COACHELLA '09

SLDKFJSLDKJFLDSKJFLSKDHFJHALKJLKAJLSKDUALKSJLKJLKAJSL!!!!

those letters exhibit the indescribable joy coachella gave me. but just in case you still can't understand how epic and crazy it was, i'll just tell you all the bands i saw, and then you'll see. i am not responsible for jealousy, by the way. heehee.



friday:
noah and the whale-even though charlie fink's voice was lost, and it was not the prime time spot, i (as well as many other people) really enjoyed their set. they did very well and entertained the crowd, but not in a lame way, and overall it was just a very nice, pleasant show. and charlie's voice still sounded lovely.
we are scientists-after being energized by n&tw's set, i ran over to see this set, which, of course, was awesome. i loved this band, then grew tired of them, and still love them, just not as much. but i've been reminded how awesome they are and why i loved them so much. they played a great set, which was very enjoyable. not to mention the weather was actually pleasant for once.
steve aoki-well, the only reason i went to this set was because a friend of my mom's friend was doing the visuals for it, so i thought, why not...all i can say is, there was a guy in a wedding dress. ohhh yes.
m. ward-amazing, as always. even though the set started off badly due to a malfunctioning amp, that was soon resolved. the show was very nice. nothing else hindered m's playing (is it just me or does it feel weird calling him matt??) and, in fact, he played extremely well. the songs were well-executed, and the heat didn't seem to bother him at all (whereas a lot of the bands would complain). it was a great set, and it was nice to see him preform again.
da mvb-this was my third time seeing conor oberst and the mystic valley band, and it was, of course, really fun and hilarious. seeing as their new album will be coming out soon, they played a lot of new songs. definitely not the best i've seen them, but it was still pretty great. just to hear jason boesel sing was enough for me (since i love him more than mr. oberst. hehe)...and that would be why i left to go see the next band soon after he stopped singing.
franz ferdinand-absolutely amazing. i'm seeing them tomorrow (!!!!) so their set wasn't much of a priority for me. i watched from afar, and what i did see was great. they played many old songs, which was awesome to see, and because i last saw them in 2006, i can't remember anything about seeing them live. they are superb musicians, and i really admire their talent. boy, they deserve all the fame they've gotten and more.
crystal castles-well, i'm kind of bitter about this group now because of the disaster that was their "show" in dallas...or what would have been their show in dallas...on april 14. of course, i don't really know what happened, it could have been something completely different than what was reported, but from what i've heard, i can safely say that no band playing the granada has EVER complained that much about the sound. the granada theater has a wonderful sound, atmosphere, and space, and even if it didn't sound great for their soundcheck, a band who cancels their show two hours after they were to come on for any reason other than sickness or an emergency, has a problem. yet i saw them at coachella, and they were...crazy. and all the hipsters were overrunning the tent so i couldn't see much of them. but i did see alice glass climbing the rafters, which is pretty badass, if you ask me.
n.a.s.a-SCARY SCARY SCARY. the only reason i saw this was because beirut was next and i wanted to be in the front. but the crowd/band have scarred me for life. oh. my. god. unbelievably frightening and disturbing...what was the whole spiel about kanye anyway??? and please don't say the name of your band over and over again in every song, that's annoying.
BEIRUT!!!!-about the opposite of n.a.s.a., this set was the highlight of coachella '09 for me. as you are all well aware of, i'm head-over-heels in love with zach condon. he's a genius and his music has inspired me in more ways than even i know. just the excitement of seeing them was enough to make my...year, and the show did not even remotely disappoint. zach was at his prime (or so it seemed), as the rest of the band was. they played seamlessly and executed the songs (that would usually be hard to play without a full brass band) perfectly. i cried during the set (okay, i know, lame, but it was that beautiful). i don't even mind that i only took two pictures of them (my camera decided to tell me i didn't have a memory card right then), because the memory is firmly planted on my mind. it was a gorgeous set, and the 50 minute time slot was a perfect amount of time, seeing as each song was epic. i still have trouble believing that i actually saw beirut live...zach's band works so well with him, they have that camaraderie on stage that most bands struggle for their entire career to obtain. the crowd was perfect as well, which is a major issue at festivals. i think it's safe to say that we were all stunned at the beauty and talent of the band and their set. i know i was, and still am.


didn't see mr. mccartney (don't hate me, i regret it) for some reasons i couldn't escape.



saturday:
tinariwen-this is a band from mali, who were the first tuareg band to use electric guitars. their music is gorgeous (of course, any african music is beautiful to me). they are extremely talented musicians, and deserve international fame. i think they definitely got a little taste of that at coachella on saturday, where they played for a very enthusiastic, very happy crowd. i bet the set felt a little like being back home for them, with the desert and palm trees behind them, and the dry hot weather. haha. it certainly made my day-nathan and i were giddy after seeing them play. i respect them a ton, and i'm very glad to say i saw them. i would recommend them to anyone. they are wonderful, grateful performers.
tv on the radio-eh eh eh. i only overheard their set for kicks, i don't like their music all that much. in fact, i really don't like their music. so yeah. they played the one song that i like, and another one (that newspaper man song) that i find hilarious. so it was awesome even though i don't like them haha.
fleet foxes-eh again. not very into this band, but i respect them and they've got a nice sound. it was interesting to see, too, and i thought, why not listen to their set. so i did, and it wasn't great, but it wasn't half-bad.
m.i.a.-well, this was surprising. not surprisingly good, although the set was...funny and interesting. it was surprisingly boring. of course, i don't know much about m.i.a., but from what i heard on saturday, she doesn't have a great live act. it was kind of like they were wasting time until they could play paper planes and get over with the set. and then there were these AWFUL horns they kept blowing, even while someone was talking. i couldn't stand that...so i left a little before the last song to get closer up for jenny.
jenny lewis-beautiful. unfortunately, she didn't play as many songs off of rabbit fur coat as i would like, but the songs she did play were perfect. acid tongue was amazing, because the whole crowd was singing, and she invited the mvb to sing as well. i have immense respect for barbara gruska, who plays drums for the band, and she played extremely well that night, too. jenny also played a solo silver lining, which is my favorite songs, and perhaps one of the only songs i do like, off of under the blacklight, and it was beautiful. the crowd was accepting and as excited as jenny's band was. overall, it was a great set, and i loved seeing them play again.

sunday:
bjm-really cool/awesome. i didn't see much of their set, but what i did see was enough for me! haha. they were great. so were all the (really) old people getting really into the music.
peter bjorn and john-surprisingly amazing! this set was probably made better for me because i had the chance to lay down and bask in the (not as hot as before) sun and listen to the pleasant sounds. but anyway, they were awesome, and robyn was there! and she is crazy cool, because she was great on nmtb (not the only reason, but you know..). it was a nice show, very relaxing and fun.
yeah yeah yeahs-this was so...happy. karen and nick and brian seemed to be so excited to play, and karen smiled this huge smile throughout the entire show. when an artist shows that they really enjoy playing for you, it's magical. and this certainly was. especially since they played so many old songs! hooray. and i think i love everything that their designer, christian joy, creates. karen's dress was phenomenal. so was their playing. i had to leave early to see devendra, but what i heard was perfection.
devendra banhart-this set was also as phenomenal, if not more. when i ran up to the stage as they were playing their (probably) second song, devendra's band consisted of none other than rodrigo amarante. i was ecstatic. then, as devendra invited onstage binki! and matt romano! i became even more ecstatic. then, when they started to play keep me in mind, by little joy, i could not have been more ecstatic. the set was unbelievable. during the closing song, har mar superstar came onstage and played. it was like a huge party...full of talented guest musicians. it was a lot of fun, and you could see that the band was having fun as well.
the horrors-i rushed over to the horrors after seeing devendra, and WOW was i surprised. they played all new songs, which actually sounded very joy division-esque and amazing. to me, they were perfect. they have great camaraderie, great talent, and one really attractive lead singer. hehe. of course that wasn't the most important part-i stood stunned at how cool and, well, badass they were. the set was so...punk. unbelieveable.
the kills-this was the last set i saw at coachella. so obviously it had to be memorable and good. and boy, did it live up to those standards. alison and jamie were at their prime and played tons of old songs. the crowd was great, the sound was not so great (the drum machine was a bit too loud, then too soft, then too loud again, and alison couldn't hear herself), but it didn't matter-i had fun-especially with the anticipation and excitement of seeing the kills this saturday. the show was great, and i can't wait to see them (for the fourth time, might i add) again. i'm very glad that, although they had trouble, the band played well and were as cool as ever. not to mention they have some really amazing clothes. :) overall, the set definitely planted a very good memory of sunday night in my mind.


i definitely didn't get to see everyone i wanted to see, due to my being lazy and...other things. but it was completely worth it, and i had an amazing time at coachella. it was so perfect. i could not ask for anything more.


-lydia

p.s.i have an awful sinus infection and am about to go to sleep on my keyboard...so i apologize if the last few reviews of bands are lacking in any way. i hope i didn't cause too much jealousy in your hearts.. ;)

the ladies

after much ado, i present to you my lovely (and sexy) list of the 5 sexiest (and loveliest) women of modern music!!*

1. jenny lewis-she is everyone's favorite lady musician (and by everyone, i mean my circle of friends. and anyone who has ever seen her live, i would suppose), for her talent, poise, and overall HOTNESS. and i hate saying hot, but man. she is. just look at her! not only is she an amazing songwriter, but she has a voice that not many people have, a crazy range, she's been around for que a while (musically, i mean), she's sweet, she's cute, she's sexy, she's attractive, she's a strong, beautiful woman, and she's sexy:

2. eleanor friedberger-i've already mentioned her at least once in this blog, and i'll mention her again. she's beautiful, is in a really, really great band, has an awesome brother, has an awesome boyfriend, has wonderful style, and has a crazy awesome voice, among other things. she probably doesn't have as many men falling at her feet as jenny does, but that's even sexier. if she's not sexy, i don't know who is.  

3. natasha khan-you know she's sexy the minute you hear her voice; her music is sexy. so is her fashion. and her makeup. and basically everything about her. anybody who wears the amazing headdresses she wears is automatically wonderful, and she also greatly reminds me of patrick wolf, who is the epitome of sexy...in my opinion. anyway, these pictures speak for themselves:

4. alison mosshart-okay, so she would be on everyone's list, and a lot of peeps have grown tired of her perpetual coolness. but i, for one, haven't. listen to keep on your mean side-now that is a sexy album. and she is one of those kinds of people who can make smoking look so cool...even though it's the opposite for ya lungs (i'm not saying smoking is cool plz don't get onto me plz)...and i mean, you have to admit, she's sexy. even if you don't like her, she's sexy. am i right or am i right. i am right. just look!

5. last, but definitely not least, regina spektor-i was contemplating putting her on this list, solely for my thought that she was more adorable than sexy. but then i thought about it some more, and realized that she is really very sexy; she has a wonderful voice, and when she does punk songs, it really shows her sexiness. she dresses extremely well, has a beautiful figure (which isn't that  important, but she's fuller than many sexy ladies, which is awesome) and a beautiful upbringing. on top of all that, she's a great musician. basically, i thought, how can she not be sexy. she's such an inspiration! these pictures i found finally convinced me that she should be #5:

 well, there you go! i hope you enjoyed this (read: you better have enjoyed this, because it took me some time...time i could have spent doing math or reading 1984! ha. ha.)! 

until the next time i post, which will hopefully be sooner rather than later (i've got a busy week..)!

love,

lydia

*the reason i didn't write a list of sexy modern musician men is because the list would be too long. way. too. long. 

ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL.

there are about 389 amazing concerts coming up in the near future (as well as albums). 

SUCH AS....

devotchka-tomorrow, la zona rosa. this is the whole reason i'm in austin right now. i'm so. so. excited. they are also playing at house of blues (pontiac garage) on tuesday.

handsome furs-march 21, the loft. wow wow wow!

franz ferdinand-april 24, house of blues. i hugged my family when i heard this news. i was just ecstatic that they aren't playing nokia. whew. well, and their new album is amazing. 

the kills (and horrors!!!)-april 25, granada theater. i FINALLY get to go to granada for the first time in a year! i miss that venue so much.

bjm-april 14, granada. hope i can make it to this one! it would be awesome.

animal collective-june 4 (i think?), granada. everyone will be there. duh.

I AM SO EXCITED.

sorry 'bout the lack of posting, or interesting posting lately. i've been busy, or something?? i guess i've had a weird couple weeks. 

ryan gosling is in a band.

it's probably really old news in the blogosphere, but whatever. seeing as he's one of my favorite actors, and is obviously just a cool guy all around, i was interested to see what his music sounded like. his band's name is dead man's bones, and they only have released one song on their myspace, but what a song it is! it sounds a bit like the magnetic fields with devendra banhart on halloween, to me, but hear for yourself:

In The Room Where You Sleep (live video version)

cool, right? right.

only when the goal is unattainable

 do i start to feel like i'm losing myself

and this deep secret

that hasn't come out yet

is buried down deep with the rest

i can't coerce you into this one

jealousy lay all your spells to bed

i'll choose unloved instead

if only songs were sung to guide the doubtful ones

beyond the rough where not as much is good enough

and if you find yourself amongst the lonely ones

i will be waiting here with open arms

i can't coerce you into this one

jealousy lay all your spells to bed

i'll choose unloved instead

unattainable is my most favorite song right now. i know i've already done two posts about little joy, but ahh, this song is just amazing. i'm singing it all the time now, it's crazy.

binki and fab and me nathan

disregard my head in the picture with fab. obviously, the person who took the picture (with a lousy camera, may i say) wanted to focus more on fab than me in all my short nerdiness (i do not blame that person). also disregard my lousy expression in both pictures. haha...can you tell i was excited! my glasses are the most gigantic things in the universe. seriously.

so yes i was too lazy to go back and edit the past post in which i talked about the concert, so i just decided to make a new post. woohoo!

november 26, 2008

little joy, my new favorite group of people, played at the lounge on elm st. (4 blocks away from my house!) on wednesday night, with their friends the dead trees (and another band, the cocky americans). the concert was practically perfect in every way: despite my extreme lack of love for the american peeps (weird voice, their songs all sound the same [and the songs weren't good to begin with]), despite the trees' and little joy's lack of soundcheck time (therefore sound problems for the first part of their sets), and despite the insanely loud music between bands (therefore preventing anyone to talk), it was wonderful.

so. let's skip right to the dead trees' set, shall we? i hadn't seen these guys since over a year ago, when i saw them open for albert hammond jr. at the cambridge room*. that set, in june 2007, was amazing. i had no idea what they would be like now, since i admit i hadn't listened much to their new record or ep that had come out in that time. but i knew it would probably be good, knowing them. and boy, was it good! it was wonderful, although they didn't sound anything like how they sounded a year ago. i really really liked their set, and they were just as fun and happy and crazy as ever, even though my brother didn't think so (dunno why). afterwards, lead singer guy (i'm ashamed i don't know his name by now arrrg) even said he remembered us! haha. i don't see how since he was a lil out of it last time. anyway, i was greatly pleased with how they sounded, and they definitely got me excited to see little joy after that.

even though little joy only played about 12 songs (correct me if i'm wrong, i didn't get the setlist), the short set was absolutely amazing. they were happy, excited, ADORABLE, and at what seemed was their best. i don't know how they could have gotten any better. (a little side note: fab said "what's your name", talking to me, "lydia? what a pretty name". heehee why don't you just kill me, fabrizio! [no one ever says my name is pretty and for fab to say it? ahhhh]) the dead trees played with them as a backing band (matt romano was on drums, i was so so so so so excited! and i said hey to him like 183787 times hahah), which made the music so much more epic. nathan and i sang so loudly and were just in heaven. absolute heaven. binki/rodrigo/fab all had wonderful voices and even though i couldn't really hear binki (she couldn't either), she was charming, as they all were. here are some pictures of the set: (yes, i did steal them off of mac's flickr! sorry, mac, haha)

(we would have definitely gotten better pictures if sofía had been there, but alas, she was not)

after the set had ended, we waited (and waited and waited) to meet binki and fab and rodrigo, and finally, we got their attention (after many die-hard strokes fans wouldn't leave any of them alone). they are all incredibly nice and huggable and approachable. i felt completely at ease, and totally not like the adoring crazy fan-who-is-in-love-with-members-of-the-band that i am. all in all, they were talented, beautiful, nice, and fun, which made for an outstanding concert.

*now pontiac garage, what kinda name is that? i despise the hob people. they seem to think they're better than everyone else, just by having ugly art and weirdly named venues. though i'm grateful that the hob music hall is an alternative to nokia for bigger bands (i really really despise arenas and gigantic venues like nokia), and that the kills and bands like them can play the teeny tiny "pontiac garage".

november 14, 2008

so, last friday, of montreal came and played in dallas. the show was amazing, but what was really amazing was what they did after the show. the band, their peeps, and 10 or 15 kids, gathered around with two acoustic guitars and sang about 7 old of montreal songs. it was great fun, despite the cold (which almost none of us were dressed for). i was fortunate enough to be part of it, though i was probably singing harmonies like an idiot and dancing and clapping and, well, just being extremely happy. at the end of the actual show, kevin had said "thanks for letting us be ourselves!" which is definitely what we all were during those 45 minutes outside the venue. here are the only videos i could find of the show...i didn't have a camera, sadly. the videos don't capture the real magic of the songs, or the environment (too bad we didn't have vincent moon to document the whole thing haha), but it's something!

it's beginning to feel a lot like christmas?

IT IS SO COLD TODAY. apparently, it's 47 degrees outside right now. CRAZY. I LOVE IT.

i love christmas. mainly for the cold and the time of from school (yay! but it also means that from january 6th to april 17, i won't get a break), but still. it's awesome.

anyway. the cold weather/commencement of holiday propaganda (ahem, ads. people are trying desperately to stretch their dollar and yet they are still buying gigantic blow-up santas to put in their front yard. i have to admit, though, the santas are so amusing.) is obviously making me think of christmas (even though it's a month away and i still have 3 weeks left of school). i absolutely DETEST the cheesy cheese lame gross ew ew bad bad christmas music everyone plays. not surprising, eh? i'm so critical, music-wise. 

anyhow, i love love love love love listening to music from the 40s around christmas time. for some reason, anytime i hear glenn miller, it makes me want hot chocolate and a blanket. dunno why. but now i really want to listen to 40s music. 

of course, there's always sufjan stevens' songs for christmas to listen to...speaking of sufjan, he hasn't done anything in a long while.

une revue

let me begin by vowing that i will cut to the chase and tell you what this is going to be about instead of continuing to talk about nothing of any importance and looking like an idiot, like i always do:

basically, this is a review of a really cool, unique ep by a really cool, unique musician (this is already getting lame, sorry). the musician, aria c jalali, is a guy who lives in san francisco and why do you need to know anything else, that in itself shows he's cool. i came upon this musician's music via the oh so wonderful world of myspace in early 2007 sometime. i can't remember what happened after that, but i do know that i really loved his music. so after listening to the stuff for many months, in october of 2007, i thought, "hey, why not do something worthwhile to keep myself entertained, since i'm always so bored! why not create a fansite for aria! woo." or something like that. so, yeah, i created railcarsinc. (back then it was jalaliinc or something). and i've had a lovely time giving, uh, moral support to what has now become a complete band, called railcars! the band now includes aria, biljana mirkovski, dasha bulatova, and shaw waters. hooray! they are wonderful, and have just released a new ep titled cities vs. submarines, which everyone should get NOW (of course, i haven't gotten around to buying the actual vinyl yet myself...but disregard my procrastination). so now, without further ado, here is the review:

as i listen to the ep, it plays out (to me, at least) like a book, or a really cool movie...the first song, there is ice; it is blue, is sort of like if you were diving underwater, and kept diving till you came upon this whole city under there, and it's really beautiful, and the fishes are dancing and stuff (that made it sound way more trippy than it really is, it's more glorious than trippy). just when you think it's too good to be true, it gets better as the ep progresses. it's incredibly entertaining and energetic. and while some "energetic" eps and albums can be too tiring and wear the listener out, this proves to be quite the opposite. you (or at least i) want to listen to it over and over again, and i don't think it's possible not to dance while listening to cities vs. submarines. it takes you on such an enjoyable ride- as a whole, it is epic and marvelous, but the individual songs can stand alone and are simply great. of course, this is not the best ep i've ever heard (the way i'm talking may seem like i think it is), but this is one of the best eps i've heard in a while. i'm not surprised that aria has made such great songs, but i am surprised by how unique they are. you can compare it to whatever you like, but i don't even know what to compare it to (which may show that i know a lot less about a wide range of music than some people do, but still). i recommend you listen to this ep, and not just because i love the band, but because the music provides a wonderful adventure in listening.

austin city limits 2008 hooray!

i spent this past weekend frolicking about acl. so, i met a lot of wonderful musician peeps whom i admire, and i danced among a whole lot of hipster peeps who had great clothes. and of course, i indulged in the wonderful food i'd been missing for a year. aside from the food, general happiness, and people that go along with being there, the acts were AMAZING. maybe the sound was a tad bit off for some unfortunate players, or the slightly uncomfortable weather (even though it was amazing weather considering it's still summer in texas) bothered other players (ahem, ms. mosshart, the poor overheated soul who will not take off one of her 343 shirts even though she's about to faint), but overall, all of the musicians i saw played great shows. i was a bit lazier than i thought i would be (i only saw 8 shows, even though i could have seen 14), but i had an awesome time. so, here's my review of the weekend:

FRIDAY-

the first thing i made sure i did when i got to acl on friday morning was to meet the lovely boys of vampire weekend. they are adorable. especially ezra. eeh, i am a fangirl, though i'm not nearly as bad as some people. but really, they are wonderful and not how i thought they'd be.

the second event of the day was the vampire weekend set. one word: perfect. seriously flawless. they put on a really great show and all of them can engage their fans so well just by playing their music. i really wish i had seen them at rubber gloves last november (i stayed home that night they played in denton, regretting that i didn't go)! oh well. it might have been my favorite show of the entire weekend. maybe.

i went on to m. ward, a little while after that. this was the first time i'd seen him, even though i've loved him for a really long time, so i was ecstatic. even more exciting than the fact that it was the first time for me to see him play was the show itself. he's so interesting to watch, and he played so many of my favorite songs. i felt sort of idiotic for acting like an insane, crazed fan, but i don't care because it was marvelous. 

after m. ward ended, sofía and i obtained a premium spot at the front to see jenny lewis. we were obviously ecstatic about this, since our love for jenny had been renewed after meeting her back in june (before then, we were saddened by rilo kiley's new sound and look, but then we saw them play and regretted what we'd said). the set was wonderful. i hadn't listened to acid tongue much before we saw her, but after seeing a lot of the songs live, i knew it had to be good. and she played rise up with fists!!, so i was happy. the next messiah was awesome, and jason boesel thought so, too (he was watching from backstage). i was also overjoyed to find out jenny has a girl drummer named barbara, and later when we met her (barbara), i found out she is extremely nice, too. so overall it was really, really enjoyable and i didn't even mind that i missed some of david byrne's set to watch her.

so, obviously, next i watched david byrne, from way far away. it was AMAZING because he played a lot of talking heads songs, and i thought he'd stick more to brian eno and his solo stuff. and it was also entertaining to watch everyone around me dance strangely. it seems mr. byrne brings out the weirdness in everybody. he has all the energy and coolness he had back in his heyday. it was definitely worth seeing him, his music has been so influential to me. 

finally, i saw the swell season's set, which was good, not wonderful, but good. i think i would have liked it better if i had been less worn out and congested, but nonetheless, they were nice. and i was kind of falling asleep by that time, anyway...i don't remember much about that last show. ha. 

SATURDAY-

we decided to sleep in on saturday and did not see fleet foxes (although i heard their set yesterday on xmu and it was good). we were content with seeing css at 3:30, and although my bandmates do not particularly like css, i really liked their set. i think partly why i like them is because they remind me so much of my brazilian aunt, it's hilarious. except my aunt isn't in a band and speaks way less english than they do. anyway, it was great and i admire their showmanship, it was fun.

so we sat in the sand and rested for an hour before we were going to see mgmt. but, unfortunately, we did not realize that mgmt is 3498x more popular than they were last november when we saw them open for of montreal. i swear, every single hipster and stoner who wasn't at spiritualized came to watch mgmt. it was insanely crowded. so we got out of the sea of people as fast as we could and went to go get up close for the conor oberst and the mystic valley band show, which was awesome. it was quite fun and i wish i could have seen the show at la zona rosa on sunday, but, alas, i was lacking in tickets. jason boesel is wonderful, i adore him. just sayin'. 

SUNDAY:

the first (and only) show we went to on sunday was the kills. they were great, but not as great as they were at the cambridge room in may. seeing as they're way cooler than me and live in london, i say they are allowed to be as fussy as they were on sunday.  halfway through their set, alison was bent over on the stage and couldn't stand the heat. i can sympathize with her, but also, it was 87 degrees that day. seriously. i'm not sure she knew she was in texas...or that she would be playing in the sun, at 1:30. and it wasn't that hot. and she was wearing pants and boots and at least two shirts. of course, she was hung over as well, so i guess that would add to the hotness, but still. i love her regardless, it just confused me.

so we watched a couple of bands while chilling out, waiting until an appropriate time to leave to go hang around outside la zona rosa, since the kills canceled their autograph signing. we left at 4 and went straight to the venue, just in time to see conor oberst walking across the street. we ran and shyly shook hands with him, and talked with him for a few minutes, before many other scary fans tackled him. so that was cool. we decided to wait around and see who else we could meet. we ended up meeting jonathan rice and barbara and nate walcott and i waved to jason for i was too shy to go up and talk to him and also to farmer dave and his nice hats and little skateboarding skillz. we decided not to bother jenny, seeing as she ran straight to her bus. but that afternoon was really nice, we met some sane fans and stuff, it was cool. and so went our time at acl 2008. i can't wait 'till next year! 

pete doherty

ok, yes, i know just about everyone has already said something about their stance on pete's problems. but, whatever, better late than never. despite his addictive behaviour, he has had some serious awesome fashion sense in the past few years. i also still think he's a genius songwriter and i believe he'll sooner or later rid himself of the rubbish he's collected over the years. and yeah, i think he's extremely cool even with his drug addiction but you know if i ever met him, i'd tell him to STOP because if he would, he'd be such an awesome musician (and poet and artist), even more awesome than he already is. and in roberto cavalli's fall 2007 ad campaign, he looks swell. shows if he cleans up, he looks great. and while he didn't look too great coming out of jail in may, who does..i really hope he finally sobers up long enough to quit his sad addiction. then, i'll be able to truthfully say he's charming. (if i don't meet him first. i'm absolutely positive he's a charming fellow.) so yes, that's the fine grime for the day. god speed, petey!