"The big sky that you see when you travel way out west, I admit that can impress. I love the space, man, it's insane, and the sage at the roadside, how it smells after the rain. But even though there's lots to see, the mountains and deserts are free, I still cannot escape the fact that I'll always be looking back at New York, New York. Now that's something to see. Yeah, it's special to me. New York, New York. It's where I came to be, where I came to be. The Bronx is up, Brooklyn's down, Brooklyn's down. There ain't any other town like this town. Some will always put it down, but they don't see that it's a crown, and they should count themselves lucky enough to have a place to see like New York, New York. Remember that you're free as a statue in the sea. New York, New York. They say it never sleeps; you should check that just to see." ~paleface

Well said, sir. Well said. Last night I went to see The Avett Brothers at Radio City Music Hall. It was Nic's birthday present to me, and it was a great show. Paleface was there and sang with them for a few songs (he also sang the beautiful song posted above). I'll have a concert post up within the next couple of days.

"In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. In 1493, he came home across the deep blue sea. In 1494, he did it with the girl next door. In 1495, he barely made it out alive. In 1964, these sailors left me the door. In 1970, some people got their hands on me." ~counting crows

I liked Adam's tweets yesterday. Here are just a few:

There's justifiable dissing of Columbus but, mistakes aside, I admire a guy who defied accepted wisdom & sailed off the end of the world

Sure, he "knew" that there was no "end of the world" but his sailors didn't. Surprising they didn't pitch him over the side after awhile.

Columbus was a weird mixture of scientist and adventurer. He was smart enough to see the truth & brave enough to take the risks to prove it.

That said, he totally fucked up once he got there. That was not so good. But it's almost never good, is it? Sad thing is it always happens.

History's mostly about people's ignorance/abuse of each other. I still admire the part that's brave enough to sail off the end of the world.

I should point out that, in writing "1492", I was talking about the total degradation of a human being. I took a jaded view of his adventure

I'm just saying we ALWAYS look at the world as black or white & get it wrong. People live in the grey.

It's just so popular these days to dish Columbus. But we are a nation built on both idealism and genocide. The world is a complicated place.

He's a smart guy.


I want to honor another smart guy today. Yesterday might have been Bobby Cox's last game managing the Braves. They made it to the postseason but lost their series against the Giants last night, ending their season. Bobby had announced that this would be his last season. He spent 25 years managing the Braves, leading them to a record 14 consecutive division titles. He's the best manager in the game and I love him. I'm crying now just writing about this. After last night's game, the crowd gave him a standing ovation and chanted his name. The Giants even stopped their celebration to acknowledge him. He tearfully addressed the crowd and was lost for words for what seemed like the first time in his life. I really, really hope he changes his mind and returns next season, because the Braves will not be the same without him. His importance cannot be overstated. I can't imagine anyone else filling those shoes.

"I'm pretty sure I wasn't your first choice. I think I was the last one remaining. I wish we hadn't gone and destroyed it, 'cause I was thinking we could pull another weekender. You've still got a bit of clairvoyance." ~the hold steady




On Thursday I saw The Hold Steady in concert at the Beacon Theater. It was a great show. First of all, I love that venue; it's probably my favorite seated concert venue in the city. They're touring to promote their newest album, Heaven is Whenever, and they played all my favorite songs from that record ("Hurricane J," "We Can Get Together," "The Sweet Part of the City," "The Weekenders"). My favorite album of theirs, though, is Stay Positive, so I was hoping to hear a lot of songs from it, and I wasn't disappointed. They played "Sequestered in Memphis," "Magazines," and "Slapped Actress," which are three of my favorite songs from that album. The only thing I wanted to hear but didn't was "Lord, I'm Discouraged." It's omission wasn't surprising but was still disappointing.

Craig Finn is such an engaging entertainer. He uses his whole body to draw the crowd in; he never stops moving onstage, and he uses the whole stage. You can't help but move along with him. I filmed some songs, but I skipped some because I wanted to move around. I wanted to film "Hurricane J" and "Sequestered in Memphis" because I love those, but I just had to dance instead. And I should have filmed "We Can Get Together," but I'm not sure why I didn't think of it at the time. I guess I was just so excited to hear the song. I did catch some of my favorites, though. There are more on my youtube page, but these are the songs I love the most:

Slapped Actress (I was SO psyched when they launched into this; it was the song I wanted to hear most):

The Sweet Part of the City (my favorite song from Heaven is Whenever):


Magazines (oh, how I love this song):

The Weekenders (the girl has clairvoyance; is this song for me?):

I also taped the show, and it sounds pretty good.

Get Your Own Player!

"Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road. Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go. So make the best of this test, and don't ask why. It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time. It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right. I hope you had the time of your life." ~green day

So I haven't written about Billie Joe yet. How do I even put into words how amazing he was? First of all, in case you don't know what I'm talking about, there's a fabulous musical on Broadway right now called American Idiot. It's based on Green Day's hugely popular and highly acclaimed concept album of the same title. Billie Joe Armstrong (the lead singer of Green Day) just appeared in the musical for one week as St. Jimmy. It was easy for him to just jump in for a week because A.) he created the character he was playing, and B.) he wrote all the music and performs it in Green Day's concerts on a regular basis. He knows it better than anyone. Even though we've seen the show more than once, Nic and I knew we had to see it with him, so we got student rush tickets to his last show. He made me see the character of St. Jimmy in a completely new way. He was absolutely brilliant. Of course just hearing him sing was incredibly cool, but his acting was really impressive as well. And the crowd was so excited, which always contributes to the overall vibe from the show. Billie Joe's energy was infectious. Before his first scene, we could hear him screaming backstage, and audience members started screaming as well. He got one standing ovation during the show (which is rare) and of course during curtain call as well. During curtain call he sang a short song that he wrote for us before launching into "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life"). Here it is (along with "Good Riddance"):


I have TONS of movies to write about as well. Maybe tomorrow? On Thursday I'm seeing The Hold Steady, so be prepared for a post about that concert.

"And we sing with our heroes thirty-three rounds per minute. We're never going home until the sun says we're finished." ~the gaslight anthem


On Thursday I saw The Gaslight Anthem at Radio City Music Hall. It was a really great concert. They seemed so excited and grateful to be there, and you could sense the positive energy coming from the band. They're from New Brunswick, NJ (very near my hometown), and this was almost like they were playing at home; there were a lot of Jerseyans there.

It was a solid setlist. No huge surprises, but they did play my favorite song of theirs, "Here's Looking At You, Kid" (I was SO excited), as well as a bunch of other favorites ("Bring It On," "Boxer," "The Patient Ferris Wheel," "The Diamond Church Street Choir"). Along with those, "We Did It When We Were Young" was particularly gorgeous live.

I didn't get any great pictures (I always have trouble taking photos at concerts), but here are a couple:
Here's my video of "Here's Looking at You, Kid." Unfortunately the video quality isn't great.

Spinner has a good review of the show here: Gaslight Anthem Play Epic Set at Radio City Music Hall

I recorded it as well. Radio City Music Hall is not a great place to record; the acoustics aren't great. Anyway, here it is:

Get Your Own Player!