I'm back in DC...had the most fantastic trip. I'm sorry I missed out on MBV at the El Rey, that would have been awesome. I thought the Murder City Devils were fantastic, so was X. X played "the Have Nots" which was SO cool. Caught some of Peter Bjorn and John, which was good, as well as a couple tunes from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. MBV were great for the first 3/4, but "You Made Me Realize" just doesn't translate well in the open air. You need the full effect of them blowing up a structure like the Aragon Ballroom because it's not just about the sound of the feedback but the FEEL of it as well. Caught about an hour of the Cure and then got a craving for In and Out. I was in bed by the time they finished their set, but I'm OK with that.
I did a LOT of other cool rock'n'roll related stuff. I went to Hollywood Forever cemetery to see Dee Dee and Johnny Ramone...I met Lara Clarkson's mom while I was there and she told me all this crazy stuff about the Phil Spector trial. Very surreal. Then I went to Sunset where the Elliott Smith Figure 8 memorial is. I even went by the house where he died. I did a private tour with a buddy of mine who runs
www.findadeath.com, so he knows where all the cool shit is. We went by the LaBianca house in Los Feliz, and we went up into the Hollywood Hills to see the Bat Cave.
Random sightings: Scott Ian from Anthrax at LAX (he came out right after Scottish actor Alan Cumming), Michael Madsen and Karen O at LAX yesterday. It was pretty wild. Had a great time shopping at Amoeba Records in SF and in LA.
Smackie, the trip went WAY too fast, but I'll be back your way in August. Let's get together then, I'll plan it out better. Are you on Facebook?