In honor of all of LGBTQ-ness [RSTUV...] that is the last couple of weeks [Maine/NH/VT, etc. progressing with the gay marriage movement, national poll shows that gay marriage approval is up 10% this month, etc.] Also, in honor of all of my vacation shows or as I affectionally called them: the trifecta of queer. I give you some good music by some good bands with some good LGBTQ members.
This is a fun tune. I'm loving Australian bands lately. This duo is talented and also adorable. [Note to my sister Melissa - her name is Kate Cooper. I didn't even have to make it up this time.]
You know how I like most of what Kathleen Hanna does? I also love pretty much everything JD Samson does. This is pure dance. I don't pretend to know the lyrics, I just want to dance in my car to it at a stop light. That is reason enough for me.
It is warm and sunny in Portland. It makes me feel like summer, even in April. This song makes me feel like that, as well. I love Rufus. I also love the name Rufus.
This song is adorable and sad. Here is a video of her explaining the story of the song [live in Portland, ME! - The video includes my wife Allison Miller!] I'm learning to like Erin recently.
Nothing soothes me the way this does. I cry when I hear it and it has no lyrics. It's just a two minute mental break for me. I think it is absolutely beautiful. Automatic For The People saved a teenage Abby from a world of shitty pop music. True story.
Don't forget to write you states elected official and encourage their support of gay marriage. If you're in Maine, visit Equality Maine, and fill out their e-mail or write your own.
Dear Allison Miller, you amaze me. You're talented and attractive on an inappropriate level. *sigh* I love the rest of the band but you make my heart flutter. :) haha
I was going to make a comment about how hot she looks drumming away on that box but there is NO way for that not to sound really dirty.
ANYWAY...
NOW THAT WAS AN ANI SHOW! Holy fucking shit. Who would have thought Skowhegan would bring THAT! It was insane! It was put on by Hardy Girls, Healthy Women's "Girls Rock Weekend." Very cool, feminist happenings. Met great people! Every one was on their feet, Ani's energy was great. Very, very, very nice. The show was at the opera house. It took me about an hour and 45 minutes to get there from Portland. The floor was GA seats. First come, first serve. I ended up there at 6:30-ish. I ended up lucking out with my 5th row center seats. Seriously!
She played: Alla This, Shameless [AHHH!], Your Next Bold Move [OMG!], November 4th, 3 or 4 new songs, Evolve, God's Country, Present/Infant, As Is, Half Assed, Paradigm, Pulse, a Woody Guthrie cover, and some I probably can't remember at this hour of the night/morning.
It was a very different set list than her Portland shows [not a lot of oldies] but it worked so well. They were two totally separate shows.
I love this...even in all of it's blurry glory.
& I got a video tonight. A few minutes of 'Your Next Bold Move.'
Oh, Ani. My third show of her's at the same auditorium. It is interesting the way a certain crowd can form the vibe of a performance. Tonight's show was brilliant, as always. Better than the first show, and dare I say, not as good as the last one. I don't know if it was being in a unfamiliar city, her first show here in five years, the heat of the Bush angst [pre-Obama] but there was a certain spark in the last show that wasn't there Friday night. There was sporadic dancing and a lot of debby downers tonight. Not all of the seats were filled. There was nobody in the top balcony. Strange, right? I guess it is because we're all scared of being homeless. No money for Ani.
She's incredible. The woman is genius. She is strong, smart, and unwavering in that special way the makes other people feel empowered. My seats were insane...I felt a part of it.
She played: Both Hands, You Had Time [kill me dead, gah!], Present/Infant, Emancipated Minor, Little Plastic Castle, 32 Flavors, Rain Check, Fire Door, SWANDIVE!!, The Atom, Red Letter Year, Studying Stones, Angry Anymore, Fuel, Sunday Morning, November 4th 2008, a few really new ones [one of them was AWESOME] and possibly a few more I can't remember.
Ani!
Mike & yes, that is a xylophone & yes, it is insanely amazing.
Music! I'm an overworked nurse, who spends a lot of time being tired. So...I have a moment before I go off to sleep again to make a list of music that I feel is worth a listen. Girl version!
Julie Ruin - I Wanna Know What Love Is 'so i'll stay awake almost every night a pen in my hand and in the other a knife because i'd rather be scared and fight back than be some dick's maid, babe or wife i don't care how we get it but we'll get it someday...'
Kathleen Hanna gone hip-hop-ish? I love her.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Hysteric 'the cinders, the cinders they light the path of these strange steps take us back, take us back flow sweetly, hang heavy you suddenly complete me you suddenly complete me.'
I always listened to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs here and there but the new album is fantastic. Turn it on and dance around.
PJ Harvey - This Mess We're In 'I don't think we will meet again and you must leave now before the sunrise above skyscrapers the sin and this mess we're in and the city sun sets over me.'
Come on, it's PJ mf-ing Harvey.
Rilo Kiley - Close call 'She was born on a brightened pier to a gypsy mother and a bucket of tears her good looks coulda sailed a ship but her will alone coulda sunk it funny thing about money for sex you might get rich but you die by it it's gonna be a close call gonna be a close call...'
Jenny is going to be my life partner [or wife if we live in Mass, Connecticut, and now Iowa!] Sigh. Her voice is perfect on this album.
The Be Good Tanyas - When Doves Cry (cover) 'Touch if u will my stomach feel how it trembles inside you've got the butterflies all tied up Don't make me chase you Even doves have pride...'
