Grandma and the F*ck Yous: Last Show Ever!

Tonight is the LAST SHOW EVER by the awesomest riot grrl band to ever come out of Elizabeth College, Grandma and the F*ck Yous. Come see it!

Grandma and the F*ck Yous: Last Show Ever!
A timeless tale of Riot Grrrls, Punk Rock, Love, Violence, Queer Action, Betrayal, Activism, & Hair Dye.
December 3rd, 9:30 PM
$5

WRITTEN BY: Lynn Bixenspan & Betsy Todd
DIRECTED BY: Kirk Damato
FEATURING: Bob Acevedo, Eric Bernat, Lynn Bixenspan, Stan Laikowski, Sarah Nowak, Betsy Todd
LOCATION: UCB Theatre 307 W. 26th Street (@ 8th Ave.)
Call 212-366-9176 or click here for reservations.

There May Be Giants

Here's some concert clips I found on YouTube, and the set list. Seriously, what an awesome show. West Virginia!

S-E-X-X-Y


Unsupervised, I Hit My Head


Which Describes How You're Feeling All the Time


Cowtown


I'm super-psyched that they're gonna be doing a monthly concert series.

Flansburgh and Linnell's Miracle Elixir

I'm cured, and I owe it all to Flansburgh and Linnell's Miracle Elixir! And rest assured, this is no ordinary tantimonious tonic, but a magical medicine of music and melody!

Because, really, I'm talking about They Might Be Giants and their concert last night at Le Poisson Rouge.

Yesterday I finally decided that I was done with being sick and tired, and if my wisdom teeth weren't gonna heal, eff it, I'd just return to my regular life and let them catch up. Because, seriously, a week and a half of only oatmeal and milkshakes gets to you.

So I bought some solid food and tried to eat it. I never realized that a Subway sandwich was so tall. Apparently I can't open my mouth as wide as I used to, but I was triumphant in my quest.

A minor, minor victory, and I wish that I could say it was the best sub I've ever had, or it was this delectable return to solid foods, but it was just all right.

Then, because I didn't want to spend another night cooped up indoors, I decided to see the TMBG concert.

And at first I regretted it. I felt a little woozy on painkillers, standing in place waiting for the show to start was hard, and I just really wanted to rest, but when John and John came on stage... seriously, I was cured.

It was like a blast of energy from the sun (which is not a mass of incandescent gas, actually, but a miasma of incandescent plasma) and boom, Kirk was back.

I bopped and enjoyed a good 90-minute set where they played at least one song from every one of their albums. And let me tell you, They Might Be Giants puts on a great show. I've seen them easily a dozen times since moving to New York, and I have to say this was one of my favorite concerts. Three or four encores! And they played "Cowtown" and "I Hit My Head," neither of which I'd heard live before.

This was probably my favorite Year of Yes moment so far.

Terry Jinn's Enormous Television 7

This isn't really something I can take credit for as a Year of Yes moment, but it's incredibly awesome and I'm somewhat involved, so it deserves blogging.

Previously-mentioned friend and incredible guitarist Terry Jinn celebrates his birthday the old-fashioned way: with a covers concert.

And I don't mean he goes to see one - he makes one. In the ultimate act of Yes, for the past several years, Terry's organized and set up a "rock and roll music revue" known as Terry Jinn's Enormous Television, and asks his friends to sing a cover song.

The amount of work that goes into this is ridonk, as the ETV band has to learn a good 20 songs a year for 20 singers of various talent, let alone organizing and scheduling everything, but Terry wants to rock, so rock we shall.

And it's happening this Friday.

It is no exaggeration when I say ETV is one of my favorite nights of the year, and I am super, super psyched.

And yes, one of the bands covered is Yes.


Terry Jinn's Enormous Television 7
Friday, August 8, 2008 at 10 p.m.
Kenny's Castaways, 157 Bleecker Street (b/w Sullivan and Thompson)
No Cover

Starring: Jessica Allen, Tony Carnevale, Tara Copeland, Kirk Damato, James Eason, Brian Fountain, Dan Goodman, Kate Hess, Will Hines, Mark Lee, Marc Liepis, Jen MacNeil, Maddy Mako, Shannon Manning, Ernie Privetera, Ari Scott, Andrew Secunda, Ptolemy Slocum, Shelly Slocum

The ETV Band:
Dan Goodman - Bass
Ernie Privetera - Keyboards
Lou Iacobelli - Drums
Terry Jinn - Electric Guitar

Featuring the songs of:
The Buggles, Prince, Thin Lizzy, Cheap Trick, The Who, The Kinks, Faith No More, Bon Jovi, Jefferson Airplane, Aerosmith, The Gin Blossoms, Yes, Cream, Kathleen Edwards, Bruce Springsteen, Journey, Night Ranger, Rush, and more...


Year of Yes! You gotta be in it to Jinn it!

A Saturday of Singing and Wrestling

This month was pretty heavy with Year of Yes action. So much so that I've felt a bit overwhelmed with all these projects, fun as they might be. Irish Peddlers is done for now (although we could very well return!), and this Saturday marks two other performances that are worth noting...

1) In conjunction with Jen365's blog, I'll be doing a bit of the song and dance for a Big Splashy Musical. I don't want to give away any surprises, but if you come over to the Peoples Improv Theatre at 11 p.m., you'll have a good time. Or you can buy tickets here.

2) Afterwards, what better way to start off Easter than with some good old-fashioned comedy wrestling? I'll be over at the UCBW Arena at midnight for the biggest pay-per-view event of the year, WrestleSlamMania III. As always www.ucbw.info has all the info-mation on the PPV.

PS: Please keep the comments coming on the last post about eating - it's a pretty interesting discussion. Incidentally, last night we took Sarah out for her birthday dinner and went to a vegeterian restaurant. Again, delicious.

The Song of the Irish Peddler

About a month ago, Terry forwarded me somebody's request for musicians. Specifically, they were looking for a banjo player and an accordionist.

Now I don't know anything about banjos, but as I've mentioned before, I can sort of play the accordion. So I responded.

Year of Yes, you know.

And that's how I became a member of the fictional folk band The Irish Peddlers, who will be appearing in a show called "The Song of the Irish Peddler" this St. Patrick's Day.

I was actually pretty nervous going into that first rehearsal, because I didn't want everyone to think that I suck and then get kicked out of the band.

I don't normally publicly demonstrate skills that I'm insecure about (I guess most people don't). I'm usually very comfortable on stage or in front of a camera, but when I'm in a room full of musicians... not so much.

But it was a good Year of Yes task - playing accordion in front of other people is the only way I'm gonna ever get comfortable playing, right?

And it's been a lot of fun so far. Very challenging, definitely, but I'm exercising a part of my brain (and my hands and forearms) that I don't normally get to.

And the feeling I get from making music with people... it's pretty great. That sounds dumb, but you really get connected with each other. And it's not just listening, it's watching when strings are gonna get hit or chords are gonna be changed. Music is more than just the audible.

Anyway, I have a show on Monday. If you have no plans for St. Patrick's Day, here is one of many possibilities.



The Song of the Irish Peddler
book by BJ Gallagher, music by Chris Caniglia
Monday, March 17 at 9:30 p.m.
The Peoples Improv Theater
154 W. 29th Street (west of 7th Ave.), 2nd floor
$5