Back and Forth

Yesterday, I went to Amoeba Records in the early evening to pick up the debut from the Gutter Twins, Saturnalia. I've been anticipating the release date of that album for some time now. As it turned out, Howlin Rain was playing an in-store as well. Just two years ago, I filmed Howlin Rain's first ever show which also was at Amoeba. Their second album dropped yesterday on both Birdman Records (our homies) and Rick Rubin's American Recordings. The band has also been getting tons of press - including a writeup in Rolling Stone! David and Matthew from the label showed up as well and I was able to fill my mentors in on everything I've been up to lately.

It has been a busy time since I entered into this partnership with Devil in the Woods. I was not able to take advantage of as many free Noise Pop events last week as I would have liked due to some shit going down in my life, but I was still able to hit up a few. Last Thursday, I ventured out to another happy hour at Thee Parkside - which was totally dead. I was quickly out of there and over to the Diesel Store which appeared to be the happening place that night. I didn't know anybody, however, so I didn't hang out too long.

On Saturday, I went back to Thee Parkside for yet another happy hour, this one sponsored by SomaFM and featuring Buddy and Excuses For Skipping. This time, I bumped into a lot of people I knew, including my friend Nick from Love is Chemicals - who just dropped a new album, by the way. I skipped over to the Diesel Store later that evening which was happening once again, yet without anyone that I actually knew (again). Because I really like running around, I went back to Thee Parkside - this time for a Club Feral benefit show with The Passionistas. I was hungry so I ordered a three cheese melt from Thee Parkside's kitchen, with a side of fries.

This was quite a different Passionistas show that one I'd ever seen. Tina's in Thailand, so Tom from Hard Place was filling in on drums (as he's done a few times before). Aaron was unable to play due to an illness, so Myles and Andrew handled vocal duties in his place - even tackling a couple of his songs. Despite these complications and some tuneage problems, I felt like the band handled everything quite well.

By that point I was so tired - I also can't seem to sleep much these days but there is a recurring problem - so I headed home. I was just going to catch a cab because Thee Parkside is a million miles from where I live. However, the desolate neighborhood does not seen to be a cab heaven. I hopped on a bus which was stopped at 16th and Mission for some time, while a cab blocked the street so its passenger could vomit. The bus and cab drivers shouted back and forth for a few minutes - the cabbie was unapologetic stating, "I don't give a fuck." The bus driver had a sarcastic, cynical tone to his responses. At this point, I just had to laugh. I eventually made it home and fell asleep pretty promptly.

Sunday, I decided to take it easy and just watched Kurt Cobain: About a Son.