Tonight, Tonight, Tonight

It's time to do away with hints, teases and veiled promises: Mates of State plays at Daniel Street tonight, opening for Asobi Seksu.

Yep, the poptastic Stratford-based husband-and-wife duo will be getting ready for their upcoming co-headlining tour with The Black Kids by giving us local fans a treat. Look for the Mates to play for about an hour before giving way to the shoegazing stylings of Asobi Seksu. The very good local band Watcher will open the whole shebang.

I don't know about you, but I just get weirdly happy about secret shows. It's so much fun to hear about a popular band playing under a fake name. I still remember getting offered $600 for my ticket to see a secret Weezer show. It was about 10 years ago, and the band was first getting back together, before the "Green Album," and touring under Goat Punishment. My old college roommate, Pat Arnold, and I scored tickets to see them at Lupo's. Outside of the show, tons of people were trying to buy the tickets.

That won't happen tonight, but it'll still be cool. I'm guessing that, by now, everyone knows that Team Boo is the Mates, but you never know. To get you excited, here's "My Only Offer" from the duo:

A Little Older ...

When I woke up to my phone ringing at 6 a.m. this morning, I became 30.

I guess I got older earlier than that, like at midnight, but that doesn't really count. It's never my birthday, officially, until my parents call and wake me up and play some awfully catchy song from Captain Zoom. It's hard to hear the tune because my mom and my dad are always cackling ridiculously loud in the background. They've been doing this since I can remember. For some reason, it never gets old for them. I think they used to enjoy how excited I got as a kid, and now they just relish waking me up way too early.

I'm getting a little off track right now, though. So, yeah, 30. It's a weird age, I guess. I think, 15 years ago, or even 1o years ago, I would have considered 30 really old. Like decrepit. Like, wear-a-diaper old. It's not, of course, as I've been reminded by some friends (even in blog form) who are already there. And as a friend texted this me morning, "Don't worry, you're really immature for your age."

I don't feel any different, but I think this is some kind of milestone or something, right? Shouldn't 30 be a big deal? I have no idea. It sure doesn't feel like a big deal. I'm certainly not much different than I was, say, five years ago. Of course, I can't walk without help and need Depends, but other than that ...

One thing I've that's clear is how much Facebook has exploded over the last year. I mean, I've been a member of the site for about three years I would think, but it's clearly gotten huge since like 3,048 people have posted a birthday wish on my "wall." That's way more than last year. That's progress, man. By the time I'm 31, Facebook may have replaced actual speech as our primary form of communication. Awesome. Or maybe next year, it'll be a Twitter fest. I don't know.

This has turned into a rambling entry because I really have nothing to say. Soon, I'll be out with friends and consuming beverages, but that's not that much different than a regular day. And tomorrow I'll be right back here at work and then teaching the future leaders of tomorrow at night before seeing Mates of State in the evening. Right back to normal.

That's it. I'm going to leave work now.

At The Firehouse ...

As I sit here at work, a lightbulb may have gone off above my head. Yes, one did. It signaled the arrival of an idea: Why don't I share this story in case some folks missed it? Woo hoo.

Here's A Preview ...

Hello, Fine People In Cyberspace

How's it going? It's been a hectic week, one that included just filming a March 27th Weekend Preview. Get excited.

So what else is up? Well, my good buddy Jenny Owen Youngs will release her sophomore album, "Transmitter Failure," on May 26. This is exciting, especially since Jenny says this one will be very different than her debut, "Batten the Hatches."

Longtime local music fans may remember Jenny, a New Jersey native, as the folkie in a school girl outfit playing The Space constantly back in good ol' 2004. I think I may have written the first piece of press she ever received. Anyway, congratulations to Jenny for finally finishing "Transmitter Failure."

Just something to think about that I've been hinting at in Weekend for a couple weeks: Tuesday's show at Daniel Street with Asobi Seksu will be opened by Team Boo. Never heard of that band? Well, there's a reason. That's the name of an album, though. And if you know the record, you may know the band opening.

It seems Bruce Willis has a new, effective way to meet women. Good for him.

Winnie Cooper is now married. Is everyone OK with that?

Speaking of marriage, Dawn Landes, who will hopefully someday take me as her husband, has a new video. Let's watch it:

Weekend Preview

Sorry I didn't link this here sooner:

What's In A Headline?

Well, nothing in this story is that interesting, but the headline made me laugh out loud. Enjoy.

I will also leave you with a video for the song "I'm Confused," which is from "Face Control" by the Handsome Furs, a record I cannot stop listening to currently.

Webster Sold

My friend and fellow rock writer Eric Danton published this story today. The crux of Eric's piece is that Hartford's Webster Theatre has been sold to the man behind MassConcerts, a concert-booking company based out of good ol' Worcester, Mass.

We can look at this in a few ways. First, it's always sad when a family-owned business sells to a bigger corporation. It happens far too often and leaves us with less choices.

On the other hand, I don't know about you, but I was never a big fan of the Webster. Local bands hate to play there because of the way tickets had to be moved. The bulk of the acts that came through always tended to be aimed at very young audiences. Look at it this way, on a good night Hartford is less than 30 minutes from New Haven. Over the course of five years of being able to see shows at the venue for free, I think I went five or so times.

Now, I know this sounds like a jab at the venue, and it admittedly sort of is, but any good business needs to recognize its primary target demographic. The Webster's happened to be kids and metal fans.

A quick look at MassConcerts' upcoming concerts shows us more varied offerings. They've got Neko Case, Maria Taylor and Ricky Jay among the shows coming up in other venues. Hopefully, we get less metal and the Webster now. Of course, Hartford just might not be the city for edgy and good music. I guess that's why it's good to be in New Haven, no matter how much many like to complain about a lack of good concerts. Take a look at Hartford ...

Roger That

Anybody who's frequented this here blog for any real amount of time knows about my musical love affair with Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers. I've said it a million times and I'll say it again: I'm not sure what it is, but something about this band's music just does it for me.

What's "it"? I'm not sure. But I think "it" is that way you feel when you hear certain songs or bands and just know it's for you, just know that it hits you deeper than most music. That's what it's like for me and Roger.

Now you're wondering why I'm mentioning this tonight. Well, it's because the band is slowly releasing "Glow In The Dark," a live project that finds it putting out a song and video each week. The latest tune is "Down Together." Take a look:


Down Together from roger clyne on Vimeo.

She's Still Coming, But ...

In what should come as no surprise in a tour fraught with problems, Britney Spears has postponed her March 26 performance at Mohegan Sun, but it sort of, kind of, makes sense.

Instead of journeying to Uncasville next week, Spears will reschedule the show for May 3. This actually makes a whole lot of sense because the performer is already playing in the Arena on May 2. So instead of bringing her huge stage setup and entourage to our fair state twice, she'll do it only once.

All tickets for March 26 will be honored May 3, but refunds are available at the point of purchase. And this means that I get to put off reviewing this show for another month. Woo-hoo.

Random Saturday Fun

Here's a thought I had yesterday that should be shared while I wait for Little Nicholas to arrive: Always purchase products that call-out competitors.

What do I mean? Well, yesterday I made my once-every-14-days trip to the grocery store. One of the things I needed was some air freshener (for when it smells in my apartment due to cooking, aliens, pooing, crying, bacon, long periods of inactivity, etc.). Usually, I just buy Oust. But, recently, I saw a commercial for Lysol Neutra Air, and in the spot, it basically said, "We work better than Oust."

See, the ad could have said Neutra Air is the best or something like most commercials, but it went a step further and called-out Oust by name. I respect that. You should too. That's it. Happy Saturday.

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I leave you with this:

Weekend Preview: The Return

Woo On Wednesday

Well, I just filmed tomorrow's Weekend Preview. At least I did that this week.

Let me once again apologize for my lack of dedication to this here blog lately. Teaching two courses over at the ol' college is very time-consuming. And let' s just say that one of those classes features the worst group of students I've ever had. They need extra help in a whole lot of ways.

But, anyway, I'm sick of throwing out excuses. No more excuses. I will be better at this. That's what I'm going to do for Lent, even though I don't really do anything for Lent because, you know, it's not for me.

I'm going to start with the video above. It's Elvis Perkins in Deerland doing "Shampoo," a tune off the band's "Elvis Perkins in Deerland," a record that came out yesterday, that I review in Friday's section and that completely kicks the place poop comes out of.

So what else is going on in the world? Whenever I don't post for a while, I never know where to start. Why not start with the octuplet mommy? I hate to even bring this crazy, crazy lady who shouldn't be allowed to have one kid, much less 14, up, but it seems she's got a new house that will be paid for either by her parents or through "opportunities" that have come about to allow her to profit off her kids.

I haven't heard it yet, but, since "American Idol" is on the air again, I think we should mention that the word on the street is that this CD is not just awful, but god awful.

I say that I've been busy, but I've really been in mourning over this. I cry myself to sleep every single night.

The Dave Matthews Band never has a one-night stand in our great state. No, the act never gives pleasure and then leaves. It has two-night stands. Two nights of sweaty fun, and then Dave and company do the walk of shame to some other state. I don't ever partake, but if you'd like to, it all happens June 5-6 at The Meadows. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. for $75 for reserved seats, and $40.50 for the ol' lawn.

Star Wars fans should be happy about this, but I'm more excited that Rose Byrne could be on TV more.

Just when you thought "E.R." would finally get the heck off television, there's this news about Uncle Jesse.

This might be my favorite story, like ever.

Just a reminder that Record Store Day is coming. It's my favorite holiday of the year ... besides all those other ones.

It looks like "Friday Night Lights" may get two more seasons. That would make a lot of people I know very, very happy.

I've been saying this for two weeks and people keep trying to punch me in the face verbally and through cryptic voicemails. Good luck to you, Rob.

That's all I've got for now. Let's talk again tomorrow, OK? Please say it's OK. I wouldn't be able to live if it wasn't.

Saved!

More about this in Friday's Weekend section, but we've got some good news. I've even taken down my old blog post that said it's canceled because, as of a couple hours ago, "The Local Bands Show" on WPLR has been saved. It is returning. This is absolutely great news.