Jimmy Eat World, Tomorrow at House of Blues!

When I told Becky I wanted to preview the upcoming Jimmy Eat World concert at House of Blues, she looked at me strangely, thought about it for a second, and then asked if they were that one band that had that “Middle” song on the radio years ago.

Short answer: Yes, that’s them.

Long answer: Yes, that’s them, but despite that one pop song that hit radio almost ten years ago (yep, it was 2002, you really are getting old) the band’s 18-year career is full of MUCH better stuff than that.

Longer answer: Jimmy Eat World’s power-pop/emo music has somewhat achieved mainstream success, but they’ve come a long way from what you heard on the radio years ago. If you’re turned off by the word emo, you’ll be happy to know the band’s newer stuff, including their latest album Invented, is not as bad as it used to be. Yes, the music is moody and cinematic, but it also brings in non-emo traits like smart lyrics, big guitars and a louder, punk-inspired sound. If the last song you heard (or played on Rock Band) was “The Middle,” give them another shot.

Solution: Jimmy Eat World (and myself) will be at House of Blues tomorrow night, February 4, with David Bazan. Tickets are $23.25 and still available!

Today Sure is a Good Friday, Huh?

I never could figure out why Christians call this day "Good Friday" when their favorite dude was crucified. I would think "Black Friday" would be more appropriate, but I guess that name was already taken by the post-Thanksgiving retail store hell. Anyways, here’s what’s going down this weekend:

Mr. Religulous himself, Bill Maher, is spitting his brand of religiously-offensively-awesome humor tonight at Hard Rock Live. I wonder what he has to say about Good Friday and Easter. If you want to find out, tickets start are a mere $55 + Ticketmaster fees. Ouch. Here he is with a penguin.



I have said before that Kittybat is the best DJ in Orlando, no question, hands down. I’m pretty sure it’s because he’s so damn versatile musically – in fact, he plays bass in a rock band called The Attack. They are playing the early show at The Social this evening along with Fake Problems and the River Boat Gamblers. Show starts at 5PM (yikes) and costs $12.



For a cheaper road, check out the Disco Disco party at Peacock Room with Latenight Society, Tard and Nigel. Don’t let the name fool you – not a drop of disco music will actually be played. I scoured the interwebs for a flyer, but all I could find was this video:

disco!disco!


Or, if tasty kid snacks and punk rock is your thing, check out the awesome all-girl band The Little Debbies over at Crooked Bayou. I was always a fan of the oatmeal creme pies.



And on to Saturday. Hipster favorite, Ratatat, will be playing at House of Blues. I don’t really have an opinion on them either way, but I do dig these Bjork and Kanye West Remixes.

Bjork - Wanderlust (Ratatat Mix).mp3

Kanye West - Get 'em High (Ratatat Remix).mp3



There’s also a Ratatat afterparty going down at The Social. This is the part where I would tell you who’s playing (I believe the aforementioned Kittybat is in the mix) but the social’s website is down at the moment, so I cannot fact check. Hopefully by the time you read this, it will be back up and you can get all the info for yourself.



And last, but certainly not least, we have The Empyres a band formed from ex-members of The Hatebombs, Fantasie and View-finder (and also Swami and the Salamis, if you remember them). They’ll be playing over at Peacock with Vanda.



If you believe in the Easter fairy tale, then have a nice one. If you don’t, have a kick-ass weekend anyway.

When Black Friday Comes...

Welcome Orlando kids who have stayed in town this holiday weekend. I took the last few days off to do the family and cooking thing, but now I'm here with your leftover Thanksgiving weekend events.

Right now, as we speak (or, as I type would be more correct) The Milk District is hosting one of their killer parties in honor of Black Friday. Head over to Etoile Boutique, Covert and Beta for awesome sales, leftover potluck goodness, potent holiday punch and dope ass music. Party is happening until 7PM.



Tonight, don’t miss an awesome show concealed by a shitty marketing title. The 2K Sports Bounce Tour hits House of Blues tonight in an effort to promote video games. Oh, and Q-Tip and Cool Kids are headlining.



Over at BackBooth catch Too Hot Redux, a music and art show featuring Peter Baldwin, Unique Assassin with DJ Dirty Sneakers and aesthetic by Mokobun.



Peacock Room is helping you work off your extra helping of turkey with their Stuffed party, featuring Latenight Society, Atnarko and Tard.



Also helping you work off the Turkey Day fat are the Spam Allstars at The Social. The 9-pice band blends “electronic elements and turntables with Latin rhythms, funk, hip-hop and dub to create an eclectic, original sound.”



Saturday night don’t miss Mumpsy and Yip-Yip at BackBooth.



Also tomorrow night kicks off a new party - Secret Saturdays at Bikkuri Sushi. This week fesatures LT Smash and Kittybat.



Hope you’re having a great holiday weekend!

Hip Hop Tuesday

B-boys and b-girls rejoice! Tonight you've got a full agenda as two special tours hit up our city on the same night.

Start out your evening by making the trek out to Disney property (I guarantee it will be worth it) for The Roots, Gym Class Heroes and Estelle performing at House of Blues.



Wash it down at with a special Phat-N-Jazzy over at The Social. The Smash Mouf tour (no, not the shitty band that sings "Walking On The Sun") is promoting the collaboration between Roc C from Stones Throw and IMakeMadBeats as The Transcontinental. Check the flyer for more info.

Flyer-Only Friday

I'm moving this weekend, kids, and have zero time for a blog update. I don't want to leave you high and dry, so here is a flyer only (ok, maybe some text) post. Note: I will eventually get these posts done ahead of time so you can actually plan accordingly. Until then... deal with it :)

TONIGHT

SOLD OUT - Nick Swardson at Hard Rock Live
Henry Rollins at House of Blues
Frontiers - Journey Tribute Band at The Social

Get Mental at Sky60 - Password for free admission is "WE are all MAS-DE-BATERS !!!!!!!" This is in honor of the non-debate (McCain is a pussy) not masturbating. I think.
Ian Lee, Marshall Jones and TARD at Crooked BayouDress to Get Screwed with Marcus Bacalis, Buckner, Rob Slac and Ernie Turner at The Peacock Room


SATURDAY

Central Florida Beer Festival at the Central Florida Fair Grounds

Andy Warhol Show at RV Studios

***I can't get the flyer to upload. Sorry.***

Bold Hype Grand Opening Art Show

Post Renaissance 1 Year Anniversary Party at Tatáme

Have a nice weekend kids! Wish me luck on my move. Anyone up for some heavy lifting???

Busiest.Weekend.Ever.

Busy, busy, busy. I'm busy -- you're busy -- we're busy -- this weekend is super busy. You'll probably have to clone yourself at some point to keep up. Due to all this busy-ness, I don't have much time to add a heavy dose of my usual witty commentary. I'll do my best, though.

First up, tonight. Don't go see Jeff Foxworthy or you're an idiot. If you're going to do something semi-embarrassing, go see Extreme at the House of Blues. Admit it -- you loved "More Than Words" and "Hole Hearted" back in the day. Dear Nuno Bettencourt, I would have 10,000 of your babies. <3 Becky.



Playing at The Social is Japanese cover band for The Beatles, The Silver Beats. Here's their awesomely Engrish description: "Of note here is Eric, who is a dead ringer of John Lennon, not only for his appearance, but for his movements and voice. One feels the ghost of John on stage when Eric sings. As an anecdote, Tadaaki sang "Yesterday" for more times than Sir Paul!?"



Over at Crooked Bayou, they'll be welcoming Mala all the way from the UK. More info on the flyer.



Hoochie Productions is hosting a party tonight at The Peacock Room with Jevne. Also more info on the flyer.



Get Mental is in full effect at Sky60 with Spear and MOT. Password tonight is Blah, blah, blah, mental.



On to Saturday. The newly coined Milk District is hosting a super-dope BBQ in the parking lot for Covert, Beta and Etoile Boutique. The best DJs in town -- Kittybat, Diddles, MOT, Spear -- will be on hand for your listening pleasure and mad sales will be going on at all three stores.



Taste is having a fundraiser for local animal rescues in the form of a Zombie Trailer Park Car Wash. Say what??? There will be bands also - check the flyer.



Tomorrow night at the City Arts Factory is Spoiler Alert, an art show featuring Bask, Tes One, Parskid and Steakmtn. Awesome DJs too! More info on the flyer.



Phew. Plenty going on in our sleepy li'l town, eh? Hope to see you out, kids!

Kids in the Hall + Yo Majesty + She Wants Revenge

The original gay-not-gay boys, Kids in the Hall, are bringing their "we-really-need-to-pay-our-bills-so-we-reunited" tour to Hard Rock Live this evening and I can't figure out why I'm not going!!! I was obsessed with KITH all throughout high school, thanks to the Comedy Central reruns. I had a whole collection of VHS tapes filled with Kids and The State (hopefully I won't get sued for admitting that here) that my friends and I would watch and quote endlessly. I would love to see their live comedy on the stage: Sir Simon Milligan & Hecubus, the Chicken Lady, Rod Torfulson's Armada featuring Herman Menderchuk, I'm Crushing Your Head, a gay Buddy Cole monologue... damn, why am I not going??? Oh yeah, because THE WORST MUSIC PARTY® is tomorrow and I have a bajillion and one things to do.

Anyways, here is my absolute favorite KITH sketch with Kevin and Dave about the guy who is never wrong about anything, especially the movie Citizen Kane.

If you like all that crunk-punk-rap B-more music, then head on over to BackBooth to see Yo Majesty. Hey, if nothing else, at least you'll see boobs:


LOL! View original photo at: Kevin Collier's website

Maybe not the boobs you wanted to see, but, hey, they'll be there. Also playing are Rosetta Stoned, Mostbangin'est, Justin Scott, Miss Fit and a super secret special guest. Oooh, mysterious!



I'm not a big fan but since some people are, I will mention that She Wants Revenge is performing at the House of Blues this evening. After the show, Adam 12 (the guy without the hair in the above photo) will speed over to Firestone for a DJ set.

But tomorrow is the real meat and potatoes because it's finally time for the Worst Music Party® Volume 12!!!!!!!!



Don't even think about doing anything else!!!

Another Beer Fest + Space Ace + Punk Rock

What could be better than standing in a parking lot on this hot Saturday afternoon? Wait, there's beer involved? Count me in! The The Great Orlando Beer Festival is being held today from 2 - 7 PM in the parking lot behind Firestone (42. West Concord St.)



All the KISS fanatics will be flocking to the House of Blues tonight to see the makeup-less Ace Frehley's solo performance. And although I doubt sparks will be shooting from his guitar, he's probably still a badass (his makeup is my favorite!) and the people-watching will be prime.



Punk rock kids should head over to Taste, where the Hate Bombs will be playing. Opening for them are The Dyin' Days, who wrote this awesome description of their band:

In the room where Grandma Santina kept the pictures of her dead children, there were four photos enclosed in a single frame. These were the photos of The Dyin' Days, Grandma's only son born with four heads.

Word. Click the flyer for info.



Oh, and it's flyers like this that make people think Orlando is whack. Mariah Carey's "offical" DJ??? Fuck off.

Friday is in the house

It's finally effing Friday -- you know what that means!!!



Yes, I put myself first because I'm allowed to do that :) But if you're interested in other happenings about town, here are a few.



The original 'Street Players' themselves, Chicago, are performing at Hard Rock Live but if you didn't buy tickets yet, you are out of luck -- the show has been sold out for months. I love, love, LOVE Chicago, but without Peter Cetera??? Meh.



If you feel like getting down to "driving in the car with Dad" music, Little River Band is playing at the House of Blues. This is most certainly where I would be if I wasn't DJing, to join the drunken older folks in a round of "Have you heard about the lonesome loser... he's a loser but he still keeps on trrrrryyyyyyiiiiinnnggggg!!!"



Tonight at Copper Rocket (which is right down the street from The Peacock Room -- did I mention I am DJing there???) you can catch drums-and-piano duo Los Diggaz. These guys are amazing and have enough musical knowledge to cover both of the aforementioned bands in their awesomely funny lounge slash comedy act.

But, seriously, you really should just come see me and Nigel :)

!!! vs. The Roots vs. Foreigner

Last night's Justice show in one word: WHOA.

More on that when I can think straight.

As I type this, I'm still hungover and trudging through work. Tonight will be recovery time because I have big decisions to make. Saturday night forces me to choose between three loves as Orlando's "Feast or Famine" rule rears its ugly head:



!!! is playing at the Social
The Roots are playing at House of Blues
Foreigner is playing for FREE downtown near City Hall

Somehow I keep missing The Roots (probably because I decide to go last minute and tickets are sold out), although ?uestlove is my hero and I have seen him DJ at least 5 times.

I am a huge fan of !!!'s first album, especially the Giuliani track, and I bet they put on a killer dance party-esque show, similar to VHS or Beta.

But in my heart of hearts, I already know Foreigner will win, even though mostly everyone will try to talk me out of it. It's not often you get to see a band like them so far past their prime. Not to mention I have been on a huge Foreigner kick lately, thanks to The Worst Music Party®. And even though the band is sans Lou Gramm, the price is right and I am broke after NYC.