a weekend that promised to be good ended up being full of surprise bonuses that made each good day great. how can you beat that?

friday i made it out to the fearless freaks screening, which was set up in the courtyard in front of the laemmle sunset 5. a bunch of folding chairs with target-sponsored souveneir seat cushions and free ice cream. sadly i couldn’t find anyone to go with me, so i had to skip the ice cream to save my seat. however, who among us can say they won a free copy of the movie before they even screened it for knowing the excellent piece of flaming lips trivia, “which popular 90’s show did the flaming lips appear on, and what venue did they play?” well, that would be me, whose hand bolted up (after the words “90’s show…”, i’m so good) and answering the correct “90210, at the peach pit”. i am such a big winner. incidentally, check out the film if you like the band at all, they’re an interesting group of weirdos and it’s worth it just to hear wayne coyne talk about pretty much anything, really. coolest guy from oklahoma ever.

saturday i knew the mountain goats show would be good, and boy was it. then holy crap the crowd was so full of love they clapped and clapped through the turning on of the house lights and the rising of the house music for a supremely rare second encore at the troubadour, defeating the man with our darnielle affections and urging a huge performance of ‘no children’ — halfway through which his guitar went out somehow and transformed it into a massive sing-a-long that was easily one of my top five LA concert moments to date. and all that sandwiched between a beautiful afternoon of beach volleyball and a cool ass post-concert trip to jen’s party down the road. now that’s a full day.

sunday’s arcade fire show at the hollywood bowl was strange because i don’t normally see bands i like from more than a hundred yards away and several stories up on a hillside, but then again i also don’t usually have a wine-drenched picnic beforehand either, so all in all it was lovely. more like relaxing with some good tunes than a real concert as i like them, but still great. plus through either fate, luck, or a certain someone’s subtle planning, i ended up sitting next to exactly who i hoped i would in our group of 12, which was a nice bonus. AND david byrne wrapped up his set with an insane marching-band-backed cover of beyonce’s ‘crazy in love’, so tell me that wasn’t just about the perfect night either.

plus cubs take the sox two out of three? please, how much more good news can you fit into three days?