Best Friday Afternoon Rock-out Rundown

There's an old Cherokee belief that you'll have an awesome afternoon if you see a chubby man zipping down the street in Chelsea on a Segway and I have to concede that I now believe there's some truth to Native American wisdom.


This picture hasn't got anything to do with the story I'm about to tell.


Neither does this one, except that the Empire State Building is down the street from the Hammerstein Ballroom.


All right. Here's the deal. Franz Ferdinand and Death Cab for Cutie were in town to play two shows this week, right? I made getting tickets to the show a non-priority and it totally sold-out on me and I was like "Whatever, I can live with that."

BUT then on Thursday the Internet told me that Franz was going to be playing a Free! Secret! matinee on Friday, all you had to do was bring a myspace profile to the NoHo Tower Records and they'd give you a wristband and you could go to the show! As Tower Records is right by NYU I went over to see if they had any wristbands left that afternoon . . . and they did, so I got mine, and I went to the show. Just like that.

I shared spots in line with Erin, Richard, and Ty.


Every now and then Erin busts out with the stone cold model/actress look and there's nothing anyone can do about it!


Also found in line: The Unquestionable Queens of Archduke Admiration.


Mitch played a key role in the locating of my beloved Bad Sebastian shirt, so I was really glad that the two finally got to meet.


I was slow to understand, but Mitch wanted to recreate this picture. (Greg, you're next.)

Back at my spot in line Trish and Amber had shown up.


No way! Ashley was there too?! Was this going to be the best concert crowd ever invented?


Sometimes it can be hard to decide which picture to use.


Yeah, and then Karisa and Keri and their Mom and Dad showed up!! I had know idea Karisa's parents were on myspace!


Los Arboles Sagrados keep it real.


One of the most surprising things about the show was that the band took the stage about 25 minutes after we got into the theater. They kicked off their set of rarities and requests with "Michael."


Great, just what I need: Photoblogger competition from Karisa's mom.

(Everyone think about this for a second again: Mom and Dad Holyoak were at the Franz Ferdinand show on Friday. In the very front. What were your parents doing Friday afternoon? Better said, what were you doing Friday afternoon?)




This photo (and my one tooth that's trying to poke out) is dedicated to Jenna.




So caught taking my picture (I suppose Ashley could say the same).




Come on, Keri. Let's get serious here. This is rock n roll.






One of the last songs the band played was "Darts of Pleasure." As the band approached the end of the song Alex invited those in the audience who knew the song's closing refrain (As Alex said, "It's easy, you just say 'Ich heisse Superfantastisch! Ich trinke Schampus und Lachsfisch! Ich heisse Su-per-fan-tas-tisch!')--he certainly could've gotten people who were more expert on stage, but the kids were alright.


The show was pretty good, everything was going along nice and normal and fun--nothing spectacular, in fact, the show was remarkably friendly and nice, not necessarily the villainous Franz I met when I first saw them last year--but then Alex said something like "I'd like to have the lights turned off for the start of this next number" and so the stage lights were turned off and Alex is like "This song is called Evil and a Heathen" and everyone cheers and then (I hope you know the song) the drums and bass come in low and mean and then the guitar slithers in like an angry King Cobra followed by a pack of scorpions and the lights flash on, everything is an eerie yellow and the song is soooo mustache-twistingly sinister, it's like the band was a bunch of Draculas and I was like "Yeahhhh." So best.




As the band is inclined to do, they ended their set with 'Outsiders.' I absolutely love how they triple-team the drums on this number.



And here's an experiment, I've youtubed some short videos from the show, here's part of 'Outsiders':



And here's a bit of 'Do You Want To.' Youtube compressed my huge beautiful videos down to almost nothing, but the sound is still good.



And here's some of 'Evil and a Heathen.'



The Setlist Was: Michael, Auf Achse, I'm Your Villain, Van Tango, Tell Her Tonight, Do You Want To, L.Wells, Walk Away, Evil and a Heathen, Darts of Pleasure, and Outsiders.

When the show ended I was like, "Hey, how'd you like the rock?" and Erin's posse was like: "Yeah, pretty great rock, but we're going to go check out the flower show now."


But I was a little like, "Uhm, I don't want to leave yet?" And then, as everyone was filing out, I noticed Alex Kapranos (I read their contract at Sony and that is not his real last name) over in the corner saying "yo" to his fans, so I was like, "I know what I'm going to do, I'm going to take a picture of Alex."


But then I thought, Why stop there? Alex needs to know that I was the guy in the video that dressed up as Bob, right? And he was like, "Oh, that was you? That video was brilliant! We had a great laugh!" And so I was like, "Hey, want to take a blurry photo with me?" And he was like, "Absolutely."


And then I told him that a bunch of other people from the video were there too Alex said, "Well I should pop over and say hello to them." And let me tell you, it feels pretty cool to be bringing Alex Kapranos over to meet your friends (even if some of them had already met him 100 times before).

When he met Karisa, who played him in the video, he was like "Wow, you look just like me!" and then we took a picture that was a little dark instead of blurry.


And it was fun meeting Alex and everything, but eventually Mitch asked the question everyone was wondering: "Uhm, where's Bob?" Alex figured he was around somewhere, so we persisted in our not-leaving of the Hammerstein.

And you know how it is with good things and waiting. Here's Mitch catching up with Mr. Hardy and deciding who'd keep the portrait she painted of him (The answer: Bob)


And then, finally, I got to tell Bob the thing I had wanted to tell him for so long: "Hey, I was the guy in the wig!" He was very nice for someone who was meeting their doppleganger.


(If you forgot or never knew, this is what I look like when I'm Bob.)


Keri didn't know what to think of all the rockstar interaction.


And then Nick the Guitarist came over because he was jealous of all the attention everyone else had been getting. Also, he needed to catch up with Mitch, because they have lots of mutual friends. (If you don't know, that's not a joke)


This is right before Nick and Mr. Holyoak totally hit it off.


Finally, after all the friendliness and interaction, we took a group picture with Nick where he busted out with the total rock star pose. That's what we pay them for, after all.



Moral of the Story: When the internet says "free tickets", you say "Yes". And when rock stars are on the floor, you say "Hello".

ps very good article on the band from the Independent here.
pps and here you can find new tracks and videos by the band, the L.Wells video is especially worth your time.

Best This Is What I Think

Hey, last night's SNL was pretty good. I especially liked the "Laser Cats" digital short, not because I thought it was particularly funny, but because it was a totally brilliant move to preempt SNL Digital Short backlash (something I felt a little bit with that Natalie Portman rap.)

I like ideas and thinking and talking and implementing.

Ridiculously ridiculous Franz post is on its way. . . pictures, words, videos, it'll be hot.

Best Preview of Things to Come

So maybe I (and many others) just had a pretty fun Friday afternoon? I'll tell you all about it on Monday, but let me leave you with this little preview:

If you've been reading Steady Mobbin' for months then maybe you remember that Mitch had a Franz Ferdinand-themed costume birthday party where we made our own version of the Do You Want To video? (Here's the Orginal Report on That)

And maybe you remember how Mitch gave the band a copy of the video in Utah and they invited her and her mom back to hang out with them and it turns out they really liked the video and admired my portrayal of Bob Hardy? (Here's the Original Report on That)

And then I got to see Franz at the Madison Square Garden theater and went to the afterparty, but nothing really happened besides that? (Once More, An Original Report)

Fast forward to today, fast forward to this:



Tune in Monday for the whole story, it's pretty good.

Best Crazy Magician Man News

David Blaine is going to live in a "human aquarium" at Lincoln Center for a week starting May 1st? YES!! I was worried that I had missed my chance to see David Blaine doing one of his ridiculous stunts in New York when he froze himself into that block of ice at Times Square a while back. I wonder how a classy institution like Lincoln Center let itself get involved with a joker like Blaine? Also, will this stunt increase temple attendance that week?

I learned about this at Gothamist.

Best Third Time Charm

So I got the new Streets album "The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living" (it comes out on the 25th . . . but you know how it is sometimes) and this is what I think: this record is a lot like the first two Streets records (those would be "Original Pirate Material" and "A Grand Don't Come for Free", if you forgot or didn't know) in that it require many listens to get into it, but then you're well into it. What am I talking about? Well, with each of the three Streets records my liking of them has followed this pattern:

First Listen: Listening to any of the streets records I'm thinking, "Okay, what exactly have we got here?" and I hear one or two good songs, but on the whole I'm left thinking: "What did I just spend my money on?"

Second Listen: Then I listen to the record all the way through for a second time and think "This record is definitely no good. Mike Skinner can hardly rap and certainly can't sing. And what's with the songs about feelings? And what's with the constant off-rhymes?" I wonder what I'm doing with these records at all.

Third Listenn: After taking a break, I listen to the record again. I remember lines that I liked from times before, everything seems a little catchier . . . I start to think "Hey, this record isn't so bad at all."

Fourth Listen: It's a done deal now. I'm sold and sorry I ever doubted anyone. I start checking the internet for tour dates . . . oh good, he'll be stopping by at the end of July. If I'm not too owned by the bar right then I'll make sure to show up.

Best Street Performer Ill Will

There's a lot of animosity towards mimes, but I don't necessarily hate them myself. Sunday afternoon they were filming a commercial for Virgin Wireless in the park.

So the Mime is stuck in his box. . .


And this girl comes up to him and she says "Where's your stupid box now, mime?" and throws her milkshake on him!!


And then the poor mime walks away.


I saw this mime talking on a cell phone while he was in the tree.


I might not hate mimes, but I sure dislike these guys. All they ever do is talk and ask for more money, they take f o r e v e r to finally jump over the people, and then that's the whole show. In fact, now that I think of it, I don't know that I've ever stuck around long enough to see them jump, so maybe they don't even get around to doing it?

Best Maybe It's Spring?

New York has been teasing us with on and off signs of spring.

On?



Do you remember the old days, pigeon lady?



Off?



Not Pictured: Friday's snows. Rains all Saturday.

Anyway, moving on to semi-narrative:

Natalie came back to New York for a weekend. There was supposed to be a celebration at the dumpling house, but the rains drove us into larger places for noodles instead.



Let's give this picture a prize!




After two posts my new shirt already risks overexposure.

Best Stupid Internet

Dumb blogger.com. It won't load my pictures, so I can't show you rainy lunches or sunny afternoons. Oh well. Let's all just wait.

Best MP3 Manhunt

I'm trying to track down a copy of the 1992'ish house hit "Bombscare" by 2BadMice. If you think hard, and are from Chicago, you may remember it playing on B96 back then. Anyway, I need this song. Can anyone help me find it? Just asking.

Best Crazy Dash to Brooklyn

Yesterday there was an emergency and I had to run to Brooklyn . . . and when I got there, there were just so many things that seemed photographable.






It has been a while since I last saw our old pal Neckface around town.


Wait, did I miss Easter? Wasn't Easter so much earlier last year?


When the emergency was taken care of I lunched at Bonita. I've eaten at so many decent Mexican places lately that I'm beginning to wonder if it's really legitimate to complain about NYC Mexican.


Bonita tiene los baños mas bonitos.




Me.


So what was the emergency in Brooklyn that had to be taken care of? I had to get this t-shirt at KCDC:


This shirt combines the concert where I nearly died of being beaten up with the concert where I nearly died of having fun into one magnificent piece of graphic design. (If you need a hint, that's the cover of the Bad Brains' first record, but it says Belle and Sebastian, and that is clever. If you couldn't tell.) And maybe you're thinking, "Come on, Brigham. Don't just take a picture of the shirt on the floor, take a picture of yourself wearing it!" Well, don't worry. Since this shirt is my new favorite shirt, it'll soon be making appearances in far too many posts. Soon.

And btw, my Belle Brains shirt adventure started here, at Teenage Unicorn.

Best Off-Broadway Spectacular

So, last night I went to see the Gorillaz "Demon Days Live" show at the Apollo. Although these shows sold out almost instantaneously, I know a good number of people passed on the show because the tickets were pricey for a concert. Whatever, it was a lot less like a normal concert and a lot more like a Broadway show or television special. Production costs must have been through the roof.

This is what you missed because you love your money so much:

1) Remarkable 2D and Murdoch puppets hanging out in some of the box seats.
2) On-screen animations with every song.
3) Singers, string section, full band, and Damon Albarn hiding out in the back on piano through the whole show.
4) Neneh Cherry coming out to sing on "Kids With Guns"
5) A choir of children coming out to sing and dance on "Dirty Harry"--certainly a high point, I can still see them marching in place.
5.5) Almost forgot. De La Soul coming out for their bit on Feel Good, Inc.
6) Bootie Brown coming out to do the rap on "Dirty Harry."
7) Ike Turner (!!!) in an explosion of a tiger print/multi-color suit with a Bobby Brown My Perogative-Era box haircut coming out to play piano on "Every Planet We Reach is Dead", pretty exciting (but his part was very short).
8) MF Doom NOT coming out on "November Has Come", because he's too mysterious. But they had a video of him during the song.
9) Roots Manuva and a lady singer coming out on "All Alone." I've always been impresed with Mr. Manuva's distinctive voice, quite unique amongst rappers.
10) Old Shaun Ryder of the Happy Mondays coming out (up?) on "DARE." He had a lollipop in his mouth and his fly was down for the whole song.
11) Okay. The BIG SURPRISE of the night, the moment that made the whole crowd Go Nuts: Dennis Hopper came out and read his part from "Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head." As far as I can tell from the internet, this was the only night (so far) that Mr. Hopper was in the show. I can't believe that I'm typing "I saw Dennis Hopper on stage with a bunch of musicians and cartoons playing in the background and it was Awesome" BUT I saw Dennis Hopper on stage with a bunch of musicians and cartoons playing in the background and it was Awesome!
12) For the first song of the encore, "Hong Kong", Mr. Damon Albarn came out from hiding behind his piano and sang from the very front of the stage. The very, very front. Past the monitors, maybe standing on the front row? Anyway, for someone (me) who has always wanted to see Blur live but doesn't know that he'll ever get the chance, this was a decent runner-up prize.
13) Video of the late Ibrahim Ferrer from the recording of "Latin Simone" as "Latin Simone" was played for the final encore.
14) Oh yeah, the show started with a Daffy Duck cartoon.
15) Oh yeah, the Apollo was decorated heavily with Gorillaz related art and props and they were projecting Gorillaz cartoons onto a store across the street.
16) So, yeah. All in all, it was a very complete production and a real treat of a show. That's kind of how I really feel about the whole thing, "Aw, that was a real treat that all you people came out and put on that big show for us." It was seriously more like a road show or old-timey "Let's Put on a Show to Save the Orphanage" production than anything else.





UPDATE!!! Did I mention I had great orchestra seats at the show? Well, I did, and I got them through the magic of NYC LDS blog networking. "Twinkie"'s take on the evening is now up at her blog.

Best Things to Click On

Maybe last week you watched the Office and saw the funny fake "The More You Know" PSAs they had? Turns out that they've got those ads and a whole bunch more online. Here.

NPR is filling up with great concerts you can download or stream. The latest is a Yeah Yeah Yeah's concert that just happened in DC (a concert that it sounds like Smash didn't really care for) which you can download. The sound is a little weak, you've got to turn it up loud before it sounds good. NPR also has a Belle and Sebastian show from last month (also in DC) and the quality of that one is really great. There are also Arctic Monkeys and Clap Your Hands Say "Yeah" concerts up, but those are just streams.

Best Work in Progress

Monday night I went to the Upright Citizens Brigade theater with Di (yeah, that's right, I got to hang out with Diane Cannon . . . jealous?) where Demetri Martin is workshopping (that means "working the bugs out of") his new show "Dr. Earnest Parrot presents Demetri Martin" which he's about to take to Australia for three weeks of shows. Whoah.

Anyway, "Dr. Earnest Parrot" is a complex little show that's mostly about what it's like to be distracted by creative thoughts all the time and feeling a little out of touch with life and reality. Or, in other words, Demetri jokingly jokes about feelings, but you can tell that some of it is serious. Or, in other words, it's like the audience peers into his mind and soul as he tells jokes with his body (mouth). Or, in other words, knock it off, Brigham, you're not accomplishing anything with this description.

I should have just said "Hey! Demetri's new show -- Funny and Insightful!!"

After the show, Demetri mildly recognized me and we talked a little bit and then he said that Di had a "nice bag" so you could say everyone went home pretty pleased with the evening.

If you forgot about how I met Demetri last fall, here's that post.

Best Attempt to Tick Off Anonymous

On March 1st Anonymous wrote: i don't think i am going to read your blog any more if there are any more of these posts.
On April 1st Matt wrote: By the way, I am SOOOOO excited to see this month's figures for visitors to the site. I've been waiting a whole month to see new charts and graphs!!


On March 13 Matt Lemmon wrote: but I'm still excited to see what your stats look like for March, considering your stats are looking crazy good for February. Also, how can I invest in Steady Mobbin', because - and here's a good hypothetical question to think about - what if those hits were not actually hits, but they were dollars, and what if the chart was not actually a "hits" chart, but rather a "stock price" chart, and what if Steady Mobbin' wasn't a blog at all, but rather a manufacturer of high-grade electronics components, and what if I owned a share of that stock since the day I first started reading your blog???? And what if I bought more than one share. Under that scenario, if I invested $2,000 in Steady Mobbin' Electronics, two years ago, what would that $2,000 be worth today?? I bet it would be worth a freaking lot!


So March was a nice month, but we all know what happens to tech stocks. Thanks for the patronage.

(And, BTW, had I not had 2 disasterously weird and computer-complicated Fridays this month, I'd have had 200 more hits. Just BTW.)