The Upstate Life

The Top 10 Albums of 2010, Because You Really Care!

2010-12-20T10:24:00.002-05:00

10) Janelle Monae – The ArchAndroid: While this year was stuffed with releases from some of our favorite bands, Janelle Monae brought something indescribably fresh to 2010 with her breakthrough album, The ArchAndroid. She delivers a level of soul we haven't seen since Motown's heyday while singing about robots, space, and time travel.

9) Arcade Fire – The Suburbs: Let's face it - nothing will ever hold a candle to Funeral. That album made the band, and since then, they have been trying to escape from its gorgeous shadow (i.e. - just watch an audience's reaction when the band performs a track from Funeral as opposed to other material). Following the deep but disappointing Neon Bible, The Suburbs might be the band's most straightforward approach yet. And it works quite well. While David Byrne's fingerprints are all over this record, potent songs like "We Used to Wait" and "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" clearly demonstrates that, despite 2005's masterpiece, they are still fully capable of crafting exquisite music.

8) Robyn – Body Talk, Part I: Now this is how pop should sound like. Robyn puts insufferable "talents" like Katy Perry and Ke$ha to shame with an album chockfull of delightful gems. The one-two punch of "Dancing on my Own" and "Cry When You Get Older" is the highlight of the first LP in Robyn's planned Body Talk trilogy. While the acoustic version of "Hang With Me" is not nearly as good as the one found on Body Talk Part II, closer "The Girl and the Robot" more than makes up for the lack of electronic beats. One of my favorite live acts this year, too.

7) Free Energy – Stuck on Nothing: KISS –Keep it simple, stupid. The Philadelphia-based band achieves this with great success on their debut release. With sounds that are heavily influenced by the 70s rock bands of yore, most notably Thin Lizzy, Stuck on Nothing takes the listener on a 45 minute trip back to a time where big hair, tight t-shirts, and catchy guitar hooks were all the rage. I guess not that much has changed since then, except replace the big hair with mustaches perhaps. At any rate, this is how a garage band should sound.

6) Hot Chip – One Life Stand: It's amazing to hear how far Hot Chip has come since 2003's debut Coming on Strong. The progression of their sound from then until now is pretty extraordinary. Alexis Taylor's vocals carry more weight and confidence while the band's production values have reached new highs. From jarring synthesized strings found in "I Feel Better" to the layers of harmonies in the album closer "Take It In", Hot Chip has gradually climbed the ladder and has yet to reach their zenith. I think the best is still to come.

5) The New Pornographers – Together: After the misstep of Challengers, the Canadian supergroup gives us their best album since the epic Twin Cinema. The harmonies are so lush it nearly brings a tear to your eye. And even if Destroyer comes off as a dick onstage, the dude can write some catchy-as-hell pop songs. Dan Bejar's "Silver Jenny Dollar" is one of his strongest TNP tracks to date.

4) MGMT – Congratulations: Yeah, I know I'm going to get a lot of shit for this, but you know what, for one reason or another I really, really enjoyed this album. Sure, it might be Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden's way of saying "fuck you if you only liked us because of ‘Kids'", but the versatility of this band shines through on the record's nine tracks (for the exception of "Lady Dada's Nightmare", that song is rather unlistenable). The heavy use of echo and reverb come off rather well and gives a complimentary nod to the 70s influences found throughout the album. The apex of "Someone's Missing" is a thing of beauty.

3) Kanye West – My Beautify Dark Twisted Fantasy: Just before the year had concluded, Yeezy brings us his most cohesive effort yet. After the muddled 808s and Heartbreak, Mr. West, whose production standards were already on another level, takes it one step further and creates a record that shines brightest in his already impressive catalogue. Dealing with topics such as self-doubt, fame, and reevaluation, My Beautify Dark Twisted Fantasy is Kanye's most introspective recording to date. He invites the listener into the life of 'Ye where one can practically watch him self-destruct then recollect himself all while sitting on his Versace sofa. I dare you to find another artist that would record let alone release a single as reflective as "Runaway."

2) Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record: Probably their best album yet, it somehow got lost in the shuffle amidst all the heavyweight releases this year. Known for noodling around at times in earlier releases, Kevin Drew and company keep the jamming to a minimum (sans 'Highway Slipper Jam', I suppose) with 14 focused yet diverse numbers. From the toe-tapping "Texico Bitches" to the sweeping instrumental "Meet Me in the Basement", Broken Social Scene has released a prolific collection of music that is one of the year's very best.

1) LCD Soundsytem – This is Happening: If this is in fact James Murphy's swan song, he couldn't have closed out his LCD career with a bigger bang. Following 2007's tremendous Sound of Silver, LCD's latest effort is even better. Just listen to "All I Want" for all the evidence you need. One of Murphy's most haunting tracks, the guitar riff alone takes you back, and then the lyrics kick in: "And all I want is your pity, oh all I want are your bitter tears". Please don't leave us, James.

So Yeah, I Have a New Blog

2010-10-05T11:33:00.003-04:00

So you're probably wondering why not much has transpired on The Upstate Life in the last few months, or dare I say, even the last year? Well, apathy would be the easy way out, but we all know that's not productive marketing.

Anyway, the majority of my blogging exploits can now be found over at DMV Dining. Yes, it's another food blog. But it's MY food blog (along with my wife). Yeah, I also got married. That probably should have warranted a post on this site in itself, but that's what Twitter is for, right?

Nonetheless, be sure to point your browsers over there as we'll be tackling reviews of the latest restaurants in the DC area as well as bring you some news on the latest happenings in the dining world, and even some rad photos to boot.

Meanwhile, The Upstate Life will carry on with its infrequent, music-related postings while still generating the majority of its hits from people Googleing "Brent DiCrescenzo". C'est la vie!

Dismemberment Plan to Reunite in 2011 for Mini-Tour

2010-09-13T11:56:00.002-04:00

According to the Washington Post's Click Track blog, DC's own Dismemberment Plan will be reuniting for an abbreviated four-city jaunt in commemoration of the vinyl rerelease of their 1999 classic, Emergency and I.

The band hasn't formally gone on tour since 2003, the very same year they announced they were officially breaking up.

Dismemberment Plan has only performed one reunion show since then, and this author was fortunate enough to have attended what turned out to be a very special evening.

No ticket information is available as of yet, but get excited, DC. We're going back (and forth).

Dates via Click Track:

1/21/11: Black Cat ($20)
1/22/11: 9:30 Club ($20)
1/27/11: Philadelphia, PA at the Starlight Ballroom ($20)
1/28/11: Boston, MA at Paradise ($20)
1/29/11: New York, NY at Webster Hall ($25)

UPDATE - Tickets are scheduled to go onsale at noon this Friday via their respective venues. NYC show will have a separate Bowery Presents/Amex Presale this Wednesday. Thanks to Pinna Strom for the tip!

Die Antwoord No Longer on FreeFest Bill

2010-09-01T18:35:00.001-04:00

In a bit of rather disappointing news this evening, we’ve learned that the South African hip-hop sensation otherwise known as Die Antwoord is no longer part of the Virgin Mobile FreeFest.

The homepage for the festival indicates as such as the band’s name is notably absent from the lineup.

Sharam and Wolfgang Gartner have been added to the list of Dance Forest artists, but honestly, I don’t know who they are nor do they help numbing the pain of what has transpired.

Sorry FreeFest goers, but there will be no repping of the Zef Side come September 25.

Virgin Mobile FreeFest Lineup to Be Announced Tomorrow

2010-07-19T10:45:00.001-04:00

While it seems like every other music festival lineup through October has already been announced, finally (and I mean, FINALLY) we'll hear what this year's rendition of the Virgin Mobile FreeFest has to offer.

There will be a live announcement of the scheduled artists to perform delivered by Sir Richard Branson himself via Virgin Mobile Live, the company's brand new Internet music station, tomorrow at 11am. The station kicks off its inaugural broadcast with the lineup announcement and is accessible by heading over to the festival's website.

We already know that Joan Jett and the Blackhearts will be the one artists to perform, while Pavement and LCD Soundsystem appear to be heavy favorites as well. All I can say is that by this time tomorrow, the speculation on who will be performing (and numerous blog entries accompanying them) finally ends. And that my friends, is a good thing.

Joan Jett: First Confirmed Artist for Virgin Mobile FreeFest

2010-06-14T12:01:00.002-04:00

Thanks to a tipster over at the 9:30 Forum, we have ourselves our first official artist slated for this year’s rendition of the Virgin Mobile FreeFest.

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts will be one of the many artists to perform at the free music festival as confirmed by the artist’s website as well as Pollstar.

I still think Pavement is one of your headliners, alongside LCD Soundsystem (no tour date in the DC area in sight despite releasing a killer new record), but with FreeFest being three-plus months away, more artist announcements should trickle out between now and then.

UPDATE - Both Pollstar and Joan Jett's website have taken down the date from their respective websites. I'm assuming that they Virgin/IMP want to keep this on the DL until the festival makes a formal announcement on the entire lineup, whenever that will be.

Pavement to Headline Virgin Mobile FreeFest?

2010-05-26T11:38:00.002-04:00

Let me first say that this is entirely speculation on my part, but if you look closely at Pavement's touring schedule, this really does add up:

In case you didn’t notice by now, the reunited band has a day off on the very same day FreeFest takes place. Logistically it makes sense since they cap off their four-day Central Park stint on the 24th before heading south to Atlanta on the 26th:

This would be one hell of a coup by Seth and IMP, and then when you throw in the fact that tickets will be free again this year, you’d have yourselves one hell of a collective head explosion in the DMV if this turns out to be true.

Virgin Mobile FreeFest Date Announced

2010-05-25T14:10:00.002-04:00

Mark it down now: Saturday, September 25 at Merriweather Post Pavilion. Thanks to Kyle for the tip.

Looks like I was wrong about the August 7 date with Erykah Badu. Oh well. I’ll take a less humid September date over a muggy August one any day of the week.

As for the lineup, from today's press release:

The line up of the 2010 Virgin Mobile FreeFest will be announced soon. “At this point, we're just narrowing it down to finalists we consider to be the most relevant acts out there,” said chairman of I.M.P. and concert producer Seth Hurwitz. “This is not your typical format, with a big headliner closing after smaller acts leading up. It will be A-List from opening to closing. It has to be that good. The culture of the Virgin brand expects nothing less."

Let the speculation commence!

MGMT to Perform at Merriweather, but NOT for Virgin Mobile FreeFest

2010-04-28T12:55:00.001-04:00

MGMT, who just released their new album "Congratualtions" (which I really, really enjoy), has expanded their summer tour dates and will perform at Merriweather Post Pavilion on Saturday, August 14.

Now you might be thinking, "Sweet! MGMT is going to be a huge addition for Virgin Mobile FreeFest!" Unfortunately, this is a paid show as IMP just announced that tickets will go on-sale this Friday at 10am. Pit and orchestra seats will be $35, while lawn will cost $25.

One thing is for certain, you can scratch off 8/14 from your calendar of potential FreeFest dates. With Erykah Badu’s tour date of 8/7 still listed as TBA in Columbia, MD, that Saturday is starting to look more likely as when FreeFest will go down. Only time will tell....

Virgin FreeFest Date AND First Artist Revealed?

2010-04-21T11:32:00.001-04:00

So I couldn't help but notice that when Pitchfork posted Erykah Badu's tour dates yesterday that something seemed rather peculiar:

08-07 Columbia, MD – TBA

Of course, we all know that the unnamed venue has to be Merriweather Post Pavilion. But the more important question is why Badu is returning to the area when she's headlining her own show at Constitution Hall just a few months prior?

Perhaps it's because she's also a part of the revived Lilith Fair and they're making a stop at Merriweather that Saturday? WRONG. They'll be in Nashville that day.

But wait, the very next day, Badu travels to Chicago to perform at Lollapalooza. Perhaps she's working some festival dates that weekend?

As we all know, the Virgin FreeFest will be returning to Merriweather this summer, though we haven't heard a peep as to when it will be held or who will be performing.

Badu's stop in Columbia might be the very first piece of the puzzle.

Or it could just be a standalone date, but that's dubious given the DAR show in May. Something is afoot here, folks. Stay tuned.

TUL's Take: Julian Casablancas @ 9:30 Club

2010-01-13T11:38:00.001-05:00

Having never seen The Strokes live since living in the area for the last decade, this was making up for lost time even though it was just Julian, who was on tour supporting his first solo album Phrazes for the Young. I liked this record so much I placed it in this past year’s Top 10, however, the show last night didn’t come anywhere close to receiving such a merit

Things kicked off slowly with “Tourist”, one of the stronger tracks off of Phrazes, but things suddenly came to a standstill when the drummer’s bass pedal broke. Filling in time during the repair, Julian blurted to the crowd that the Maryland state flag was the best flag in the entire United States. That’s real talk, ladies and gentlemen.

After the drums were fixed, Julian and Co. went into “River of Breaklights.” Maybe it was where I was standing, but the mix last night at the club was rather poor as it was much too bassy with not enough emphasis on vocals. “11th Dimension” was up next and it was perhaps the biggest disappointment of the night. It’s disheartening when one of the best songs off of Phrazes was performed so haphazardly. The energy realized on the record was nowhere to be found in the 9:30 Club last night during this performance, and given how danceable the song is, it was quite a letdown.

The best part of the night by far was when Julian closed the first set with “Left & Right in the Dark”. Probably one of my favorite songs off his LP, the band performed this number flawlessly and I was actually able to get myself moving, something I couldn’t really do earlier in the night because of how lackluster the show was. Julian then closed the evening out with a solo rendition of “You Only Live Once” which was a nice touch.

Overall, the entire show was just so-so and didn’t really meet my expectations, which was a shame. I also can’t believe that this was the first time I’ve been to the 9:30 since TV on the Radio. That’s just depressing. Setlist via Setlist.fm:

1. Tourist
2. Washington D. C Freestyle
3. River of Brakelights
4. 11th Dimension
5. 30 Minute Boyfriend
6. new song
7. Glass
8. Out of the Blue
9. Left & Right in the Dark

Encore:

10. You Only Live Once (The Strokes cover)
11. 4 Chords of the Apocalypse

The Top 10 Albums of 2009, Because You Really Care!

2009-12-23T15:22:00.002-05:00

10) Brendan Benson - My Old, Familiar Friend: Benson's first release since 2005's highly entertaining Alternative to Love, My Old, Familiar Friend proved to be somewhat of a letdown compared to his earlier work. Then again, even Benson's fairest efforts still trump the works of other bands' albums released this year. His songwriting skills alone, such as those found in "Garbage Day" and "Gonowhere", propel Mr. Benson just high enough for him to make the cut into this year's list.

9) Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest: I'm not going to lie in saying that I'm not the biggest Grizzly Bear fan around these parts. Sure they receive incessant critical acclaim, but I always found them, well, boring. That was until of course their mainstream breakthrough track "Two Weeks" caught my ears. It truly is one of the best songs this year has brought us. And you know what? The rest of the album isn't too shabby either. Well played, Bear.

8) Jay Reatard – Watch Me Fall: In some ways, Jay Reatard is a lot like Brendan Benson. Both are exceptional songwriters, yet the former stuffs his formative expressions into a rather simple three minute or less track while the latter takes his time and augments his songs with layers of sound. Sorry Brendan, but Reatard wins this round.

7) Julian Casablancas – Phrazes for the Young: I was (or am? They're supposedly just taking a break I heard) big Strokes fan so I was looking forward to this release, and man, it's a fun album. The first three songs alone are gold until things come to a screeching halt with "Ludlow St." Phrazes is only comprised of eight songs, but the ones that are good, are really, really good. Hell, I might have to play "11th Dimension" at my wedding.

6) Wilco – The Album: Some have said that this is a poor man's Summerteeth but I have to disagree. This album has an identity of its own and is a step forward in the right direction after 2007's lackluster Sky Blue Sky. Memorable tracks such as "One Wing" and "You Never Know" have proven that, despite reaching their creative peak years ago, Wilco still has the ability to produce satisfying records.

5) Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca: Yes, it's yet another band that had a breakthrough album in 2009. We were fortunate enough to preview the material of Bitte Orca when the group opened for TV on the Radio at 9:30 Club back in June and they really nailed it out of the park that night. "Two Doves" is an incredibly poignant number while "No Intention" is able summarize the band's wide array of sound and rhythm in one track. One of the more diverse selections for this year's list. Sorry, Girls.

4) Matt & Kim – Grand: This duo, which you could somewhat compare to Mates of State on lots and lots of speed, delivered an excellent album in the very first month of '09 and found its way on our Top 10 because of it's collection of fast-paced yet introspective 11 tracks. Clocking in at less than half an hour, listeners of Grand are able to catch their breath during "Turn This Boat Around" before "Cinders" takes you right to the dance floor in uncontrollable style.

3) Franz Ferdinand – Tonight: Franz Ferdinand: You really have to tip your hat to these Scottish lads. The group has come a long way since "Take Me Out" and have continued to release one solid album after the next while simultaneously advancing their sound each time. "Lucid Dreams" is a tour de force over your ear buds, but seeing it performed live really takes it to the next level. Bands who write songs like that deserve some much-earned praise.

2) Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix: This album is chockfull of pure pop bliss. "1901" might get relentless airplay, and rightfully so, but songs such as "Girlfriend" and "Lasso" are just a couple of tunes that are simply irresistibly catchy. It still pains me to this day that we had to sell our tickets to their show at the Rock and Roll Hotel because we had to go out of town that weekend with no way in making it back in time. That would've been a Top 10 show for sure.

1) Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion: This should honestly come as no surprise as to where this album falls in terms of placing in this year's list. The recordings found on Merriweather Post Pavilion took one of the most esoteric bands in recent history and made them, well, accessible. Lush harmonies, layered melodies, and a sound all their own taken to the next level, Animal Collective had a one-up on the entire industry when MPP was released in week one of '09. Their Fall Be Kind EP, which was released just a month or so ago, has already shown that they're not anywhere close to going back down the mountaintop just yet.

Review: Table 21 @ Volt (Part IV - Courses #15 through #23)

2009-12-04T13:35:00.005-05:00

Course #15: Braised Longnecker Farm Rabbit. Probably my absolute favorite dish of the night. The rabbit was incredibly succulent and the way Bryan infused the applewood smoked bacon into the meat was nearly breathtaking. I was really blown away by how good this dish tasted. Well done, chef.

Course #16: Quail, accompanied with brussel sprouts. I forgot to bring the menu with me while writing this up so unfortunately I cannot recall the other ingredients, but yet again, Bryan did not disappoint. The quail was very flavorful and proved to be another highlight of the protein courses thus served that evening.

Course #17: Lamb with madras curry. Another home run. The lamb was perfectly cooked and meshed really well with the curry. Oh hell, it was probably the best lamb I've ever had.

Course #18: Wagyu beef with potato puree and garlic chip transparency. First off, the potatoes, just like the aforementioned lamb, were the best I ever ate. Words can't describe how full of flavor they were. As for the beef, well, I wish I had seconds. I'm a huge steak fan so I was looking forward to this one the most as I had never had Wagyu before. Incredibly tender and perfectly executed. This was also the last entrée course which was kind of a relief because we were so full (yes, even me).

Course #19: Cheese course featuring cheese from Sweet Grass Dairy, accompanied with a tarragon crisp and gelato. I'm not a cheese buff by any stretch of the imagination but it was still an enjoyable course. The gelato added a pleasant sweetness to the cheese and served as a nice segue to the forthcoming desserts.

Course #20: Dulce de Leche goat cheesecake with green apple sorbet. Rachel was pretty much floored by how good this dessert was and always recalls it first when looking back on our Table 21 experience. It was that amazing. The white chocolate power surrounding the cheesecake was also a very nice touch and added even more flavor to an already outstanding course.

Course #21: Three flavors of white: coconut, vanilla, and lavender. Another memorable dessert that was both creative in its composition and presentation. It was comprised of coconut ice cream, vanilla pudding, and lavender power. Really different yet really satisfying.

Course #22: Chocolate peanut butter mouse. This was probably my favorite dessert of the night. You can never go wrong with the incredible combination of chocolate and peanut butter, especially when it's prepared from a restaurant like Volt. Really rich and had a nice, crispy texture on the bottom.

Course #23: Mignardises - miniature homemade ice cream sandwiches. Volt can do wrong. It was sad to finish these bite-size desserts since it concluded what was perhaps the best meal I've ever had in my entire life.

After we received the bill, our waitress supplied us with our very own copy of the menu as well as a blueberry muffin to take home with us. The staff, from the hostess to the sommelier to the waiters and waitresses were all very friendly and made a great meal an even better one.

When we headed out after spending nearly four hours (!) at Table 21, we saw Bryan at the bar talking to a few guests while the kitchen was shutting down for the evening. Rachel asked if he could sign her menu and, if possible, take a picture with us. He couldn't have been a nicer guy about it.

I applaud both him and his staff for having such a unique restaurant in this area that only provides great food and service, but also cares so much about supporting local businesses and the community. Would Volt work in DC? Definitely. But there's a certain charm about the restaurant being situated in Frederick that simply cannot be replicated elsewhere. I can't wait to go back up again.

Review: Table 21 @ Volt (Part III - Courses #8 through #14)

2009-12-03T17:00:00.005-05:00

Course #8: Bryan came over and introduced this dish himself while shaving white truffles over the perfectly-cooked 61 degree egg. It was accompanied with salsify and caviar and proved to be another excellent course. The eggs were provided by nearby Whitmore Farm as Mr. Voltaggio ensures that all of his items are locally produced and farm fresh at Volt.

Course #9: Goat cheese ravioli and butternut squash. Yes, this was the same ravioli that was featured last night on Top Chef, and let me tell you, it was downright incredible. Perfect flavor and texture. One of the top courses of the night.

Course #10: Butter poached lobster with forbidden rice and coconut air. Another dish that was hit out of the park. Just an incredibly delicious, rich piece of meat that was cooked to perfection. I’m not sure if I’ve ever ate forbidden rice prior to Table 21, but now I definitely want to buy some and cook it with some fish the next opportunity I get.

Course #11: Seared halibut with risotto. Another solid dish. It was a bittersweet moment because I was really enjoying the fish but soon realized we were halfway through our meal. The best was yet to come though.

Course #12: Crispy veal sweetbread with flavors of picata. Delicious.

Course #13: Iberico pork trotters with a trio of beans. I was looking forward to this dish since it sounded interesting, plus the serving was a generous portion (two pieces per plate). You could somewhat compare it to pulled pork that was then breaded and deep-fried. Rachel even gave me some of hers since she’s not a huge pork fan. Score.

Course #14: Hudson Valley fois gras with vanilla brioche. Just incredible. We took our time spreading the fois gras over the homemade brioche just because we didn’t want this course to end. A favorite amongst all four of us.

Coming Up: Our final seven courses of our dinner at Table 21.

PS - This was post #1000 of The Upstate Life. Wow.

Review: Table 21 @ Volt (Part II - Courses #1 through #7)

2009-12-02T14:06:00.006-05:00

Course #1: Our first course was presented by the sommelier in what was described as a homemade cream soda made with Absolut vodka. It was actually dispensed via a seltzer bottle and then poured into a martini glass which provided a sneak preview of the creative innovations Volt would provide later that evening. It was like drinking an alcoholic Dr. Browns. I might have to start making a habit of adding vodka to my cream soda.

Course #2: Bryan himself came over to the table and introduced himself to everyone while describing the most amazing appetizer ever, his own rendition of chips and dip. We were then served dried prosciutto “chips” accompanied with a bowl of rich potato dip. We were only into our second course but this one stood out as one of my favorites because of how unique and delicious it was.

Course #3: Up next was a bite of avocado filled with tuna tartar topped with wasabi foam. It was very good but the portion could’ve been a little bigger, but maybe that’s because I love tuna.

Course #4: Shitake with chili oil and pine nuts. Now I’m not sure how they made this dish, but it was hands-down the most “scientific” of the courses served. Volt prides itself on molecular gastronomy, but it’s utterly jaw-dropping to see shitake mushrooms in liquid, spherical form. Just an amazing sight to behold and, of course, really tasty!

Course #5: Trio of macaroons. Just the presentation alone blew me away. Three macaroons each individually placed on three different spoons. The first was a take on Caesar salad, the second was guacamole, while the last was beets. Each time you placed one in your mouth it instantly melted followed by a rich flavor of the filling. You just don’t see this sort of thing in other restaurants.

Course #6: Boneless chicken wing. Gotta love this story: Bryan asked us if we saw the episode of Top Chef when his brother concocted this dish. Turns out it was Bryan’s to begin with and he let Michael use it on the show! Anyway, it was of course incredible. Just the right amount of buffalo sauce flavor accompanied with bleu cheese crumbles that were frozen via liquid nitrogen. (Forgot to take a pic prior to consumption...)

Course #7: Clam chowder. Really rich, a little salty, but still very satisfying. I’m pretty sure that every ingredient besides the broth was in miniature cube form (including the clams).

Coming Up: The second seven courses of our dinner at Table 21.

Review: Table 21 @ Volt (Part I – A Preface)

2009-12-01T13:01:00.002-05:00

Our experience at Table 21 simply cannot be captured in one post. So instead, I'll be making this a four-part series where I'll break down our meal into three 7-course posts throughout the week. But first, I'll start off with a prologue on how this came about since the back-story deserves a post of its own.

Rachel's 30th birthday was a few weeks ago, and since this was one of those milestone birthdays and all, I had to make sure that this would be a memorable one. You see, despite Rachel's reluctance to admit that's she's 30 (which she thinks automatically labels her as "old"), she was still carded when she bought a movie ticket to Tropic Thunder last year. So, um, yeah.

Anyway, we had been meaning to go to Volt long before chef Bryan Voltaggio was slated to be a contestant on this season's Top Chef, but it wasn't until September that we had found out about the amazing 21 course menu served inside the kitchen. This sounded like quite the experience so when it came time to plan her birthday, I decided to make the reservation later that month in fear of it booking up because of Top Chef starting around the same time.

Furthermore, I wanted to keep this dinner a surprise, and since Table 21 is a communal table that sits up to four people, I called up our friends Kim and Brian to see if they wanted to be my partners in crime for this instead of being paired up with some random patrons. They went with the plan since they also had an upcoming wedding anniversary to celebrate, plus they're awesome. Our only problem was how we were going to surprise Rachel when Volt is situated all the way up in Frederick.

Well, leave it to Kim to create a fake invitation for an early holiday party her coworker was supposedly having up in Frederick the very same day of the reservation. Rachel amazingly bought it since Kim begged her go as her beau had work to do that evening. Kim had also said that they'd stop and grab a drink at Volt first so Rachel could take a peek at Mr. Voltaggio since she blatantly has a crush on him (dare I say even had a dream about him? But I digress).

Anyway, Rachel just made the MARC train up to Frederick while it took me nearly two hours to make the drive up to 270, but I was still able to arrive early enough and meet Brian before the two of them showed up. The surprised look of Rachel's face seeing Brian and I standing at the bar had already made my night.

The hostess then took our coats and guided us past the dining room which created even more confusion for Rachel until we were ultimately seated at a table inside the kitchen that was literally within arm's reach from where the chefs were working, including Mr. Bryan Voltaggio himself. Rachel could not stop gawking.

Coming Up: The first seven courses of our dinner at Table 21.

Dolphin Pride

2009-11-04T16:08:00.003-05:00

Catch it!

TUL's Take: Matt & Kim @ University of Maryland

2009-11-02T17:45:00.002-05:00

The blog is back! At least for now. I'd get into why I've been on hiatus for oh so very long but that's not why we're here today. No, instead, I'm here to discuss how we were embraced by the infectious energy of Matt & Kim inside the Stamp Student Union at the University of Maryland last Friday night.

Despite their hit song "Daylight" being the soundtrack of a Bacardi advertisement, Matt & Kim have rode the wave of success following the release of their first proper full-length, Grand. They had already played a sold-out show at the Black Cat a few months ago, but their popularity has even soared higher since then.

Let's put it this way: the band was slated to open for Weezer at a sold-out Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City the very next night. Something tells me that they felt a hell of a lot more comfortable in College Park performing in front of a few hundred students whom were for the most part decked out in Halloween regalia.

Matt & Kim came on-stage around 9pm sporting fake black eyes and immediately began into their set, kicking off (from what I can recall) with "Cutdown". Honestly, it's hard to remember their entire setlist because the two of them were so into each song (and each other) that you were simply captivated by how much energy and happiness they were exuding while they were respectively bashing their drums and keyboards.

One could tell how much fun the both of them were having by not only their nonstop smiles at one another, but also from performing in front of a lively crowd in a somewhat intimate setting complete with bopping heads, dancing, and even some crowd-surfing. When Kim's snare drum broke, Matt initiated a hip-hop beat on his synthesizer and told his bandmate to get down while her instrument was being attended to which elicited a roar from the crowd.

Not to be outdone, Matt claimed that in the spirit of Halloween, he would remove an article of clothing before each song. Let's just say by the time the band closed the evening with "Daylight", Matt was left singing in just his underwear. Don't think they could've pulled that off at Hammerstein.

All and all it was a very enjoyable show and their hour-long set seemed to fly by due to their nonstop dynamism. Excellent concert and instantly made up for the fact that I was unable to attend their Black Cat outing. Dare I say this show was probably better given the atmosphere and antics? Well done.

TUL's Take: Virgin FreeFest @ Merriweather Post Pavilion

2009-09-01T16:00:00.000-04:00

Let me start out by saying that this was the easiest, most convenient music festival experience I have ever been apart of. We barely hit any traffic while driving up to Columbia and easily found parking in the Columbia Mall parking lot which equated to a five minute walk to the festival grounds. This was already much better than getting to Pimlico and we hadn't even stepped inside yet.

Once we did, we were instantly enamored with the layout as it brought out a more homey feel than that of the Baltimore racetrack where previous Virgin Festivals had been held. Between the hills, trails, and shade it kind of reminded us of Bumbershoot as that was probably one of our favorite festival venues prior to this weekend.

While heading over to the pavilion to see Mates of State, we stopped at the Dance Tent and checked out a bit of Holy Fuck and kind of regret not spending more time over there as they sounded like they were putting on a good set. Once we found some seats inside the pavilion, we quickly realized we were perhaps the only MoS fans within a five foot radius as everyone around us seemed to be waiting for Taking Back Sunday. I mean, come on: rocking married couple with baby > well, whatever TBS is. It's science.

We then made our way towards the West Stage which was where we would eventually spend the majority of the day at. Up first was DC-native Wale, who, compared to when I saw him at Bohemian Caverns back on Inauguration Day, had an entire band (local go-go group UCB) backing up instead of a DJ. This was a good idea since it translated well to the festival audience. Wale is quite the showman and his banter between songs was rather entertaining, especially when tossing water bottles to the crowd "Check it, I'm Jason Campbell. Oh wait, I got sacked."

Up next was none other than The Hold Steady, a band I have seen over a handful of times. Their set on Sunday, however, didn't really do it for me. Maybe because I was already getting drained from standing in the hot August sun for too long, but despite sounding great, I just couldn't get into it as much as if I were at some small bar in Albany where they're relentlessly rocking out in a crowded, dank space. They still wear their heart on their sleeve when performing regardless of venue though.

Public Enemy was up next after their DJ did 15 minutes of scratching. The crowd was the largest of the day thus far as Chuck D, Flava Flav, and the entire Terror Squad brought us back to the Terrordome. I was never a big Public Enemy fan but these guys, despite their age, put on a tremendous effort and really got the crowd going during their hour long set. Halfway through the show, we decided to check out the various tents and vendors before coming back for The National.

Ah yes, The National. While their records have been solid, I was never rally captivated by the times I've seen them perform live. Sunday, however, was different. It's been roughly two or so years since I saw them in concert, but since then, they have improved by leaps and bounds and it visibly showed onstage. Lead singer Matt Berringer was a force to be reckoned especially during "Mr. November" and "Squalor Victoria". The added horn section was a nice bonus and added a new dynamic to the band, especially for a setting as large as a music festival. What can I say, they won me back over during their powerful hour-long set and I think I'll have to go to their next show at the 930, whenever that may be.

Speaking of the 930, I don't think I learned my lesson when I stood in front of the subwoofers at the club when TV on the Radio came to town. Granted I had a great spot to see, but I couldn't hear shit. Turns out I made the same mistake when Girl Talk performed on Sunday, except dude had the bass at 11. It's become quite evident that one doesn't need to be along the barrier to watch Greg Gillis do his thing, especially when you have a bunch of clowns dancing up onstage trying to upstage one another. Rachel made the intelligent decision to head up towards the back of the field so she could actually hear all sound frequencies while I was stuck using makeshift earplugs made from the toilet paper they were shooting out by Girl Talk's accomplices.

The band I was really excited to see all afternoon was in fact the headliner of the West Stage, Franz Ferdinand. And boy, these guys delivered on all fronts. I've seen them three times prior to Sunday, and this by far was their best performance to date. Not only that, but I personally felt that they stole the show at FreeFest. Kicking off the set with "No You Girls", the band has truly perfected performing live. Between the razor-tight guitar riffs, call-and-response tactics, and collective (and ridiculous) drum solo, the boys from Scotland put on one hell of a show and closed the FreeFest out with a collective bang (minus the cymbals as they were already disassembled during the rousing finale "Lucid Dreams").

Overall, the FreeFest was a huge success and I was so glad to be a part of it. Virgin and IMP did an impressive job and I actually preferred the grounds of Merriweather over Pimlico should they decide to hold another festival. All of the vendors were friendly, getting to/from stages was easy, and the food selection was great. Here's hoping Virgin Fest returns in some sort of fashion next summer!

People don't dance no more, they just stand there like this...

2009-08-25T11:17:00.002-04:00

The Rapture, the one band I've been dying to see live since, like, forever, will be performing up in Bmore at Sonar on Saturday, September 12. Tickets are only $10 in advance ($13 at the door) and are on-sale now. The Golden Filter as well as the Taxlo DJs will be supporting the group in what is being advertised as their only area appearance. Whoo, alright!

Hold Steady to Play Virgin Fest After, err, Beforeshow

2009-08-19T11:27:00.001-04:00

The Hold Steady, who will be performing at next weekend's Virgin Fest up in Merriweather, has just announced a show at the 9:30 Club the night prior to the event on Saturday, August 29. Tickets are $25 and are already on-sale! If you don't feel like making the schlep up to Columbia on Sunday and/or missed out on tickets, this is certainly a nice alternative.

Islands Are Forever

2009-08-17T12:03:00.001-04:00

Awesome! Islands, who will be releasing their third album entitled Vapours on Tuesday, Spetember 22, will be returning to DC on Tuesday, October 6 at the 9:30 Club. They'll also be performing up in Baltimore on Monday, November 2 at the Gspot. I didn't even realize they have a new album coming out as Arm's Way was one of my favorite releases from 2008. I wonder if they'll still refuse to play "Rough Gem?"

Has it Really Been Four Years Since Brendan Benson’s Last Album?

2009-07-21T12:52:00.001-04:00

Yes, yes it has. But this morning’s email from iLike was a cause for celebration as one of my favorite singer-songwriters will finally be releasing his fourth proper release, entitled My Old Familiar Friend, on Tuesday, August 18.

Most people know Benson’s work from his time with The Raconteurs but his solo albums are pop masterpieces, at least in my opinion. Hopefully this means he’ll hit the touring circuit as his show at the Black Cat in 2005 still stands as one of my favorite concerts I’ve ever been to.

Virgin America to Offer Free Flights to Virgin Fest?

2009-06-25T13:44:00.000-04:00

That's what Richard Branson said last night on the Jimmy Fallon show. Unfortunately no other information is available about this at the moment.

Also, tickets from today's presale sold-out this morning in nearly 45 minutes. Those who missed out will have a second opportunity at 10am this Saturday when the rest of the allotment goes on-sale.

Job Well Done, Seth

2009-06-24T10:53:00.003-04:00

Seriously, mad props for not only pulling together a solid lineup for Virgin Mobile Free Fest, but having the entire cost absolutely nothing for concertgoers (inlcuding convenience charges, woot!).

The lineup was officially announced this morning and the list of artists was kept secret until the very last minute (for the exception of Weezer, Blink, and Holy F*ck of course). I'm very impressed with who they were able to book and keep it under wraps for so long (The National, Wale, Mates of State, St. Vincent, etc).

It's times like these where you really appreciate the local, homegrown businesses such as I.M.P. when corporate tyrants like LiveNation have nearly destroyed the live concert experience. Seth's company actually cares about its patrons and I was quite pleased when I heard that past Virgin Fest attendees would be rewarded with their own presale in order to acknowledge their past attendance. Everything, up to the last very detail, was well though out which seems to be rare these days.

Merriweather is an excellent venue, the Sangria is top-notch, and getting to/from there is rather painless (unlike the hellhole known as Nissan). So, again, thank you Seth and IMP, you guys have really outdone yourselves this year.

Virgin Fest Announcement Set for Tomorrow!

2009-06-23T12:05:00.002-04:00

Literally just moments after I posted today's earlier entry, I received a Retweet from PostRock that was originally from WTMD stating that an official announcement about this year's festival will be made tomorrow.

Considering the fact that the Virgin Freefest name is already floating out there, this should be very interesting.

Holy Fuck Confirmed for Virgin Mobile Fest, Truth to Rumor of Free Tickets and New Festival Name?

2009-06-23T11:45:00.002-04:00

So I was doing some research on the web this morning, trying to scrounge up any sort of news regarding this year's Virgin Mobile Fest when I came upon the event's last.fm page. There were some comments left last evening from a user stating that not only is Holy Fuck confirmed for Sunday Auguest 30, but that the event will be renamed Virgin Freefest. You can see for yourselves on the band's website.

Holy fuck is right.

I mean, given the new name of the festival, this would certainly indicate that this year’s rendition will be free of charge.

Then again, while most summer music festivals not only have their lineups confirmed but their schedules set, IMP has yet to officially make an announcement of the event itself let alone who will be featured on the bill. One has to think details will be released by the end of the month. I mean, we're a week away from it being July already!

But still, free??? Woot!

UPDATE - Looks like I missed the WaPo tweet about this

I Want These.... NOW

2009-06-17T23:23:00.002-04:00

Vasquez to Return to Maryland for Senior Season

2009-06-15T15:35:00.002-04:00

Literally waiting until the last minute, Maryland basketball fans rejoiced when junior guard Greivis Vasquez withdrew his name from the NBA Draft just a couple of hours before the 5pm deadline.

The Venezuelan led the Terps in points, rebounds, and assists last season and returns to a team who only lost one player after returning to the NCAA Tournament that advanced to the second round.

In other words, best Monday ever.

TUL's Take: Dinner @ Eatonville

2009-06-09T13:52:00.000-04:00

Smell ya later, Georgia Browns. This place is legit.

Rachel and I stopped here before the TV on the Radio show last night at the 9:30 and this place was downright fantastic. The décor alone sets the restaurant apart from other places in the District while the location is undeniably perfect. Just across the street from its relative Busboys & Poets, Eatonville features a southern-style menu with reasonably priced entrees and some of the best collard greens I've ever ate.

This was also the first restaurant I went to where they had Abita on tap, not that I'm looking for Abita specifically, but it was a damn good beer. We started things off with the fried green tomatoes and they were really, really good. They were so breaded you'd think they were potato pancakes but the mixture of corn salsa and arugula made them delectable.

We decided to split the crab burger as our entrée and let me tell you, this plate was no joke. Topped with remoulade and pickled onions, the crab cake/burger was incredible. There was no filler and it was cooked flawlessly. The fries, by the way, are some of DC's best and now present themselves as fierce challengers to those found at Granville Moore's and Amsterdam Falafel.

Then there are the collard greens. Get them, especially if you like vinegar. You could really taste the flavor in each bite.

I'll definitely be coming back since I really want to try the gumbo, hushpuppies, crispy chicken breast...hell, the whole menu.

Now I Really Want Lance Stephenson to Come to Maryland

2009-06-05T14:02:00.001-04:00

If only because of Lance's father's completely awesome quote:

"Well, The Washington Post’s opinion is like an asshole. Everybody got one. It’s just opinion."

Well said, Lance Sr., well said.

If There is Any Indication That Vasquez Should Return...

2009-06-03T15:04:00.002-04:00

Look no further than this quote from nbadraft.net:

"Austin Daye and Greivis Vasquez had the worst performances of the combine by far. Neither player exhibited the speed, strength, or jumping ability necessary to make an impact at the next level."

Ouch. Just a few weeks ago it seemed that Vasquez was all but gone after his junior season with Maryland, but after working out at several camps, his stock hasn't exactly flourished as anticipated. Granted that Greivis wanted to test the waters to see if he was first-round worthy, but these evaluations make it seems like he won't even be drafted at all.

I personally think he's a late second-rounder after it's all said and done, but with such a point guard heavy class, this year's draft doesn't fall in Vasquez's favor and it's probably best for the Venezuelan to return for his final season as Europe is not an option for him. He might even have the chance to play with highly coveted recruit Lance Stephenson (should the NCAA declare him eligible, AND that he commits to Maryland) which would prove to be a lethal backcourt for the Terps.

Bottom line: Here's hoping Vasquez returns for his senior season, mainly because it will give me one more season of listening to Scott Van Pelt scream "Huevos!" during a Maryland recap on SportsCenter. Well, that, and the fact Vasquez was the leader last season in points, rebounds, and assists. That's kind of important, too.

Virgin Fest 2009 is Officially Announced

2009-06-02T13:33:00.001-04:00

Website is live, too. (Thanks to 930 Forum for the tip)

Virgin Fest Confirmed by Elliot in the Morning, Free Admission?

2009-06-01T16:54:00.001-04:00

While driving to work, I flipped over to DC101 during a Junkies commercial break where Elliot was plugging the Judas Priest show at Merriweather on August 22 on which he proceeded to ask, "Isn't that a week before Virgin Fest?"

Elliot then mentioned Weezer and Blink as being part of the lineup, pretty much cementing the fact that these two artists will be part of the festival. But perhaps the most interesting part was when he said that Virgin Fest could be FREE this year. He then proceeded to backtrack saying how cool it would be if it was free, but still, was this some sort of slip?

I personally can't see Virgin Fest allowing free admission, but hey, if Ozzfest did it back in '07, and given the relatively rough economy, it is certainly possible. All we do know is that Virgin Fest is back on, and although it's at Merriweather, it at least lives on for another year.

I've Been on a Serious Dining Binge the Last Month

2009-05-28T16:02:00.001-04:00

5/16 – Otello
5/17 – Blue Duck Tavern (My birthday)
5/19 – Capital Grille, Baltimore (Rachel's graduation)
5/21 – Late Night Happy Hour @ Morton's
5/27 – Lia's (Twilight Dinner)

Rachel was kind of enough to surprise me with dinner at Blue Duck Tavern for my birthday and it was quite the dining experience. We started off with the House Smoked Sturgeon Rillette and it had to be one of the most unique appetizers I've ever ate. It somewhat tasted like whitefish but with a more creamy texture and was accompanied with some garlic toast. Different but good. A nice touch was the complimentary order of cured beef they brought to the table in between courses. Not sure if they do this everyday but the restaurant was rather busy as the kitchen seemed to be a bit backed up.

For the main course, I went with the Braised Beef Rib and it proved to be a fine choice. The knife was rather useless since the meat was incredibly tender and was literally served atop the bone in a nice presentation. We of course ordered the infamous Hand Cut BDT Triple Fries which were amazing, probably because they were fried in duck fat. On a side note, I think more foods need to be fried in duck fat.

As for dessert, the apple pie was bar none the best in DC. Baked to order, it's a meal in itself. Good thing we decided to add some banana chocolate chip sorbet with it which made it even more incredible.

The little-known late night happy hour at Morton's is amazing and proved to be a good place for a really late dinner last week. Essentially everything on the bar menu is $5, plus oysters and shrimp are discounted as well, AND they have drink specials. We went to the one in Bethesda (which runs from 9:30-11pm) after my younger brother's graduation from Maryland and ordered several plates of the mini crab cakes (which were entirely comprised of crab meat) as well as their petite filet steak sandwiches. Needless to say, it's a great deal and we always consider it if we're in the mood for a late bite during the week.

I also highly recommend checking out Lia's for their Twilight Delight dinner special. Rachel and I both got a three-course dinner for $19.95 each last night which was a hell of a deal. Just make sure you show up before 6:30pm since that is when the Twilight special ends. It worked out for us pretty well since we were going to finally see Star Trek at the nearby Avalon at 8pm anyway.

I ordered the Italian Wedding Soup for my appetizer and got the Prosciutto, Artichoke, and Zucchini Risotto for the main course. The risotto was not only very good but was a very generous portion. I was pretty much stuffed and nearly forgot we still had dessert on the way. I opted for the mix & match scoops of gelato and sorbet while Rachel went with the Strawberry Napoleon. Again, both dishes were great but the Napoleon really stood out the way it was presented. Separated by pieces of phyllo squares, the vanilla sauce and strawberries sandwiched inside was well worth the price of the entire dinner. I'm curious to try their happy hour the next time I'm there as that looked really good as well but is only available at the bar. In the meantime, I need to starve myself for a good week after eating all of this. Yeah, that's not happening.

Weezer, Blink 182, Gallons of Reactionary Vomit Pretty Much Confirmed for Virgin Fest

2009-05-21T15:46:00.003-04:00

Say it ain't so.

Upon reading Pitchfork this afternoon, I happened to glance upon Weezer's summer tour dates with (nobody-really-seems-to-care-they-reunited) Blink 182 and, low and behold, the Washington DC date on August 30 (with a venue listed as TBD) falls on a weekend.

This pretty much establishes the fact that Weezer and Blink will headline this year’s horribly toned-down rendition of the Virgin Fest which is rumored to be held at Merriweather.

For patrons of past Virgin Festivals, this has to be a huge disappointment. I won't write it off completely, but IMP really needs to step up the remaining lineup if this truly is the case.

Since the New Terminator is Getting Panned Left and Right....

2009-05-21T10:24:00.003-04:00

Brett: I actually want to see Drag Me To Hell
Brett: Raimi going back to his roots
it got good reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Greg: yeah I agree, I hope there is a geiser of blood!
Brett: and no Conor Oberst transformations!
Greg: unless they are combined
Brett: LOL

Still Nothing to Report on Virgin Mobile Fest '09

2009-05-14T16:45:00.001-04:00

It's been over a month ago when we last heard news regarding this year's Virgin Mobile Fest. And yet, while it's rumored to be held at Merriweather, there hasn't been a peep in regards to a date nor a mention of just one headlining artist.

Given the fact that it is already May and other music festivals have long announced their plans, I'm starting to believe that there will, sadly, be no Virgin Fest this year. I mean, it takes a lot of time and effort to organize a music festival, and since things have been rather quiet for an extended period of time, I'm not sure if we'll be treated to another Virgin-sponsored production this summer in our own backyard. Please prove me wrong, Seth, prove me wrong!

TUL's Take: Animal Collective @ The Ottobar

2009-05-11T16:00:00.002-04:00

Let me first preface by saying that Animal Collective put on the best show I have seen thus far this year. Yes, you read that correct. But first, let's do the rundown on how we were able to not only enjoy a delicious dinner prior to the show but how we were able to get tickets to a venue that houses only 400 people.

You see, Rachel knew how much I adored Merriweather Post Pavilion and decided to get me tickets for their show at the 9:30 Club tonight as an early birthday gift. Unfortunately, I have a final in my class tonight so I was immediately dismayed that I would miss out. Fortunately, Rachel had the brilliant idea of proposing a trade on Craigslist for anyone looking for DC tickets in lieu of ones for the Baltimore show last night. We struck gold late last week and made our way to Charm City yesterday afternoon with tickets in hand.

We decided to have dinner at The Helmand in Mount Vernon for some Afghan after reading some excellent reviews over on Yelp. The food was indeed delicious and the pumpkin appetizer is a must should you ever decide to eat there. Pretty reasonable in terms of cost, too.

We then headed towards The Ottobar and caught some of opener Daniel Higgs' set which was, well, interesting. Turns out he was formerly in Lungfish and is part of the Dischord label.

At around 9:15pm, Animal Collective came onstage amidst the roaring hometown crowd. Given that the small venue was sold-out, there was still a remarkable amount of room where it wasn't to the point of feeling cramped like at RNR Hotel (somehow dreading seeing Phoenix there given how Tapes N Tapes was shoulder-to-shoulder action).

The band kicked things off with a complex rendition of "Chocolate Girl" which segued into our first MPP song of the night (and my personal favorite), "Guys Eyes." The rich harmonies created by Avey Tare and Panda Bear translated incredibly well live and created a rich sonic palette within the walls of the Ottobar.

There were times where it was kind of hard to pay attention to what was going on when the band planted a huge backdrop of MPP's album art onto the wall along with pulsating LED lights giving the pattern a nice psychedelic effect. I couldn't even imagine being on acid watching that.

The best part of the night by far was when the band performed "Daily Routine." Panda Bear's vocals during the closing parts of the song ("Just a sec, in my bed") were phenomenal and brought the crowd to a standstill and created a point in time where you knew you were seeing something special.

Honestly, I wouldn't have cared less if they didn't perform "My Girls" because the entire show up until that point, given some slow periods in between, was exceptional and I can't thank Rachel enough for landing us tickets.

Of course, "My Girls" was ultimately performed and saved for last but it seemed like the band was playing it half-heartedly compared to the rest of the setlist, but honestly, that was fine by me. I got to hear "Fireworks" (with Panda Bear pounding hysterically on the drums) and they even performed a new song entitled "Bleed" which was great as well. These guys put on a hell of a show and it simply amazes me that the wall of sound they created originated from these three guys onstage.

If you're going to the show tonight in DC, you're most likely in for a treat (plus NPR will be broadcasting it for those unable to attend), but for the fortunate few who were inside the Ottobar last night, that show will be hard to top. Setlist (courtesy of Collected Animals) and photos (taken by me) below:

Chocolate Girl
Guys Eyes
Who Could Win a Rabbit
Summertime Clothes
Daily Routine
What Would I Want Sky
Leaf House
Fireworks w/ Lablakely Dress Intro
Lion in a Coma
Brother Sport
---
Bleed
Also Frightened
My Girls

Photographical Evidence of Full-Blown Douchieness from Last Saturday

2009-04-28T15:32:00.003-04:00

This pic pretty much sums up what we encountered all day at Foxfield:

Yeah, I've got nothing to say.

Spoon Show @ GWU NOT Open to Public

2009-04-22T11:23:00.001-04:00

George Washington Unviersity's inaugural Fountain Fling concert, which is to be held this Saturday and features an afternoon performance by Spoon, will NOT be open to the public according to a comment left on the Hatchet by the event's planning committee:

Unfortunately, the Spoon performance is not open to the public, however all GWU undergrad and graduate students with valid GWorld identification have the opportunity to bring one accompanying guest.

The Fountain Fling event is a joint effort of Program Board and Mount Vernon Programming Council. Over the last five months, this group of students has put a substantial amount of time, energy and dedication into planning a spectacular day — we're overjoyed to know you're as excited as we are.

Thank you for your compliments and support, and we appreciate all the kind words. In the next week, we encourage you to reach out to friends and students at the George Washington University and express your interest in attending.

Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any remaining questions. Thanks, and we hope to see you there!

The Fountain Fling Planning Committee
On behalf of GWPB and MVCL

So if you know anyone that is a current (or even former) student at GW and has their GWorld ID card, there's your ticket for admission.

!!!, Great Northern, The Dears Coming to Albany

2009-04-21T12:01:00.002-04:00

For those of you residing in Upstate New York, next weekend is a music lover's dream given the quantity and, more importantly, quality of good artists that frequent the area.

On Friday night, !!! (otherwise known as Chk-Chk-Chk) will perform at Valentines. This will be the seminal dance-punk band's first appearance in the Capital Region. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased via BrownPaperTickets.

The very next night, Great Northern, whose debut album Trading Twilight for Daylight was one of my '07 favorites, will be teaming up with The Dears for an evening of excellent music at the same venue. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased via Ticketmaster. (The tour will also hit DC on Thursday, May 7 at Black Cat - tickets are $15).

Do yourself a favor and go to at least one of these shows. It's not like you have anything better to do that weekend. Believe me, I lived there.

All Quiet on the Virgin Mobile Fest Front?

2009-04-15T12:11:00.001-04:00

Nothing really new to report other than speculation at this point, but the chances of the music festival being held at Merriweather Post Pavilion seem to gradually increase as the venue is coincidentally undergoing some renovations according to the Baltimore Sun.

The whole west side of the property is being expanded with brand new restrooms, a pinball lounge, and new concessions stands as well as leveled out

I e-mailed Merriweather's general manager, Jean Parker, who called me back and left an obscure message ...

"We're working on some pretty cool fun stuff, but we're not ready to disclose the details yet," she said. "So stay tuned."

Whether this may hint at providing upgraded amenities for the large crowds potentially attending Virgin Fest, I sure do love me some pinball as the DC area desperately needs a place like Shorty's in Seattle. Then again, anytime I visit Rock and Roll Hotel for a show, my money always seems to go towards the LOTR machine instead of the bar.

Wilco to Perform at Wolf Trap This Summer

2009-04-14T14:13:00.001-04:00

Thanks to a tipster over at the 9:30 Forum, Wilco be returning to the area for a performance at Wolf Trap on Wednesday, July 8. Tickets for the pit and pavilion will cost $38 each while lawn seats will cost $32 each. There is no onsale date set as of yet but I would suggest you continuously checkout the band's website for upcoming presale information.

Next Class: Passover Punishment

2009-04-13T19:00:00.002-04:00

So this is just ridiculous. As you may or may not know, Passover kicked off last Wednesday and I had plans to head home to celebrate the holiday with my family in Upstate New York. Unfortunately, not only did I miss class that night, but I also missed the first quiz since the course just started two weeks ago.

I emailed the professor eight days ago informing him that I would unable to attend class due to religious reasons and inquired when I would be able to make the session up. Below is his reply:

Thanks for letting me know. I would like you to do two things to make up for the missed class (in addition to doing the required readings):

1) Prepare a 3-page case analysis (single-spaced) report answering the questions for the case study. Can you send it to me by Wednesday, April 8?

2) Take the quiz on April 15th at 6:00 p.m. in my office

Please let me know if you will be able to do both these things.

Wait, so let me get this straight. You want me to not only makeup the quiz (which is entirely feasible), but also write a three page, SINGLE-SPACED paper because I’m unable to attend class so that I can spend the forthcoming Jewish holiday with my family? Are you fucking serious? And you wanted it by the next day???

But wait, it gets even better. First off, I immediately asked for an extension since it would’ve been near-impossible to put together the paper let alone read the case in time as I have another class on Monday evenings, and, oh yeah, I work full-time.

I also inquired as to why I needed to submit a three page write-up (which is really six pages since I cannot recall the last time I had to compose an assignment single-spaced) in addition to one of two case studies required as stated in the course’s syllabus. His reply?

Yes, you can submit the case analysis by Sunday evening. This is in lieu of missing the class on 8th so that you don't lose out on the participation grade. The individual case report on either of the required two is still needed.

So there you have it. Apparently every other student contributes at least three pages of discussion during class, even though half of them never say a fucking word.

I was finally able to get him down to a page and a half with an extra day extension after a few more email exchanges, but of course I'm livid and will be taking the appropriate actions to report this.

After conducting some research, this appears to be a direct violation of Section III-5.10(A) in the Consolidated USMH and UM Policies and Procedures Manual - University of Maryland, College Park Policies and Procedures Concerning Academic Assignments on Dates of Religious Observances:

A. Policy
It is the policy of UMP that students not be penalized any way for participation in religious observances. Students shall be allowed, whenever practicable, to make academic assignments that are missed due to such absences. It is the student's responsibility to contact the instructor for each course in which work is missed, and make arrangements for make-up work or examinations.

The smart thing to do would be to contact the Department Chairperson as stated in the document instead of blogging about it, but what fun would that be? Either way, this dude will eventually be the recipient of a gefilte fish jar (with extra gel, 'natch) smashed across his windshield.

Virgin Mobile Fest 2009 Is On!

2009-04-05T11:39:00.001-04:00

We just don’t know where and when yet. But still, awesome news nonetheless.

UPDATE - Sounds like Merriweather Post Pavilion will be the most likely venue this year. Not sure how I feel about that since Pimlico actually worked out really well as the festival grounds, but I'll reserve judgment until we hear some of the lineup materialize. MPP does have some kickass sangria, though.

Oh, and you have to think Animal Collective has to make an obligatory appearance now.

What's the Word

2009-03-26T16:07:00.001-04:00

Wish I had known about this sooner, but apparently you can get $5 off your ticket for the We Are Scientsts show this Sunday by simply entering metromix in the access code field when you purchase them over at TicketWeb. On a separate note, this will be the first time I've ever stepped foot into the DC Hard Rock since being in the area for nearly 10 years. I mean, who has actually been there that a) was never a tourist, or b) um, never a tourist?

Spoon Headlining Fountain Fling at GWU

2009-03-25T11:36:00.001-04:00

It's been confirmed that the Austin-based outfit will be performing at GW's first-ever Fountain Fling, a combination of the university's traditional Fountain Day and Spring Fling events later next month. The festival will be held at the Mount Vernon campus on Saturday, April 25 from 3pm to 7pm.

I'm assuming that this event is only open to students as there is very little information available right now, but I'll try and keep a lookout and see if this show will be open to the public or not as well as any sort of ticket availability. I mean, I rather see them at GWU than have to drive over two hours to see them at Lancaster. Then again, I don't see myself realistically doing that, but still, that's unfortunately the next closest show.

Shins Return to DC for Spring Tour

2009-03-24T12:16:00.001-04:00

We haven't heard much from the Portland-based group since that whole Shins/Spoons debacle at Merriweather way back when. But don't worry Garden State fans, you'll be able to catch the band in all its intimate venue glory at the 9:30 Club on Thursday, May 14.

Tickets will cost $35, and while there is no official on-sale date yet, you might be fortunate enough to cash in on the presale going on now over here.

The ensuing service charges will assist Marty Crandall in finding better joke material during his relentless onstage banter. Full itinerary below:

Sat May 2 Western Washington Univ. Red Square Bellingham, WA
Mon May 4 Showbox Seattle, WA
Tue May 5 Showbox Seattle, WA
Wed May 6 Crystal Ballroom Portland, OR
Thu May 7 Crystal Ballroom Portland, OR
Sat May 9 The Fox Oakland, CA
Sun May 10 Hollywood Palladium Los Angeles, CA
Mon May 11 Soma San Diego, CA
Wed May 13 The National Richmond, VA
Thu May 14 9:30 Club Washington, DC
Fri May 15 Ram's Head Live Baltimore, MD
Sat May 16 Electric Factory Philadelphia, PA
Sun May 17 Wellmont Theater Montclair, NJ
Mon May 18 Terminal Five New York, NY

South Street Steaks Finally Opens Bethesda Location

2009-03-17T15:22:00.003-04:00

Remember when I was getting all cised for South Street Steaks newly-announced downtown Bethesda location? Well, after a year and half of construction delays and permit holdups, it appears South Street Steaks' newest location on Cordell Avenue is finally open for business!

We were invited to their soft opening last Sunday and, just like their food at their College Park and Gaithersburg locations, the cheesesteaks were intensely gratifying. Be sure to check them out as they're the closest thing you can get to a real cheesesteak outside of Philly. Their fries are some of the best in the area, too. I'm pretty sure I knocked off a year or two of my lifespan after devouring a cheesesteak trio with whiz followed by the rest of Rachel's chicken cheesesteak (also with whiz). Yeah, I'm disgusting.

We Are Scientists to Play Hard Rock Cafe

2009-03-16T11:09:00.001-04:00

NYC's We Are Scientists will be playing an intimate charity show at the DC Hard Rock Café with proceeds benefitting Musicians on Call on Sunday, March 29. Tickets are $15 each, or you could splurge and get the $75 VIP option which includes two tickets, an autographed CD, and a meet and greet with the band. Tickets are available now and can be purchased through TicketWeb.

Terps Blow Huge Lead, Again

2009-01-15T12:42:00.001-05:00

I should be used to this by now. Really, I should. But, for one reason or another, this one simply left me speechless. Adrian Bowie was playing out of his mind last night yet, sadly, it was all for naught as Miami staged a ridiculous comeback after the Terps blew a 17 point lead in the second half.

The first 20 minutes of the game was all Maryland. It was some of the finest basketball they've played all season and they really impressed me given the lack of big men on the squad. The second half rolls along and our offense begins to sputter, Miami is hitting 3's left and right, and all the aggressiveness the Terps possessed in the first half suddenly became nonexistent in a matter of minutes.

I can handle losses, but losing like this was like that horrific Clemson home game last season all over again. We could've finally won at Miami, something which we haven't done amazingly since 1970, yet Gary and Co. found a way to let the game slip from their hands. We could've started 2-0 in the conference, won our first true road game of the season, and gained some positive momentum going into ACC play after the Morgan State fiasco.

Anyway, Rachel was kind enough to send me this Someecard this morning to help cheer me up:

Brian Tells Barack to Try the Half-Smoke

2009-01-12T12:40:00.001-05:00

Talk about being at the right place at the right time. Our friends Kim and Brian had some relatives in town and decided to take them to DC staple Ben's Chili Bowl on Saturday afternoon.

So while they're trying to find a table, all of a sudden secret service comes along, gives everyone inside a security check, and proceeds to block off the entire area around Ben Ali Way. Kim asked what was going on with the agents responding "You'll see."

All of a sudden, in comes Mr. President-Elect himself with DC Mayor Adrian Fenty! Obama starts shaking everyone's hand and proceeds to ask Brian "What's good here?" Brian responds, "You should try the half-smoke."

Ladies and gentlemen, I don't care what you've ever done in your entire life because this cannot be topped. Kim and Brian not only shook our future president's hand, but recommended to Obama our nation capitol's trademark food item.

They literally have the ultimate bragging rights. There's no point for these two to attend the inauguration after a lunchtime encounter with the man at Ben's. Yeah, I'm incredibly jealous.

Hey Albany Kids

2009-01-05T14:52:00.002-05:00

Not one but two great shows are coming to Valentines in the next few months.

First off, The Hold Steady makes their triumphant return to the Capital Region on Tuesday, March 31. This is one of the rare times you'll be able to see this excellent live band in such an intimate venue these days as the group's popularity has soared since their last appearance back in 2006. Their past shows at the club have been quite memorable, that's for sure. Tickets are $17 and are available now through Ticketmaster.

Also, Delta Spirit, who we last checked out at the Rock and Roll Hotel back in October, will be performing in Albany on Thursday, February 19 at Valentine's as well. Tickets are only $10 and available through Ticketmaster as well as at the club's doors.

TUL Presents His Top 10 11 Albums of 2008, Because You Really Care

2008-12-31T15:17:00.002-05:00

11) Foals – Antidotes: By far the most overlooked record of 2008. Right after we saw their appearance at Lollapalooza this summer I picked up their album because they possessed a unique sound all their own. Think Battles meets Blur. Hard to explain, but you could call them a British math rock band if that makes sense. Anyway, not bad for a debut album.

10) Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III: I hate pulling the "I've heard of this artist for x amount of years before you ever did" crap, but fuck it. It pisses me off that all of these suburbanites, yuppies, and junior high school kids jumped on Weezy's nuts as soon as "Lollipop" came out, especially because it's such an awful song. For crying out loud, anyone remember the Cash Money Millionaires 2000 masterpiece "Project Bitch" that featured Wayne's classic verse "I'm Lil Weezy for sheezy, I'm off the heezy believe me, See me, I squeeze in between it, and then I leave it so greasy." Yeah, that was awesome. Oh, and TC3 is a good album too (except the aforementioned "Lollipop" and "Mrs. Officer", you know, the singles).

9) TV on the Radio – Dear Science: This is by far TV on the Radio's most accessible album to date, and yet, it's also their best. From the pulsating handclaps found in "Dancing Choose" to the strings layered in the emotionally powerful "Stork and Owl", TVOTR never fails to impress.

8) Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes: Well we can't have an album that's atop every other list to not be included in this one now, can we? The Seattle-based band creates some powerful, multi-layered harmonies that haven't been heard since Brian Wilson released Smile back in 2004. "White Winter Hymnal" really is a beautiful song.

7) Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend: I really can't hate on these guys. Each of the songs found on the band's self-titled debut are well-written and produced. From the Baroque arrangements heard on "M79" to the hints of ska found on "A-Punk", these Columbia boys know how to create pop songs.

6) Wolf Parade – At Mount Zoomer: Another overlooked release that definitely deserves some praise. A more focused effort than Apologies to the Queen Mary, Spencer Krug and Co. deliver on the band's second release. The pounding piano chords coupled with Spencer's echoed voice on "Call it a Ritual" creates a haunting sonic backdrop while rocker "Language City" is something you hope that will eventually be found to play on Rock Band.

5) She & Him – Volume One: As someone who has committed the cardinal sin of never seen Elf, I had no idea who Zooey Deschanel was except that she apparently co-starred in the Will Ferrell holiday film. So I guess the story goes that M. Ward liked her voice and soon decides to make an album together, and guess what? It's great. All but two of the eloquent pop numbers found on Volume One exceed three minutes and transports the listener back to a time when muddled nonsense like "Shackler's Revenge" didn't exist.

4) Girl Talk – Feed the Animals: Greg Gillis does it again, except instead of pairing Neutral Milk Hotel with "There It Go (The Whistle Song)" we hear DJ Fatman Scoop paired with college bar staples such as Tom Petty's "American Girl". And you know what? There's not a damn thing wrong with that.

3) CSS – Donkey: While some may argue that CSS' self-titled debut is a stronger album than Donkey, I beg to differ. In fact, I prefer listening to the latter over the former mainly because the songs aren't nearly as gimmicky as those found on Cansei de Ser Sexy. If anything it's a more focused effort instead of the band going all over the place. Oh, and there are some incredibly catchy pop numbers that'll remain on constant repeat in your head for days.

2) Hot Chip – Made in the Dark: The London-based group has released their best effort to date in Made in the Dark. Comprised of songs ranging from rapid-fire dance to slow groove, Hot Chip's latest moves the band away from its "electropop" genre tag to one that goes all over the place. The coinciding track placement of "We're Looking for a Lot of Love" and "Touch Too Much" pretty much explains what I'm talking about.

1) Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours: By far the best album to dance to with guiltless pleasure. The irresistible hooks, guitar riffs, and melodies found in each of the album's diverse 15 tracks make In Ghost Colours a clear cut winner. To truly appreciate this album one must see them live. The songs take on a whole new existence. That's when you know a band has delivered a great record.

F*** Bar Louie

2008-12-22T14:23:00.002-05:00

So after a pleasant evening of watching Spike Mendelsohn of Top Chef fame prepare a variety of latkes at Sixth & I Synagogue last night, a few of us went over to nearby Bar Louie to grab some dinner and watch the Giants game.

What a fucking disaster.

It started off well. When we first sat down we promptly received our drinks and appetizer, but after that, it was all downhill.

First off, everyone received their entrée sporadically, while Rachel, well, never received hers at all. And it was a salad. Yeah, a salad.

Two of our friends got their sliders and salad first while the rest of us were left foodless and perplexed. Why did one person get their Pear Salad while Rachel's Oriental Salad never came?

Why did not one but two tables who were seated after us get their all their food before we did?

Why did the waiter just disappear at times, failing to follow-up on what the hell was going on, let alone refill water/drinks?

Why wouldn't the kitchen let Erika substitute fries for broccoli when she ordered her turkey burger? I mean, broccoli was on the menu as a side item for crying out loud.

By the time Rachel received her salad, everyone else was pretty much done with their dinner. Oh, and Rachel called it that her salad would be smothered in dressing instead of it being on the side as ordered. Low and behold, the salad came with dressing all over it.

After eating it, she sadly proclaimed that she has had better salads at McDonalds. Oh, and the one she received was missing nearly half the ingredients listed on the menu.

The waiter apologized and said it was the kitchen that was responsible for the entire mess up and that the manager will void some of the food off the bill and offer us some free desserts.

When we received the check, about half of the entrees were taken off the bill but the manager himself never came over let alone offered us one of those supposed free desserts the waiter talked about.

All and all it was the worst dining experience in my entire life, and coming from a former waiter, Bar Louie failed in every direction possible. The server essentially abandoned us at times, and even though he was nice enough guy, he was awful at the job he was hired for.

I would've given the place more slack had it been more busy but it was pretty tame for a Sunday evening so it's not like the waiter was bombarded with customers.

And so what if he was? We had an excellent dinner at Mark and Orlando's, which was fairly crowded, and there was one waiter for the entire restaurant! And you know what? He handled it beautifully. Granted it's a little more upscale than Bar Louie, but you get the point.

As for Chinatown destinations, I'm sticking with Matchbox and Clyde's from now on.

Perhaps the Best Use of Google Maps, Ever

2008-11-06T13:43:00.000-05:00

Because, brace yourselves, the McRib is back! I even saw a sign of a local McDonald's promoting the availability of this pre-processed fast food delicacy when I was in Kansas City last week. Not that I would ever eat a McRib in Kansas City to begin with since that is just plain sacrilege. But Chantilly? Sure.

Not a Banner Day for the Other Guy

2008-11-05T10:09:00.001-05:00

During Election Day, someone decided it was a good idea to put up a huge McCain-Palin banner along Adelphi Road in Hyattsville, Maryland, just a few blocks from Northwestern High. Well, in less than a few hours, the banner was rapidly defaced to the point that you could barely make out the names which was, well, LOL.

When I drove to work today, the banner was no more. The only remnants were torn pieces that were scattered across the road. The question I want to know is why anyone would put up a McCain banner in Hyattsville of all places? Seriously.

Obama FTMFW!

2008-11-05T10:08:00.000-05:00

Today is a good day.

Kansas City, Here I Come

2008-10-24T18:55:00.000-04:00

I'll be heading to Kansas City next week for work and plan to hit up the most awesome BBQ place ever, the one and only Jack Stack. My friend Brian, a former Kansas denizen, also informed me that I cannot leave KC until I try Arthur Bryant's as well. Anyone else have any good recommendations for the area? Per Diem FTW!

Just Announced Roundup

2008-10-23T12:28:00.000-04:00

12/1 – Wu-Tang Clan @ 9:30 Club

12/2 – Stella @ Sixth and I

12/14 – Wilco @ Lyric Theater (Baltimore)

2/28 – Tapes 'N Tapes @ Rock and Roll Hotel

Visions: A Second Take

2008-10-21T16:39:00.000-04:00

If you recall, back in February during Bethesda's Restaurant Week, a few of my friends and I decided to dine at Visions as I had heard many positive things about the place. Due to an overbooked, understaffed evening that led to long waiting times and a disgruntled party, I wrote up about our negative experience only to have Chef Tony respond within 24 hours apologizing for what had transpired.

I wanted to give Visions a second chance because, honestly, the food was amazing the last time I was there. It's also been well documented that RW is perhaps not the best representation of the participating establishment due to things such as the aforementioned scenario above, so Rachel and I decided to go there for dinner last weekend and give Tony another shot.

Let me tell you, the Chef did not disappoint. When we arrived, we were seated at a nice section in the dining room exclusively for tables of two which created an intimate, private atmosphere. We split the sugar cane skewered shrimp as an appetizer and it was delicious. Accompanied with jilcama slaw and a balsamic reduction, the shrimp turned out to be a great first course (just like the mussels I had ordered during my previous visit).

For the entrée, I went with what I had originally ordered back in February but never actually got to eat, the twin filet mignon satay. Man I wish I had tried it back when it sat in front of me almost eight months ago. It was that good - incredibly succulent and full of flavor. It came with a side of fried plantains and cucumber salad which was a very nice departure from your typical vegetable and starch.

Rachel ordered the crab cakes and they too did not disappoint. In fact, she had a hard time debating where she's had better crab crakes after finishing our meal. Overall, this was a completely opposite experience than before as the service was very attentive while the food was fresh and appetizing. Given the proximity of Visions to my apartment, I'm definitely going to be eating there more often.

Back on Board

2008-10-21T11:42:00.000-04:00

My friends, it's been awhile since I've been posting. The reason? Plain-ass busy with school, work, and, most importantly, laziness. Oh, and the continuous pwnage of n00bs on Halo 3 has taken up considerable time lately. I've been gunning for that next promotion, ya know.

I'll try and revive this blog with the wit and banter that made it oh-so-popular back in its heyday (did we even have a heyday? Maybe when my mom found out about this site, but I digress). I can't make any promises, but hell, I'll give it a shot.

Dan Deacon to Perform at The Hirshhorn

2008-10-07T14:18:00.002-04:00

The Hirshhorn's After Hours program resumes this year with a performance by the one and only Dan Deacon as well as DJ Gavin Holland of Nouveau Riche. Tickets go on-sale today via the Hirshhorn's website and will cost $10 in advance and $12 at the door. Doors are scheduled to open at 8pm with Deacon set to perform at 9:15pm and Holland at 10:15pm.

In other just announced news:

11/11- Mates of State @ Black Cat

12/3 - Yeasayer @ Sixth & I

12/20 - CSS @ 9:30 Club

Black Kids, The Virgins Hosting Happy Hour in Albany

2008-10-03T10:18:00.001-04:00

Since Black Kids have today from off from their first headlining tour, what better way to celebrate the end of a long work week by having Happy Hour, in Albany? WAT?

That's right, Black Kids, along with openers The Virgins, will be hosting Happy Hour at Savannah's in Albany from 2 to 6pm. Both bands will perform live during the free event, so from someone who just paid $20 to see them last Friday at Black Cat, that's quite the bargain.

Speaking of which, I haven't done a TUL's Take in ages, and since I saw these guys just a week ago, you'd think I'd be on the ball and have something up already. I also saw Pinback this past Wednesday so I'll try to post some reviews when I actually have some motivation to do so. Since I still haven't even watched last week's Office yet, chances aren't looking that spectacular at the moment.

Worthwhile Shows for the Upstate Crowd

2008-09-24T11:15:00.001-04:00

For all the loyal readers back home (What are we down to, like five?), here's a listing of some quality shows coming to the Capital Region:

9/25 - Ryan Adams @ The Egg

9/26 - The Rapture (DJ Set) @ Revolution Hall

10/8 - Dr. Dog, Delta Spirit @ Revolution Hall

10/9 - Andrew Bird @ The Egg

11/5 - David Byrne @ Empire State Plaza

11/14 - We Are Scientists @ Valentines

What, No Klezmer?

2008-09-22T17:35:00.000-04:00

Wow, this would've been fun to go to. I just find it so bizarre that it was held at Kutshers Country Club out of all places. I'm not kidding in saying that I met Estelle Getty there (RIP) when I was eight years old during some family reunion which consisted of perhaps the highest concentration of old Jewish ladies in one banquet room I've ever seen. Who knew the Borscht Belt was an indie rock destination?

The Hit

2008-09-17T09:47:00.002-04:00

Need I say more? It was one of the hardest tackles I've ever witnessed at Byrd Stadium. The collective sound of "Ooohhh!" amongst the crowd said it all. Unfortunately, I couldn't see Best doing his finest Linda Blair impersonation from my section, but I guess that's what YouTube is for:

I don't know what's better. The video above or Kevin Barnes' comments following the game.

"He's not permanently hurt, so I'm fine with that," Barnes said. "Had he died, I'd have felt bad".

In summary, Kevin Barnes rules.

Bordellos and Vampires

2008-09-16T12:23:00.001-04:00

For those of you who missed out on tickets to Vampire Weekend's now sold-out show at the 9:30 Club on Monday, December 1, the band has added a second show for the following day. Tickets are $20 and available now.

And if you're really about long-term planning, Gogol Bordello has announced a set of shows at the 9:30 for January 2-3 (Friday and Saturday). Tickets go on-sale for the 2009 (!) gigs this Thursday at 10am.

You Know What's Awesome?

2008-09-15T12:49:00.001-04:00

Having your car serviced due to the Check Engine light illuminating (bad O2 sensors, btw) only to have said indicator immediately turn on again after leaving the repair shop just half an hour later. Oh, and dropping $900 in parts and labor. Ah, the joys of car ownership.

At Least They Did Something Right in College Park

2008-09-10T12:15:00.001-04:00

Too bad that glorious endzone design will be ravaged and destroyed by the 23rd ranked Golden Bears when they visit Byrd this Saturday. Enjoy the beauty while it lasts.

From The Hotel to the Club

2008-09-09T12:08:00.000-04:00

Vampire Weekend, who played back in February at the Rock and Roll Hotel, will be returning to DC on Monday, December 1 at the 9:30 Club according to the band's website. No details as to when tickets go on-sale as of yet.

Is It Time to Unplug the Fridge?

2008-09-08T12:31:00.000-04:00

After last night's devastating loss to Middle Tennessee State (who?) I've nearly given up on the Fridge. How does a team with All-American talent such as Heyward-Bey and Da'Rel Scott lose to a middle of the pack squad from the Sun Belt conference?

Not only did I feel like I was watching TNN during Saturday night's piss poor broadcast, but I should've just not bothered to watch the damn thing altogether. (Oh, and note to Kelly Holcomb: Don't call your team “we” or “us” while commentating! This isn't high school football on cable access even though I think I've seen better play calling in JV games.)

This was, by far and large, the worst loss of the Friedgen era. Losing to a team in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in front of 22,000 fans was flat-out embarrassing and the blame entirely lies on the Fridge.

Just two weeks ago the Terps barely defeated Delaware at home. They won by a single touchdown against an FCS school! Imagine if Joe Flacco was still eligible. The Blue Hens would've easily left Byrd Stadium victorious.

Turner, perhaps the Terps' best option at QB now with Steffy inured, played terribly on Saturday but not all the blame lies on him. Our veteran offensive line, supposedly the best in the ACC, flat out sucked as the Blue Raiders D-line pressured Turner relentlessly and made it look easy as they penetrated Maryland's most experienced unit.

The genius play calling of James Franklin and his newly installed West Coast offense has to be called out as this guy has been, thus far, all bark and no bite. He was quoted as saying we were going to run up 50 points against opponents. News flash: We haven't even scored more than 30 points combined after two games against what was supposed to be schedule fodder before ACC play starts.

I'll let this season play out entirely before I call for Fridge's head, but the seat can't get any hotter after Saturday's humiliation. By the way, next up on the schedule is #25 California, a team who beat Washington State 66-3. In other words, it could get very ugly at Byrd this weekend.

I'm Back

2008-09-02T13:54:00.000-04:00

And sicker than ever. Plus I had to have my eye dilated again for a follow-up appointment, so I'll hold off on posting somewhat relevant stuff until I can fully function/see. Nothing better than returning from a week-long vacation only to start work (and school, ugh) the same day and have a fever and cough. Probably has something to do with the multitude of mosquito bites I endured while kayaking in St. Thomas. Let's hear it for Malaria!

Retinal Tear FTL

2008-08-19T14:12:00.000-04:00

I usually don’t delve into my personal life on this blog all that much but it’s already been quite an interesting morning. You see, I had some eye floaters appear in my vision out of the blue a few months ago. At first, I thought they would simply go away but as the months passed I realized they were there to stay. Concerned, I was able to find a highly regarded ophthalmologist thanks in part to Washingtonian’s Top Doctors issue.

My appointment was today and while I was ready for the conclusion that the floaters were most likely permanent, I still had trouble accepting the fact that I had a retinal tear in my right eye which the ophthalmologist had diagnosed after a careful examination. The doctor said nearsighted individuals such as me are more prone to retinal tears, but I thought this is a condition you’re more likely to get when you’re older, like say 50+.

Anyway, he said I did the right thing by seeing an ophthalmologist about this as retinal tears left untreated would lead to retinal detachment, which is obviously much, much worse.

The doctor had to perform immediate laser surgery to repair the retina so I was escorted to another room, had my eye numbed via drops, and had the operation performed.

I thought laser surgery was painless but this was not the case, at least for me. Because the tear was near a nerve, every time the doctor triggered the laser I felt some moderate pain. It’s bad enough you’re sitting in a chair while a doctor is holding your eye open while he zaps laser beams into it, but to feel pain while sitting in said chair without being able to move away and dodge the beam of light that’s causing discomfort is just that much worse.

We had to take a few breaks because I couldn’t tolerate the constant beaming (is that the right phrase?) but we were finally done after about five minutes. My vision is still effed up from the dilation but it’s slowly improving. I can see fine distance-wise but up close, forget about it. Probably explains the reason why it’s taken me 15 minutes to spell check this post.

Nerd Post of the Week

2008-08-18T15:48:00.001-04:00

So I moved to a new apartment last weekend and we have not had the Internet installed as of yet. Thankfully, you can always count on some poor sap to leave his wireless network unsecure. Here's a hint: it's always a dead giveaway when the SSID is left as the default value such as "linksys", "netgear", etc.

Anyway, I have an Xbox 360 and the thing is pretty useless without a Live connection. After I finished most of the unpacking I had an itch to play some video games but without the Internet installed I was going crazy. I had a wireless bridge (Asus WL-330) that I used at my old place that worked like a charm, but when I tried to configure it at my new apartment, the thing went on the fritz and essentially died. Apparently the firmware somehow got corrupt when I tried to reset the settings back to their default values which subsequently resulted in immediate brickage.

Now what? There was no way I was going to spring for the absurdly overpriced wireless adapter ($99) after using a device that cost a third of the price for so long. Yet without a bridge (and my own Internet) how was I to get online? After a little Google search, I came across this.

First, I ran an Ethernet cord from my 360 to my desktop's NIC card. The desktop, I should add, was connected to this dude's aforementioned network via a wireless USB adapter. I then bridged the wireless and LAN connections together under Network Connections (in XP).

Then I went into the Xbox Live settings and manually set the IP to an unassigned address and specified the subnet mask and default gateway (these are the same values as the ones assigned to your PC from the wireless router it's connected to). Tested the Live connection and viola! My desktop now acts as the Xbox's wireless adapter.

The result? Hours of Halo play ensued and many cans of Fresca consumed.

I Think the Drycleaners Wore My Shirt

2008-08-12T17:13:00.000-04:00

Because after putting on my otherwise neatly pressed shirt for Restaurant Week dinner at Ruth Chris tonight, I couldn't help but notice this yellowish stain on the left cuff. Pretty sure that wasn't there when I brought it into the dry cleaners. I've had mysterious stains show up on my shirts before as well as buttons missing from these same dry cleaners and this is definitely the final straw. It's only a few blocks from my apartment but I'm going to have find somewhere else to go because I'm pretty sick and tired of convincing myself that I somehow poured a half a cup of coffee onto my sleeve. In conclusion, Dryclean Club sucks.

Lolla Pics

2008-08-12T12:57:00.004-04:00

Don't have much in terms of content today, so enjoy this ~~filler~~ small array of photos we took at Lollapalooza instead:

Jamie Lidell:

Saul Willams:

Mark Ronson:

Lollapalooza '08 Recap: Day Three

2008-08-08T16:21:00.002-04:00

We kicked off our final day of Lolla by checking out Brazilian Girls at the AT&T Stage. I can't really judge how good their performance was since we started to consume a carton of wine we were able to sneak in past security. Seriously, you could've got away with hiding an entire keg in your pants judging by what other's had snuck into the park. I saw this one group congregating around a backpack that not only had a liter of Jack Daniels, but also several beer cans (points were deducted since it was Busch Light – apparently they raided a nearby frat house). Regardless, I guess we need to kick up our game next time.

From there it was onto Pitchfork's favorite band, Black Kids. Their set was actually underwhelming and I don't think they're ready for the festival environment let alone a big venue as of yet. At least live they don't sound as glossed up as they do on their new album. Reggie's voice seemed to go out of key at times and they definitely looked tired towards the end, most likely due to the oppressive heat in the park that day. Overall their set was rather meh as they were much better at Black Cat when they opened for Cut Copy.

We decided to camp out at the Citi stage while finishing the rest of our wine where we were introduced to the antics of Saul Williams. I'm glad we were able to watch this guy because, honestly, it was something else. Accompanied by a keyboardist in a Dracula outfit and a guitarist in a silver space suit, Williams greeted the packed crowd adorned with face paint and feathers in his hair. Needless to say, this was one of the most unique acts I've witnessed at Lollapalooza and it sure as hell was the wisest of moves during an otherwise lull period of the schedule (Flogging Molly, Blues Traveler?...blech).

Following Saul Williams on the Citi stage was none other than Girl Talk. I'm still blown away by the massive crowd that gathered for his hour-long set. The dude has come full circle and is a bona-fide success story after baring witness to one of the most popular acts of the entire day. I could not believe my eyes how insanely packed the street and surrounding area was for his performance.

Unfortunately, popularity results in a bigger crowd which subsequently results in an increased number of knuckleheads. We were standing next to these douches from some party school that provided their own source of entertainment. "I totally raped this girl to that song!" OK, so they actually didn't say that, but that got a few laughs from our group after we continuously ripped on them.

Anyway, back to Girl Talk. Gone are the days when this guy was playing the backstage of the Black Cat. Greg Gillis has elevated himself to a whole new level after seeing the size of the crowd. Lil' Wayne's "A Milli" over the Chili Pepper's "Under the Bridge" was one of my favorite parts of his rapid-fire act but by 45 minutes into the set I had enough of the absurd amount of beer spilling, constant shoving, and horrid dancing. We went over to Mark Ronson which proved to be a smart choice. Too bad I missed this, though.

I didn't know what to expect when we saw Mark Ronson. I knew he was a DJ/producer but didn't know what type of show he would put on. Would he be spinning records the entire time? Would he have a live band? Turns out the dude can play guitar, and yes, he did in fact bring out a live band, complete with horn and string sections. While most of the crowd was still over at Girl Talk's nearby set, Ronson and his band broke into an instrumental version of Maximo Park's "Apply Some Pressure" which got the growing crowd going.

Ronson brought out guest after guest to help assist in performing his material from Version. Chicago MC Rhymefest displayed some true showmanship while performing "Toxic", Candie Payne subbed in for Lily Allen's vocal on "Oh My God", and Tawiah did an admirable job replacing Amy Winehouse on "Valerie." By the time Phantom Planet joined Ronson onstage for "California" we were already over on the other side of the field waiting for Kanye's headlining set. All and all, having never seen Ronson and having doubts whether his show would be enjoyable or not, the dude did a decent job. Mr. West, however, blew him out of the water.

As soon as 8pm arrived, it was Kanye's time to shine. Unlike his previous Lolla performance which featured several guests such as Lupe, A-Trak, and Twista, Kanye was essentially all on his own during his 90 minute set. He had an entire band performing alongside him but you could barely tell they were there as all lights shone on Kanye the entire time. Proving that he's the best performer in the genre today, West slayed song after song and the crowd loved every minute of it.

Starting off with a powerful rendition of "Good Morning", West blazed through track after track with little to no breaks in between. While watching the show, I was amazed by how much he's improved his showmanship. He truly had a great live presence that Sunday night and I didn't even have to be that close to the stage to notice it. Furthermore, I honestly couldn't find anything wrong with his performance, though a cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" was kind of weird/cool. Finishing with "Stronger", West closed this year's Lollapalooza with a rousing performance which completely one-upped his appearance from two years ago.

Best Act – Kanye West

Sorry We Missed – Kid Sister

Most Pleasant Surprise – Saul Willaims

Lollapalooza '08 Recap: Day Two

2008-08-06T17:24:00.001-04:00

We got off to a late start Saturday opting for brunch over The Ting Tings. When we finally got to the park, we laid out by the MySpace stage listening to the indie pop sounds of Dr. Dog who put on an admirable show. I know they've come by DC multiple times but this was the first time I've actually heard their music and they'll probably be a band I checkout next time they come by the area.

The most pleasant surprise of the day was when we came across Foals over at the Citi stage. I had never heard of these guys before and I'm surprised how little press they've received because they were arguably one of the day's best sets. Their brand of "math-rock" came across as a mixture of Battles and The Rapture but was unique enough to avoid any sort of direct comparison. Plus they sounded great live to boot. This is one band to watch and I can't wait till they come around these parts.

From Foals it was on to the flavor of the month, none other than MGMT. Granted the popularity of this band has soared in recent months, but I was completely blown away by the crowd that had assembled in front of the MySpace stage during their performance. You would've though Radiohead was playing again if you saw the size of the audience. Seriously, it was nuts.

MGMT kicked these things with "Of Moons, Birds, & Monsters" followed by "Weekend Wars." Not surprisingly, half of the crowd left once they played their well-known hit "Time to Pretend". I mean, hey, that was fine by us since most of the people there probably only knew that one, overplayed track anyway. I have to hand it to these guys though, "Electric Feel" came off sounding great live and really got the crowd moving. Naturally, "Kids" was saved for last as the band had the crowd in the palm of their hand even if the song's performance was a little disjointed at times. Overall, not a bad set even though I'm still in disbelief over the enormous crowd that gathered.

After MGMT finished we camped out for Jamie Lidell. We had tickets to his show at the 9:30 last month but couldn't go at the last minute so we made sure to secure ourselves a nice spot at the stage barrier in order to get a first row view of his performance. Let me just say that this was the show of the day, if not the festival, for me. I was completely blown away by Lidell's set and this guy takes showmanship to a whole new level.

Kicking things off with "Another Day" with his backing band, including a guitar player in an Elvis singlet and his sax player decked out in a bathrobe and harvest hat, Lidell's soulful voice sounded great as he strutted from one side of the stage to the other. The amazing thing about this show was how Lidell carried his performance midway through without any sort of assistance from his band. They disappeared offstage during "Out of My System" while Lidell went to work with vocal loops, beat boxing, and whatever else he was doing with his laptop and mixers. His solo, sonic environment lasted at least a good ten to fifteen minutes before the band returned for "Where'd You Go?"

"Wait for Me" was one of the many highlights of Lidell's amazing set as the crooner jumped off the stage and into the crowd asking fans to sing the chorus before ending things with an a capella version of "Multiply." For those that were not in attendance for Lidell's performance, you easily missed out on one of the best sets of the entire festival. While I had wanted to see Okkervil River, which was unfortunately playing at the same time as Lidell, I ultimately had no regrets when Jamie wrapped things up.

One regret I do have was missing Battles. I didn't see them at the club thinking I would see them at Lolla but we only caught five minutes of their set before heading to Broken Social Scene over at the Bud Light stage in order to get a good spot for Wilco. Don't get me wrong, BSS is a great band and all, but nothing will ever top their '06 Lolla performance when they had the entire band in tow. Only Amy Milan was in attendance this time around along with all the male regulars and although they sounded good for the most part, there was something left to be desired. I think it's mostly because I was kicking myself for choosing a band I've seen a few times (BSS) over one I still really haven't yet. Next time Battles comes to DC I'm so there.

We opted for Wilco instead of Rage (as we all knew Rage's set was going to be utter chaos, which, low and behold it was) and even though I've seen the former countless times, they always manage to put on a terrific live show. Saturday night's was no exception as the hometown headliners, dressed in custom Nudie suits, played a 90 minute set that spanned their entire catalogue including their first album, AM. The treat of the night was hearing "Can't Stand It" performed live. This was the first time I've heard the Summerteeth track live out of the five or six times I've seen this band and, naturally, it sounded solid.

Leaving Grant Park that night was probably a lot easier and more peaceful than the absurdness transpiring over at the AT&T stage. Rage's presence probably explained why there were so many shirtless, frat brahs all over the place this weekend making Grant Park a solid one-third douchebaggy. Thankfully, they were nowhere to be found during Wilco's enjoyable set.

Best Act – Jamie Lidell

Sorry We Missed – Battles

Most Pleasant Surprise – Foals

Lollapalooza '08 Recap: Day One

2008-08-05T16:23:00.002-04:00

This year's Lollapalooza ventured into new territory this year since it took up residence in the great city of Chicago back in 2005. It was the first time in the festival's history that it sold-out all three days. In case you're counting, Lolla never sold-out one day let alone all three prior to this year.

The 2008 lineup, especially its headliners, was a monster bill that appealed to a huge demographic which obviously helped explain the impressive sellout. While previous years had headliners that were targeted to specific audiences such as Manu Chao, Daft Punk, and Pearl Jam, this year's incarnation of Lolla featured the globally beloved Radiohead, a reunited Rage Against the Machine, Tent Reznor's latest version of Nine Inch Nails, and hometown stars Kanye West and Wilco. Ben Harper and Death Cab this was not.

Needless to say, the schedule was overwhelming at times as stages were all over the park making it nearly impossible to see everyone we had wanted to. We tried our best, and were successful for the most part, but unfortunately sacrifices have to be made if you're going to attend a massive music festival like this. That's why I've included Sorry We Missed among Best Act and Most Pleasant Surprise while recapping the three-day weekend. Let's start with Friday now, shall we?

We made our way over towards the Bud Light stage to catch The Go! Team while getting ourselves reacquainted with Grant Park. I've seen TGT several times so I wasn't into their set that much. In fact, I believe I quickly made my way towards the beer tent after only watching the band play for 10 minutes. Not a knock on TGT, but they have very little repeat watching value (though I did enjoy their show at the 9:30 last fall, which IIRC, was incredibly/surprisingly loud).

Up next was newcomer Duffy over at the Playstation stage. Rachel was very much looking forward to her set but Jeremy and I were trying to make subtle head nods to each other to see someone else. Rachel soon caught on with our boredom and soon trekked half a mile to the other side of the park where we would spend the remainder of our day. As for Duffy, great voice and all but I just wasn't into it.

Our first conflict of the festival arose when it was The Black Keys up against Gogol Bordello, two bands who are known to have excellent live reputations. We ultimately chose the latter and I'm sure glad we did. Having not seen the gypsy band in person before, they turned out to be a real treat and were the first noteworthy performance of the entire festival. Every member gave it their all despite the oppressive heat and made me really regret not buying tickets to their aftershow later that night. The Black Keys will have to wait another day (maybe this Sunday?).

Since Gogol was performing on the same stage as Radiohead, Jeremy and I decided to setup camp in the trenches the rest of the evening while Rachel and her friends checked out Mates of State across the field. This meant that we had to stand through a performance by Bloc Party before Radiohead's headlining 8pm set. I didn't really dig their second album as much as their first but these guys still came off sounding great live regardless of the material performed. Their new song "Mercury" was one of the highlights of their hour long set despite the apparent fact that 80% of the audience watching were instead waiting for the anticipated headliner. If anything, it helped Bloc Party gain some new fans as the masses assembled.

As Jeremy put it, we were "in the shit". Rachel, surprisingly, was able to find me before Radiohead went on at 8pm. When you have an unopposed headliner at a sold-out festival, there's going to be a shitload of people. I even somehow lost Jeremy as he was able to move up a few rows, but our position was still pretty good given the ridiculous amount of people congregating in front of the AT&T stage.

Radiohead appeared to a massive ovation as soon as the clock struck 8pm and subsequently broke into "15 Step." You can probably assume from reading posts in the past that I'm not the biggest Radiohead by any stretch, but their two hour set on Friday won me over. I've never hated on the band, I've just hated on Pitchfork's obsession with the band. But fuck it, these guys were THE highlight of our first day of Lollapalooza and played a perfect set. Remember, the only other time I saw them live was during the Nissan Pavilion Washout and that, in my mind, didn't even count as a concert since I only saw 40 minutes of Radiohead and four hours of the parking lot.

As the sun set, Thom Yorke and Co. demonstrated why they're one of the best bands on the planet after a rousing set that spanned their entire catalogue. Surprisingly, "Karma Police" was nowhere to be found but honestly, it didn't matter. Having the chance to hear "The National Anthem", "The Bends", and "Dollars and Cents" live made myself and the 75,000 other fans feel satisfied. It capped off a successful first day of Lollapalooza but it was agreed among everyone that we were not going to be at the same stage for five hours the next two days.

Best Act – Radiohead

Sorry We Missed – Lupe Fiasco

Most Pleasant Surprise – Gogol Bordello

Radiohead Pics:

Off to Lolla

2008-07-31T16:59:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it's been two years since our first Lollapalooza adventure in Chicago. Back in 2006, The Hold Steady was gaining popularity, Pitchfork hadn't turned their backs on The New Pornographers yet, and My Morning Jacket was still putting out good albums.

Anyway, here's hoping we can watch Radiohead in all their glory without standing in a monsoon this time around. Be back Tuesday.

I'm Pretty Sure My Dad Doesn't Even Know What Facebook Is

2008-07-30T11:19:00.003-04:00

Looks like I got my first taste of Facebook spam. It's pretty funny and all, especially the part where the dude mentions he's getting in shape for "the big fight". The misspelling and 'call your mom' bit are spot on, though (just kidding, dad!). Anyway, I think this was supposed to be sent to Rocky Balboa's kid if anything:

"Son, why won't you talk to me? I know I wasn't around much when you were growing up, what can I say.... I used to hit the bottle pretty hard in those days. But things are different now. I don't drink before 10:30AM now, and I've been working out all the time to get in shape for the big fight. This fight is my last chance in life at glory, and I just wanted to try to recconect with you one last time time while I attempt to do something that might actually make you proud of me. I hope you talk to me, but if you don't, I'll still pretend that you're in my corner when I step into that ring one last time. oh well, your mom says hi, you wanna try calling her too now and again"

Now I'm waiting for Brett IamYourFather's alcoholic, 'made a mistake' counterpart to send me a Facebook message in order to complete my fake, spam family tree.

TUL's Take: Bethesda Restaurant Week @ Grapeseed

2008-07-29T17:10:00.000-04:00

Despite living in Bethesda for almost four years, I've (surprisingly) never stepped foot inside Grapeseed. Last night I finally realized why it's one of the city's best restaurants.

Not only does Grapeseed offer their entire menu as part of Restaurant Week, but they also give you a choice of three courses from four different categories (Beginnings [Appetizers], Middles [Salads], Ends [Entrees], and Extras [Desserts]). So you could order two appetizers and an entrée or an entrée with a salad and dessert, etc. The only rule was that you could not order two entrees, obvs.

For my first course I ordered the Fontina Stuffed Meatballs which were served atop polenta, and let me tell you, they were amazing. Full of beef, pork, and veal and topped with marinara sauce, these were some of the best meatballs I've ever had. Rachel went with the Fricassee of Wild Mushrooms, which, not surprisingly, was also incredible. Also accompanied with polenta, the mushrooms were served in a sherry vinegar sauce and made for an excellent appetizer.

As for the entrée, I went for the Pan Roasted Chicken. It was probably the best chicken I've had since I went to Oval Room but I felt that Grapeseed offered a bigger portion and was overall more flavorful. I asked if I could sub the Fried Mac and Cheese with the Horseradish Mashed Potatoes and it was not a problem at all. Rachel went with the Grilled Monkfish and it proved to be an excellent choice. After looking over the extensive wine list, we decided on a bottle of Gewürztraminer by Covey Run to have over dinner.

After a filling dinner it was finally time for dessert. Let me tell you, Grapeseed closed out the evening with one hell of a Lemon Meringue. The presentation alone was amazing let alone the actual dessert itself. Served with graham crumbs and a scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt, this was one of the best dishes I had as a final course. The service at Grapeseed was top-notch and they didn't give you that snooty RW vibe compared to if you were a normal customer. This is the place to go for Bethesda Restaurant Week so do yourself a favor and book a table if they're not already sold out. Best dining experience I've ever had in Bethesda hands down.

Smell Ya Later, Chantilly

2008-07-28T13:52:00.001-04:00

The Dark Knight, The Upstate Life's favorite movie of the year thus far, will finally be playing in IMAX in DC starting next Friday, August 8, at the National Museum of Natural History! Tickets are already on-sale for screenings on August 8 through 11 with future showings on-sale at midnight two weeks before the show date. Tickets are $12.50 each and can be purchased online here. 'Bout frickin time.

Late to the Dr. Horrible Party

2008-07-24T14:30:00.000-04:00

So I couldn't resist any longer and decided to purchase all three parts of Dr. Horrible yesterday on iTunes. I haven't watched them yet but the combination of Joss Whedon and NPH sounds like a surefire winner to me.

How to Destroy a Band in Less than Six Months

2008-07-22T13:33:00.001-04:00

Congratulations, Pitchfork. You hype the shit out of this band to no end then flush them down the crapper with today's "review". Now I remember why I stopped reading this website on a daily basis. Just rename the site www.obsessedwithsallyshapiro.com already.

On a side note, yes, the album isn't anything special but there are some decent tracks on it. The production, however, is glossier than Lil' Mama's cosmetic products. I'd give it around a 5.

Just Announced Roundup (All October Edition, Coincidentally)

2008-07-16T14:11:00.001-04:00

10/1 - Pinback @ Black Cat

10/2 - Jenny Lewis @ 6th and I Synagouge

10/2 - Ratatat @ Black Cat

10/9 - Of Montreal @ 9:30 Club

10/10 - Girl Talk @ 9:30 Club

But I Just Wanted to See the Menu....

2008-06-30T12:21:00.002-04:00

No Time Soon

2008-06-26T10:59:00.001-04:00

Just a heads up that Gnarls Barkley will be performing at the 9:30 Club on Tuesday, August 5 in support of their new album The Odd Couple. Tickets cost $25 and have already gone on-sale. Hercules and Love Affair will be opening for the group. If you're going to Lolla and want to eliminate the conflict between Gnarls, Girl Talk, and Mark Ronson, now's your chance.

FYI – Feed The Animals is Out!

2008-06-19T11:14:00.001-04:00

Girl Talk's follow-up to Night Ripper has finally been released and, just like Radiohead did for In Rainbows, you can pay whatever you want for it. Greg gets some props for this one since his MP3s are encoded in 320kbps bitrate compared to Radiohead's paltry 160kpbs. Anyway, $5 gives you the option to download the album in FLAC format as well as a one-file seamless mix (instead of 14 separated tracks). $10 gives you the above plus a physical copy of the album (when available). I'm currently listening to it right now and even though I'm only halfway through it, it's pretty awesome. I mean Metallica's "One" against Lil' Mama's "Lip Gloss" speaks for itself. What's more amazing is that someone already compiled a Wiki breakdown of the tracks. I'll wait until I'm entirely done with the album before checking it out though. As lame it sounds, I don't want to read spoilers.

Lollapalooza '08 = Conflicts Galore

2008-06-18T12:47:00.001-04:00

So the Lolla schedule was released yesterday and it's going to be damn near impossible to see all the bands I wanted to with how they organized the schedule. Let's start with Friday:

Gogol Bordello vs. Black Keys
Mates of State vs. Grizzly Bear
Raconteurs vs. CSS vs. Cool Kids vs. Bloc Party

First one is tough as I've never seen either band in person. Everyone seems to rave about both groups live so this one is a tossup. Each band, however, is playing an aftershow so going to one of those could eliminate that first conflict. I've already seen Mates of State a couple of times and have never seen Grizzly Bear, but then again, Grizz is performing at 6th and I in August. Still, I think the Bear gets the nod at Lolla. The last one truly sucks. We can eliminate The Raconteurs as we just saw them a few weeks ago at the 9:30, and I'm not a really big Bloc Party fan. That leaves CSS and The Cool Kids. I've missed CSS a few times (Black Cat, Virgin Fest – opted to see Dan Deacon and Girl Talk instead), and I've been really wanting to see them live. I went to The Cool Kids show in NYC back in January, but as I documented awhile back, I missed their whole act (but hey, at least I got to see Kanye perform one song!).

Saturday:
Okkervil River vs. Jamie Lidell
BSS vs. Battles vs. Lupe Fiasco
Wilco vs. Rage

Ugh... we had tickets to Jamie Lidell's show last week but Rachel got sick so we backed out thinking we would see him at Lolla with no problem. Guess what? Here comes Okkervil River playing the exact same time slot. I've been meaning to see both acts since I've never seen either one live, and while Okkervil is playing an aftershow the next night, so are Broken Social Scene and Battles. That brings us to our next conflict. How can you have BSS, Battles, AND Lupe all bunched around the same time slot? That's just criminal. Now I really regret missing Battles' show at the 9:30 last weekend. That would've dramatically resolved things regarding this scheduling mess. Wilco vs. Rage is a real bummer, but given the fact that I've seen Wilco 200 times already, Rage easily wins this battle.

Sunday:
Girl Talk vs. Gnarls
NIN vs. Kanye

The last day seems to be the easiest in terms of resolving conflicts. I saw Gnarls at Lolla '06 and wasn't too impressed. In fact, the consensus seems to be that they pretty much suck live. Then again, Girl Talk's popularity has skyrocketed to the point where all of a sudden you realize you're in a crowd full of teenyboppers wearing leggings and stupid sunglasses. Girl Talk obviously wins out since he's got a new album coming out and seems to improve his live show every time I see him, but there's a 95% chance I'll get annoyed by the crowd. I'm not a really big Nine Inch Nails fan so I'm opting for Kanye on this one. We saw him last time at Lolla but The Graduation obviously wasn't out by then. I'm sure he'll be accompanied by A-Trak, Lupe, Kid Sister, Twista, etc since he's the headlining hometown boy.

Overhyped? Sure, But They're Playing Albany So I Have to Post About It, Obvs.

2008-06-17T10:16:00.001-04:00

The Ting Tings, who you've probably heard incessantly on that iPod commercial, are going on tour in support of their debut record We Started Nothing. Not only will they be performing at the 9:30 Club on Tuesday, July 22, but they'll also be playing at Valentine's up in Albany a few days later on Saturday, July 26. Tickets for the shows are $15 and $8, respectively. The group has already sold-out their gigs at the Bowery and Southpaw, so if you want to see them at a tiny-ass venue with cheap beer and an even cheaper ticket price, then I highly recommend the trip up from NYC to Valentine's. That place downright spoiled me after seeing The Hold Steady play there twice. The bathroom, eh, not so much.

Still Much Better than CYHSY

2008-06-13T15:01:00.002-04:00

Music blog darlings Black Kids will be headlining their own tour this fall in support of their first LP, Partie Traumatic, due out on Tuesday, July 22. After putting on a solid performance opening for Cut Copy last month at the Black Cat, the Jacksonville quintet will return to the club on Saturday, September 27. NYCers The Virgins will be supporting the group during the fall jaunt.

39% has gone to “Brack” Obama

2008-06-11T12:35:00.003-04:00

After reading Wonkette's hilarious article on the gawd-awful "National Organization of Ex-Hillary Supporters for John McCain" website, our resident designer Brian (cough, buy his Woot shirt, cough) couldn't help but create an image after reading El Bombastico's amusing comment on hcsfjm.com's ridiculously poor spelling, referring to Barack as "Brack":

Seriously, you could create a whole website ripping on the original just based on the grammatical errors let alone the horrid design of it all.

Justice, MGMT to Play Saratoga in September

2008-06-09T12:39:00.000-04:00

Since this blog has essentially turned into the diatribes of a depressed Maryland basketball fan, its due time we return to our normally scheduled programming of upcoming shows that take place in either DC or Upstate NY. This time it involves the latter.

Thanks to a scoop by Jeff (of which we celebrated his equally awesome bachelor party this past weekend), Justice and MGMT will be performing at the Saratoga Race Course on Saturday, September 13 as a part of the SoCo Music Experience. Admission is free as long as you're over 21. Otherwise, sucks if you're not.

And It Just Gets Worse - Gilchrist to Transfer

2008-06-03T18:16:00.002-04:00

With the whole Tyree Evans debacle and Sean Mosley still trying to reach a qualifying SAT score, at least the Terps had blue-chipper Gus Gilchrist coming into next season. Right? RIGHT? Think again.

Gilchrist, who withdrew his LOI from Virginia Tech to sign with Maryland, had to sit out last season due to transfer rules and would've been eligible to play with the Terps on December 22, 2008. Or so we thought. Gilchrist has decided to transfer from Maryland before he ever got to play a minute in the Comcast Center. It honestly doesn't make a lick of sense to me. He would've only had to sit out a handful of games before being eligible, so why leave now? Apparently he's looking for somewhere to play (out of conference of course) where he can retain all four years of his eligibility after the ACC took one and a half years away from him due to the conference's lame transfer laws.

Since nothing but bad news seems to stem from the men's program lately, this is probably the worst out of all the stories we've endured throughout these last few bizarre months. Gilchrist was seen by many Terps fans, including myself, as a savior of sorts after what the program has endured throughout the last few years. He was not only a Maryland local, but a Top 100 player that would've created an immediate impact for the Terps. I mean the dude was MVP of the 2007 Capital Classic. People were genuinely excited because Gary actually landed a top recruit. Now this shit happens.

I'm really confused by all of this. I don't know what his reasoning was, but he would've been an immediate starter once he was eligible. I mean you'd be playing for a team that's a part of the top basketball conference in the country and you decide to transfer, again? Shane Walker left because he knew Gilchrist would start over him. Now they're both gone. Seriously, when does it end?

TUL's Take: Raconteurs @ 9:30 Club

2008-05-29T14:27:00.001-04:00

The only other time I got to see The Raconteurs live was at Lollapalooza back in '06 so I was eagerly anticipating seeing these guys in a much smaller venue. I'm one of those guys that favor The Raconteurs music over The White Stripes mostly because Brendan Benson is such an excellent songwriter. We opted to skip The Black Lips since we were still finishing some drinks over at Duffy's (no Genny in-stock, sadly), but this show had to have been oversold. I mean I've been to sold-out shows at the club before but the place was ridiculously packed as there was barely any room to move around, even in the corners by the speakers where at least one can turn a shoulder without knocking over someone else's drink. Speaking of which, the douchebag factor was in full force last night but when a band such as The Raconteurs is on rotation on DC101 it's to be expected I guess.

Anyway, if you really don't care for these guys when listening to their albums, seeing them live will make you change your mind. Just a solid performance by all parties involved. Even Benson, who's known to be lethargic onstage, was very much into it last night. The comradery between Jack White and Benson was highly evident as both seemed to be playing off each other and having fun. The back and forth guitars between Benson and White before breaking into "Steady as She Goes" was one of the highlights, or anytime White played a solo for that matter. Dude is just incredible on the guitar and seeing him up close with 1100 others made it that much more enjoyable. Benson forgetting the lyrics of "Intimate Secretary" was pretty funny too, but it was good to see him perform his fair share of songs, especially "Many Shades of Black".

Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler (both members of The Greenhornes) were solid as well (jeez was that bass loud or what?). Words can't describe how much better Keeler is on drums than Meg White, but I digress. Overall, just a great show and they easily demonstrated how their songs on record are that much better live. On another note, when in the hell will Benson put out another solo record? It's been over three years already – his Black Cat show still ranks up as one of my favorites.

Terrapin Turmoil - Tyree Evans Gone

2008-05-23T15:27:00.002-04:00

Remember all the publicity Maryland received when Gary Williams offered Tyree Evans a scholarship a few weeks ago? Well, so much for Evans coming to College Park. I'm telling you, I'm downright sick of this recruiting nightmare. Oh, and Sean Mosley, Maryland's now lone commit of the 2008 class, has yet to academically qualify because he didn't reach the minimum score of 730 on his latest SAT exam. Yes, that's the new SAT which is out of 2400. (I'm not going to comment further on that, but The Diamondback sheds a little more light on the matter). Anyway, he's got one more shot at it otherwise it's onto prep school for a year. If Mosley doesn't qualify, Maryland would be bringing zippy players for the 2008-09 season. Yeah, it's that bad.

Apparently Evans' departure has to do with the administration, specifically Athletic Director Debbie Yow. What a shock. Can't say I'm surprised since she essentially hates Gary and vice versa. Granted she was left out of the dark about Evans' criminal past, but you can't have this type of relationship between a coach and his AD exist in a high-major program. I applaud Maryland for having higher academic standards than other programs, but even prestigious schools like Duke admit players with poor grades and legal problems (Sheldon Williams anyone?). Maryland just can't catch a break when it comes to stuff like this. The 2008 class has been a revolving door of prospects. Let's go down the list shall we and see what a circus this has become:

Terrence Jennings - Blue-chipper that commits to UMD before even stepping foot on campus. Unable to academically qualify, decommits, and signs with Louisville.

Chris Turner - Excellent shooter (Mike Jones-ish) that wanted to come to Maryland (a rarity these days it seems), but Mosley committed first, thereby taking the last available scholarship between the two. Turner is unfortunately forced to look elsewhere.

Bobby Maze - Athletic JuCo point guard that would've greatly helped Maryland at the 1 so Terp fans wouldn't have to frustratingly watch Vasquez bring the ball down the court for another season. Wanted to commit, but Gary accepts Evans commitment instead, taking up the last available scholarship for the 2008 class.

Ken Bowman - Maze's teammate that also wanted to be a Terp but didn't have the grades

Tyree Evans - Impact JuCo player with criminal past and poor locker room history. Gary offers Evans a scholarship, the first time GW offers a player with a less than admirable background. Yow is left unaware of Evans' felony charge which pisses her off, forces Evans to go through an admissions process to determine if Maryland can use one of their "at-risk" scholarships, and then things go haywire from thereon out. Supposedly asks for his release from his LOI to attend a school where there is less bickering about whether the dude can get admitted or not.

Ater Majok - Didn't have the grades, commits to UConn.

There's probably some others I missed or may have inaccurately reported (hey, that's why it's a blog and not Sports Illustrated), but as you can tell, Maryland certainly has some recruiting woes. Let's face facts, if the Terps don't make the tournament this year, expect Gary to resign. Yow is not going to fire him, no way. But she's essentially forcing him out by giving him such a hard time with things like the aforementioned Evans saga. 2002 seems so long ago.

TUL's Take: Birthday Dinner @ Granville Moore's

2008-05-21T16:53:00.001-04:00

Maybe I shouldn't post this so I can keep Granville Moore's on the DL like they asked in their menu, but the place was already bustling for a Monday evening. Then again, it was $10 Moules night! It's amazing how hidden the place was after we walked right by it.

I'll hands down agree with the City Paper in saying that GM's had the best mussels in the entire District. Rachel ordered the Printemps while I went with the Au Pesto. Both were amazing. We probably should've gone with the Petit size of Frites compared to the Grande we ordered. I mean, jeez, that bowl of fires was huge! Then again, they were so, so delicious. Seriously, I couldn't have asked for a better birthday dinner. The waiter was hesitant to clear my plate as he thought I still had enough in me to sop up the rest of the remaining broth with the bread they provided, and sure enough, I did.

We then went over to The Red & The Black for a few drinks and mulled over going to the Pela show at the RNR Hotel. We ended up hanging out at the bar and being entertained by our bartender Eddie the rest of the night. After the amount of mussels, fries, and beer consumed that evening, I'm honestly surprised that the buttons on my shirt were able to stay intact.