M by Madge

When I went to H&M today, which was staffed by employees wearing black t's with "M by Madonna" on them to mark the opening of her new clothing campaign, I noticed that there were a number of dresses left hanging on the racks. That kind of surprised me because I had spied some of the dresses online and though not as fashion forward as the 2005 Stella McCartney campaign, I definitely aimed to buy at least one M dress today. For some reason, though, once I saw that the prices were almost twice the amount of a typical H&M price I talked myself out of a purchase. It's not that I couldn't afford the prices, but there's a reason I cheered when this city got an H&M. Since I was a teenager living in Germany, this store was the one place I knew I could get the hippest clothes at an insane level of affordability. Today, as I watched St. Louisans scope the dresses, then one by one turn away to browse the rest of the racks I wondered if they all thought as I did. The dresses may have Madonna's branding and come in cuts that are very "now", but the styles are extremely mainstream and just not that different from what you would already find in the store. As I placed the last dress back on the rack I said under my breath and in my best faux-Brit accent, "notbloodylikely, Madge." -K

It Means Tribbing, You Know

I was listening to The Point after work that night and the djs were chatting about upcoming shows and when one of them mentioned Scissor Sisters there was this pregnant pause that kind of put me off. Considering the djs it didn't surprise me one bit, but it will be a while until I tune in again. Anyway, I'll move right along here.

My mother, who once called me from the front row of a Cher concert to tell me how wonderful she looked after even more surgery, believes that everyone has a little bit of gay in them. She is the mother of a very out and proud son and a bi-curious daughter who brought a girl to her senior prom, so either we have influenced her thinking or we just happened to confirm what she has always spoon fed us: her rightness. Side story: back in college I had a guy friend who was supposedly in love with me and with whom I couldn't get enough of. We were inseparable. I brought him home to visit one summer and my mom pulled me aside and said "two things. Thinning hair and he's gay. He just doesn't know it yet." I was so shocked by her declarations. Three years later he came out. (In retrospect, the Madonna posters on his wall in college should have told me something) When I told her J and I were heading down to the Pageant to see Scissor Sisters she said "oh be careful. Won't that be dangerous?" I said to her "mom, it's going to be a venue filled with gay men, there isn't a safer place J and I could be tonight". Her response was "ach, I'm not worried about the gays. I'm worried about the crazy straight people who may be waiting for everyone outside nach dem Konzert. Sei blos vorsichtig, ok mein Schatz?? Und dann ruf mir an tomorrow and tell me all about it." (typical conversations flow in and out of German)



The thing I found interesting about the night of the Scissor Sisters was that it was just like being at my favorite gay disco on a Scissor Sisters themed night. Unless you were in the pit, most people around us were busy with themselves, falling over drunk, or just dancing. I think that where we were, J and I were the only ones REALLY looking at the stage. It was a real departure from our usual nights out. But, even after some time we couldn't help ourselves. We, too, started letting go and dancing.

I was not surprised that when we were at the bar, the man in front of me turned around and said to me "I'll get her to get to you next." I swear to god, sometimes I feel that if it weren't for gay men, I wouldn't feel special at all. There is a chemistry I have with gay men that I have never had with straight men. I have an inner Bacchus in me that I feel can only come out around them and I guess that's why. It's only surrounded by gay men I can truly let go, be as narcisstic as I really am, and be as drrrty as I know I am! One more side story about ME: as a freshman in college I wrote a paper arguing for same-sex marriages. My professor, also a medical doctor, years later treated my mother who was undergoing surgery for cancer. When the doctor recognized the last name she asked my mother if I was her daughter. She then went on to tell her that she often uses that paper as a model for her English 101 students to teach them structure and argument. The doctor then went on to say that she had never known a young woman who felt so passionately about this issue and how proud she must be to have such an open minded kid, etc. I will never forget the tearful phone call from my mother when she told me this story. It was the first time I felt like I had made her proud. The fact that my paper's structure and argument was a positive example was fine, but what she cared about was making sure I knew that I was the kind of daughter she had hoped for (oh god, that chokes me up just thinking about it!). Despite being the ultimate diva, she could be the most accepting and open-minded person in the world. Her belief is that as long as you don't hurt anyone you should be able to live as you wish and why not have a little fun while you're at it? When my brother came out to her, she cried with happiness because her son, who of course she knew was holding a secret, was finally free. It's that kind of acceptance I try to live by. Anyway, where was I going with this? Mom's great, I'm great, (hair flip). Oh, right- the bar. Well, when the man in front of me told the woman to get to me next, she was not affected at all. It took a good while for her to get to us- and as J said, we had to wait for opener She's My Man to start before we even got any face time.

I was surprised at how dominant Ana was on stage. I've only seen them perform on television and she always seemed somewhat in the background. This night she was in total command of the stage and of the audience. She basically reduced Jake Shears to role of frolicking stage nymph. If this sounds like an insult, it isn't. AT ALL. He gave the crowd EXACTLY what they wanted.

As J said, they opened with She's My Man and closed with I Don't Feel Like Dancin (IMO the best dance song of 2006). Highlights include Comfortably Numb (the Pink Floyd cover that at first terrified me, but now I accept), Take Your Mama, Filthy/Gorgeous ( a song I really dig off of their first album and one that was introduced by Ana to explain what "fag" meant), and definitely She's My Man.

Oh, the last thing that happened to us was this. I almost hit one of the glitterati on our way out of the parking lot. Through beglittered and glassy eyes the guy shouted "I LOVE YOUR CAR!" I rolled down the window and screamed "I LOVE YOU!"



I kind of expected that the evening would be entertaining. I just didn't expect to add Scissor Sisters to my still very short list of excellent 2007 shows. I give it an Unexpected. -K

Filthy,Gorgeous, and Unexpectedly Good

On Monday night, The Pageant in St. Louis was not a concert venue but a gay nightclub. K and I arrived to see Scissor Sisters around 9:00 and there was a DJ on the stage warming up the crowd. They didn’t need warming up. It had been a beautiful day and every stylish member of the audience had taken that as a cue to pull out all their summer finest, including lots of body glitter. K and I fought our way to the bar to get a beverage but as soon as the stage lights dimmed, we were standing there alone with our choice of bartenders. The show wasn’t sold out but by the looks of the crowd that mean there were about three tickets left in the box office. Because we got there late we were moving around the back of the venue to find a good spot to see the show. The crowd standing around us seemed more interested in hooking up than the show. The band opened with “She’s My Man”, my favorite track off of their latest record. I think Scissor Sisters are best when channeling vintage Elton John. The rest is not so memorable. The lighting and the presentation was gorgeous. Everything about this band is so visual that part of me was skeptical that any of them could play instruments or sing, but they were great. Ana Matronic did her best Mae West, MC-ing the show and the crowd couldn’t get enough, loving every sex joke. By the end of the show Jake Shears, the male singer, was down to his boxer shorts. As my friend M remarked in hearing this part of the story, “Give the people what they want” Mkay? --J

Signs of Spring

St. Louis is beginning to emerge from hibernation. Check out Lupe Fiasco's "Kick Push". It's the perfect warm weather song, and the chorus is almost like an onomatopoeia. --J

Plain White Ts at Pops

Photobucket Album

White Jeans, White Nights

Recently saw Razorlight perform on late night television. He wore this male ballet top. What the fuck is lead singer Johnny Borell thinking with this shirt?

[I stole this pic from a fotki site]

Does he think he's the Baryshnikov of indie rock? Yeeeuch. *shivers*


Razorlight: Big in Europe.
-K

Tom and De'Mar From Plain White T's

I wanted to share some candid shots I got at the Plain White T's show at Pop's last Tuesday night. It was a great night that felt extremely intimate considering the fact that singer Tom Higgenson was just standing around next to us before getting ready to perform. It was the band's third stop on their first headlining tour.

J looking on at Tom from Plain White T's. He was wearing the most popular hoodie at Pop's Tuesday night.

Drummer De'Mar Hamilton watching the third of the three opening bands from the sides.

Singer Tom Higgenson with fan.

J and I measure musicians by their interactions with fans. We noticed that Tom was incredibly approachable and unassuming.

Performance pics are coming soon... -K

The Beatles' Biggest Secrets

Saturday night I watched a documentary on BBC America called The Beatles' Biggest Secrets. Among others a former publicist, bodyguard, a Hamburg barmaid, and John's brief romantic interest, Mai Pang, are interviewed. They reveal some things I should have expected to hear about the supposedly squeaky clean Fab Four. Here are some points I found interesting:

Manager Brian Epstein was in love with John. One week after Julian Lennon was born John left to join Brian alone in Barcelona for a short holiday.

John Lennon said that Pete Best was a good drummer, but Ringo Starr was a better Beatle.

Contrary to some opinions about John leaving Yoko for Apple secretary Mai Pang, Mai admits that Yoko asked her to take John off her hands for a while. They ended up staying together for three years. During this time, John was very excited about a possible reunion with Paul McCartney. However, John decided to return to Yoko, who convinced him that this was not a good idea and the idea fell through.

John was once caught in a compromising position in a transvestite bar called Monika in Hamburg's red light district Reeperbahn.

There are supposedly several illegitimate Beatles offspring in Liverpool.

Tony Sheridan, fellow British guitarist and former Hamburg roommate, thought that Paul McCartney was a homosexual for months. He thought Paul was a diva and his eyebrows seemed too defined for a straight man.

In the Hamburg days, the boys all had sex with the same woman in the same night and bragged about it.

Royston Ellis, beat poet and longtime friend of John's, engaged in a threesome with John one night. This night included polythene and oil. This event inspired the song Polythene Pam.

Those who saw The Beatles around Reeperbahn figured they were lucky to have known the real band, before Beatlemania hit. I would highly recommend this documentary for anyone who, in all honesty, would enjoy seeing the pop image deflated. -K

One Part Bar Band, One Part Balladeer

K and I, with another work colleague, had a very stressful customer meeting from 6 to 7:30 pm Tuesday night. We had basically worked on and off for about three days preparing. The only thing that was getting me through was knowing that as soon as the meeting was over, we were going to run out of the building straight for The Pageant to see Pete Yorn.

We missed most of the opening band, Minibar, and arrived in time to grab a drink and get comfy to watch the next opener, Aqualung. Aqualung is kind of like the poor man’s Coldplay. Even though I like their single Brighter Than Sunshine, I was unmoved.

Pete took the stage and launched into a set of fast and slow songs, covers and originals. Here’s the setlist.

· Black
· For Us
· Atlantic City (Bruce Springsteen) > Murray
· Long Way Down
· Just Another
· Maybe I'm Right
· Closet
· The Man
· Undercover
· Splendid Isolation (Warren Zevon)
· Ice Age
· Life on a Chain
· Dead Flowers (The Rolling Stones)
· For Nancy
Encore:
· Policies
· How Do You Go On
· Strange Condition
· Crystal Village

My one disappointment was that I really didn’t like the live arrangement for the song The Man. It is my favorite on his new album but it sounded different. I think someone was playing steel guitar or there was some weird keyboard effect. At the time I had an obstructed view and couldn’t see the entire stage to figure it out. Everything else sounded great and he played many of my favorites like Strange Condition, For Nancy, and I loved the Rolling Stones cover. We sat in the balcony of The Pageant for most of the performance watching the super mellow crowd below. For most of the shows that we attend, K and I are usually scared to get into the pit because we don’t want to have to lift a crowd surfer over our head. At this show, there were lots of couples spooning and people gently swaying from side to side in front of the stage. I went downstairs to take some pics and easily walked through the pit area and never got kicked in the head doing it. Very unusual!

Pete provided great witty banter ranging from a kid in St. Louis hounding him over MySpace to do the Springsteen cover, to learning a new pop chord years ago on the guitar which prompted him to write Life on a Chain. I think that every town on a tour stop wants to be remembered by the artist. I’ve heard from a number of fans how they like for the artist to say “Hello Chicago!” when in Chicago, etc. Pete took it to the next level. I have read that since the late 90’s he has pretty much toured non-stop so I was really impressed that not only did he tell the audience that he ate a hamburger down the street at Blueberry Hill that afternoon, which is where he had played a gig back in the summertime, but he also told the audience that the first time he played in St. Louis was at Mississippi Nights and went on to tell some stories about the night. He also knew that Mississippi Nights had recently closed. He also said hello to Beatle Bob, a local fixture on the St. Louis music scene who was standing right up at the front barrier. Of course K and I were fixated on the fact that if we weren’t so stressed out at work, WE probably would have had lunch at Blueberry Hill in hopes of running into him!

We went and stood in the pit for the encore and thoroughly enjoyed it. I told K when it was over that I didn’t want to go home because then I would just go to bed and have to wake up and go to work and I wasn’t ready to face it. It’s been pretty stressful with lots of changes. On the way to work on Wednesday I played For Nancy on repeat and sang along with Pete, “Convince yourself that everything is alright, ‘cos it already is” and prepared myself for another rollercoaster ride. --J

If You’re Crazy, You Must Be Sitting Next to Me

I took my daughter A and her friend to the cultural fair our city was hosting today. We try to go every year and there is always good music and good food. This year as the girls walked around looking at the vendors, I sat down to watch an Israeli folk dance group. Two older ladies sat down next to me and began to bitch about the volume of the music. It needed to be louder. Then the woman decided to talk to me. The exchange went something like this:

Lady (with strong Jersey accent) – Don’t you think the music needs to be turned up?
Me – No, actually I think it’s quite loud.
Lady – Oh (annoyed with me)
Lady – Did you see the belly dancers perform?
Me – No, they’re usually good though. I’m sorry I missed them.
Lady (inappropriately outraged) – Well, of course they are! They’re professionals, not like this group of working people who just gather at night to do this stuff (pointing at the Israeli folk dance group).
Me – No response.
Lady – Ugh, it’s hard for women to get men to do this kind of dancing (again looking at the Israeli folk dance group). They must be gay or the wives just drag their husbands.
Me – No response.

I guess when you are older at some point you decide to say whatever the hell you want. It was cracking me up. She finally got up and left when the group began dancing to some Israeli hip-hop music, which I thought would suck, but actually was pretty good. At that moment, any kid in the place that seemed disinterested in Israeli folk dance suddenly turned and paid attention to the stage. --J

Conference Playlist

Imagine, if you will, spending a week in a beautiful hotel in Colorado Springs for an annual conference. The environment is gorgeous and your clients are some of your favorite people yet you can't really sleep and your skin is so dry that you choose to not shower but every other day just to feel normal. When I wasn't running around meeting with clients and wondering if I was allergic to the hotel I was standing on my balcony looking at the radar towers of NORAD and dreaming of disappearing in the mountains.
I'm going to skip over all the tedious work details of the week and focus on the music. First, we have the party. The conference usually concludes with a party that in the past has generated the best stories. Immortalization at this company is guaranteed for you if you've gone overboard at the party. This year we were all pretty low key, but I did two-step with a customer, which was extremely unexpected. It also could have been dangerous since I had been drinking wine and I'm notoriously clumsy when I'm drinking. Anyway, at some point, the dj announced that [enter my name here] must stay on the dance floor for a two-step and that my partner's identity would be revealed in a few seconds. The floor cleared and I stood there and saw one of my clients from California walking towards me. We two-stepped to Brooks & Dunn's "Boot Scoot Boogie." Later, he and I paired up again during a disco classic. It was a lot of fun. One of my favorite moments was when practically EVERYONE was on the dance floor dancing to Sister Sledge's 'We Are Family." It was an evening filled with laughter and sentimentality. I wanted to hold onto it for as long as possible.
All seriousness aside, it was also an evening during which I discovered that one of my coworker's knows the all the lyrics to "Ice Ice Baby". I must say that was a little surprising.
The evening ended with J and me both noticing a beautiful half moon rising over the mountain and a decision to grab one more bottle of wine before calling it a night.
Finally, I wanted to publish my conference playlist. In our rooms we had iPod attachments to the clock radio so I was able to listen to this music during my off times. Don't be scared. I sometimes pepper my playlists with indie songs. This time it's the dominant genre. I'm not subconsciously mourning the loss of The OC, though I think I will miss it. I'll be wearing Scandinavian leather again as soon as it turns warm. -K

Nothin' No - David Vandervelde
There is something very Marc Bolan about this Chicagoan's voice. That plus the guitar in this song makes it a gorgeous throwback to glam rock. Where is my mandrax and feather boa?

One Night Only (disco version) - Dreamgirls soundtrack
I love disco. I do.

On Call - Kings of Leon
J and I decided that we would have a moratorium on each other's bands this year since both are coming out with new albums and promised each other to listen with open minds. This year I've promised to be open minded about Kings of Leon's latest coming out soon. I don't know if it's the ambience or if it's just a really good song, but I liked this one the first time I heard it.

Flathead - The Fratellis
Love this song. But, I foresee me being totally sick of it soon.

Albion - Babyshambles
It's too bad that Pete Doherty's personal struggle with drugs has made him such a tragicomic figure. After watching a documentary on him I've come to realize that there is a lot of good music coming out of this guy's mind. He's a fool, but he's a fool that represents human weakness in an unexpectedly identifiable way.

U+Ur Hand - P!nk
Hell yes. P!nk will kick ur ass.

Smile - Lily Allen
There's just something about this song that I can't get out of my head. It's got an easy feeling to it.

Number 1 - Goldfrapp
Sexy, sexy, sexy woman, that Allison Goldfrapp.

Up the Bracket - The Libertines
This is just good brit rock. The Libertines was Pete's first successful attempt at putting a band together. Too bad it all fell apart.

Do the Whirlwind - Architecture in Helsinki
This is an odd inclusion, I know. It's very ambient/techno but melodic as well.

Chips Ahoy! - The Hold Steady
These guys have a lot of buzz surrounding them, but I hope they keep their local band sound. There's something very unpretentious about their sound that can be so rare in the indie scene.

Come Pick Me Up - Ryan Adams
I haven’t listened to too much of his music, but these lyrics are so longing. I can't get enough of this song.

Yankee Go Home - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
I could not listen to the lead singer Alec Ounsworth's voice for too many songs in a row because it's just like Gordon Gano from Violent Femmes. Gives me hives. HOWEVER. This song is pretty ok.

Rolling Stone

I’m a little annoyed with Rolling Stone Magazine right now for two reasons: Their show, “I’m from Rolling Stone” and their latest cover featured here.

Have you seen the show? I don’t know if they realize it, and it could all be in the editing but it looks like they have the lamest group of writers interning for them and the expectations are not so high either. Maybe it’s the fundamental problem of trying to create a show about writing. I was really looking forward to watching this but it is really unnecessary.

The other problem I have is the photo on the cover of new guitar gods issue. How interesting that John Mayer, America’s favorite passive-aggressive pretty boy (see lyrics for “Waiting on the World to Change”) is front and center and the other guitarists are blocked from view. I bought this issue in the Dallas airport this weekend and held it up to my traveling companion. He didn’t even notice the other guitarists in the picture. Nothing against John Mayer (well, not in this case), but the article is supposed to be about ability and not looks, but the cover contradicts that. Maybe I’m the only one that didn’t buy it for John Mayer. As for their list of twenty new guitar heroes, I was surprised that Matt Bellamy from Muse wasn’t listed. An article I was very much looking forward to reading proved unmoving.

Come on Rolling Stone, this is unfortunate. Good concepts but poor execution. –J

Nostalgia at the Movies

The new Hugh Grant/Drew Barrymore movie, Music & Lyrics, is definitely a chick flick and would appeal to anyone who was an adolescent gal in the 80s. While K was a lover of metal in her youth, I embarrassingly gravitated to synth pop, mostly of the Brit variety. Being the baby of the family and always having to listen to my brothers’ music, this music was my own, no matter how crappy and dated some of the songs sound now.

Hugh Grant plays a very Andrew Ridgeley character, the unsuccessful half of Wham!, a favorite of mine back in the day. The character is now a has-been but is still living off of his former glory, playing high school reunions where grown women still flock to see his pelvic thrusts. These scenes were both hilarious and a little sad. There is also some commentary about the importance of a good pop song, has-been reality television shows, overtly sexy young singers, and manufactured versus more organic music. But of course, the scenes that got the most laughs were Hugh Grant’s band’s music video with Duran Duran outfits and 80’s hair. If you love Hugh Grant or that genre of music, you’ll love this. Others, probably not so much. --J

A Surprising Moment for 400

I was at my Volkswagen dealership yesterday getting my car serviced and overhead on the tv Jeopardy was on. MCR and Panic! At The Disco were questions for two respective answers. Weird. What was not weird was that the same guy knew both.

I couldn't resist adding a random picture of SNL's Celebrity Jeopardy! parody. Darrell Hammond as Sean Connery mispronounces categories, i.e., Therapists as The Rapists. W00-hoo! That shit is fun-nay! -K

Get Better, Luv

-K