Jim Gaffigan wins.

So I’m rather tired today. That’s understandable, I think. The body works in mysterious - nay, frustrating - ways. The moment you throw off your sleep pattern, it’s all over. I was going fine, getting to sleep at about 10:30 every night, but one night of going to bed at 3 in the morning, and bam, I’m up watching Mythbusters at 12:00 Monday morning.

It completely slipped my mind that I’m going to see Gabriela Montero on the 29th of April. If you haven’t heard of Gabriela Montero, well, I don’t blame you. She isn’t exactly a household name, but what she does is really unique. She takes classical pieces and improvises on their themes, which sounds mundane in nature, but it makes for good listening. The only problem I have with the date is that I’m also planning on seeing Wolfmother that same day (you’re held slightly more accountable if you haven’t heard of Wolfmother, essentially a modern day Led Zeppelin), but I’ll work something out.

I have just been informed of the existence of “gangster Asians.” I wasn’t aware such a thing was in existence. Certainly it’s better structured than your run-of-the-mill gangster group. I imagine it being some kind of gangster conglomerate, running like a well-oiled, profane, blinged-out machine. Guaranteed they’re more efficient, converting those pounds of cocaine to the more acceptable kilogram, and similarly dollars to yen to prepare such items for sale on the black market.

I’m sure it’s nothing like that at all. Wouldn’t that be great though?

I’m out.

Later.

Just got back from seeing Silversun Pickups, OK-Go, and Snow Patrol in concert at the Agganis Arena on the Boston University campus.

The concert blew my mind.

It was absolutely insane. Not only were the three bands featured (Snow Patrol being the main feature) amazing, but each and every song was played with such power and intensity that I could feel the music.

It might also have been the fact that I was in the 4th row right underneath a MASSIVE set of speakers and subwoofers.

Silversun Pickups was really cool. The singer, Brian Aubert, looks oldish, for some reason, but their site isn’t working and Wikipedia doesn’t have his birthday so I can’t really figure out how old he really is. Maybe it was just the way his hair was or something. In any case, he’s kind of a screamer at parts in his song, but it was so tastefully done that I couldn’t complain. Truth is, it sent chills through my spine when he’d kind of make his way up to a hoarse scream for a few seconds and then back down.

OK-Go was awesome too. They all wore suits, going off of the image they’ve established in their music videos. They did a lot of their older music, which was great, and closed with Here It Goes Again after remarking about the Kidz Bob version of the song, which originally talks about waking up with a hangover. Every vocal by the singers were spot on, and I can honestly say that they, like Silversun Pickups, are just as good, if not better, live than they are on recording.

Snow Patrol was the grand finale - and oh, what a finale it was. They jumped right into their songs, not even stopping between the first two but just transitioning from one to the other. Then the main singer, Gary Lightbody, gave a little introduction, and they launched into more songs. They had a member of the audience come up on stage and sing one of their songs with them, which was very well done (not to mention I was thoroughly impressed by the girl they picked, she knew her words and could even sing!). They kept playing, closed, and came back out for a two-song encore. They, too, are just as good if not better live than on recording.

In all, the concert was absolutely amazing. All three of the bands had incredible stage presence and I was standing quite nearly the whole time. The only minor gripe I can even begin to think of is that the female bassist for Silversun Pickups, who had some high vocals at the beginning of one of their songs, was out of tune slightly on a couple of the notes. I just explicitly remember hearing them be a little off, and then being fixed.

Beyond that, it was well worth the money involved in buying two on-the-floor 4th-row tickets. I’ve got some pictures on my phone that I need to put on my computer…some of them are rather epic, I’ll say that much.

Highlight of my…month, I daresay.

I’m out.

Later.

I’ve written a guide (it was actually for an e-mail I sent to someone else; figured I wouldn’t let it go to waste) to getting free music via various methods. You can find the guide at the top.
Enjoy.

Later.

Watch and be amazed.

(Velvet Knights, 1988)

Later.

Well, it was a long time coming, that’s for sure, but last night was by far the most satisfactory band night of all time. Let’s recap.

Woke up at 6:45, since I had to be at the school at some ungodly hour to take the SATs. One would think that taking a reasoning test would constitute a little more reasoning in the scheduling of it, but what do I know; I’m not CollegeBoard. In any case, got there with some time to spare, talked with some friends, and finally got around to taking the test. I’ll say right now, I’m glad that it’s over. You doesn’t fully realize the longevity of the test until you’re actually taking it, and then you find yourself saying, wow, was this really necessary? It’s just long. Maybe they could’ve cut down the length of the test by a section or two and called it a day. But then, the test was never reasonable to begin with.

Four hours and a fried brain later, I’m making my way down to the football field with Amy, who had also had to suffer through the SATs. We had about 45 minutes to do our run-throughs and so forth before we had to pack up, which is just as well, because I’m not sure my brain could handle any more than that. I was kind of dancing on air for the first couple runs of the tag, wondering where I was going and whatnot. I found that I’m actually looser without warming up. Or maybe it was because my limbs hadn’t fully recognized the task demanded of them, so they just weren’t trying as hard. Neither changed the fact that it was genuinely cold.

Sometime later, we’re finally in Biddeford, warming up (though I use that phrase loosely) and getting ready for our last big performance. When we finally do end up performing, I make a few mistakes. No big deal, they’re in places I hadn’t made them before, so I know I can do those parts anyway. It’s a full retreat afterward, so we’re all hanging around in our uniforms for the next hour or so. It’s a tad cold (to the point where I’m not sure if I still have toes). It’s all worth it in the end, though:

Drum Major: ***

Colorguard: ***

Percussion: ****

Visual: ****

Music: ****

General Effect: ****

Overall Band: ****

Yes, it was a long time coming, but hey. It finally happened. Victory tastes sweet. (But smells kind of odd.)

Now, with SATs, SAT IIs, Finals and Band Finals over, it’s time to relax and get ready for another quarter.

I’m out. Later.