The weather finally broke free of the evil cold chill the other day and boy did I take advantage of it.
I have an interesting work schedule so I have Thursdays and Fridays off. That my friends is my weekend and I made damn sure I was out doing things the entire time.
On Thursday I did the typical cleaning of the house and jammed out to some good tunes while doing so. I headed to Big Lots and picked up a receiver shelf I had my eye on for a while now so I could make my living room look less of a dorm room (I had 2 TV stands in there before – classy).
After putting the shelving unit together in one try I took my boys for a walk around the neighborhood and just soaked in the good weather.
That night I finally had the chance to meet up with Matt and pick up the records he so kindly purchased for me on Record Store Day while I was working. As a special thank you I brought him a gift, something he was looking for…
The vinyls he scored for me were awesome and I could not wait to get home and listen to them. I am not even sure if I am going to open a couple of them as they are collectors items for sure.
I also brought a box of old magazines and such from the 90’s I collected and later stored at my parent’s house. Matt had a smile that looked like he was opening J-Day presents when he starting going through all the back issues. I’ll let him explain why later.
After catching up for a bit and what not we headed to Angelo’s Pizza on Madison for some grub. If you are ever in the mood for pizza and find yourself on the west side of Cleveland I think it would be in your best interest to stop at this joint. We shared an amazing seafood pizza, which I might add intimidated me at first because I did not think it could be done. I have a new favorite pizza now. The crust alone is like eating breadsticks. I am serious about to call off work right now and head out there for lunch…
Friday I was the landscaper of sorts and mowed my lawn for the first time this year. I love having a lawnmower with a bag on it so I can just vacuum up all the leaves and sticks I missed cleaning up last month. After I did a so-so job I spent a few hours with these guys playing:
See that blue ball? Sweet Lou (the tan dog) is addicted to it. Seriously, I call it the crack ball because he is obsessive about it and will cry if he can not play with it. He chews on it like it is bubble gum and will try and bring it to you when he wants to play “ball”, but usually he grabs it and runs away when I reach for it. The good thing about “ball” is that it keeps his attention and he stays in my unfenced yard and I can do my thing around it without having to chain him up. The bad thing is trying to get him away from the “ball” when it is time to go in or what not.
After a couple hours of playing “ball” the infamous ((RAD))am stopped by and him and I headed out to go thrifting. It was a good day for thrifting and I scored a few select apparel items that will make me look super cool.
From there we swung back to my house to pick up a beautiful lady who just got home from class and headed for some Skyline Chili. It was the first thing I had ate all day and furthermore the last too. I stuffed myself silly.
The cutest girl on the block I had the pleasure of taking to lunch soon got called into her job so after lunch we headed back to the house and ((RAD))am split to go impress the ladies with his sweet Jeep. I just hung around the house and tried my best to get my record player working on my new receiver and finally discovered I need to buy a preamp…boo.
The weather was perfect and I know I got a lot more done than I listed here but I do not want to bore you.
Today sucks though… I have to work the next 5 days, 10 hour shifts. I am not looking forward to it but I am looking forward to next weekend when my friends Josh and Shannon come invade Ohio so we can caravan to a metal show. More on that later.
Yea I guess it is a good day. Minus my dog Zeus and his terrible gas today has been just one of those days where I sit back and think of what to do… I have been having a rough week with personal stuff going on so I have been not doing much lately and think today should be a productive day.
I could get a tattoo.
In fact it’s been over a month since I last got some work done so this may be a winner. Persistence Tattoo is where I go. Ronnie and crew rule. I really want to finish up my sleeve. I also want a Dick Goddard tattoo…and I am dead serious. The guy is a Cleveland icon. Not sure if it will be portrait or not.
I could go to Half Price Books.
It’s only been 5 years if not more since I last stepped foot in one of those stores. I know, I suck but there is not one very close to me.
I could go to a park with the dogs and take a hike. It’s been raining non-stop today and is a wee chilly so I am pretty sure I am going to skip that idea.
I could listen to music all day. Well so far I have been listening to a ton of music today. I checked out the new Doves album which is amazing, listened to some rarities from Strung Out‘s latest release, rocked out to Iron Maiden, and now for whatever reason have decided to listen to Metallica‘s Live S#it Binge & Purge. Scratch that, I got sick of it and hit the random button…
I could hit up the local mall. The local mall scares me. In fact this city I live in right now scares me. The water must be contaminated. I have lived here for over 5 years now and only am friendly with my neighbors on both sides of my house. I do want a new hat though… I am torn. Every year for the last few years I get a Cleveland Indians hat even though I am not a huge fan like I used to be in the mid-nineties. I found one I kind of like for unknown reasons…it’s bright orange and Chief Wahoo is lime green. Yeah, I know, no team colors there.
I could make lunch. Food is always good.
I could play video games. I can not even tell you the last time I picked up a controller and played some games. Maybe today is a good day for that. My brother did challenge me to Guitar Hero: Metallica on Easter Sunday, I mean Zombie Jesus Day. As I still have yet to play that game I still have older ones and can work on my awesome finger tapping skills.
I could organize my vinyl. I could do that but I would rather not today. That requires a thought process and I am staying away from that right now.
I could…stop blogging about what I could do and get off the internet and do something… Yeah that is a good idea. I’ll be back later folks with some stuff to keep you entertained on this good Friday.
UPDATE: (For all of you who were biting your nails wondering what I was going to do…)
So after listening to some more music I opted to make a nice lunch for the lady and I. After watching an episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations I decided to call my tattoo guy at Persistence Tattoo and set up an appointment for later in the evening.
Since the weather never cleared up we ventured to Half Price Books to see if we could find anything cool. I searched through the records and found an English Beat Wha’ppen LP and also grabbed a copy of Swingers as a certain someone in my household had never seen it. I love that movie.
Before we headed for some tattoo fun, we stopped at Roly Poly in Mayfield Heights. If you like your sandwiches fresh and healthy check this place out. Annie had mentioned it to me in the past and said they make wraps and sandwiches. We split a Nut & Honey wrap that was amazing. It was a wrap with cream cheese, raisins, sunflower seeds, cashews, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, carrots, avocados, sprouts, and honey mustard dressing. Needless to say it was delicious.
Running late we arrived to Persistence Tattoo in Eastlake where I got a beheaded St. Valentine on my right arm. I’ll take a picture once it heals up if any of you are interested. I think it looks sick and had a great time while getting it. When I say great time I am not referring to the actual tattoo as I hate getting tattooed. The fun was had in the conversations between all of us in the shop. Crude, rude, and hilarious.
Headed home we decided we needed a dessert before watching Swingers so we made a pit stop at Handels Ice Cream and grabbed some deliciousness.
So it was a good Friday after all. It really was the day I needed to end the week in a positive way.
Here’s a fun site for all of you heavily involved in this years Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction. This fun site urges everyone to upload photos and stories all related to this years inductees and has a very impressive look to it. Search through a tornado of articles, posts, photos and much more. This will cure any boredom for a while. I checked it out and thought it was pretty interesting:
There’s an awesome new website called Rock Immortal, created by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where fans can create a digital monument for the 2009 inductees. You can upload images, videos and stories in tribute to your favorites!
As many of you know I acquired a ticket to this Saturday’s Rock Hall Induction Concert at Public Hall thanks to good ol’ Matt who I seem to be mentioning a lot lately. What can I say, he desparately needs friends and has paid me in bribes and cold hard cash to hang with him and speak highly of him. Is it working?
I am looking forward to the Rock Hall Induction concert that will air on FUSE at I believe 9pm EST. Should be a good time and will be even a better time if Metallica decides to do a secret show after the ceremony. I’ll do my best to cover the event and promise to keep you all posted.
Last minute shows are always a good time for me. First I have to see if I can get off work early enough to go home and change from my “business casual” attire so I do not stand out like a sore thumb and then there is the planning of meeting up with friends and trying to grab a quick bite to eat. Sometimes this planning fails immediately as work beckons me to stay, meaning I can not get off that evening. Luckily for me things worked out perfectly this past Tuesday when The Gaslight Anthem came to town.
Matt from Addicted To Vinyl mentioned to me on Monday night that The Gaslight Anthem were playing the Agora Ballroom with special guests Good Old War and local rockers Redwater Rojo the very next night. I honestly did not think I was going to make it to this show and kicked myself for also forgetting about it. I was not 100% sure that I would be able to leave work early enough to head out to Cleveland to see them perform but as luck would have it I was able to.
Matt and I decided to grab a bite to eat before hitting the show and jokingly we discuss eating at My Friends in Lakewood, OH as I was once convinced he lived there because every time I ever picked him up for a show or what have you he insisted on meeting me at My Friends. I give him hell for it all the time but on Tuesday I was shocked when he told me I could pick him up from his dwelling.
Once I arrived Matt asked me if I had ever eaten at The Town Fryer, a local southern cuisine based eatery, and I stated I had not. He reminded me that the restaurant had expanded recently and opened shop in the same building as the Agora. He suggested we eat there since it was literally butted up to the venue and I agreed it was a good idea.
Now normally I do not mix food reviews with concert reviews but something happened while we were eating that involved unknown crew/friends of a band that would play later that night. It was not about the food, that was excellent (the catfish was to die for!), it was about other patrons…
I should take a moment here and clear something up right quick. Originally I thought the people seated behind me were Good Old War with a female friend. I was quick to exchange emails later in the day after writing the blog with my good pal Jonah who informed me that said girl who was associated with Good Old War was the merch girl and she, nor the band, were even able to eat at The Town Fryer as they closed shop shortly after Matt and I finished our meal. So to Good Old War band members/crew, supposed girl, her boss, and anyone else who read this blog originally…oops, my bad. Seriously, I need to stop assuming things…
Anyways…
While seated at The Town Fryer there were some folk seated behind Matt and I who were giving the waitress kind of a rough time. It was apparent the waitress was a little stressed out since she was the only one there and we later learned that she not even 5 minutes before we walked in found out she had to open shop. Apparently The Town Fryer was in the process of moving from one space to another in the building and she had been there since 6:30am.
To make a long story short these cool folk were not too kind and not too cool in my standards. I knew they had something to do with the band because they paid with meal tickets, something that is given to the band and crew only.
There was a female companion who sat along with a few guys who seemed to be making a big stink about “being vegetarian” and gave the waitress kind of a hard time about her order. Granted the restaurant lacked some of the menu items I still found it uncalled for how they were being. They were not exactly a-holes to the waitress but enough to bother me while I was eating.
Regardless of how crappy her day was and how long she had been on her feet busting her ass for a decent paycheck, our waitress gave Matt and I great service and in return we were nice to her as we both understood she was having a rough day. She was a cute girl and just looked ever so tired. I could see the long day she had in her eyes so I decided to be extra friendly and funny to her. I am pretty sure thanks to our conversations with her we put a smile on her face. I will be going there again for sure.
Something that also pissed me off was that later our waitress told us that the tip Ms. I’m A Vegetarian left her was not even $3.00 for a $60.00 bill total (I don’t give a crap if there were coupons/meal tickets/gift cards…your tip should reflect the total bill). Don’t worry friends/crew that hangs out with unknown band, I tipped heavy on account that you suck as patrons and failed to understand how rough of a time that waitress was having. I had been in the food business for many years of my life and this you should know… – respect your servers.
So let’s get back to talking about the show shall we?
The original bill for this show stated that Dayton, OH’s Heartless Bastards were playing as well but for some unknown reason they skipped Cleveland but managed to play Pittsburgh and Columbus just days before. If anyone knows why they skipped out I would love to know especially since I have been wanting to see them live for a while now and am a little bummed they passed up Cleveland. I guess I will see them this summer though as they are playing the 2009 Bonnaroo. Luckily the Agora was able to acquire Redwater Rojo to fill in last minute.
Cleveland’s Redwater Rojo took the stage to a small gathering to start off the night. I have seen their name around and even used to work with the lead singer years ago but I had never seen them live. Their performance was good with a strong mix of southern , smooth , and even at one time some progressive rock. I was shocked to hear how great the lead singer’s voice was as I was not even aware he was the front-man of the band when he told me about it years ago. I liked their music and hope to see them play again. My only complaints really were that the band kind of stood in place their entire set and lacked movement and I was unable to decipher if they were religious or not as some songs seemed to go hand in hand with a bible while others screamed F you to pretentious women.
While hanging out in the lobby of the Agora, Good Old War performed. I had never heard any material by the Langhorne, PA folk fun rockers whose songs really remind me of Paul Simon. They were entertaining and from the medium sized crowd that cheered and sang along with them I would have to say I got a kick out of them and will be checking out their release Only Way To Be Alone sometime soon.
I do need to add though at times during Good Old War’s performance, loud group cheers from the bar area of the Agora overpowered their performance and I knew why. The Cleveland Cavaliers were kicking some serious ass that night and a bunch of the attendees at the show gathered around the television to cheer on LeBron James and others towards another victory. Go Cavs! Only in Cleveland…
The Gaslight Anthem took stage after the Cavs claimed a win so everyone at the venue focused all their attention at the New Jersey quartet. Opening with “Great Expectations” the band sounded just as amazing as they do on their studio releases. All of the members were smiling and playing their hearts out and it was truly enjoyable seeing that. Throughout the show they played some of my favorites like “Old White Lincoln” and “Even Cowgirls Get The Blues” as well as “We Came To Dance” off their first release and “Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts” off the Señor And The Queen EP.
The lead singer Brian Fallon at one time explained to the crowd that they were smiling and laughing so much because of inside jokes the band had with one another. The laughs soon were shared with the fans when Brian Fallon stated that he could not having a hard time understanding what any of the guys were screaming at him but was able to hear the ladies perfectly. I found myself laughing a couple times in between songs when some of the things the guys were screaming translated into “What? Ja Rule was at a Gaslight show?” and “I heard french kissed hot dogs”.
Aside from the great rock and jokes Brian Fallon spoke about a legend of a performer who many compare the band to, Bruce Springsteen. At one time he told the crowd that he met Bruce Springsteen and they talked about New Jersey and their music. It was awesome to hear his short memories of the conversation and his attempt to imitate how the “Boss” speaks.
One statement that Brian Fallon did state earlier in the show about Bruce Springsteen kind of irked me a bit. He mentioned that Bruce Springsteen was being inducted into the Rock Hall later in the week but the truth is that there is a Bruce Springsteen exhibit being opened at the Rock Hall later in the week and that it’s been 10 years since he was inducted into the Rock Hall. I hope for the lead singer’s sake that he was just overcome at the response of the fans and not terribly mistaken.
During the encore Brian Fallon came out with guitar in hand and played a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire”. While he performed the classic I thought it would be a good time to head to the merch tables and see what goodies I wanted to pick up. I decided that it was a good idea to pick up Sink Or Swim and The 59 Sound both on vinyl to add them to my collection. I know these will be records I will listen for years to come.
Upon leaving we made a pit stop with the coolest “booking girl” ever and hung out with her for a few moments behind closed doors. I could hear The Gaslight Anthem continue their encore and the very last song they played sounded like “Stand By Me” but was morphed into a song I could not figure out. I thought they played three songs during the encore but I would not be surprised if I am mistaken. If the set list below is not accurate let me know so I can update it. Thanks.
I was really hoping that the boys that night would have played a little more material from Sink Or Swim or Señor And The Queen EP, but this night was mostly all about their latest release The 59 Sound. Regardless of their choice of the songs on the set list it was an awesome performance and I can not wait to see these guys again. I do have the feeling though that next time the show will not be as intimate as this show was. This band is going places.
The Gaslight Anthem Set List:
Great Expectations
High Lonesome
Old White Lincoln
Even Cowgirls Get The Blues
Wooderson
The ‘59 sound
We Came To Dance
Film Noir
Casanova, Baby!
Miles Davis & the Cool
Meet Me By The River’s Edge
Here’s Looking At You Kid
The Backseat
Encore (I could be off on this so if anyone has the correct set list let me know!)
I’m On Fire (Bruce Springsteen cover)
Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts
Stand By Me /I’da Called You Woody, Joe
Here’s a video a fan took of Brian Fallon signing “I’m On FIre” (no I did not take this…)
