Showbiz

I remember the day during my sophomore year of college when I went to the Blue Dog* with the intention of buying some new CDs for my drive to Richmond later in the day. I was heading down to meet up with my brother and Jobeth for some random techno show and knew that I would need some kickin' tunes to stay awake on the ride back. I bought:

Queens of the Stone Age "Rated R"
Caroline Spine
Muse "Showbiz"

I bought all three used and on a whim. I probably listened to QOTSA first and was immediately happy with my purchase. I would go on to buy all of their albums and see them live a few years ago.

Next up I put on Caroline Spine, a band I tried based on a recommendation from a fellow Foo Fighters fan. Eh...it was okay. I'm not sure I listened to the whole thing then...or ever.

Then I opened the bright blue** case of this band I hadn't heard much about and popped it into my CD player. Even as I listen now, I can remember being in my car and hearing the piano and wondering what the hell I was listening to and how it was possible to instantly love something so much. I was on my way to hear some jungle DJ and there I was, listening to Rachmaninov-inspired rock music in the car.

To say I was enamored would be an understatement. I went on to buy their next releases and have loved each and every song. I honestly don't think there is a Muse song that I have ever felt "eh" about. So here was this band I absolutely loved and yet I had never seen them live. It seemed as though they were never going to come back to the US until one day I was looking online and saw it: Muse touring with My Chemical Romance. I think I was on the phone with Ali immediately and she, being the amazing sister that she is, bought tickets for us as a birthday gift to me.

Fast forward to the show and holy hell were we two excited girls. I think we were the only two in the crowd there solely for Muse and it was obvious when we realized we were the only two standing in our section for the start of their set. But Muse wouldn't be the awesome band they are without gaining some fans and just a few songs in and more and more people were standing up to catch a better view of the show that was before us.

My only complaint about the show was that it was too short, but with that said, I would have the same complaint even if they had played every song they had ever written and even thrown in a few covers. They aren't called one of the best live bands in the world for nothing. Their show is stellar. At one point Ali looked at me and said, "Is this really happening?" It was impeccable, yet raw*** and had that indescribable "live show" feeling.

I think I was most impressed with Chris Wolstenholme's bass playing and Matthew Bellamy's falsetto and piano playing. But even as I write that I can't not mention the drumming and guitar playing. It literally was all amazing. It was just what I wanted and expected. We didn't even stay for all of My Chemical Romance's set as we didn't want to soil our ears. We mocked their fans and their cries of "MCR" while we wondered how anyone could like them over Muse.

Muse is Top 5 All Time for me. I love them, like whoa. And the next time I see them, it's going to be in the UK, bitches!

XO,
SVR






*RIP. Such an adorable used CD store in Fredericksburg, VA.

**Promo copy!

***It is my own pet peeve to describe music as "raw," but sometimes it's the only word that works.

Micro Cuts

What a long day. I've been up since 430am and by the grace of iced coffee (see #2), I've been on the go since then.


1) I was on and off the phone with Kyle from Elliott in the Morning at 6am, 6:20am, 6:55am, and then 7:10am. I was prepared to state the following:
a) I have their promotional CD from 1999/2000 and I remember the day I bought it.
b) I bought Origin Of Symmetry when it was still an import.
c) I even have Hullabaloo!
d) My grandfather was a Freemason (shhhh!!!!) and I am obsessed with all things Scottish
It didn't work out, despite Brendan and I sitting in his car on our break, while Ali listened from home, but it's okay. I believe with all my being that I deserve it and it'll happen sometime. And Kyle was a total boo about it all. Good guy.

2) Sometimes I want to tap my vein and insert iced coffee that most direct way. Today, with my partner in coffee crime, I had 2.5 venti iced coffees. One at noon with lunch, one at 2 on my break, and 1/2 of the last one we ended up sharing after work while in my car.

3) I had a "Say it, bitch" moment today. This woman came in and said, "You know what I want", meaning to reserve a copy of Harry Potter. I said, "I'm going to make you say it." I thought I was being funny, but the look on her face told me otherwise so I entered her information into the computer and smiled and sent her on her unfunny way.

4) I couldn't find out if it would cost to send the phone numbers from my old phone to my new phone via bluetooth, and I am too cheap to pay Verizon to do it for me, so I just wrote down all 150+ contacts. Five pages. It was major.

5) I also had an "I own it!" moment today when this man asked for the magazine "V". There is a magazine by that name, but we don't carry it. Then he said, "David Beckham and his wife are on it this month" and despite my wanting to point out that her name is Victoria and she's hilarious, I told him that actually, they are on "W" this month. He doubted my magazine knowledge, but I schooled him and said that I get that one in the mail and had already read it. And I'm pretty sure I said, "It's totally hott."

6) Someone told me I should be a lawyer because of my ability to find a loophole in any rule. "They said no flip flops in cafe, which means we can wear flip flops out here!" I also referred to myself as the ultimate rule-bender today.


XO,
SVR