go see black rebel motorcycle club live

i’m totally seeing them tonight and can not wait! i haven’t seen them live since high school, so it’s gonna awesome. :)

♥

This was my first time seeing BRMC and let me tell you it definitely won’t be the last!!!

I don’t even know where to start. Saturday was probably the best day of my life. We left Oklahoma at about 12:00AM and arrived at the Granada in Lawrence, KS a little after 4:00. There wasn’t even anyone out there waiting except some of the workers and members of the Cobbs and ECC. One of the doors to the venue was open and we sat in front of it. BRMC was doing their sound check!! We heard some snippets of ‘Took out a Loan,’ ‘The Shows About to Begin,’ and I think ‘Windows’ when we were coming around the block. After sitting around awhile and hearing the box office wouldn’t open until 6:30 (which later changed to 7:00) we left to walk around. Finally we came back and people were starting to show up. As we were waiting I spotted Spike to the left of us talking to some family. Then all the sudden Mr. Jago came out of the venue riding a bike down the block. Cool! Fast forward to the show. At first there was barely anyone in the small Granada so we got front row, pretty much center. While waiting, we met a photographer from Kansas City. He seemed pretty cool, he was talking about all the concerts he’d been to. And then he and my brother started talking about basketball so yeah didn’t listen to that part. Anyway… Eastern Conference Champions were up first. They were actually pretty darn good. I need to check them out some more. Next came the Cobbs. The week before I had been listening to their albums via the internet and was digging the stuff, so naturally I was gonna like them live. And I did of course! One of the guitarist’s amps was right in front of us and it was loud as hell when he played but it was cool. He said we were in “the line of fire” Haha good times. Oh man the wait for BRMC was sort of hard, I was really anxious. Once the backdrop fell, it was all REAL! When the lights dropped and I saw them coming out, I fell like a little school girl!! They busted out ‘Took Out a Loan’ and then closed with ‘All You Do is Talk’. I don’t have the exact order of the setlist but I’ll write the songs down toward the bottom. It was so amazing to be front row because Peter and Robert would come right up to us and rock out. At one time, I thought I was gonna get hit with Robert’s guit!! After the show I went up to the bathroom and ganked one of the posters from the stall. I was sad to not have gotten a real ticket; instead I got a pathetic little blue ticket thing. What the crap, will call blows. So then we went outside by the bus to wait for the boys in black. We saw Peter and he was talking to some people and signing stuff. He was about to go into the bus, but then he saw us and came over. My bro asked if we could take a picture with him. Peter said hi to me and called me “darlin” : ) I went to shake his hand with my right hand and he used his left hand and we got all mixed up and started laughing. Then he asked how I was doing tonight and whatnot. We asked him about Robert and Nick, and he said they should be coming out soon. We both patted him on the arms and thanked him and he thanked us for coming out. He’s so sweet and charming! So we waited for a little while and then I saw Robert toward the back of the parking lot thing. We excitedly began walking over there. Me and my brother asked if we could have his picture and he said yes. Robert seemed tired and said he was sick but forgot that he was halfway through the show. He talked to us for a little while. He told us that Nick was at some bar called “the Gaslight” and that he probably wouldn’t be back til 2. My brother told him we didn’t know where it was since we’re from Oklahoma. Robert mentioned that his dad was from there and that BRMC was coming down there soon. We then told him we unfortunately couldn’t go because we were moving to California. He talked to us about where and why we were moving. And the whole time I was standing there talking to him… I was thinking I can’t believe I’m actually with Robert Levon Been! He’s such a cool and laid back guy.
We decided to leave him alone so he could get some rest and feel better. Before leaving, we hugged him and he called me “sweetie”. He’s definitely one of the friendliest people we’ve met and we’re so grateful that he took the time to talk with us that long even though he wasn’t feeling well. I hope I don’t sound too weird or obsessive…but this meant so much to me and I am just so appreciative of their kindness. Next time, Nick, hopefully we will meet you.

Took Out a Loan
Spread Your Love
Berlin
Lien on Your Dreams
Six Barrel Shotgun
Weapon of Choice
Whatever Happened To My Rock ‘n’ Roll
American X
666 Conducer
Need Some Air
Not What You Wanted
Windows
Promise
Love Burns
Fault Line
Devil’s Waitin’
Mercy
Ain’t No Easy Way
All You Do Is Talk

I almost fainted.

We arrived at the Echo a little after 5 and there were already people there waiting in line. The sound check was originally scheduled for 4:30 PM, but ended up starting at around 7 since the monitors were late. We could hear BRMC jamming inside while we waited and they even played a new song I’d never heard before with Robert’s vocals! It was awesome! We were finally let into the club at around 8. Kristin King of Pretty Vicious opened the show with a short acoustic set. Her songs sounded nice, and she was playing with Peter’s guitar. She was also wearing a Love and Rockets T-shirt. Next, were Karabal Nightlife whose singer kind of looked like Patrick Dempsey. Their music was good for the most part, with some interesting guitar solos.

BRMC hit the stage at around 11 PM. They played a fairly long and loud set, which really was awesome. BRMC really turned up the volume for this gig and they were in top form. During “Spread Your Love,” Peter left his mike and played in the middle of the stage. During “Whatever Happened to My Rock ‘n Roll?” Peter moved to the far left side of the stage and Robert moved to the right and they switched mikes. It was cool and exciting to watch. Nick knocked off his glasses with one his sticks during one song, which made Robert laugh. I actually didn’t see it, but it does sound very funny! One of the coolest parts of the show was at the end of “Heart and Soul” when both Robert and Peter were down on the stage twiddling some knobs.

Here is the setlist:

Evol
Red Eyes And Tears
Awake
Six Barrel Shotgun
High/Low
US Government (original version)
Howl
Gospel Song
Love Burns
Rifles
Weight Of The World
White Palms
Spread Your Love
Stop

Sympathetic Noose
Ain’t No Easy Way
WHTMRNR/Punk Song
Heart + Soul

SETLIST:
Feel It Now
Fault Line
Restless Sinner
Shuffle Your Feet
Ain’t No Easy Way
Howl
White Palms
Stop
Six Barrel Shotgun
In Like the Rose
Weight of the World
Promise
Sympathetic Noose
Gospel Song
Shade Of Blue
Red Eyes and Tears
Spread Your Love
Punk Song

Devil’s Waitin’
Mercy
The Line
Heart + Soul
Open Invitation

The BRMC show at the Fillmore (3/15/06) was brilliant! It was the standard setlist with “Feel It Now” and “Mercy” mixed up with “Shade of Blue” – one of my favorite songs! It was great to see Jodi and Kimberly again, as well as Eric and Liam – our Berkeley friends. I first ran into Heidi at around 6 PM, we talked for like half an hour – I bought a Hershey’s bar with almonds for only 50 cents from some guy. Then, we went for some crepes from the Japantown Center – I had a tasty vanilla ice cream with Nutella! When we got back in line, Jodi, Kimberly, Eric, and Liam were all waiting together and introducing themselves.

When we got inside, we staked out our spots in the front and talked some more. Soon after, we found Jackie and Vietta – who is also Heidi’s friend. The left handed singer/guitarist of the Morning After Girls lit up some incense before their set. His pants were super tight over his thin but well-built frame. He really reminds me of Jason Pierce of Spiritualized because of his face and hair. The songs of MAG were excellent throughout – grooving and rocking at the same time. They never fail to please, especially that night. After they finished, that same Jason Pierce look a like gave Jodi a set list and the two still burning sticks of incense.

Elefant’s set was especially exciting because Diego chose Kimberly to focus on most of the time. First, he took her water bottle and drank a sip. Later, he took off his coat and gave it to her to hold. He took it back for the last song “Misfit.” Unfortunately, tonight there was no staring contest song despite Diego’s staring. The songs were actually pretty good: Sunlight, Bokkie, Uh Oh Hello, Black Magic Show, Lolita, Tonight Let’s Dance, Love, and Misfit.

That’s what I remember from the setlist Jodi got. Jodi and Kimberly were loudly making fun of Jeff from Elefant’s orange shirt and black vest combo before they played. Diego threw his water bottle and towel into the audience and often pointed at his band members when they played a solo. At the end of the night Kimberly really wanted to meet Diego and get their CD signed. Even though she didn’t, she still came out with Peter’s harmonica (in the key of A) and a gave him a hug!

Now for BRMC’s set, started with “Feel It Now” and “Restless Sinner” and went into cracking versions of “Shuffle Your Feet” and “Ain’t No Easy Way” – great songs to get people moving! The audience was much better than the GAMH show’s because no one heckled and it seemed less hipster-ish or maybe I didn’t notice them from the front of the stage. Some memorable moments include Peter during “White Palms” putting his foot out over Jodi. During “Heart and Soul,” Robert fell down on his knees right before he began singing the part about getting on his knees!

After “Heart and Soul,” Robert made up a totally new song which sounded like an old song or a cover of another song. He also added some lyrics to the end of “White Palms.” Robert came to the edge of the stage quite often and I saw noticeable smiles from Peter during some of Robert’s songs. After the show was even more exciting! We looked at the merch table for a long time – Ryan/Goldie the merch guy wasn’t at his usual post that night since the Fillmore had their own people.

Outside the venue, we waited and talked for quite awhile to see if any band members would show up. All we saw was Nick disappearing onto the bus, so Liam and Eric left. Jodi, Kimberly, and I decided to drop our BRMC posters from the venue in Jodi’s car, which was parked near Elefant’s bus. Kimberly knocked on the door to see if Diego was there, but there was no answer. So we went back to BRMC’s bus, and saw Peter on his cell phone. Alexander had called me as we were going back to the bus, so I was also on my phone.

When Peter got off his phone, Jodi and Kimberly went up to talk to him and get autographs. I noticed I had missed a call from Natasha’s brother Ivan so I called him back. When he gave the phone to Tash, Robert had also just walked out and was speaking with Jodi and Kimberly. I told Tash I was a little distracted because Robert and Peter were standing in front of me, so Robert took my phone and started asking Tash questions about who she was and said who he was. I’m not sure what they were talking about, but Robert said to say hi to Michele for him.

When Robert gave me back my phone, he said he’d return her to “the little one” – meaning me! Tash was slightly giddy from talking to Robert as I was from having him use my phone. We chatted some more and got some autographs and photos. I had Robert sign the Beggars DJ singles covers I brought and he drew all over his picture with the dreadlocks and wrote “things have changed.” He signed that one Robert Locke and the other Robert Been. He also signed my limited edition of HOWL and said it was the best thing they ever released.

Peter was looking for Robert after he left for the bus and as he was coming back to chat with us some more, he gave his harmonica to Kimberly which she gave him a hug for. He said that it’s in the key of A so she would need to play guitar in the key of E. As he was leaving, I got him to quickly sign my limited edition of HOWL next to his poem.

For Photos and Videos, visit My Xanga

I arrived at Hotel Cafe at around 5:30 PM after a brief adventure of riding Metro Red Line and the 721 and 25 buses from Orange County. I heard a sound check for “US Government” at around 5:37 PM. According to KevinK, BRMC are such perfectionists that they sound check for 4 hours before every show. At around 6 PM, I met Kevin and his wife Michelle. They were waiting for their friend Lacey who we later met walking over to Vine Bar, which was closed when we got there. We all ended up going to a bar called Three of Clubs. It was happy hour and I got a Midori Sour. The music was really good at that bar, and we sat and talked until around 7:30 PM when we all headed back over to Hotel Cafe. Most people were already inside when we got there, but Jackie (who I’d met in San Diego) had some problems with not having her name on the list. She had taken Greyhound from San Francisco just to be here, so Kevin called David to get it all worked out. Eventually, Kevin’s calls worked and she was inside the venue.

Setlist:

Grind My Bones
Faultline
Devil’s Waitin’
US Government
Love Burns
Howl
Sympathetic Noose
Rifles
Ain’t No Easy Way
Shade of Blue
Still Suspicion Holds You Tight
Mercy
Weight of the World
Shuffle Your Feet
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
Restless Sinner
Too Real

Hotel Cafe is a really nice intimate venue with a bar and small seating area in front. Peter and Robert were walking around a little before the show. At around 8:30 PM, Peter took the stage and played “Grind My Bones,” the cool slide guitar b-side of “Ain’t No Easy Way.” I saw Robert standing near by and he was standing right next to me during “Fault Line” (during which, Peter had a major sound problem) and “Devil’s Waitin.” Then, he went up on stage and joined Peter for the slowed down version of “US Government.” Next, they played “Love Burns” with cool alternating lyrics between Peter and Robert. Here are some more highlights:

“Howl” always heartfelt and lovely with new lyrics.
“Sympathetic Noose” more like the album version also with new lyrics.
“Rifles” – a crowd favorite, Kevin recorded it on my digital camera.
“Ain’t No Easy Way” the rabble rouser that got the party started!
“Shade of Blue” beautiful and just as I imagined it unplugged!
“Mercy” – the b-side to the upcoming “Weight of the World” single, a beautiful song with Peter playing some odd harp-like instrument
“Restless Sinner” – Peter mostly did this song solo, then Robert joined in on the chorus
“Too Real” – a gorgeous version of this song off the first album, one that they’ve played so well recently.

At the end of the set, Peter exited backstage while Robert stuck around to chat with fans. Me and Alexander took pictures with Robert, but unfortunately he’s closing in eyes in both of them! The one that he might have had his eyes opens was blurry! During the show there were plenty of smiles from Robert, though I couldn’t see Peter from the far right side of the stage where I stood. I could occasionally see Peter’s hair, nose, and the neck of his guitar.

Kevin, Michelle, and Lacey headed out to Vine Bar right after they started kicking people out. Me, Alexander, and Chris stuck around a little while Alexander chatted with friends. S)uzanne (donnaaudrey) spotted me at the door, she was at the front of the line. We chatted a little bit and I told her a little about the show. We left her to enjoy the late show and were off to Pink’s for chili dogs. The line was really long, but we got through eventually. I got a chili cheese dog and a Yoohoo and split some chili fries with Alexander. We finished eating and went to Vine Bar at around 11:30 PM. By then, I was a little sleepy so I went up to the bean bag chair room with Alexander. We sat and talked for awhile, but there was a lot of smoke in there. We went back down stairs and

Chris ordered me a Red Bull, which was only $3 and it woke me up a little. I walked outside for some fresh air and this guy asked me about the BRMC show. He said he heard some of the late show from outside, but didn’t have a ticket. I told him about the early show and we discussed the gospel influence of HOWL. Nick Jago walked by and I said “hi” though he didn’t know who I was, he still said a quick “hi” back. I kept talking to the guy until I heard “Rescue” by Echo & the Bunnymen playing. Eventually, I got up the nerve (and volume) to ask Nick if he’d gotten the book on stars and planets from some girls in Italy (for Ornella). He said yes and asked if I was the messenger. I said no, not really knowing what he meant and he said it was a good book and he had it on his bedside table.

I kept getting tired, so I followed Lacey and her friend out as they smoked. There were a couple other smokers outside who introduced themselves, Adam who provided fire and high scores on arcade games (AMR). There was a girl in a short skirt with no nylons named Kelsey outside smoking too. Later, Suzanne came by and told me that BRMC played El Paso, Mercy, and The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll. She wanted to request Nick to play Renegade Soundwave, but he didn’t have any with him. We kept talking until the last call. Alexander chatted with everyone from BJM’s manager the Yeti to Dave from Little Radio. Sharin Foo of the Raveonettes was there too. We left after last call and dropped everyone off at their car/homes.

BRMC will embark on an extensive North American tour throughout February and March 2006.

Support Details:

ELEFANT
www.elefantweb.com
www.myspace.com/elefant
Supporting Denver through San Francisco

THE MORNING AFTER GIRLS
www.themorningaftergirls.com
myspace.com/morningaftergirls
Supporting all dates except Sacramento

FEBRUARY
5 – Gothic Theatre, Englewood, CO
7 – The Quest, Minneapolis, MN
8 – Metro, Chicago, IL
9 – Bogarts, Cincinnati, OH
10 – Newport Music Hall, Columbus, OH
11 – Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, PA
13 – The Odeon, Cleveland, OH
14 – Mr Smalls Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA
15 – Pearl Street, Northampton, MA
17 – Avalon, Boston, MA
18 – Webster Hall, New York City, NY
19 – Theatre Of The Living Arts, Philadelphia, PA
20 – 9:30 Club, Washington, DC
22 – Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro, NC
23 – 40 Watt Club, Athens, GA
24 – Exit/In, Nashville, TN
25 – Mississippi Nights, St. Louis, MO
27 – Roxy Theate, Atlanta, GA
28 – The Social, Orlando, FL

MARCH
1 – The State Theatre, St. Petersburg, FL
2 – Culture Room, Fort Lauderdale, FL
5 – The Parish, New Orleans, LA
6 – Meridian, Houston, TX
7 – The Parish, Austin, TX
8 – Trees, Dallas, TX
10 – The Clubhouse, Tempe, AZ
11 – House Of Blues, San Diego, CA
13 – Henry Fonda Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
15 – The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
16 – Empire, Sacramento, CA
18 – Wonder Ballroom, Portland, OR
19 – Venue TBC, Bellingham, WA
20 – The Showbox, Seattle, WA
21 – Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC

Now it looks like I’ll be going to Chicago, Cincinatti, and Columbus in February. Then, San Diego, LA, San Francisco, and Sacramento in March.

BRMC will be embarking on an extensive North American tour throughout February and March 2006. Ticket information and support details will be announced soon.

FEBRUARY
5 Gothic Theatre – Denver, CO
7 First Avenue – Minneapolis, MN
8 Metro – Chicago, IL
9 Bogarts – Cincinnati, OH
10 Newport – Columbus, OH
11 Slippery Rock University – Slippery Rock, PA
13 Odeon – Cleveland, OH
14 Phoenix – Toronto, ONT
15 Tulipe – Montreal, QUE
17 Avalon – Boston, MA
18 Webster Hall – New York City, NY
19 Theatre of Living Arts – Philadelphia, PA
20 9:30 Club – Washington, DC
22 Cats Cradle – Carrboro, NC
23 40 Watt – Athens, GA
24 Exit In – Nashville, TN
25 Mississippi Nights – St Louis, MO
27 Variety – Atlanta, GA
28 The Social – Tampa, FL

MARCH
1 The State – Orlando, FL
2 Culture Room – Fort Lauderdale, FL
5 Parish – New Orleans, LA
6 Meridian – Houston, TX
7 Parish – Austin, TX
8 Trees – Dallas, TX
10 Clubhouse – Phoenix, AZ
11 House Of Blues – San Diego, CA
13 Henry Fonda Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
15 The Fillmore – San Francisco, CA
16 Empire – Sacramento, CA
18 Wonder – Portland, OR
19 Showbox – Seattle, WA
20 Commadore, Vancouver, BC

This is very exciting news! I’m already planning the weekends I might take off to see them.

For February, I’m considering the Ohio shows on the 9th and 10th, Pennsylvania on the 11th (for Peter’s birthday!), Boston on the 17th, New York City on the 18th, Philadelphia on the 19th, Washington, D.C. on the 20th, Athens on the 23rd, Nashville on the 24th, and St. Louis on the 25th.

For March (more likely), Phoenix on the 10th, San Diego on the 11th, Los Angeles on the 13th, San Francisco on the 15th, Sacramento on the 16th, and Portland on the 18th.

It seems unlikely right now, but you never know… I could fly out to a few shows just for BRMC!

more info and photos at It’s All In My Mind

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Mark Gardener, Cat Martino
Brick By Brick, San Diego, CA
Friday, October 7, 2005

There must have been something in the air that night… it could have been that it was the 50th Anniversary of Allen Ginsberg’s Howl reading. Either way, this must have been the BEST show of B.R.M.C.’s U.S. tour! The only San Diego shows I’d been to before were incidentally B.R.M.C. at Cane’s opening for Spiritualized and Mark Gardener with Rob Dickinson and Adam Franklin at M Theory in August.

Brick by Brick is the ideal venue for a BRMC gig with only 250 tickets and 299 room capacity. Needless to say, the place was packed completely and sold out. As we waited in line to pick up our tickets, we saw Spike and Peter outside the venue. We met some hardcore fans who had traveled from LA and SF for the show. We shared some concert going stories while waiting for the show to start.

Cat Martino was walking around before the show and got some compliments on her dress when she got on stage. She has a nice voice, which was accompanied by reverb pedals in a very uplifting sound. She was then joined by Mark Gardener and Danny. Mark was a member of Oxford band Ride, who Robert often mentions as a favorite band.

Mark was playing a 12 string acoustic guitar accomplanied by Cat on keyboard and Danny with an acoustic guitar. They both had egg shakers during various songs. The songs were mostly from his solo album These Beautiful Ghosts with a band called Goldrush. There were even a few classic Ride songs like the magnificent “Vapour Trail.”

Peter came on stage next solo acoustic versions of Complicated Situation, Fault Line, and Devil’s Waitin’ – during which he was joined by Robert, Nick, and Spike, who’s been playing some of the Howl songs with BRMC. The set list was similar to most of the recent shows leaning heavily on Howl and the first album, with the addition of “Rise or Fall.”

Throughout the show, every song was played amazingly well with an absolutely mindblowing version of “Gospel Song” – during which Robert nearly crawled over the speakers at the edge of the stage. The band interacted well with the audience and each other with Robert and Peter playing towards Nick during a few songs.

After the show, we saw Nick playing pool. He made some nice shots and said something in Spanish to us. He mentioned how he hasn’t figured out how he should sign his signature and said that Peter and Robert’s signatures were much nicer than his.

I didn’t mention in this review how much Peter was spitting on stage last night or how I was so close to the stage that Jodi thought Robert might hit me in the head with his bass! It was awesome and I got some great video of “Devil’s Waitin’” and “Rise or Fall.” Jodi got some nice footage of “Promise” and “The Line.” It’s available on Down Here – B.R.M.C. under “On The Downlow.”

BRMC @ Amoeba SF, 9.12.05

Robert did a Bob Dylan cover at the Amoeba instore, which I recorded most of with my extremely shakey hand. I actually ran out of batteries, but I saw someone recording it from the side of the stage. The Amoeba set was just Peter and Robert with acoustic guitars and Peter’s harmonicas. Right before they went on, I saw Peter give a hug to someone and sit down near the stage to chat. He seemed pretty happy and I wanted to get a photo, but I thought that might be kind of rude. I also saw Robert before he reached the stage, he was at the center aisle talking to some people. I love how approachable and unassuming they are! My phone rang near the start of the Amoeba set and I had to take it since it was Eric, a very cool Berkeley student who I was meeting up with for the show. Some annoying guy was making snide remarks about my phone ringing, which was actually worse than the phone ringing at all.

There were too many people in front of me to get any decent photographs, so I didn’t bother taking any. The Dylan cover was something I hadn’t heard before so I really had to get it on video. Too bad my batteries were crappy. As I was getting in line for the signing, I spotted Eric and then another person from the board, Jodi and her friend Kimberly, spotted me and we were all like old friends. Here’s Jodi’s MySpace review of the show

So waiting in line was kind of fun since we got to know each other a little, Eric is just starting at Berkeley and he just came up from San Diego. Jodi and Kimberly are from Sacramento and seem to go to a lot of shows, I’ll even see them at Interpol in San Jose! Back to the signing, I had all my BRMC CDs and singles, even my Beggars CD. When I reached the table, I notice a bunch of harmonicas next to Peter. It was like 6 or 7 and I asked him if they were all his, and of course they were. I had given Eric a few of my CDs to get signed since he didn’t bring any of his. I handed Peter the pile I had with the Beggars CD and he just handed it over to Robert. As Robert was signing it, I mentioned that I saw the video for the song “Lovely Soul Detonator.” He didn’t seem embarrassed by it, though he did ask me where I saw it. It was from Rock Video Monthly, I forget which one. After getting everything signed, I almost forgot to give some stuff I’d collected over the years to give them. Right before we were about to leave, I remembered to give the bag to Peter who looked kind of surprised to get it. I hope he heard me say that it was for all of them.

BRMC, Mark Gardener @ Great American Music Hall, 9.12.05

After that, we were off to the Great American. It was kind of confusing to get there, since none of us really had directions. We still got there on time and even found a decent parking spot. I’ve been to GAMH before, but I never mention how nice it is inside. I’ve heard it was once a bordello, which might explain why its so fancy-looking. It reminds me of the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland. The show started with a girl named Cat singing a solo pedal type performance with a lot of reverb. She had a nice almost operatic voice. Then, Mark Gardener and another guitarist came on stage. Mark had a 12-string guitar, which is something I couldn’t see from outside M Theory in San Diego. His songs were pretty exciting and distinctive, and he even played a couple of Ride songs – “Vapour Trail” being the highlight. He also played that song at M Theory.

There was kind of a long wait between when Mark left the stage and BRMC came on, which was around 9:30 PM. I think most of the recent shows start with just Peter with his guitar and harmonica. There were a few technical problems, like guitars sounding funny during “Ain’t No Easy Way” and strings breaking during a couple songs. Someone was heckling them from the balcony, so Robert gave them the finger. They handled themselves pretty well during all these glitches and they seemed pretty happy despite the setbacks. I was very close to the stage, second row on Robert’s side. It was cool to see Robert play since he really gets into it. He sat down at the piano for a few songs, and even played the bass at the same time! Peter also picked up a trombone for “Promise.” There was no video recorded during “Weight of the World” as was mentioned on the message board. One of the coolest highlights for me was during “Whatever Happened to my Rock ‘n Roll?” when Peter moved away from the microphone and was singing to the center of the stage. You couldn’t even hear him and he was still singing his heart out! They did their new version of “US Government” which is slower and more acoustic sounding, and did “Sympathetic Noose” in a more electrified version than on the album. They ended the show with Peter’s solo of “Open Invitation” sitting down in front of an unusual organ. It looked a little like an accordion turned on its side.

After the show ended, we headed to the merch table. I noticed Nick Jago wandering near the sound board and then I saw him with his parents taking pictures. I couldn’t tell if he was smiling for them, but he didn’t seem to smile in any photos he took with fans. Nick really is tiny, though most likely a couple inches taller than me. Jodi got some 7” singles signed by him after spending hours at the merch table. I don’t usually like to buy stuff at shows, but I saw the coolest black wifebeater for only $15 and I had to get it. It has “BRMC, HOWL, MMV” in white letters in 3 rows. We’d spent so long at the merch table that we decided to stick around to get things signed by Robert and Peter again. We talked to Robert again, this time about how he was in the Beggars with a guy in Better Than Ezra – a band that Jodi and Kimberly seem to love. Robert laughed at them for being fans, which was funny. He said he hadn’t seen any of those guys in a couple years. After he left, we waited for Peter. He was downstairs smoking and he apologized to us for making us wait. They were all cool about posing for pictures with fans, but I never do that since I feel really silly and self-conscious about that. When we finally left the venue, we were all kind of hungry. We saw Robert heading down the street to a pizza place across the street. It seemed like a nice place to eat and the pizza was really good after a long night. I got a slice of Combo pizza for only $3! Nothing beats a good late night snack!