchild. They were killer. They had an early, unpolished UM feel to them. Apparently, they cover UM songs from time to time, whcih is unheard to me! The had this hilarious song, "Moon Party Dance Party." Some lyrics were: 'You have Keith Moon, we have Keith Earth. You have Looney Tunes, we have lunar tunes.' And in the middle of the song they played the Sesame Street theme and the Fraggle Rock (!) theme. Sweet new band. After that set, we shot over to U-Melt who was also very good. Their cover was Zappa's "Dancing Fool." I can definitely see myself listening to more of them. We only caught a mere one or two songs of Les Claypool before we went to wait for Umphrey's. Slight disappointment. But oh well.

The main event: Umphrey's began playing around 7 pm. The first set was pretty good. There was a nice sit in from Claypool himself in a monkey mask on Mulche's Odyssey on the whamola (it's like a stand up bass, kinda, look it up).

But the second set was the effin shit. The set break was quiet as everyone went to go see moe. play. Fuck that. We smizzed a bizz with some dude in front of us. This guy literally pass out from exhaustion during BOTH UM shows. And I was right by him both times. Scary shit. I thought he died. As the sun set by the stage, anticipation crept in. I started to get super antzy. We met this awesome girl who gave us glowsticks and a pot caramel. Delicious and sticky. There was also some awesome dude with a milk carton mask who was just my same sense of humor. Good dude. Did I mention I was tripping my balls off the entire time? Anyways, the music began with a sick 1348 (or was it 3x? hehe) followed by Triple Wide (really) and a The Floor that was off the charts. Felix Pastorious came out and dazzled the whole crowd with his boss bass during Bright Lights. A huge hightlight of this set was the fact that fire works were going off during 1348, Miss Tinkle's, and Wizard Burial Ground. It was sick!

After that sick shit happened, we went to moe. for a few songs and wandered and hung out with Jess for a bit, only to eventually catch the last part of moe.'s set which was pretty good. They are no UM though. Here is the whole set, if you care:

Set One
2nd Self, Spires > JaJunk, Tribute to the Spinal Shaft > Red Tape, Mulche's Odyssey^

Set Two
1348$, The Triple Wide, The Floor, Bright Lights^^, Sad But True / Clint Eastwood, Miss Tinkle's Overture$

Encore
Cemetery Walk > Wizard Burial Ground$

Notes
Sunshine Stage
^ with Les Claypool on whamola
$ with fireworks
^^ with Felix Pastorious replacing Ryan on bass

(Sweet wax covered shopping carts at night)

Well, one day left.

GOERG out.

Summer Camp (Part I)

Well, SVG and I have been back from Summer Camp for a couple weeks now and I am finallt getting around to posting this:

We started our trip on Friday at 1 AM. We left the apartment and headed out onto the long dusty trail. It took us a good 6 hours or so to get there (thank gods for GPS). We pulled into the campsite around 7 am or so (their time) and pace around the campground until we figured out what to do. No one told us where to go or where to camp...or even where to park! So we hoisted all of our shit onto our backs and made the trek into the park. After settling on a spot just outside of the tree line. It quickly became blistering hot under the May sun. I, being the moron that I am, fell asleep for almost 2.5 hours in the hot sun...which eventually burned my skin. Ouch! At one point, this guy, Drew, who I always run into at UM shows, found me sleeping and took a picture of us. The picture is below. I barely woke up for it. He ended up being camped right behind us.

After waking up around noon or noon-thirty. Claudio and I made our way over to moe. It was, not surprisingly, boring. We only stayed for about a half hour before bouncing. We spent a good chunk of the day avoiding the sun over at Zach and Jess' shaded campsite. At 4 pm, we went to see Dark Star Orchestra...which also sucked. Finally, 6 pm rolled around and we mad our way to the Moonshine Stage for Buckethead. He was so awesome. It was him and an iPod and he still captivated the entire audience. Very awesome showman! Here is a little "Jordan":


Umphrey's was playing at the same stage after Buckethead so SVG and I ate some fungi sandwiches and hung out near the front row for them to start. Needless to say, UM fuckin rocked. The entire show was filled with jamming and they really tore it up. The opener to the 2nd set was The Who's "Baba O'Riley" which they brought out a fiddler Allison Kral, from Cornmeal. She is smokin' hot, IMO.

It was so awesome. The rest of the show rocked. Highlights from UM's set: Ocean Billy, jammed out Turn & Run, 11 and a half minute long Smell The Mitten (complete with killer bass action), and the huge fleshed Bridgeless. The entire setlist is below. After UM, we just walked around finishing off our trips. We went to some disco and I bought a beer, but nothing special. Rockin' first day!

Set One
40's Theme, Turn & Run > "Jimmy Stewart" > Turn & Run, Ocean Billy -> The Bottom Half, Mail Package, Last Man Swerving -> Believe the Lie

Set Two
Baba O'Riley^, Nothing Too Fancy > Ocean Billy, Smell the Mitten > Much Obliged, Cemetary Walk II, Bridgeless* > Nothing Too Fancy

Encore
#Soul Food I > Preamble > Mantis

Notes
Moonshine Stage
^ with Allie Kral (Cornmeal) on violin
* with Xxplosive jam
# with Partyin' Peeps tease

Summer Camp Pre-Post

Well, SVG and I are back from Summer Camp and we have many stories to tell. Unfortunately, they need to be accompanied by some video and pictures. So once I get all of those thing off my camera (Hock, I need you!), a substantial post will be made.

UM rocked my fucking face off!

GOERG out

Thirteen 40 Ate

Let's begin with a familiar voice giving his love



Ending complete with seizure inducing lights!

Umphreakin'

Umphrey's McGee! That's right, another UM post. Hock, Claudio, and I just went see Umphrey's in South Bend, IN and it was fuckin' sweet!

Pre-show: We set out at roughly 3:30 and got there in no time. It took about 2.5 hours. We found a parking spot in a lot right next to the venue....for only $5. Killer. We wandered a little ways down the main street until we thought, "let's just grab a few drinks right next door to the Morris." and we did. Hock and I downed a few brews and SVG suckled his (excessively strong) Long Island. We moseyed the fifty feet to the venue with an hour until the band was slated to start. So we grabbed another beer in the lobby (and another one eventually). I managed to embarrass myself like 3 times in only ten minutes, for instance:

Woman doing a raffle for UM poster: "Wanna win this poster?"
Me: "I wanna win this poster"
Woman: "Five dollars to enter"
Me: "I don't wanna win this poster"
Woman: "No Freebies"

...or me trying to bring a beer into the venue, when it was obviously a dry venue. I suck. So we got to our rockin' seats in the Upper level two rows from the rail. And the show began:

Set I: Glory>2x2, Wappy Sprayberry>Soul Food I*>White Man's Moccasins, Birthday^, End of the Road>Much Obliged>Hajimemeashite>1348

Set notes: They kept the set on the slow side except for when they needed to RAWK. The Wappy was sick. They played The Beatles' Birthday (with an old Ali Baba's Tahini member on drums) for the first time in like almost 1100 shows. Lucky us! Highlight: Sould Food I (my first!)

Set II: JaJunk>Cemetery Walk>JaJunk, Partyin' Peeps, Cemetery Walk II, Ringo$>Eminence Front>&Ringo, Preamble>Mantis

E: All in Time

(*So What teases, ^with Steve Kronjniewski on drums, $My Name is Mud teases, &Eminence Front teases)

Set notes: JaJunk with CW1 in the middle is crazy awesome and they really killed The Who's Eminence Front. Even after they went back into Ringo, Joel was still rockin' some EFront teases, it was pretty tyte. I wish the encore would've been something else, since I have seen AIT so many times, but the version they did was pushing 20 minutes and really let loose on some good jams (despite Jake's malfunctioning guitar cord).

All in all, it was a very boss experience.

GOERG out.

Umphreekend!

::This is the attempt at a recounting of the days dated March 12-14, 2009, in which I, and others, saw Umphrey's McGee 3 times at Royal Oak Music Theatre, and two nights at the Murat Egyptian Room in Indianapolis::

Now with two full UM weekends under my belt, I would have to say that there is no way in hell that anything can top it. This past weekend, Claudio and I drove from Okemos to Rochester to Royal Oak to Rochester then to Okemos then to Bloomington then to Indianapolis then to Bloomington then to Indianapolis then to Okemos. A lot of back tracking (my arch nemesis)! It would be almost impossible to recount this entire weekend by going straight through it. So I will split it up into categories: Music, drugs, road trip, friends.

Road Trip: The traveling to and from Indiana was about 18 hours total. This included the driving to and from Indianapolis from Bloomington twice (an hour and half drive). Thankfully, the ride down to Indiana was easy-peasy (lemon-squeezy) due to the rockin' UM tunes and the copious amounts of pot. Since Scott and I had to work on Sunday morning, after the show on Saturday night, we left right from the venue and accidentally stayed on the wrong highway for too long and ended up adding an extra 30-45 minutes. Boo that.

Friends: Along this journey, there were many friends. Besides me and my P.I.C.S.V.G, we met up with Jessie Francis, Pat O'Brien, and their friend Sarah at the Royal Oak show. It was sweet! It was the first UM show for all three of them. Frankly, they got a damn good show. For the next nights of rockin', JCottonmouth was hanging and tripping with us all day and night. It is always Glory-ous to see him. Jessy and Zach were also at the Murat shows, but we were not with them very much.

Drugs: As previously mentioned, Claudio and I picked up quite the large amount of [ommitted]. It was the perfect amount to keep us comfortably smizzing all weekend, including the end of the road trip. At the Royal Oak show, I did have a few beers and smizzed a couple bizzes, but was pretty much sober by the end of the first set. But on SATURDAY, Claudio, JC, and I decided to slip into another dimesnsion and eat some fungi. After THAT amazing experience, we asked ourselves the very important question...Do you want to do it again the next day? And we said yes. So as far as drugs stood, the weekend was a blur.

Music: This is the most important part of the weekend. The other things did make the weekend better, but the shows were off the chain!

a.) Royal Oak Music Theatre: We got to hear a couple of the Mantis tracks the first night, but nothing out of this world. Made to Measure did have a kind of jammed ending. The 2x2 is super extended and fleshed out and the Phil's Farm is banging, definitely highlights. And finally, my first Utopian Fir! It took 25 shows for me to see one of my favorite tracks. Rock!

b.) Murat Egyptian Room (1st Night): Opening with a strong Mantis track like Spires was a good idea and then they kept up the energy. The covers at this show were crazy awesome. They played Wings' Let 'Em In and a Thriller / Another Brick in the Wall mash-up. Killer stuff! I think my favorite part of this show was the Cemetery Walk II that went on for nearly 13 minutes. I could only describe what I was seeing as "light and sound being splashed around on stage." I really hope they play 2nd Self!

c.) Murat Egyptian Room (2nd Night): Hurt Bird Bath as an opening song was the coolest fucking thing ever. The lights were on point, the jams were tight and loose at the same time (somehow), and it all came together perfectly. During one of their jams, Nick Blasky came out on stage and conducted UM's jam. He would cut instruments, quicken the tempo, or even change the music style completely. It was hilarious! There is a tie for my two favorite songs of the night: 1348 and The Floor. Both of these songs really allowed me to let my long hair fly.

So I guess I am done rambling and bragging about my awesome weekend. I hope every is having a happy St. Patty's Day.

GOERG out.

PS: I am at 46 movies! So close!

Mantis has arrived

Umphrey's McGee just released their newest studio album, Mantis!

I have been awaiting Mantis for quite some time now. I didn’t know how it would fare, given that it is entirely new material, never heard before. One of my favorite things about UM albums is the quirkiness of the recordings. The questions like: (a) How is Bayliss going to decide what lyrics to keep? (b) What are they going to add or take away and save for the jam-times? etc etc. Even if the album isn’t the best, all of the bonus material should more than make up for it. :) Here is Mantis:

Track 1: "Made to Measure"
The opening to Mantis is the first single. I'm not a big fan of this. I've always liked when a single is buried. I was at the show when this song was first played, but, alas, I was shitting. Okay enough other crap, the music: a very catchy song that has an air of cabaret type backing the vocals. It has classic UM vocal arrangements and even a clarinet breakdown. Very good, but not rockin' start. B+

Track 2: "Preamble"
Preamble as track 2? Not cool. Not really a song though. It just has some light piano probably from Joel Nathanial Cummins.

Track 3: "Mantis"
This song clocks in at an amazing 11 minutes and 51 seconds. It takes the listener on an audio roller coaster from the very get-go. The vocals are surprisingly bitter sweet as they begin: "We believe that something here is worth dying for." The lyrics have a biting cynicism to them, where Bayliss talks mostly in the past tense. After the verses, it spirals down to a dark minimal area (where they will probably put a jam when live). Some more vocals come in onto which they build up an almost march, then capping that section with a Pink-Floydian solo atop a driving beat, fading into the last moments of the track. It is everything a UM fan could ask for in a title track. A

Track 4: “Cemetery Walk”
This is one of my favorites from the album. It starts with a subdued piano intro and kicks it right into the upbeat catchy verses. The second verse of this song has the lyric that spawned the artist to come up with the album cover. “It’s not a cage if you’re feeling like a resident.” The choruses take the song into a nice slower pace, but only for a short time before the rock into some fast solos. The second half of this song is where I can see the title “Cemetery Walk.” It is very haunting.

Track 5: “Cemetery Walk II”
I can’t help but think that think that this is the song that Andy Farag (the percussionist and beat guru) had the biggest hand in. It lays one of Joel’s piano parts from “Cemetery Walk” and puts some funky fresh beats on it. I like it a lot.

Track 6: “Turn & Run”
The song has a taste of country in it. It provides a jam with a little Southern twang to it. It has a nice refrain with some angelic backing vocals as well. This song has one of my favorite solos on the album. Right after the verse-chorus-verse-chorus thing they do, it starts to break down a little bit and the solo that rocks sounds like it is being played on a very small amp in a basement…and then the solo continues for a few minutes until the song fades out.

Track 7: “Spires”
My proudest UM fan moment on this record is the fact that I saw the verse of this song when it was being created in the form of a “Jimmy Stewart” with lyrics at Chicago’s Navy Pier in August of ’06. The song is pretty awesome and has some nice tandem guitar work near the middle of the song only to blast the listener right back into the rockin’ riff (added pinch harmonics). Where the radio edit of the song would stop (about 5 minutes in), a soaring vocal arrangement comes in and lulls us out of the song which had started so tough and gritty.

Track 8: “Prophecy Now”
Unfortunately, I would say this is my least favorite song on the album. It is slowly and dragging. It has a weird and interesting melody. It seems like it is the only lyrics that Jake wrote that made it onto the album.

Track 9: “Red Tape”
“Red Tape” begins with a riff straight out of the 80’s, but with a UM flare. The middle of this song reminds me of Frank Zappa. It has the offbeat going for it with a synthesizer over it. Very cool. The final solo in this song has the best start. I don’t really know how to explain it but it begins with a pizzicato (sp?) strum of the strings and, uh, listen to it. Plus, this song is another example of a song that just fades out. They aren’t going to do that live, so why don’t they end it on the album?

Track 10: “1348”
This is the best track on the album by far. From start to finish it delivers. It is definitely on the more prog-rock side of things. Maybe a little King Crimson-esque. It reminds me of the days of UM with Andy’s Last Beer and even JaJunk. The song has an metallic feel about a lot of parts. It has a killer riff-hook, pretty unique lyrics, and a driving aura about it. Give it a listen and eargasm. Perfect end to the disc.

After listening to this album many many many times over, I have concluded this to ROCK! It unfortunately has a severe lack of instrumental tracks, but Bayliss does not disappoint with his lyric mastery. Anyone who is anyone should buy this album (to support music) and give it the old radio-in-the-car test or the headphones-at-home test or find your favorite stereo and blow the lid off. Have fun kids.

This Blogger Says...

Favorite:
10 - 1348

followed closely by:
4 - Cemetery Walk

thoughts?

My New Year's Eve Eve

I started off my day by driving to a nearby town to drop off Gilmour to my mom so he will be taken care of while I am off having the time of my life. I impatiently wait around for JCottonmouth's call. His car took forever to get fine-tuned. But sooner or later, it was done and he was off. I swung by the trusty 711 for some peanut butter and bread for the "snacks" later. I hit the road with some Umphrey's blaring and headed towards Hammond, IN.

The car ride was easy and uneventful. I arrived about 2o minutes after JCottonmouth (JC) did. It should have been sooner, but, of course, I took a wrong turn at the very last moments of the trip. Psh. I pulled my shiznit out of the car and hauled my ass into Room 240. JC and I 'relaxed' for a bit and then set on to Chicago! Fast forward 45 minutes!

We get to a parking garage in Chicago and eat a couple sandwiches (I think they were moldy, wink). I grabbed the tickets and we head toward the streets. We get lost a little walking but we eventually find the right path....and panic! I can't find the tickets! I must have dropped them somewhere along the way. Self-loathingly and trudgingly we head back to the car to look for them. We decided to go to the show and buy tickets and suddenly, JC has a great idea. He asked the hotel front desk for help and they knew that there was a FedEx Kinkos right next door. We went there. I sufficiently made an ass of myself in there. We left. With super speed we walked to the concert.

Unfortunately, the concert was already 30 minutes in when we arrived. (wah wah wah) We still had a rockin' time at the concert. A solid set and a half. Both sets were peppered with new (Wizard Burial Ground, Rocker (Part 2)) and classic (DBK, Ocean Billy, 40s Theme) UMaterial. Each set had some guests: Joshua Redman on Sax (in DBK!) and Stanley Jordan (on Great American!).

After the show, we hiked a mile or two to Reggie's Rock Club to see OTT and Pretty Lights. I do not know much about the DJ style of music, but I dug it. Pretty Lights was a lot more hip hop sounding, but still very dancy. By the time OTT had come on, I was exhaaaaausted. At one point I was falling asleep in the chair in the club (that guy!). The club was a frickin' sweet place with an upstairs viewing area fenced in by pieces of, well, fence. JCottonmouth and I headed back to the car (via a Taxi, this time) and back to our hotel room in Indiana.

We got back in the room and did some more 'relaxing' and talked of the many concert/psychedelic experiences we've had. Good fuckin' day.

My New Year's Eve day began with JC and I parting ways. I then had to occupy 6 hours of time by myself in a town I know nothing about. Great. Needless to say, it was boring as shit. I spent over 1.5 hours inside a KMart and 45 minutes in Best Buy. At one point, I just said, "Fuck it. I'll go see a movie." After turning around many times and asking for directions even more, I found the theatre. I ended up seeing The Spirit.

The Spirit was too ridiculous to be taken seriously. It was a little over the top and over acted, I think. After looking past the visual effects, there isn't much left. The plot was a little weak.

From here on out my day is pretty much the same as Hock's so I will just comment.
-Hock changing over four lanes of traffic was fucking exciting! He nailed it. I couldn;t have done it.
- The seats were high up, but every seat in that house was perfect. JC and I were in the bottom level, back of the theatre, and even there it rocked!
- Nate is the king. He called that UM would play Wappy wrapped around Auld Lang Syne way before the show even started.
- Hock pretty much nailed the feeling of the night. ..."with balloons and confetti and the lights and the ohh my god super-awesomeness."
- UM played "With a Little Help From My Friends" with the mass choir. I nearly shit myself.


Amazing. Every bit of it.

G-O-E-R-G

New Year's Eve with Umphrey's

What a night.

To start my day off, I had to work in Macomb, IL, which is about 4 hours southwest of Chicago, until 2pm then had to book it to Gary, IN to meet up with Goerg. Got there in 3 1/2 hours. Goerg was in a movie, so I waited. I wanted to leave as soon as possible because I didn't know how bad traffic was going to be. Luckily, it wasn't too bad. Even when I missed my exit (in downtown Chicago) when I had to get over 4 lanes, I was still able to make it. Go me! We got to the hotel at around 7. Had to use to hotel's valet service (for 50 fucking dollars)! Check-in was a breeze and the room was probably the best room I've ever stayed in.

So we changed and left for the show. Well, I tried to GPS it on my phone. That didn't work too well. So we walked around for 5 minutes before asking someone for directions. That person told us to get a cab. Fine, that got us there in like 5 minutes. Easy pleasy lemon squeezy.

We were sort of high up, but it wasn't so bad ("I've never been so high for an Umphrey's show"...talk about double entendre). We were able to see the whole stage perfectly, along with the crazy-amazing light show. The guy next to us, Nate (who has seen 45 shows), told us that the light guy was the former guy from moe. It was unbelievable! There were a couple of times when they just flashed a bunch of colors at once and my eyeball/brain connection definitely couldn't comprehend the sheer awesomeness of that effect. They played an awesome cover of "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" with a horn section and a disco themed light show. Again, unbelievable.

I don't know how accurate they were at counting down the new year, but I don't care, because they way they did it was fucking intense. Wappy Sprayberry into Auld Lang Syne back into Wappy Sprayberry with balloons and confetti and lights and oh my god super-awesomeness. They also played a bunch more songs with horns, Koko Taylor, and the Chicago Mass Choir. If I can fanagle it, I'm going again next year. Totally worth it.

I'm sorry for those who couldn't come. I wish you were there, you would have loved it.

After it was over, we met up with Jessy, I picked up the show, we lost Jessy, and took a long, cold, but ultimately entertaining walk back to the hotel. I do wish we found an afterparty, but I still had fun anyways.

My favorites of the night: The techno-y intro into the funky awesomeness of "Nothing Too Fancy," "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough," "With a Little Help from My Friends (w/the Chicago Mass Choir)," and "Much Obliged (with the Closer tease)"

A Look Back at 2008

2008 is almost over, and it definitely has been a mixed bag.

There has been many good things to come out of it. I graduated...finally. Didn't get a job anywhere near my major, BUT I found a job. With these days, that's a great thing. I also found out that I can write off a bunch of stuff and get a huge return on my taxes (not for this year, obviously, but still great nonetheless).

There have been a couple of bad decisions, to say the least. First bad decision of 2008 for me...deciding to lease a car, instead of buying one. When I first got it, it seemed like a good idea. Then I got a job that requires me to travel thousands of miles per month. Now, within 8 months I put on 15,000 miles. Oops. The second bad decision was probably my choice to by a Mac. I don't have any problems with it and it is very fast, BUT everything I need to do on a computer for work involves mostly PC applications. I kinda wish I made that decision after I got the job. I personally don't see what's so good about Macs. They function properly and all, but they have a steep learning curve and I think, overall, I like PCs better. But that's just me. The 3rd one, which is the cheapest (maybe..haha) was allowing this one girl to slip through my fingers.

Oh well. That was 2008. I'm ready for 2009! I'm starting it off right, with a concert (maybe party) in Chicago, with one of my best friends. There could be more people there, but all of you suck.

Hope everyone has a drunk, safe, sex-filled, grape-eating, caber-tossing, pile-driving, beer pong throwing, champagne drinking, money making, drug taking, dance-filled, super-power having, great time on New Years Eve.

Smell Ya Later!

Burcham Reunion

Well, JCottonmouth came to visit for Thanksgiving and we had a Burcham Boys reunion of sorts. Once Hock got home from work (around midnight), we began the usual drinking (slash other stuff) shenanigans. It was great. We played Euchre and listened to Umphrey's. Then after the game, we watched Clone High. Then I went to bed.

This story sucks. I thought I would post this because it is nice having Mark around.

Love, GOERG

Reflections on 23 years.

Well, I have completed my 23rd year of being on this earth as of 8:18 am. Looking back on this year, I have done a lot yet done nothing. I have:

- Moved several times
- Seen Umphrey's McGee at about 7 different shows
- Seen close to 200 new movies (not including ones I have already seen)
- Ended the only real relationship I have ever had
- Schooled for the entire time
- Rose to the position of Head Prep Guy at Gables
- Drove to South Carolina and saw the beautiful states in between
- Went to Lollapalooza
- Saw Brand New in concert
- Found many many new bands
- Lost friends
- Gained friends
- Kept friends
- Continued my pot habit
- Watched about 4 seasons of Gilmore Girls
- Kept up with my shows: Heroes, Always Sunny, South Park, Entourage
- Lived alone for three weeks
- Did some psychedelia
- Re-read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, only to be disappointed by the movie postponement
- Saw Weird Al in concert
- Became a regular at the Alphabet Dinner
- Became a regular at Coral Gables' Monday Night Debauchery
- Have never felt stronger about who I am.

And those are twenty-three things I did in my twenty-third year. Love you guys.

Peace, G-O-E-R-G

Something Extra Special or Nothing Too Fancy

So folks, it is true. I have been to my 23rd Umphrey's McGee show since the glorious band has presented themselves to me in the form of Sweet Sounds Vol. 6. And god damn it, if it doesn't just keep getting better!!

SVG (also known as the mysterious Claudio on the CFuck) and I drove to Kalamazoo to see UM at the beautiful State Theatre. It was an amazing venue: old-timey ceilings and moldings, huge balcony for viewing pleasures, even more seats on the floor (if 'rocking out' isn't your thing), and the standard empty space reserved for general admissions (VIPs in my opinion). SVG and I got there early as a change of pace and stood in line to be let in. After not noticing that there is a separate will-call booth with no line, we finally filed in and got our wristbands and beer (or G&T). We strolled down to the stage and, to my surprise, we had front row seats. Right next to the stage, finally! There was none of that retarded unused space for the bouncers to spot hippie potheads. Just me...touching the stage, where Bayliss would be standing in mere moments. Rock!

There was an opening act. And by opening act, I mean Marsha Stasik. Does that last name ring a bell Umphreaks? (Ryan Stasik is the bass player in UM, for you non-UMers) Stasik's mom did a short 15 minute stand up comedy routine and it wasn't too shabby. Funny stuff making fun of married life, Pony being a stoner in high school, etc. After she ended, the main event came pouring out onto the stage.

They opened up with (the almost predictable) Nothing Too Fancy, jamming out as only they know how to do. But what would Nothing Too Fancy be without it being unfinished (for now) and seguing into a nice little ditty called Push the Pig. Then they played Rocker (Part II) which was a new one to me. It's nice to know that after 23 shows, I am still seeing songs I have never seen before. After a beautiful version of Haji overflowing into the Talking Heads' "Making Flippy Floppy," they ended their set with the second half(?) of Nothing Too Fancy. For those of you keeping score, the set went:

Set I: Nothing Too Fancy > Push the Pig, Rocker (Part II), Hajimemashite > Making Flippy Floppy > Nothing Too Fancy.

It was quite the nice warm-up set.

Set 2 kicked off with a bang when they tore into Miss Tinkle's. They slowed down the jamming and slid nicely into Higgins and then hitting right back into the very end of Miss Tinkle's. They played a very boiled down version of Syncopated Strangers (introduced as "This song is about 12 years old.) The show "ended" with a beautiful sandwich of All in Time with Robot World thrown in. Once again the score:

Set II: Miss Tinkle's Overture > Higgins > Miss Tinkle's Overture, Syncopated Strangers, All in Time > Robot World (with a Stranglehold jam) > All in Time

And finally, the crowd could not be retained anymore as they chanted and yelled for UM to get their asses back on stage because everyone (and I mean everyone) knew they weren't done. They take the stage and kick into two (kinda three) songs I have never seen live and ending with one that I have only seen once.

Encore: The Girl is Mine > Jane Says > The Girl is Mine > Space Funk Booty (very rare) > Believe the Lie

This show was awesome. The jams were solid and the riffs were tight. Kudos, UM. The only disappointment was that some douchebag, who was barely a fan, got Bayliss' setlist and not me. Bullshit.

Great night.....until I got home. I had to pull an all nighter to study for two exams I had the next day. One at 9 am in Advanced Geometry and the other in the afternoon in Complex Analysis. And yes, they are as fun as they sound. So now I am super far behind in sleep and will probably crash any minnnuuuuuuuuuu....................

G-O-E-R-G

Stop screaming Hock....

With Hock's increasing need for a break in boredom, here are some things in my life:

-September 25th, I will be seeing Brand New (for free!) at the Breslin Center, top-billed with Nas (meh). I see this show as a chance at redemption since it was so disappointing show at Lollapalooza. Now I get to see them inside (yay for acoustics)! And hopefully they will expand their repetoir to not only "Devil and God are Raging Inside Me" and only a few tracks from "Deja Entendu." I am really hoping that they do not jsut plug their newest album again and totally disregard their previous efforts, which were amazing. Fingers crossed.

-October 2nd, I will be seeing Umphrey's McGee (surprise!) in Kalamazoo. This will be my 5th time seeing them this year and 23rd over all. Yes, I am obsessed. I can't help it. Amazing musicians + breathtaking songs + everchanging setlsts = David's boner.

-October 19th, I wil see Minus the Bear in D-Town. This should be interesting. I have no idea what they sound like and the guy I am going with I haven't seen since I stopped working at Domino's. But MtB rocks and should prove very awesome. I hope they play everything from "Menos el Oso."

-September 23rd, sneak peek of "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist," Claudio, you in?

- I miss Mike. It's only been a few days, but lonesome is a very mean mistress. Hope all is well, my friend.

-I miss my Marky. Who bist du? Sind alle gut?

-I have recentl watched all of "Freaks and Geeks" and "Undeclared." Two Judd Apaotow joints. All very great. I especially liked Undeclared (better than F&G). Jay Baruchel makes awkward, hilarious. And there are so many crossover actors from show to show. I highly recommend both.

-I am starting to watch the entire series of Gilmore Girls. Just finished the first season and am currently downloading the second. I have already seen the 6th and 7th season, so it is really weird to know how the series ends and now start it over.

-I am always looking for new movies, but, alas, my internet has been gone for about a week and a half. This sucks. It should be back by tomorrow. (more finger crossing)

-I just saw "The Sasquatch (Dumpling) Gang." It must have been by the same people that do Napoleon Dynamite. So very awkward and funny. Watch it.

I guess that is all for now. Keep in touch, Clusterfuckers.

G-O-E-R-G

An Andy-style life list....

So I haven't really posted in a while, so here it is:

The Andy-Style List of Random Things in My Life

(I'm working on the title.)

- I have been reading Harry Potter a lot. I said I wanted to start reading more in the summer and I'm glad I followed through on something (finally). Half-Blood Prince may just be my favorite book in the series. And now for Deathly Hallows....
- The new HP6 movie comes out in about 117 days! The trailer for said awesomeness comes out in 3 days! It will most likely play before "The Mummy 3."
- After falling asleep during the Dark Knight (3 am, opening night), I saw it again. It fuckin' rocks. And Andy is getting that much crazier by the day...he he ho ho ha ha.
- Vangizzle and I went to see "Weird Al" Yankovic at the Showboat (not Riverboat, SVG) in Chesaning. He played everything you could imagine and more. It was really awesome. SVG made a good point when he said, "It's hard to rock out to Weird Al." It was a lot of fun to see him, but Scott is right. And plus, this little seven year old kid next to me kept looking to me to see if I thought a joke was funny before laughing. It was adorable.
- I have seen about 35 movies since I last posted that list of movies. I'll provide a more extensive list when I hit fifty, but until then, here are some movies I suggest: Charlie Bartlett, Super High Me, Happily N'Ever After, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, The Onion Movie.
- Umphrey's McGee is coming to Michigan and Indiana. They will play at St. Pat's Park in South Bend, IN on Septemeber 5th (I will be there!) and then they play in Michigan (!) on October 2nd. They will return to the State Theatre in Kalamazoo after five years of absence. (You know I'll be there!). The next night they will be in Muncie, IN which is about a 3.5 hour drive from here. I'm debating.
- I love Gilmour.
- I love Gilmore Girls, but haven't watched in a while.
- My friend Brian from work installed Windows Vista 64 Ultimate on my laptop because my 'Compy 386' was working as slowly as a motherfuckin' snail on morphine. Now, my compy runs like a dream.
- Every Thursday , I go to an Alphabet dinner (or I try to) with people from work. This week it was F. Fondue and Fuzzy Navels. F-antastic. I missed the week before that, but the week before THAT was D. And we had Drunken Noodles (Tofu and Chicken), Daquiris, Doritos, and Ding Dongs. D-Licious.
- I work six days a week but still only manage to scrape less than 30 hours a week. Shit.
- I saw Hellboy II with the 'rents. It was decent.
- The same night I went to see Space Chimps with Scott. It was fuckin' hilarious (in the altered state of mind.) Crudlar!
- Umphrey's McGee is still the best band to walk the face of the earth.
- Lollapalooza is in a few days. It is starting to get exciting. Most excited for: Brand New and the Raconteurs, followed closely by Radiokopf (that's for you Cottonmouth). Woot to the woot!
- I have this Add-On for FireFox called StumbleUpon. When I am bored, all I do is hit a but labeled "Stumble!" and it brings you to any random website within the categories that you choose when you install it. It is tyte. So I'll leave you with this...some make your own Motivational Posters (you know the ones I mean).

Umphrey's McGee is the Greatest Band of All Time: 1 of 3!

(I do not want to debate the title)

Set I: Smell The Mitten, Intentions Clear > "Jimmy Stewart"* > Syncopated Strangers, 40's Theme**

Set II: Ringo > Robot World > Thin Air, Waist Down, Padgett's Profile, The Fuzz$ > Ringo

Encore: Mullet (Over)

Notes:
* with Syncopated Strangers teases (which I totally called like 5 minutes before it happened)
** with Meeting in the Aisle (Radiohead) jam
$ with jam similar to 07.26.07 Nemo "Jimmy Stewart" (no vocals)