Saturday was rather Action-Packed! Well, at least for me, anyway. Captain Jeff of the Jeff Brigade, The Mike & I were to make a tactical strike on Devonshire Mall in Windsor, in order to obtain more Stuff, cos, well, our lives are ruled by it. Jeff was on the hunt for a DVD copy ov eXistenZ, as well as the latest Dears Cd; Mike wanted to buy a copy ov Vidocq, and I was looking for any affordable DVDs on my List ov Must-Buys, as well as my usual haul ov strange Canadian potato chips, my favourites being Miss Vickies’ Sea salt & Malt vinegar, and Ruffles All-dressed. What do you want, I’m a potato chip conneiseur. As it turned out, Mike couldn’t make it cos he was up all night rearranging his room, so Jeff & I departed sans one ov our raiding party.

Jeff duly obtained his swag, and I went a little nuts with my acquisition:
+ Natural born killers: the Director’s Cut DVD
+ ABBA: The winner takes it all DVD
+ Bill & Ted’s Bogus journey DVD
+ a double DVD case, to replace one I have where the centre sprickets self-destructed
+ a copy ov Marc Almond’s autobiography, on clearance for $1 CD
+ three bags ov Miss Vickies’ Sea salt chips
+ one bag ov Miss Vickies’ Sea salt & Malt vinegar chips
+ two bags ov Ruffles All dressed
A bit much? Perhaps. But keep in mind the US dollar to Canadian dollar exchange rate is still five kinds ov ace, so I only really spent about $50 USD. Plus, what’s the point ov shopping in another country if you don’t really buy anything? We dinna find Vidocq, so Mike’s just gonna have to order it online like I did, the poor bastard..

Later that eve, I got round to Mike’s, to punch him in the ballbag for staying up so late, and to wait for Tim & his pal Jason to materialise, in order to go see the faint perform at the Majestic theatre. My reaction to hearing that they were coming to town was initially lukewarm — I think they’re kinda cool, but not enough to actually buy any ov their Cds, plus I hadn’t heard a single track off their latest release, ‘Wet from birth’ — but when Tim & I last met up a month or so ago, he mentioned that there’d be free tickets involved, so that swayed my decision.. As it turned out, there were only enough tickets for three people. Mike was magnanimous enough to let me have the third ticket, as ‘you know more about the band than I do’, he said. We were fairly certain there’d be tickets available at the door, anyway..

We drove downtown to the locale, and were pretty fucking surprised to see that the line to get in was a block long about an hour before the doors opened at 9pm. None ov us had thought the faint was that popular.. Since the tour wasn’t rolling thru Ohio, I reasoned that there were travelers from Ohio present as well.
Let me take a moment to bask in the images ov the throngs ov cute goth & electroclash girls that were there. Ahhh. Right, I’m done. 🙂
So we ambled to what we thought was the end ov the line, but it turned out that instead ov wrapping around the block, it continued across the street about twenty people in length. Yeah, we were in for a wait, alright.. But the fun really kicked in when they opened the doors, and one ov the security blokes told everyone with tickets to go on in, which ov course left Mikey outside. Tim, Jason & I waited inside near the doors for about ten minutes, when we noticed Mike motioning for us to come over. Apparently the box office sold the last ticket to the bloke right in front ov Mike. OH NOES!!1! Jason had given Mike a $20 to slip the door girl, as ‘she looked like she could be bribed’, but just as Mike took the $20, the guy who was behind him in line a couple ov paces back told him, ‘Dude, they’ve got more tickets now! I just got one! Go get in line!’ And sure as there’s shit in the cat, Mike managed to buy one. How were more ov them suddenly available? We don’t know. Perhaps it was a Sign from God. *snickering*

The first opening act, Beep beep, went on about 10pm. They’re labelmates ov the faint, and christ in shitty knickers, they sucked. Picture a blend ov the bad parts ov Gang of Four (who I never liked to begin with) and Buzzcocks, all topped off with a vocalist that was actually shrieking the lyrics instead ov screaming. Shrieking only works if you’re in a Noize band, or if you’re Diamanda Galas. Plus the guitarist kept rocking violently from side to side with a glazed stare, his mouth wide open in a frozen smile. He was truly the Best Mannequin on Drugs guitarist in a spaz-rock band that I’d ever encountered. In short, if you have the opportunity to see Beep beep live, throw things at them. Heavy things. Aim for their heads.

An hour later, after an extended session ov the soundcheck guy incessantly testing every microphone on stage by bellowing ‘Heyyy-UP’ into them, TV on the radio went on. They weren’t altogether bad. They were like Living colour with more ov a shoegazer-style guitar attack, except for that one song they did that sounded rather like New order. The four ov us, as well as the rest ov the crowd, were summarily impressed. In fact, most ov the crowd seemed to already know about TV on the radio, as a number ov people were singing along with some ov the songs. Any group that has both ov their guitarists as well as their bassist continually playing five inches from their amps for Better Feedback Power gets a thumbs-up from me..

Round midnight, the faint finally took the stage. Put simply, even if you’re lukewarm like I am about their music, everyone should see them live. The new album is less new wave-y than Danse macabre, but they still definitely have a sleazy and illicit vibe to them. The faint is a band that makes electronic dance music. They will make you dance, plain and simple, and you won’t be able to stop yourself. It was interesting to note that the band spent a lot ov time dancing themselves, especially Jake, who kept strutting away from his keyboard. Also, I was actually in a mosh pit for the first time in about a decade, and I had a hell ov a time! It was all because ov THE FAINT. (Ov course it could be argued that it wasn’t a real mosh pit. I mean, we’re talking the faint here, not Ministry.) A fine show, a fine show. It’s almost enough to make me start wearing eyeliner again..

A summation: Saturday was pretty fab! Although standing for an hour in line, then standing for another five hours in Converse All-stars, isn’t a good idea

Sorry I’ve not written in a while; I’ve not had a whole lot to say lately. Or rather, I’ve had plenty to say, but I’ve not been in a ‘proactive writing mood’, I guess. My apologies to my consistent readers — all six ov you..

Apparently this week was Stuff Week for me; or, as they call it in Germany, Stüfwoch. I’ve received:
+ my McFarlane-sculpted Vlad the Impaler Inaction Figure. Highly detailed, and sports about two to four points ov articulation
+ the Soft cell ‘Non-stop exotic video show’ DVD, which compiles all the videos made for their first album. Might I add that Marc Almond is camp as tits with pasties
+ the Thunderbirds International Rescue edition DVD set — includes both feature-length films ‘Thunderbirds 6’ and ‘Thunderbirds are Go’, and some stickers and magnets and perforated punchouts and trailers and interviews and quizzes and Easter eggs & other effluvium. F.A.B!
+ the Meat Cake Compilation, by the esteemed Dame Darcy. It’s a hardcover, and the silver-gilt page edges are a nice touch
+ the Ultra-gash Inferno trade paperback by Suehiro Maruo. IT’S. MESSED. UP. It answers the question, ‘What if Coil & Takashi Miike made a manga?’ Again, IT’S. MESSED. UP. I cannot stress this enough
+ my brand spank-me new CH-DVD-500 DVD player. Back in the saddle!

Managed to pull some strings (well, maybe a string, and it wasn’t connected to anything) and left work half an hour early, in order to catch Subliminal self play at Paycheck’s lounge Fri eve. I showed up just in time; they were the second act, and midway thru their second song when I entered. There was a small group ov people there, but I unfortunately get the impression that they were there for the other groups, so I’m glad I could show my support. Genevieve surprised me when I sat down, as I didn’t expect her to be there; Patrick had Emailed me a day earlier, saying it would just be him driving up, but Gen thought it’d be better if she came along, rather than staying at home alone with Oliver, their insane cat. And with good reason.*
Greyson’s voice kinda reminds me ov Brendan Perry ov Dead can dance, except for one song, where he sounded like one ov the Navin brothers from The Aluminum group; which is to say, a bit crooner-ish. Which is good, cos I like The Aluminum group. And Patrick really seemed to enjoy playing his synth, although I say he should start using a Moog Liberation, so he can be as cool as this guy. 🙂
After the show, we played catch-up briefly for about an hour — they had leave early, in order to make the thousand-year voyage back to Cleveland — but it was ace seeing them, even if for such a short period ov time. When Autumn rolls round, I’ve promised that I’ll visit, as I’ve not seen them since I was the best man at their wedding four years ago..

*No seriously, Oliver is ca-razay. The day ov the wedding, I crashed at Pats & Gen’s place for a few hours after the proceedings, whilst the Happy Couple was off honeymooning. Oliver, obviously threatened by this giant, bipedal cat named Dave, prceeded to incessanlty hiss & growl at me. Eventually, he had me cornered in their studio, where I locked the door, and remained there for roughly an hour. I made my escape when he finally fell asleep. It was a Day ov Marriage and Cat-induced Terror. This, then, is the Legacy ov Cleveland