look out, i have a lot to say. at least i feel like i do. maybe it won’t be so much once its typed.

first off, show review. no need to go into specifics really. we missed thursday because we showed up a little late, but since i’ve never heard them i didn’t know what i missed and couldn’t be too upset. hey mercedes was completely great and rocked my world, like they always do. they just look like they’re having so much fun playing the music, and have so much energy to go with their talent and good music…i wish i could afford to go see them again tonight at the palace, but alas (speaking of affording stuff… but i’ll get to that in a minute). saves the day–well, i’ll try to be nice. they have a lot of fans. a ton of people there knew all the words to everything they played. the room was pretty excited to see them, apparently. personally, i’ve always felt that they have a couple really good catchy songs per album, but the rest are just watered down versions of the good ones. so i enjoyed the first three or four tunes, but then i was ready to go home. so it goes.

i was more ashamed of the crowd’s reaction to hey mercedes. from where i was standing (near the front and center, sort of) it seemed like no one knew any of the songs, no one was grooving at all to the rocking going on right in front of them, and no one was even having any fun. it felt very lame to me. i don’t want to wallow in my liking the lesser known band, i just have to state my preference and wish that the crowd was as much fun during the band i went to see as they were during the band i could have done without seeing which everyone was jumping and screaming for. again, so it goes. it just makes me want to write a letter to all they guys in the band that goes something like:

dear H.M.:

please don’t stop coming out here or think no one cares because the crowd seemed lukewarm during your set at the show last night. there are people in los angeles who love your music and think you’re one of the best live bands on tour these days. you played superbly and i already can’t wait to see you again.

your fan,

brian

of course i won’t actually write that letter because i don’t want to be a sappy fanboy. there was this one kid there last night that knew every word though and looked like he had been saving up energy all week to sing along with bob. good for that guy. sure he was kinda goofy, but at least he was goofy for a better band than saves the day.

(i told you this would be a long one…hang in there)

okay, back to not being able to afford things. the show last night was at the house of blues. pretty good venue. good sound, decent size (not too small, not so big it feels impersonal), and really all the things you want in a club venue. you have to buy tickets through ticketmaster for their shows, which kind of sucks…but how much can you complain about that, it seems to be a sad fact of life along the lines of death and taxes. this got me angrier than anything money-related has in a long time though: valet parking at the house of blues last night cost us FIFTEEN FUCKING DOLLARS. it was ten bucks when we went to see the vagrant tour and that was only in august. and it’s not like they have a parking lot right next door where you can park yourself for less money–you’re pretty much stuck using them. i could not BELIEVE they made us pay that much. it was utterly ridiculous and gratuitous and wrong. damn house of blues. good thing the show was good or i might have killed someone.

i think that’s enough for now. more soon.