JFK, CMJ, A-OK, eventually PA.

Part I (November 2, 2006)

Hey Gang,

I spent most of the flight over to New York debating over which bands to check out tonight. On one hand, there’s a huge party going down at the Bowery Ballroom (Shins, Thermals, CSS, Album Leaf, etc.). On the other, there are three killer shows going around Greenwich Village (The Sights @ R&R, Forward Russia @ The Mercury Lounge, and Blue Cheer @ The Knitting Factory). At least I'm guessing it’s around Greenwich Village. I don’t have my bearings yet. I’m thinking that ticket availability will ultimately determine what I do this evening.

The rest of the flight was spent geeking out with work stuff. Who knew that C/C++ programming was possible at 35000 feet? Oh yeah, and watching an Office episode. Have you seen the one where they go on a booze cruise? Epic! That brings us to the dance of the week:



Part II (November 3, 2006 - 2AM)

The Sights cancelled, the Bowery party was way sold out. People were paying 200$ for tickets on ebay to get in. So, anyway, I went to Forward Russia! and Blue Cheer. The band before FR! was called The Archie Bronson Outfit. They were pretty wild too. Oh man, the shows were all so crazy. A great time.

I didn’t have tons of time to mess around on the subway if I was to make it to all the shows, so I took taxis everywhere. Not the most financially sound decision, but I felt like a movie star.

Part III (November 4, 2006 - 12AM)

On Friday, I got up a little late, so I wandered around Midtown. Had some delicious bagels at Eli’s. Later, I found the Flatiron and took a walk across Brooklyn Bridge. I went to Grimaldi’s under the bridge. Best pizza in the borough, according to a few people I met.

Show of the night: Deerhoof and Erase Errata + others. Deerhoof was brilliant. The venue (Hiro @ The Maritime Hotel) was very swanky too.

Afterwards, I tried to make it back to the Mercury Lounge to check out Tokyo Police Club and Albert Hammond Jr. But, who knew that the drawing power of the Strokes guitarist would be so huge. There was no chance of getting in.

My backup plan was to head around the corner to see Thunderbirds Are Now! Outside Pianos, I did run into Scott Allen, who I interviewed for CJSW back in October. Despite his best efforts, I could not get into that show either. After talking for a bit, I found out that he managed to hear the interview when it aired a few weeks ago. Futhermore, he liked it! And with that, we parted ways.

A little miffed by the fact that I couldn't get into any other cool shows, I decided to stop in at a nearby Turkish diner for a late snack. In line, I noted the unmistakable aura of fellow surly hipsters. I struck up a conversation with one fellow - Amrit. We chatted for a while about the bands we'd seen and what shows were hoping to catch later. Turns out that he's a contributor for Stereogum (the original incorrigible hipster blog). He told me about a special party that was going on in Brooklyn the following day. Not only that, he put me on the guest list! What a champ.

Part IV (November 5, 2006 - 2AM)

When I got up this morning, I had a huge grin on my face. The day was looking sunny and crisp. I headed over to the MoMA for a dose of objets d'arts with an extra shot of hipster in the mix. There was lots to look at on and off the walls. This was a personal favourite:

After indulging my senses at the museum, I had to hurry to Northsix in Brooklyn for the AAM party that I was invited to. Luckily, I didn't get too lost. I've got to hand it to Amrit, he really came through with the guest list. Once inside, I caught most of Malajube. Lo and behold, I ran into fellow CJSWer, Gary Powers - a familiar face among the millions I've seen so far. He seemed to be having a pretty good time too. Back to the music: the other strong performance of the afternoon was The Album Leaf.

I migrated back to Manhattan in the early evening. There were too many neighborhoods I needed to wander and the weather was awesome (by Calgary standards), so I found Greenwich Village on the map and started there. By chance, I found the legendary Blue Note. It didn't look too hopin' yet, but it was still early. A few blocks south of Washington Square, I happened upon Generation Records. Let's just say that my wallet got lighter. I didn't think the selection was enormous, but they had lots of great records. It made me jealous of New Yorkers.

A good shopping trip makes even the most devout audiophile hungry. A few blocks further, I found a busy restaurant called Baluchi's. They served a delicious Lamb Korma with a friendly amount of naan. Recharged and refocused, I was ready for another trip to Hiro. This time for The Fall.

I thought the show was pretty cool. Especially when they did a cover of Hungry Freaks Daddy. The one reservation I had was the crowd. There were lots of weird, old, mal-nourished, 1970s punks-cum-genX-dorks. Fights were breaking out in front of the stage. Fights! Dudes, c'mon!? I laughed when these corportate-types behind me were arguing over which Television album was the best. I mean, everybody knows it's Marquee Moon.

The Ohsees, the openers, had a pretty cool psych-surf rock thing happening. Reminded me of Brian Jonestown Massacre or Jefferson Airplane.

Part V (November 5, 2006 - 8PM)

Fun's over. I just checked into my 'America' themed hotel in Breiningsville, PA, after a bus ride from Times Square to downtown Allentown. Not the most scenic ride I've ever taken, but it made for an interesting counterpoint to the last few days. For more CMJ pictures, click here. ♪