And The Weekend Begins

Since it's a day off for me, I'll be a little short and sweet.

Last night's Sonic Youth show at Toad's Place was a sold-out affair, I assume. I've been to Toad's hundreds of times and it was definitely a top-five concert in terms of attendance. Although, I guess, I didn't stand in the underage section.

Anyway, the band was in fine form, ripping through a 70-minute set before leaving the stage and performing an encore. SY favored tracks off "Rather Ripped," the group's very good album from last year. Some highlights included the punkish "Incinerate," Lee Ranaldo's catchy and freewheeling "Rats" and the poppy "What A Waste."

Playing in front of a screen that alternately went blank and showed random clips from random things, SY performed as a quintet, with a touring bassist (former Pavement member Mark Ibold) handling many of Kim Gordon's normal duties on songs she sang. But on songs with vocals from Thurston Moore or Ranaldo, the band employed a double-bass attack.

On a few tunes, Gordon and the touring bassist just played the same bass lines, thus making a thicker but rather pointless low end. But on a couple tracks, including "Do You Believe In The Rapture?," the two almost had a rhythm and lead bass thing going. Very cool.

All in all, it was a very good show. It was the fourth time I'd seen SY and I would rank the gig as the second-best.

It was loud, but not too loud at Toad's. The venue should get much larger tonight, when Mastodon, above, brings its brand of epic prog metal to the Elm City. The quartet's "Blood Mountain" was one of the best discs of 2006; don't miss it live.

The sounds of Bluzberry Pi comes to Cafe Nine tonight. It'll be a night of cool R&B.

The Space attempts to match the metal of Toad's with a show featuring the very hardcore/screamo Eyes of the Dead.

Ricky Martin doesn't scare easily, I guess. The performer defends his decision to symbolically give President Bush the finger during a concert.

Entertainment Weekly recaps a pretty lackluster episode of "Survivor" from last night.

It's been in the news a lot around here, but it looks like the sale of Air America has been approved.

Bad news for the newspaper industry comes from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It seems odd for a paper to willingly cut its circulation numbers, though.

Yahoo wonders if "Ghost Rider" can save Nic Cage's career. Not a chance in hell, Yahoo, not a chance in hell.

It looks like VH1 is offering pop-culture junkies another chance to take an online test and qualify for the "World Series of Pop Culture." Readers of my column know that I hate the "Series" and want it to die a slow, painful death. That'll teach them to not accept Plop Goes The Weasel, even when we passed the test.

Kenny Chesney wants you to know he's not gay. Tim Hardaway probably hates him anyway.

If you don't think I'll be first in line for this movie, you're crazy. I can't wait. I'll sing "Blame It On The Rain" while watching.

Yes, Ryan Adams is crazy. Did we need a story telling us that, though?

And that's all I got today. Check back Sunday or Monday for more. Have a great weekend.