yesterday was opening day (or premiere weekend, if you like…) for the NHL.  i was really glad to get the CBC feed for both games!  some random thoughts…

• you never know how much you missed ron maclean until you see the first hockey night in canada every season
• wade redden did not look as comfortable/good as i expected on the rangers D
• barry melrose is not capable of making the facial contortions of john tortorella
• i think you are going to hear a lot of “gomez to naslund” all season long
• marty st. louis smoking dmitri khalinin on his way in to score.  as a buffalo sabres fan, i am glad that it is happening to another team this season… 
• even though i miss him in buffalo, it was cool to see chris drury with a “C” on his jersey
• a LOT of ranger shots.  or should i say tampa bay saves.  smith looked pretty good…
• tyler kennedy looked really small out there.  clearly small enough to not be handled well enough and score twice.
• martin gerber needs to have serious sit-down with his preparedness.  either that or rust.  it didn’t look like nerves…
• the penguins coulda/shoulda/woulda powerplay…
• heatley and spezza score.  but not alfie?  in stockholm?  when i have him on my fantasy teams?  c’mon!!! 
• the woman that sang the canadian and swedish national anthems was awesome.
• it was absolutely cool to see a friend of mine, on camera, jawing with a linesman during a commercial break.  whip those ice shovelers into shape! 

do it.  do it now.

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Here is what I had a chance to see at Lollapalooza 2008 on Day 3:

Iron & Wine (partial)

- Ugh.  Hippies.

Flogging Molly

- The radio personality that introduced Flogging Molly said that they were the “greatest live band ever”.  I am not willing to go that far…  But I really dug the set!  I never really “saw” the stage as we were camped out in our super secret area to the side of the stage, but I could hear them perfectly.  It was tough, it was melodic, it was “Irish”…  It made me want to see them again.  Soon.

Blues Traveler (partial)

- I caught the last 3 songs of their set as I was walking down to the AT&T Stage.  They did a ripping cover of Cheap Trick’s “I Want You To Want Me”.  And they held out on doing “Hook” until the end.  The band was as tight as ever and there is no one that can call John Popper’s harmonica skillz into question.  It made me want to see more — without the apparent social stigma there is attached to seeing them.

Gnarls Barkley

- I was pleasantly surprised.  I only knew one song coming in.  The same one that everyone else on the planet knows.  And I was concerned that a lot of their other stuff is too, um, soft?  Ballady?  I was wrong.  The soft stuff maintained an edge from the singing and the great bass grooves and the up temp stuff was as good as could be expected.  They played “Gone Daddy Gone” — the Violent Femmes song — early in the set and I think that helped them set the right tone with a crowd that could have been easily lost.

Mark Ronson

- I have listened to a bit of his stuff — mostly the “popular” and re-imagined covers.  He is more a producer slash band leader.  It was all guest vocalists — bridging many different styles.  As he pointed out many, many times — this was the last date on their 16 month tour.  And he was very fond of the “f word”.  It was high energy and I am sure I would have been pogo’ing my ass off if I had been down front.

Kanye West

- Everyone I knew at Lollapalooza went to go see Nine Inch Nails.  Except for me.  I had seen NIN before — even if it was 17 years ago.  *shudder*  Kanye was AWESOME.  *insert more positive adjectives here*  From the second the lights went down to the moment he said good night, it was a spectacular set.  He saved his biggest singles for the end, but it did not matter — the crowd, myself included, was enthralled, moving to the beats and bobbing our heads.  He went off on what seemed to be an impromptu freestyle slash screaming to the heavens soliloquy dedicated to his late mother that left few dry eyes as far as I could see.  And if my decision to go see Kanye was not cemented by any of that, it was definitely cemented when he did a cover of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’”.  Kanye was the highlight of the weekend for me.

Here is what I had a chance to see at Lollapalooza 2008 on Day 2:

Tiny Masters of Today

- Yeah, I saw them TWICE!  They were that awesome.  Kick ass punk rock from a three piece all 18 and under?  How could I not?  Apparently, they hit the list of “not to miss bands” on Day 2 and the crowd was pretty huge.  The front lawn area was full, the bleachers were full and it must have gone 15-20 rows standing behind that.  The kids were a lot more comfortable with this set, I thought.  Go buy their stuff now.

Does It Offend You, Yeah? (partial)

- I caught the last 3 songs in their set on the Bud Light stage.  How much did I dig it?  I bought their record the next day.  They sort of defy categorization — electronica rock?  Plus, anyone that brings the noise with a Flying V is okie dokie in my book!

Mason Jennings

- This was another artist that I would have liked to have seen in a smaller venue.  Perhaps the Playstation stage was cursed?  ;-)  He was mostly acoustic — hooking up with a band a few songs in.  He certainly drew a crowd!

Dierks Bentley

- Bringin’ the country!  Or, better said, bringin’ the roadhouse!  I had never heard him before, but he certainly made a fan outta me…  They really carried the big stage.

DeVotchKa

- Strange.  Matt and Carrie really dug them.  And one of the chicks was playing a tuba.  You have to give them points for the tuba.

Brand New

- In a word?  Disappointing.  I had only heard a few songs — none of which they played — but they seemed like lackluster heavy pop without any soul.

Lupe Fiasco

- Loved it!  Everything was tight about the set and it just sounded fantastic.  I am a sucker for hip hop with real instruments.  And he worked the crowd fantastically…  And he was voted best dressed. 

Toadies

- Although I listened to them from far away, it was the Toadies that brought the heavy pop with soul that I truly dig.  I saw quite a few folks heading in for Rage that just stopped to watch them for a bit.  And who does not love “Possum King”?

Rage Against the Machine

- I am not sure if this makes me “old”, but I was stoked that Rage has not put out much of anything new since I last saw them over a decade ago.  This, of course, meant that I was almost assured of getting a greatest hits setlist.   They did not disappoint.  At all.  They totally brought down the house — almost literally.  After blistering through a few songs, the pits (plural) got very crazy up front — so much so that they stopped 3 or 4 times during the set trying to get peeps to move back and chill out a bit.  Zack went off on a rant that almost made me feel like he was going to vote in the upcoming election for a candidate that would get more than 10,000 votes nationwide.  My only complaint?  It needed to be louder — MUCH louder.

Here is what I had a chance to see at Lollapalooza 2008 on Day 1:

Jeff Tweedy (partial) - Kidzapalooza

- TONS of people.  It took me a few minutes to realize that Jeff Tweedy is in Wilco as I am not a big fan of Wilco.  Because of that, I think that some of the tunez were lost on me…  I liked what I heard…

Rogue Wave - Kidzapalooza

- Still a lot of stragglers from Jeff Tweedy.  Some of the band did not seem “in to it” and the other members were perhaps overly so.  After seeing them play acoustic on the kids stage, I wish I would have seen them plugged in when they played on the MySpace stage…

Tiny Masters of Today

- This is the band that we came to see at Kidzapalooza.  Two of the band members (Ivan and Ada) are the nephew/niece of Carrie — who I played hockey with in NYC.  I had not listened to much of their stuff before the show; I knew only that they were certainly going to blow the volume out of the place after two acoustic sets before them.  The crowd was sparse to start, but grew a LOT over the course of the set.  There were folks singing along behind us…   I really did dig them.  Ivan can really play — as can Jackson, the drummer — and I was really impressed with their stage presence.  They finished up with a cover of House of Pain’s “Jump” — which has gotta be on its way to being a YouTube sensation…

Cat Power

- This was the first half of my Austin City Limits redux (I saw Cat Power and The Raconteurs on the same show…) and it was a little disappointing.  I really dig the band — and they were certainly tight — but their music, like a few other bands I saw, just did not lend itself fully to playing in the middle of hot/sunny afternoon while outdoors.  I would definitely see them again — just in a much smaller venue.

The Raconteurs

- In the second half of my Austin City Limits party — and only one stage away — the Raconteurs ROCKED out on a big stage.  It was almost the polar opposite of Cat Power.  It was like watching and listening to a 70’s guitar rock band — in 1975.  They owned the stage.  They owned the music.  Sadly, and again like a few other bands, after they played “Steady As She Goes” there was a mass exodus.  They were fantastic and I really look forward to seeing them again.

Radiohead

- Let me start here:  I am not a big Radiohead fan.  Even that is a stretch.  We set ourselves up by the big Lolla balloon stantion.  And I honestly could have gone to sleep.  I watched the concert goers that climbed the stantion intently…  I tried to watch the video screens but they were split into six mini screens on each side and heavily coloured so that you could barely make anything out from where we were.  There was a neat stage effect that made it seem like it was raining.  I guess that counts as a highlight.  There were (unrelated) firewords for a bit of their set.  That was exciting.  I dunno.  I like a LOT of “off kilter”, “derivative” or just plain “strange” music and seeing Radiohead in concert confirmed what I already knew:  they do nothing for me.

it has/had been 17 years since i first went to see lollapalooza.

eeeek.

alison and i attempted to pace ourselves over the course of the three days.  this was mostly successful, although i was gosh darn TIRED on the monday after the festival.

grant park is absolutely huge.  end to end it was just about a mile between the two super main stages with the entrance on the western end of buckingham fountain.

the weather was, if not mad phat, at least very dry!  i despise hot weather — evidenced by the meat locker-esque temperature of our home — but i would have much rather sweated bullets all day than to be poured upon by the sky.

i “discovered” a bunch of bands that i had not listened to previously — or that i had never seen live.  by far, that is my favourite part of any music festival and i spent the next few days buying and listening to a LOT of music!

the crowds were mostly pretty chill.  i never saw anything resembling real violence — or serious drama of any kind.  i did see a fair amount of drunk and high folks — varying from “THIS IS AWESOME!” type drunks to total dehydration.  for my part, i had some pinot grigio (because that’s how i roll) on day 2, but i was well hydrated (thank you propel powder thingees!) and was able to catch about 45 minutes worth of zzzzzz’s before lupe fiasco.

i am going to try and write up what i remember about the bands — by day.

all the photos i took are UP!

check ‘em out:

Lollapalooza 2008

 

many of you may know one of the “best women” from our wedding — cathy.

after a valiant and heroic battle with cancer, she passed away this past saturday.  she is an angel now.

i cannot tell you how sad and angry this makes me.  and for so many reasons.

cathy is alison’s best friend.  i have remained as strong as i can for alison, but the truth is…  it is difficult to know what to say.  i could easily break down with her at the same time, but i fear that every situation requires a rock.  and i plan on being that guy.

it was quite a period of time after alison and i started dating that i had the opportunity to first meet cathy.  i was nervous — i wanted to make a good impression.  cathy was in nyc for a YSC (i think…) event and we met at a bar near her hotel.  i have often been accused of bringing “life” into a room, but i pale in comparison to the energy she brought into that room.  and every room i saw her in.  we were immediate friends.  she ordered grasshoppers.  we laughed.  i got the dirt on alison’s college years…  we laughed some more.  and then cathy did something very, um, “cathy-like”.  in the midst of a discussion on breast cancer, she whipped out her fake boob and plopped on the bar.   *pause*  HUGE laughter.  it is that sound — of her laughing — of the three of us laughing together — that i think about constantly now.  and that feeling is something that cancer, or anything else, cannot take away.

alison’s blog:  http://www.aliladd.com/

alison & eric wedding website:  http://www.alisonanderic.org/

CarePages — The Fight:  http://www.carepages.com/ServeCarePage?cpn=TheFight

Young Survival Coalition — Message Board:  http://www.youngsurvival.org/blocks/_Forum/index.php?showtopic=23082

Pugilicious:  Baptism:  http://pugilicious.blogspot.com/2008/03/baptism.html

it has been quite a while since i have had a brazilian meatfest, er, churrascaria! years, in fact, since i used to go with a large group of friends to churrascaria plataforma in midtown west — stuffing ourselves full of food and wine served in magnums and imperials.  (i love dining with josh!)

we decided to ring up tanya to go to churrascaria riodizio tribeca, which is just across town from us.

the most important thing i can tell you about the experience? none of us can eat like we used to.

this restaurant is a lot smaller than its bretheren — located in an oversized brownstone on west broadway. the bar is pushed to the right as you walk in with a small, controlled temp wine room on the left. the dining room expands as you walk forward with the misnamed “salad bar” tucked in all the way to the right and the dining area extending all the way to white street on the left.

alison and i got a bottle of wine — a flavourful pinoit noir from santa cruz, ca.

we all worked through the “salad bar” with asparagus risotto being at the top of my list of favourites and other dishes including: marinated mushrooms, cold asparagus salad, tortellini, cold seafood salad and a red bean and chorizo dish. yum!

then we hit the meat! we turned our coasters from “red” to “green” and were deluged by succulent meat variations. i really enjoyed the pork tenderloin and the flank steak.

too full for dessert… go figure.

as i write this, ronda & phil have been in merry old england for just a few days…

the friday before their departure, there was a gathering at sweet & vicious. a goodbye thang.

sweet & vicious has a nice-sized back “garden” area… thick wooden tables with benches to match. the “gathering” had the entire back wall — which was draped in a huge american flag. apparently, the area that we were in used to be a back bar that served only frozen drinks. the establishment itself is long and narrow — like many nyc bars. the bartender was pretty cool — she even searched high and low for a bottle of pims for me.

the gathering was a mix of friends and co-workers for both ronda and phil. everyone was quite cool and it was great to see so many folks turn out to say goodbye and good luck to ronda and phil.

sadly, i was quite ill on that day and i spent a fair amount of time drinking club soda and dreaming of eating saltines later in the evening.

pics are in: 20070525 - Ronda & Phil - Goodbye…

thank you to josh for sending this along…

d&d last words

i admit it. i played a LOT of dungeons & dragons when i was in high school. it was one of those “perfect storm” situations… mike moved to clinton and his family bought this amazing old house near the high school. on the top most floor there was an entire room that we dedicated to d&d. the room had a heavy pitch on one side — paralleling the roof line. we had a very long makeshift table that sat almost a dozen of us. we would play for HOURS after school and on weekends — sometimes all night. people would have 2 litres of soda and only one person could smoke at a time. mike, and i know others that play d&d would say this, was the best dungeon master — ever. he spent hours/days/weeks creating modules, from scratch, that were absolutely captivating.

anyway… there are many phrases on that list that i certainly have uttered, or have heard uttered… and now i’m thinking about it. thanks, josh!