The app was Catfish Fingers, the meal chosen is Beef Jerk Sandwich with a side of Mac & Cheese. Now, I hold a small amount of pride for having a pretty damn high tolerance towards hot/spicy foods. That "hot" salsa you hand my way, spicy ketchup. But this shit was insane. Tears were pretty much constantly pouring from my eyes, sweat beeding on the brow. The only reason I was able to eat between 1/4 or 1/3 of this sandwich was the mac & cheese. I know that the worst thing to do in this situation is to drink water. Milk is the best hot sauce antidote, and the beer and macheese got me through a dozen or so small bites and then I had to throw in the towel and order a second helping of our app -- the kickass Catfish Fingers. I felt a beaten man with a possibly troubled digestive system.The line was wrapped around the venue but we got excellent seats. The old man was able to sit. Laura Veirs opened up, and the entire time I could not get over her bass player and his suspendered linen pants and braided hair. It was an OK set -- I definitely enjoyed the songs more on the ipod though.
The drummer came out first for Sufjan’s set. From where I was sitting this was the only member I didn’t have a good seat for. M’lady reassured me that he was dressed in the cheerleader outfit that I’d been told was the attire of this tour (though later on when he came to sit in on xylophone it was revealed that they ran out of cheerleading outfit material and sadly he, the drummer, was the one to end up with shorts, much to the funny of the audience). He started up a drum-roll and the rest of the band came out in the requisite cheerleading formation. They preformed a cheer for the audience and launched into the 50 states song.
The whole set that proceeded was a joyous occasion. Sufjan is one hell of a confident performer. They did a version of the Star Spangled Banner that had even the most cynical guy in the house cheering afterward. God knows I'm no Christian, but I even dig the songs where he'll slyly bring in his faith, for some reason I find it endearing. To me it’s the same as listening to the American Folk Anthology – your listening to someone who believes it and it’s powerful -- a good song's a good song.Most of the songs were the sad stories that wrapped you up and tucked you in. And in between were choreographed cheers about midwest cities. They were good songs… I’m still more of a Michigan fan but Illinois is growing on me.
September 11th, 2005 -- The Hold Steady at T.T. The Bear’s. The old man had to stand but it was obvious The Hold Steady kicked the ass of every living being in the place. Was it worth being 90% useless on Monday? Looking back, I say, yes. They throw out a great amount of energy that you can't help but be affected by. I enjoy their 2 albums -- the first one a bit more, but they do pale more than a bit in comparison with the live show.
I apologize if I cut The Hold Steady stuff short – trust me, go see them – but I want to add a bit in here about The Staircase.
Ya like Law & Order, right? Who the hell doesn’t? This is pretty much Law & Order Super Sized. Fuck that convenient wrap-it-up-in-an-hour NYC shit, let’s see what really happens in the average American courtroom. Right? Wowzers. It's been over a couple weeks now since I saw the 8 one-hour episodes that comprise this two-disc set and it's still sticking with me. The mother of an affluent family is found dead at the bottom of a staircase in a pool of her own blood. Despite a frantic call to 911 the husband is charged with 1st degree murder.I can't give too much more away -- every episode packs what in legaleese is refered to as a whammy, or a, hey-oh! The filmakers get unprecedented access to every part of the defense team as they try to build their case. We find out in the bonus interviews with them that they tried to get similar access with the prosecution team but were denied only a minor amount. But after watching the entire story unfold and seeing the prosecution's case -- you're not complaining. If you've ever had a passing interest in true-crime or the insanity of the legal system then this is for you, and everyone else too. Shit -- 5 out of 5.
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