Concert Review: Nightmare on Blake Street

Friday night’s Nightmare on Blake Street event at the Summit Music Hall featured a Haunted House, a costume contest, and great performances by My Body Sings Electric, The Pirate Signal, Eldren, Shoot to Please, and Valedictorian. The Haunted House was a little weak and I heard one of the actors got punched pretty hard. It also reeked of gas fumes from a prop chainsaws. UPDATE: I’ve seen some pretty cool pictures from inside the Haunted House lately showing stuff I never saw. I must have rushed through it…

As a hoodied victim hung from the rafters, the zombified My Body Sings Electric performed a high energy set featuring hits “Outside”, “Step Into The Light, their newly completed single “She Wants To Be A Doctor”, and a Thrice cover – who is playing the Summit on Sunday night while MBSE is in Fort Collins supporting Air Dubai/The Epilogues. At the end of the set, they were joined on stage by contest winner Brady Berryman sporting his Justin Timberlake “Dick in a Box” costume.

The members of Eldren dressed in a variety of costumes: Nasir and Tyler wore red and blue bodysuits, respectively, which left little to the imagination. Also onstage were a hot dog, an astronaut, Beetlejuice and Lydia, and Bill and Hillary Clinton. They also performed a cover – MGMT’s “Brian Eno”. Eldren is so prolific, their 45-minute set didn’t include a single song from their two EP releases.

The Pirate Signal put on a solid set, but seemed a bit out of place in the lineup and had a somewhat difficult time maintaining the crowd.

See the full photo album here.

Weekend Preview: October 27th – October 31st, 2011

OK, Kids! It’s Halloween weekend! And, since Halloween is on a Monday, here’s a special EXTENDED weekend preview!

Events I plan on attending are in RED. Come say “Hi”!

Thursday, October 27th, 2011

• Radiation City w/ Popcult and Medic @ Larimer Lounge – That’s a lot of dreamy pop rock for one night! 8:00 PM, 21+, $10.
• Portishead w/ Thought Forms @ 1st Bank Center – Can’t say I’m super familiar with Portishead – but I like everything I’ve heard and I’m sure I will regret not going to this. 8:00PM, All Ages, $40-50.
• Trevor Hall w/ Cas Haley and Rob Drabkin @ Ogden Theater – 8PM, 16+, $25.
• Tin Horn Prayer w/Jesse Manley Band, …and the black feathers, and Pinetree Refugees @ Walnut Room – 7PM, 21+, $10.

Friday, October 28th, 2011

• Nightmare on Blake Street featuring My Body Sings Electric w/ The Pirate Signal, Eldren and MORE! @ Summit Music Hall – Definitely the “go-to” gig of this Halloween season!!! 7PM, All Ages, $8.
• Air Dubai w/ The Epilogues and In The Whale @ Belly Up (Aspen) – Killer lineup (if you’re in Aspen or you’re not going to Nightmare on Blake Street). 10PM, All Ages, $15.
• Joe Mondragon and A-OK’s Halloween Zombie Apocalypse Party @ Moe’s Original BBQ and Bowl – 9PM, 16+, $5.
• Devotchka w/Churchill @ Ogden Theater – 9PM, 16+, $34.75.
• Skyfox w/ Crimson Red and MORE @ Gothic Theatre – 8PM, 16+, $10.
• Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe @ Boulder Theater – Denson and Tiny Universe featuring Anders Osborne will be performing the Rolling Stones’ classic Sticky Fingers in its entirety! 8PM, All Ages, $36.
• Cold War Kids w/ Young Man @ Fox Theater (Boulder) – The same lineup at the same time on Saturday night too! 9PM, All Ages, $25.

Saturday, October 29th, 2011

• Air Dubai w/ The Epilogues and The Photo Atlas @ Black Sheep (Colorado Springs) – 8PM, All Ages, $10.
• Denver Does CBGB’s @ Hi-Dive – Several of Denver’s elite bands pay tribute to the bands who got their start at the legendary NYC rock club CBGB’s – 9PM, 21+, $10.
• Reno Divorce w/ The Repercussions and MORE @ Marquis Theater – 4 out of 5 punk rockers agree: If you like Social Distortion – you’ll like Reno Divorce. 7:30 PM, All Ages, $12.
• Devotchka w/ Zombies vs Vampires @ Ogden Theater – 8PM, 21+, $42.
• MiMOSa @ Fillmore Auditorium – 7PM, 16+, $35.
• De La Soul w/ The Black Sheep @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom – 9PM, All Ages, $34.50

Sunday, October 30th, 2011

• Air Dubai w/ The Epilogues and My Body Sings Electric @ Aggie Theater (Fort Collins) – 8PM, All Ages, $10
• The Motet @ Bluebird Theater – Boulder’s best funk tribute band performs the music of The Grateful Dead. 9PM, 16+, $25
• Method Man @ Ogden Theater – 8PM, 16+, $30.

Monday, October 31st, 2011

• Air Dubai w/ The Epilogues, Monroe Monroe, and ManCub @ Bluebird Theatre – Are you fucking kidding me with this lineup?!?!?! 8PM, 16+, $15.
• Inca House Halloween Party – The official Air Dubai after party featuring performances by The Photo Atlas (as Def Leppard) and Cobraconda (as Dr Dre and Snoop Dog).
• Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe @ Fillmore Auditorium – Denson and Tiny Universe featuring Anders Osborne will be performing the Rolling Stones’ classic Sticky Fingers in its entirety! 7PM, 16+, $25.

Single Preview: My Body Sings Electric “She Wants To Be A Doctor”

Since April, I’ve participated in a few Kickstarter projects to help musicians get some studio time. It’s usually a win-win situation: the band gets money, and the “backer” gets some cool rewards – usually in the form of band merchandise. For larger contributions, some bands offer rewards that are more personal – such as the “Thank You” video that Monroe Monroe made for me (found here) for backing their project. One of my rewards for backing My Body Sings Electric’s Kickstarter project was exclusive access to the single that my contribution helped to get recorded.

My Body Sings Electric (photographer unknown)

The song is called “She Wants To Be A Doctor”. It is 3:14 long and around 160 BPM. It begins (and ends) with dueling stereo guitars – Jeff Fedel in your right ear and Nick Crawford in your left ear – reminiscent of the intro to “Jealous Teeth” by their Inca House Collective brothers The Photo Atlas. The overall sound is similar to that of their previous album “Changing Color”. Crawford’s and Fedel’s guitars complement each other and stay distinct in the mix throughout the length of the song. The rhythm is about as straightforward as MBSE gets, but Jason Bower’s punchy bass and Ben Scarboro’s kick drum and hi-hat shine through (particularly in the chorus and the bridge). Brandon Whalen’s vocals are strong and clear and employ multi-tracked harmonies.

As for the lyrics, it is a boyfriend’s lament about how his girlfriends no longer have time for him. One wants to be a doctor and “bury herself inside of books that I can’t even read”. The other wants to be a model and “dance around in pretty clothes that she can’t afford to keep”. While one is trying to better herself internally through learning and the other externally through her appearance, the boy has stopped caring about both his brains and looks and can barely get motivated enough to leave the couch. Whether his malaise is borne out of his own laziness or in response to the decreased attention; whether to feel sorry for him or yell through the song at him to get up off his ass and make something of himself is for the listener to decide.

It’s a catchy song. Easy to dance to, easy to learn the lyrics. They’ve played it live a couple of times and will most likely play it again at the “Nightmare on Blake Street” event that they are headlining on October 28th at Summit Music Hall with The Pirate Signal, Eldren, and more. If you’ve never backed a Kickstarter project, it’s pretty exciting to be an “investor” in the bands you like. By the way, my contribution also made me eligible to have a song written about me by My Body Sings Electric. It will be very interesting to see if the band is able to capture my “essence”. Ha ha!