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Once upon a time, when a certain writer for Superstarcastic was 18 years old, she was in university in the great state that you shouldn’t mess with. She was on a much-coveted scholarship for National Merit Student recognition and, sadly and stupidly, she didn’t appreciate the opportunity one bit. She rarely went to class (ok, never) and stayed up way too late doing drugs and going to see bands at various Dallas venues, always with the obligatory fake id, of course.
We don’t need to go into the details of said writer’s early indiscretions at this moment but we do need to point out that, just like today, she had excellent taste in the bands that she broke the law to see. And one of these bands was called Tripping Daisy.Â
Tripping Daisy was a grunge-pop experience for which drugs were not even necessary - you may have heard of them only from their big radio single “I Got a Girl” ( listen to it on their myspace) but this band was…and is…legendary in certain circles that matter. And it didn’t hurt that bass player Mark Pirro was eminently crushable and posters of him were on bedroom walls that also mattered at the time…namely those of our writer-heroine’s small party flat, located in the pink stucco building right behind the Granada Theatre in the Lower Greenville area of Dallas. Oh, the stories that could be told about those days, the dramas inherent in the life of a wanna-be-writer living in Texas and tangling the worlds of music and marijuana for the first time.
But I digress. What does this pointless nostalgia have to do with the Polyphonic Spree, you ask? Well, Mark Pirro is now the bass player for that psychedelic cult-rock collective (along with Tripping Daisy singer Tim Delaughter and drummer Brian Wakeland), and he is still eminently crushable. Certain writers might never get completely over him, even. More importantly, however, he’s still incredibly talented and the music that the Spree is making is fascinating and epic. As epic as Mark Pirro’s answers to our 5 Questions? I don’t know…you tell me. And be careful what you say because he’s reading this right now.
1. when historians listen to your most recent CD 1000 years from now, what will they say?
“Nah, this isn’t the original… My older brother burned me a copy”.
2. if you could play a show with any band/musician living or dead, who would you pick and why?
The orginal Who… I think it would be fun to watch them totally wreck the stage.
3. what is the strangest band-related dream (one of) you have had?
That we got really big and sold millions of albums. Does that happen anymore?
4. what do your fans look like?
Old and dusty. I need to get someone over to my apartment and give this place a serious cleaning.
5. what bullshit do you run into at most every show that makes you think “man, this bullshit again?”
When Pete Townsend hounds me after the show to autograph his copy of our second record (which only sold 80 copies cause he and everone else burned it or downloaded it off the web). I always tell him no, then he begs me and even offers to come to my apartment and clean my toilet and dusty fans.
bonus question: why won’t you forget to tip your bartender?
Oops.
Attention Chicagoland Faith No More fans, Mike Patton devotees, Les Claypool freaks! There is on Friday, January 27th at Stage 83 in the south suburb of Lamont (10900 S. Rt. 83) a double-bill featuring The Fake Thing, a tribute to Faith No More, and Primus cover band, Antipop.
Visit www.thefakething.com for more information, downloads, news, general FNM goodness!
So everyone is talking about the Coachella Music Festival lineup for 2007…an insane amount of incredible bands playing April 27-29 in Cali and Rage Against the Machine reunited at long last and ohmygod the Happy Mondays and Interpol and Arcade Fire and tickets go on sale this Saturday and etc, etc, etc…but why should we say what the entire blogosphere is saying?Â
To give you just a taste on the off chance you live in a dark hole in Antarctica and haven’t heard about the official list yet…the confirmed headliners are Bjork, Red Hot Chili Peppers and the aforementioned Rage Against the Machine but the secondary acts are mindblowingly good as well. Quite a few Superstarcastic-recommended favourites will be performing, such as the Jesus and Mary Chain; Tapes ‘n’ Tapes; the Decemberists; the Good, the Bad and the Queen; Kings of Leon; New Pornographers; DJ Shadow; Gillian Welch; Andrew Bird; Peter, Bjorn & John; the Frames; Silversun Pickups; and Gogol Bordello. To see the (very long) complete list, check out Coachella’s website.
One more thing - if you plan to go to this, I’d pick up some protective headgear for that Rage show. Those fans have a lot of Audioslave issues to work out and methinks they will do it, um, with passion. I’ll bet you some cash that you will be able to find at least one tooth on the ground after they finish playing. And when you do, please give it to Joiezabel so she can add it to the one she found after the Tool show she went to in 1995.
In the nation’s 33rd largest city (the ‘kirk, or Albuquerque to you techie-types), the band Beirut has quickly become the 1st largest musical draw. What’s hard to believe is that their tour rider lists brands like Ocean Spray, Capri Sun and Sunny D (not that purple stuff) instead of Amstel, Coors and Blatz. You see, Mr. Zach Condon, the prodigy, wunderkind and frontman for Beirut is a mere 20 years old. I’m not sure if that makes the depth and spectral beauty of their debut album, The Gulag Orkestar, and follow-up EP, Lon Gisland, more suprising or more expected, but it sure doesn’t make me feel any better about my lowly place in the world. ANYWAYS, I strongly urge you all to check out both records. Even better, check his answers to our 5 obsessive curiosities:
1. when historians listen to your most recent CD 1000 years from now, what will they say?
I don’t know what historians think…are’t they the wrong type of folks to be making musical judgements?Not much they could learn from it… “apparently the people of 2006 had a strange fascination with any other era than their own….”
2. if you could play a show with any band/musician living or dead, who would you pick and why?
I would just go to a jaques brel concert…not necessarily play with him…just watch and learn…the man was a genius, I can’t explain much more than that…he’s everything I wish I was on stage…
3. what is the strangest band-related dream you have had?
a few insane nightmares of being on stage, in complete darkness, with a cardboard box as a mic stand for my ukulele, and a couple people milling about the empty, gigantic venue ( in one version of the dream I’m playing to an empty mccarren pool in brooklyn), as a loud rock band plays obnoxiously next door….complete failures…I tend to take those pretty heavy…
4. what do your fans look like?
a slightly bobbing, black mass…silhoutted from the bright stage lights… or myspace photos….
5. what bullshit do you run into at most every show that makes you think “man, this bullshit again?”
strict underage drinking laws… I’ve been thrown (forcibly) out of clubs that I played on tour (Seattle) because the bouncers thought that was the best way to deal with the underage headliner of the night. I’ve never been treated more like a juvenile delinquent before in my entire life. I was left outside in the alleyway until showtime, and thrown out immediately afterwards… I hope I don’t have to go to seattle again anytime soon. And I embarrased myself pretty badly with my own temper when I finally got on stage that night…but I get that in alot of places in america. Its such a relief to play outside of the country sometimes (no offense to my home country’s audiences, I promise).
bonus question: why won’t you forget to tip your bartender?
You always tip in brooklyn…getting to know bartenders in brooklyn is a good thing. They always know whats going on.
Yes, you read the headline correctly. James have reformed and will be playing some dates around that England place. Quick, someone grab Joie, she’s fainting.
BTW, the Happy Mondays are playing Coachella & I’m a massive Mondays fan, but see the Live In Barcelona DVD before you decide it’s worth the ticket price and trip to the polo grounds.
Hot damn! If you’re one of the sad sacks that missed out on the best weekend of music, like, EVAR–The Touch and Go Records 25th Anniversary Block Party–the Chicago label is giving you the opportunity to witness high-quality, well-edited video of the event so you can see just how sad of a sack you are for missing it. For the rest of us, it’s a great vehicle for reliving some seriously warm fuzzies. Quoth Touch & Go on their website:
All of us here at Touch and Go are pleased to announce the release of the first in our web series of mini-videos about our 25th anniversary birthday bash held last September at the Hideout here in Chicago. Now, for all of you who couldn’t make the trek, here’s a way (other than all those blurry youtube videos) to check out Big Black’s stellar set, David Yow in all his writhing glory, or any of the 29 other bands that rocked thousands of socks off in one glorious weekend.
The series kicks off on our website this Monday, January 22 with an overview of the block party and how it came to happen. Then, starting January 29, we’ll begin posting band-specific clips from every set of the weekend. We don’t want to give too much away about the first few posts, but you can expect to see a little old-school, some more recent faves, and even one from a band that’s so new they haven’t released a record on Touch and Go yet. In the weeks and months to come, check back every Monday for a new video from a different act blending live performance and interview footage in commemoration of 25 years of Touch and Go.
Oh golly gee whillikers, i wonder if that band that’s “so new they haven’t released a record on Touch & Go yet” could possibly be Ted Leo + Pharmacists? Anyway, as they say, the introduction is up now, so click here to experience Steve Albini looking at David Yow and exclaiming, “So, David, i hear you’ve stopped eating your own shit!” And then stop back in the coming weeks for almost certain footage from Girls Against Boys, The Didjits, The Ex, Enon, Arcwelder, my favorite two performances–Killdozer and Man…or Astroman?–and of course, thee mighty Big Black.
I really hope they post some of the glorious trainwreck that was The Monorchid’s set too.
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