retrobuzz

sat evening, checked out the long awaited return of my friends' band, the newly named last tourist, or the band formerly known as immerse. consisting of peabs, the gorilla, c friggs, mark julien, & kegzies respectively. there was heavy buzz in the d surrounding their highly anticipated return to the detroit music scene, as well as their upcoming opening slot gig w/ the cosmic rough riders at the smalls on 5/17. it also gives some of us another excuse to go out drinking.

anyway, i arrived to paycheck's lounge at ~10:30pm, had a few ginger ales & mingled among the heavy fow nation in attendance. too many to list out, bovs. i always love paychecks, cos a) it's dump b) it's my kind of dump & c) the band line-up's are always all over the map. the 1st band (i saw) was this terrible yet best heavy cheese metal act, i think they were called 'extreme noise'. for some reason i got really into this band. the grizz & gkvibe did as well. we anchored ourselves to a table toward the front & rocked out to the band of hilarity. they were cheesy, notso good, but we went nuts during their set. they were definitely tee-ball league if you're keeping score at home when compared to the darkness. maybe it was a cruel unintentional joke? is there such a thing? last time there, they were sandwiched between a crappy ska band (is there any other kind?) & a wu-tang clan esque rap group, which was strange, yet best. line-up's don't get more diverse than paychecks. the final band sat night was a rooney type band. no sh sh shaking revealed though.

last tourist went on at ~11:30pm'ish. w/ 3 guitarists, there are a shit-load of pedals/gadgets, etc to set-up & all that. i think the sound guy did a decent job, cos everything was working & was load. i've heard he's actually an incompetent douche, but after coachella's back-alley indio abortion sound clinics last week, any sound was worth 2 gold stars. as they were about to start their set, i invited myself on stage to announce the band, & they were already standing on stage. i grabbed the mic, & belted out 'ladies & gentlemen, from detroit michigan, it's last fucking tourist! mmmmmmmmmBESTTTTT!!!'. i jumped off stage & they worked their magic, ripping through fan favorites, as well as some new buzztrax. for not playing together for almost 2 years, they sounded really tight. i took about 40 pics during their set, mostly of them & the celeb presence in the crowd. i'd post pics, but a) i don't own a digicam b) i don't own a pc & c) my ipod has thousands of pics, even complete digi-video footage from the entire show (in my mind). fuck your ipod.

i think they finished at ~12:30am or so. perhaps being the self-absorbed attention whore that i am, i got back on-stage as they finished & grabbed the mic again, saying something like, 'ladies & gentlemen, show them some love & fucking give it up for last fucking tourist! mmmmBEST!!'. sadly, no beers were poured over damore's head the entire night. i have to pick & choose carefully occasions for which to reveal this since i'm paying royalties & all.


that kid is back on the escalator! anyway, after last weekend in cali, i was still behind on sleep, despite sleeping 13 hours fri night. i left at 1am & caught a ride w/ peabs' dad, fos, who was proudly sporting a 'peabs: obvs in 04' tee. sunday was wake-up at 11:30am, watch some horrible tv, shower, discover a simpsons marathon was going from 12pm-6pm, then go out & buy some mother's day gifts for my mom in attempt to avoid receiving the worst son of the week award for the 250th conseq week. yes, i never plan ahead. i'm last minute on everything. making plans is boring. & yes, i'm shallow & a bad son. nice, expensive gifts are how i try to buy the affections of my family. anyway, it was a nice flower arrangement, a hallmark card, & a borders gift card. spent the day at my mom's w/ my bro & twin sis, & obvs, my mom. nice day was had by all.

i should have the final part of my coachella write-up done & posted monday am. i'm sure it will suck, much like most of my vanity pieces.