$%#@!

Sometimes, I am a complete fuck-up.

Last night, due to my own lack of foresight and planning, I managed to entirely miss Mogwai in concert. This is not the first such disappointment I have experienced, nor is it the worst. That title belongs to my narrow miss of the Nine Inch Nails/David Bowie tour of '95, or possibly the night I had to work through the Ramones show in '96.

Oh, well. I saw the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and there will be other shows this year. I have tickets to see the Dresden Dolls in June.

Mogwai.

Mogwai's most recent album crept up on me like hurricane season. It's by far the best thing I've heard this year; old, new or otherwise. I'm looking forward to seeing them live tonight. I'll let you know how it goes.

In other news, the government will pay to put me through bartender's school. Sweet.

Mad Sin.

Mad Sin, a highly stylized psychobilly band, put on a great show at Dante's in Portland Friday night. They've recently undergone a revision of their lineup, losing a guitarist, but adding a guitarist who was previously with the Nekromantix. The openers were pretty decent. Dead Man's Hand, a metalbilly band from Portland, was hit and miss. Blackout Radio was very cool, every bit as billy as they were psycho.

Mad Sin themselves played a few tracks that I didn't know, but a lot of what they played came from the two albums I've played to death: 'Survival of the Sickest', and 'Sweet and Innocent? Loud and Dirty'. The show was truly loud and dirty. Midway through the show the lead singer, Kofte Deville, threw a sweatrag into the audience which hit me square in the face. Blech. the Fish tells me I should sell it on eBay. It's a thought.

Wallet.

I left my wallet on the bus yesterday. I was afraid that I'd be unable to get into the Mad Sin show tonight without proper ID, but the wallet came back to me this morning intact. *whew*. In job related news, I'm considering an entry into the sophisticated and highly cultured field of bartending.

City Job Fair.

I attended a job fair sponsored by the city today. Can anyone see me as a building inspector? Hmmm... The job that interested me most was that of a 9-1-1 dispatcher. I'd never be bored, and they make decent money. Sadly, the application process is six (?!) months. I may try for it anyway.

In other news: Tiger Army will never die. Tiger Army, one of my favorite discoveries of last year, is coming to town June 24th, and I. Am. There. In the meantime, I'm trying to decide whether to go to the Willamette Week's free Best New Band show tomorrow night, or the Raconteur's listening party at Jackpot Records. Decisions, Decisions.

Rainer Maria.

Damarcus, you were not wrong.

The other night, Rainer Maria put on a brilliant show at the Doug Fir lounge.

The first opening act was a local band called John Weinland. I was very impressed with these guys. They had a very sophisticated Iron & Wine sound, with vocals that seemed like a less whiny variation on Death Cab for Cutie, and very good lyrics. I'll definitely see these guys again if I have the chance.

I was not as impressed with Ambulette, who was touring with Rainer Maria. The drummer for Ambulette seemed to lack any real subtlety. The lead singer, while capable of a Jeff Buckley-esque trill, lacked range. Their formula worked well on power tracks, but not really anywhere else.

When Rainer Maria took the stage, it was quite apparent that they were ready to go. Sometimes even the best of bands need a couple of warm up songs to get going. Not these guys. Rainer Maria brought it from the very first song. And humorous, too: At one point, Caithlin De Marrais' joked, "This is one of the coolest places we've ever played. This is like, the White Lodge or something...", an oblique reference to one of my favorite television shows ever, owing to the Doug Fir's rather log-cabiny interior decor.

For those of you who are unaware, Rainer Maria has been a staple of the indie scene for a number of years now. I first picked up the album 'A Better Version of Me' a few years ago at the behest of my friend Marc, who insisted that these guys were the best live act he'd ever seen. I was skeptical. What I found on the disc were some really laid back but catchy pop tracks with good vocals and a fun sound. I promptly forgot about them. What I heard last night was anything but laid back. They're a lot louder and a lot more fun than I remembered them being.

The band worked incredibly well together, with a smoothness that made it hard to believe that they weren't triplets or some kind of mutant hive mind. They came out for a two song encore, and the last song they played ended in a two minute wall of magnificent noise that could have stripped the paint off the walls had there been any. All in all, a great show.

Beautiful.

Today is an absolutely beautiful day, here in Portland. I wish I could share it with all of you.

In other news, I'm seeing Rainer Maria tomorrow night, which I've been hearing for ages(*ahem* Marc) is a great show. It seems that Mogwai will be here on the 25th. I'm considering hitting that one. Does anyone know anything about Elefant? Silversun Pickups are opening for them and I'd like to go, but I've never heard any of Elefant's stuff. Also, the Necromantix will be here on June 3rd. What a bloody holiday indeed.