neon indian / tigercity

Steph had to study for an exam last night so I decided to check out the new buzz band du jour, Neon Indian, at the Larimer Lounge. It was a late show, and I got there pretty early. The first opener was a local denver band - Achille Loro and they were pretty decent. Next up was Tigercity from brooklyn who looked like they were ready to rock out, but played real mellow 80's friendly jams like a glossier version of MGMT. I dug it.



The lounge was filling up quickly by the time they were done, that place can become a cluster in no time. I kept bumping into this guy who was just like Jason Schwarzman from Bored to Death, or actually any of his roles. Funny stuff, one minute we're chatting, then him and this girl get all flirt-zone, and the next time I see him he's hiding from her. Neon Indian's one man act was was fleshed out live with a bassist, drummer & cutey purple-haried keyboardist. The full band treatment gave the songs a bit more dynamic range and the now over packed crowd was way into it. I was also enjoying the spectacle, but had to bail before it ended because I was exhausted and still had to drive back to milo.

not richard, but dick

Friday evening we headed to denver and spent a lot of tim in traffic, it seemed like everyone was taking advantage of the temperate weather. Battled the crowds and had some great belgian brews & grub at the Cheeky Monk. Walked over to the Ogden with just enough time to spare to catch the delightfully surprising opener Joe Jack Talcum, of the legendary Dead Milkmen fame. He performed solo acoustic material along with some Johnny Cash & Bob Dylan covers and a few requisite Milkmen classics, including 'Punk Rock Girl'.



Pinback was the headliner of the night and it had been a while since I last saw them. They were as awesome as ever even with no recent album to support. After the show, I watched the latest Sunny in Philly.



Saturday we kind of vegged out most of the day, passing up offers to go to the Airforce/Army game down in CO Springs with Steph's sister, and the CU/TX A&M game here in town. Later on Greg came over with DJ Hero, which is way cooler than guitron hero, or at least I'm better at it. We went to Beef O Brady's for dinner and to watch the Clemson game, then came home and played more DJ Hero.



Sunday was pretty casual as well, Lauren came over for a bit later in the day, then we had dinner and watched the Mad Men seaon finale - wicked!

hacking halloween

All last week I had a dry hacking cough which was massively annoying. Thursday night I went to the Dinosaur Jr. show at the Boulder Theater because I had slept most of the day and was feeling a bit better. Lou Barlow & the Missingmen opened - I'm pretty sure the guitarist, Tom Watson, slept on my couch at the compound after a Mike Watt show at the Echo Lounge. Dino ripped it, touching on material from most every album (No love for Hand it Over). The first time I saw the reunited Dino Jr. a few years ago, they stuck to the first three albums that Lou had played on. I braved a bunch of drunken idiots slam wrestling around the soundboard and pulled a solid tape of the performance. I messed up the transfer the first go around, but hope to get it up on COtapers & Dime very soon here it is on DIME!!!

Staying out until 2 am in the cold snowy weather did not help the cause of my throat very much, but I managed a belated 1/2 day at work friday hoping to again rally for halloween festivites later. Steph & I had dinner at Half Fast then a couple of drinks at the Sink before heading over to the Glen Miller Ballroom on campus for the free Tapes n' Tapes homecoming concert. The opening band was the suck, but Tapes were festive enough for the massively underattended show. We left right before the end because I could not stop coughing and it was driving me nuts. We were supposed to head to a party but I could not function so we headed back to milo instead. Along the way I got one of those obnoxious photo tickets for running a yellowy red light.



Saturday I slept a lot while Steph whipped up delicious foods for our dinner party we were hosting later that night. She also carved a mean boognish pumpkin.



The dinner party was a success, and we handed out a ton of candy while feasting on autumnal themed food such as pumpkin raviolies. Lauren & Renn made an appearance on their way to the festivities on Pearl.

dodos, etc

Grabbed some dinner at the Atomic before the Dodos show at the Bluebird on thursday. The Ruby Suns of 'Oh, Mohave' fame opened the show. I was kind of bummed the Dodos replaced their metal trashcan with a chinese ride on top of a crash or su'in, but it did sound similar. The vibraphone was a nice addition to the mix especially when they played it with bows. They were not allowing flash photography so I have no pics.

We took it easy the rest of the weekend to recoup from last week. Saturday we ran some errands (bought an air purifer/noise maker and some new shoes) and gave the house a good autumn cleaning. Sunday I went to the gym for a bit, and steph made a swell pizza for dinner.

marathon pumpkin springs

We stocked up on household items saturday morning at sam's club. Afterwards we traveled to denver so steph could pick up her race package, and I wound up scoring a heavily discounted pair of running shoes at the expo even though I was originally just along for the ride. Oddly enough, I also got some free salami. We suffered through some game day traffic along 36 and since the weather was finally more fall-like so on our way back we decided to hit up the Rock Creek pumpkin patch down 287, apparently along with the rest of colorado. Since it snowed last weekend, a lot of the pumpkins froze so you had to check them for soft spots.



We got home just in time to catch the CU / Kansas game and CU finally pulled off a nice upset win. Steph hit the hay early and I fell asleep watching the Angels go into way too many extra innings. Sunday morning, jacq came over, we grabbed some bageltrons and drove into denver to cheer on step & kim in the half-marathon. It was another beautiful day, so post race we stuck around and cheered along some of jacq & steph's training buddies. After a celebratory drink at the Rio, we headed home.



Had to get up early monday to drive down to colorado springs and set up our booth for the realtor convention. Later that night after the exhibition hall closed, we party hopped at the Broadmoor, where the expo was being held, finally settling on the Broncos game night party. Was lucky enough to get a room at the actual broadmoor this year, so it was nice to wake up and just stroll back over to the expo for day two which went well. The hall closed at 1.30, and I had everything packed up and was on the road just after 2pm expecting to just miss traffic, however, traffic was still the suck from the tech center pretty much until 36.

birthday surfer tengo

Steph's b-day was Tuesday, so we began the celebration on wednesday with a fancy dinner at L'Atelier. Thursday I planned on going to a New Belgium tasting at a local coffee shop only to find it was closed... for good. Bummer, because they were going to be giving out those nice tulip glasses.

Grabbed a quick pizza pizza for dinner friday on the way home, watched an ep of Sons of Anarchy (we're finally on the second season so we can watch on demand), then hit the road to denver for the Butthole Surfers show at the Ogden. It was freakishly cold for October and the crazies were out in full force. Some guy repeatedly bumped our car while he was trying to parallel park, even after I mentioned to him that he was doing so. And unbeknownst to us at the time, Lauren's car got broken into and her purse stolen (They were down the street at another show at the Fillmore). Physic Ills opened the show with a nice droney swirl of psychedelia. During the break we were treated to the Price Is Right Theme song on a loop until the Surfers hit the stage with fervor - Paul Leary pretty much owns guitar face. The screen backdrop was a constant barrage of B horror film clips, and other random imagery, perhaps most oddly disturbing of which was a little girl competing one of those cup stacking competitions. Nary a break between songs, the intensity never let up. Both King Coffey and Teresa Nervosa were on drums. I'd never seen her perform with the Surfers before, since she quit in 1989 and my first show wasn't until the next year. She looked like a zombie, yet freakishly familiar. Indeed she was the papsmear pusher in Slacker, as well as the poster model.



Setlist:
Something
100 Million People are Dead
Fast
Suicide
Rocky
BBQ Pope
Pittsburgh to Lebanon
Cowboy Bob
Cherub
Negro Observer
Bong Song
Hey
Creep in the Cellar
I Saw an X-Ray of a Girl Passing Gas
Goofy's Concern
To Parter
Tornadoes
Dancing Fool
Gary Floyd
Graveyard
Who Was in my Room Last Night

encore:
22 going on 23
Jimi
Cartoon Song
The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey's Grave
Lou Reed

Head on over to DIME to grab a copy of the show.

It started snowing on the way down 36. When we got home, I had some more pizza and watched a rather demented movie from the 80's called Party Animal.

Steph's training was cancelled because of the snow so we took most of the day to unpack/organize things - my music room was massively uncouth. Later that evening we picked up Lauren & Renn since Laur's car window was busted and headed back to colfax. Checked in to the Ramada, then walked over to that nearby mexican place we always wind up going to. Had dinner, then hung out for a while watching the rest of the CU / Texas game which we would have won... if the game had ended at the half. Back at the Ogden for the Yo La Tengo show, a much more sedate scene than the previous night. Yo La delivered the goods as they do so eloquently, leaning heavily on new material while peppering the show with some classics & covers.



yo la set:
Periodically Double Or Triple
All Your Secrets
Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind
Avalon or Someone Very Similar
Tears are in Your Eyes
Stockholm Syndrome
Tired Hippo
If It's True
Here To Fall
Tom Courtenay
When It's Dark
The Whole of the Law
From a Motel 6
False Alarm
Nothing to Hide
More Stars Than There Are In Heaven
Nuclear War

encore:
Magnet
Sugarcube
Be Thankful For What You've Got

encore 2:
(surfy instrumental)?
Sometimes I Don't Get You
Can't Forget

Sunday before we left town we had breakfast at Dozens. After we dropped off Lauren & Renn, we stopped by the Army Surplus store and I picked up some flannel pants for loungin. Then we stopped in Mountain Sun to try out their 'Temperance' - an american-belgo style bronze medal winner we missed at the GABF. Picked up my drum kit at hillside. While we were there, Steph found that Vangelis record in my crates that my dad lent me years ago and wanted back because of some song that was used for a wine commercial. Got home and watched the Broncos remain undefeated, cleaned up the hut, and eventually passed out watching the Rox game which ended in a disappointing loss.

loungin'

Wednesday, Steph & I had some slices at abo's then walked over to the IFS to watch Skills Like This which was filmed in denver. Thursday I channel surfed between the CU game and NBC comedies. Friday we took it easy and made a bunch of bar type apps for dinner. Saturday we went to a salsa party at Patrick & Gina's place, which had a delicious spread of salsas, but was notably void of anyone manning the stereo so I took over those duties. The pickings were slim, but I managed with some pink floyd and new order discs. Stayed up pretty late, then pretty much vegged out all day sunday. The scene looked something like this: