a few overdue music notes from over the weekend. first off: guided by voices farewell tour friday night? out of control. i’ve never been a fanatic by any means, but most of what i’ve heard i’ve appreciated. however you don’t hear all the stories bordering on legend and not try to catch the last tour of a band like this. at least that’s what i thought when joe offered me a ticket. sweet lord was i glad i took it. not only were they terrific, drunken showmen with so many good songs to play there wasn’t a low point in the set, but they played for almost three hours without flinching. pollard even remarked late in the set (around 12:45am, when i normally would have left the venue, got a burger, and already been on my way home), “our encore is longer than most band’s entire set.” and he was right, it was 45 minutes. you could feel the enjoyment and energy they have in performing, and i left that room so glad i was there to see it before it was too late — no matter how sore my legs got or starving i was for skipping dinner to make it there on time. sure, i didn’t get to sit and eat until 1:15am after a 4 hour concert, but it’s much more fun to be able to say that the guided by voices farewell show almost killed me.

on another unrelated note, how about that pay day song. the week before at the ted leo show, i can’t say the opening acts really added much if anything to the experience (and who needs them to? this is ted leo we’re talking about). the lashes were weak, and lucero seemed out of left field with their drunken country rock, although at least in their case a few of the songs stood out for me despite the fact i couldn’t understand why they were on the bill. their song my best girl i particularly liked, maybe because i have a thing for songs dedicated to inanimate objects; piebald’s ‘king of the road’ about their tour van and the impossibles’ ‘frances’ about a teddy bear both have special places in my heart. so even if it’s a little silly to write a love song to your guitar, and this song is way out of step with what i usually get attached to, for some reason i can’t stop playing this song. maybe because i’ve never met that special stringed instrument of my own.