July 31, 2011

#169. The Cherry Bluestorms are one of those bands I discovered at International Pop Overthrow.

Last year I worked the merch table for their performance at The Joint and Deborah Gee showed her appreciation by giving me their CD Transit of Venus.  It's a wonderful slice of pop psychedelia, and I've been enjoying it these past 12 months.

This year at IPO they played a set that was heavy on their forthcoming 2nd album Bad Penny Opera.  If the live performance was any indication, they have another winning album ready to drop.

July 30, 2011

#168. One of the great things about attending the annual International Pop Overthrow event is discovering new bands.  And one of the great things as a volunteer merch man is helping out the bands by selling their merchandise while they are on stage winning over new fans.

As an added bonus, some of the bands show their appreciation by giving me CDs.  This year I was lucky enough to score shirts, and this band (Lannie Flowers) didn't even know I had a shirt obsession.  Good thing I loved their designs (and their music too!).

July 29, 2011

#167.  Ren & Stimpy!  Again!!

July 28, 2011

#166. Long before I became a fan of country music, I was a fan of the X side project The Knitters.  A little tongue in cheek at places, but only with a real love the the genre.

Besides 3/4 of X (John Doe, Exene, DJ Bonebreak), this band includes ex-Blaster  Dave Alvin and Jonny Ray Bartel.

July 27, 2011

#165. In 2002, Elvis Costello decided to reunite Attractions.  Well...sort of.  He decided to reunite the ones he liked, which meant Bruce Thomas was left out in the cold.  The old fan in me would love to hear Bruce tear through his bass lines, but Davey Faragher was a great replacement.  Deciding that the wasn't a real reunion, Elvis dubbed the new band The Imposters.   Any band with Steve Nieve and Bruce Thomas is worth seeing, especially when fronted by Elvis.

July 26, 2011

#164.  Music should be fun.  The purer the joy the happier it can make the listener, and there are few artists as pure as Eadie, Elana and Milly Del Rubio, also known as the Del Rubio Triplets.

Even though they had performed together for much of their lives, they really didn't start making an impact until their 60's (and I don't mean THE 60's, I mean THEIR 60's).  I first saw them in the forgettable Amerciathon, and like the rest of the world I forgot about the movie and the triplets.  Later in the 1980's they appeared on David Letterman and soon after that I saw them open for John Waters.  I was in love.

They appeared in many Gay Pride events and recorded a few albums.  You will never hear songs like Whip It, What Have I Done to Deserve This or Neutron Dance the same after hearing it through the Del Rubios minds (or should I say mind, as they were really one brain in three bodies).  Michael Gillin and I were lucky enough to eventually be friendly with them, and even had them play two parties at our house.

They never achieved one of their dreams, which was to be in the Hollywood Christmas Parade, but they definitely achieved things they probably never thought they would at their age.

Sadly, Eadie passed away in 1996 and they immediately retired from performing.  We kept in touch, but they really had the wind knocked out of them and never seemed to understand that there was an audience for them, even if there was only two.  Five years later we lost Elena, and just last week we lost Milly.

Today I wear my personally autographed Del Rubio Triplets t-shirt, which I haven't worn since they autographed it.  And in if you have no idea who these women were, seek them out on youtube.com and try not to smile.

July 25, 2011

#163. From the 2003 Orange County Fair.  The theme obviously had something to do with music.  This year was the shallow theme Let's Eat.  Didn't buy a shirt.

July 24, 2011

#162.  Yes, another Ren & Stimpy shirt.  And it's not the last.

July 23, 2011

#161.  Another sadly missed radio station.  Los Angeles is littered with them.

July 22, 2011

#160. Stephin Merritt is a clever fellow, and his most clever moments are channeled through The Magnetic Fields.

Prior to i, their alphabetically arranged album of songs beginning with the letter I, they released the 3 CD set 69 Love Songs.  And yes, there were a total of 69 songs on that.

The show for this album was beautiful and witty, just like the album.  I was on the fence about the shirt initially, because at this point of my life I realized my shirt collection was getting a little out of control and was unsuccessfully placing myself on a self-imposed moratorium on shirt purchases.  If I recall correctly, this was the first shirt I bought after that short lived attempt to curb my obsession.

As far as the back goes, wouldn't you think I would know to take these pictures earlier in the day by now?

July 21, 2011

#159. My First Wilco shirt from my first Wilco concert.  El Rey May 12. 1997.  If I recall correctly, I didn't go to the May 13 show because I saw Erasure instead.

And until posting this shirt, I had no idea that the design came from the Shakespeare fishing company.

July 20, 2011

#158. I know it must appear as if I buy every shirt I see, but I don't.  Case in point, this cool Simpsons/Rolling Stones shirt.

When The Stones were on The Simpsons, they produced 3 shirts to commemorate this event.  And I only bought one design.

Of course I regret that now.

July 19, 2011

#157. Elvis Costello has gone with an Americana vibe before, but this one was seeped deeper in bluegrass.  The album was good, but the tour that promoted it was even better.

The Sugarcanes, his touring band, helped him translate the album and various nuggets from his career, live on the stage of the Greek Theater.

July 18, 2011

#156. Power rocking in the way Cheap Trick translates their love of The Beatles into energetic pop morsels.  The Beatles connection is an interesting one on Rev9, as it's an ep built around The Shazam's reinterpretation of one of The Beatles most disliked songs, Revolution 9.

July 17, 2011

#155. My  mom works at a restaurant on a golf course, and in 1992 they named a charity fundraiser after her.  Shirts were made to commemorate the first one.

July 16, 2011

#154. Lollapalooza 1995.  Sonic Youth were touring Washing Machine and Pavement were touring Wowee Zowee.  Kurt had been dead a little over a year and Courtney was still living out her emotional meltdown that continues to this day.  The world of alt rock was so much different then.

Lollapalooza still continues, however now it is just a single city event.   That's OK because now we have Coachella.

July 15, 2011

#153. Steal Your Face!

July 14, 2011

#152. Halloween with KISS.  How appropriate.  Dodger Stadium?  Not so appropriate.  Actually it was a fun evening.   KISS had released Psycho Circus, which is not a great album but at least gave them a few new songs to throw in the mix.  They also worked in a 3D element, which was lame.  But the spectacle that is a KISS concert was able to momentarily transcend my hatred for Dodger Stadium into a evening of rock and roll bliss.

July 13, 2011

#151. Although this was the 10th time the Stones played The Forum, this was the first time I saw them there.

Earlier on The Bigger Bang tour,The Stones rolled into Anaheim Stadium and also returned to the Hollywood Bowl for the first time since 1966.   But the return to the Forum was a bigger deal for me, since this is the venue I saw my very first concert (Cat Stevens in 1976).  And I'm happy to report the Stones didn't disappoint.

The set included many of the songs that have been in almost every Stones show in recent years (Jumping Jack Flash, It's Only Rock'n Roll and Honky Tonk Woman), but it also included such rarely played gems as Sway, Far Away Eyes and Worried About You (one of my favorite Stones songs).

When I left the show, I was glowing with satisfaction and thought to myself that if I never saw the Stones again, I would be happy knowing  the last show I saw was one of the best.  They did return to Los Angeles to play Dodger Stadium later in the year, and for the first time in my life, I did not go to a Stones show.   I hate Dodger Stadium that much.

July 12, 2011

#150. Although Eugene Landy would like to think that he was the best thing to happen to Brian since his well publicized meltdown in the 1960's, I would argue that The Wondermints were, by far, the best thing to happen to Brian.

I think I once read that Brian said if the Wondermints were around in the 60's, he would have finished Smile.  Not sure if that statement is true, but the fact is, after years of touring with these local pop dynamos, Brian did finish Smile with them.

I wore this shirt today because I was going to see my friend Julie Stewart-Stevens, whom I haven't seen in nearly 20 years and was the person who turned me on to the Beach Boys when we were still in grammar school.

July 11, 2011

#149. Super cool R.E.M. shirt from a not-so-super-cool time.  The show at the Greek was great, but the album they toured, Up, was the beginning of a decline in quality studio albums.  Seems Bill Berry, who left prior to recording Up, was really the bullshit detector in the band.  Oh well, their last couple of albums are an improvement over the first 3 without Bill, but they still deliver live.

July 10, 2011

#148. My favorite band from Boise.

June 09, 2011

#147. If the Department of Health really came to grade my kitchen, I'm afraid they would close me down.  However, I'm sure if this was a grade for personal hygiene, I'd rank higher than a C.  But I would feel a bit too arrogant walking around in a shirt with a big blue A on it.

July 08, 2011

#146. Big Mama's Rib Shack has been in and out of Pasadena since the early 90's.  They started in Old Town right when it became the place to be, and left when the rents started to rise.  I was happy to see them come back a few years ago, and have been situated on Lake since their return.  And as they say, their sauce is boss.

July 07, 2011

#145. Eddie Vedder is in town,  but I’m not seeing him so it’s OK for me to wear a Pearl Jam shirt today.

I got this shirt during a fun trip with friends to Ohio to see Pearl Jam play in Toledo with Death Cab For Cutie.  To make it even better, Neil Young came out on the encore and played with them.  This was during the Vote for Change tour of 2004, where bands played shows in swing states in hopes of bringing out the Democratic vote.  It didn’t work, but the shows were made special by the extra fuel in the bands arsenal.

July 06, 2011

No shirt.  Last day of jury duty.

July 05, 2011

No shirt today.  On jury duty, and they had clear instructions that I was not to wear any shirt with a logo.  I wonder if I can get out of jury duty by telling them that I have a blog that requires me to wear shirts that actually say something.

July 04, 2011

No shirt today and I had the perfect shirt to wear (Pearl Jam patriot shirt).  Too dang hot, never left the house, and this isn't blog isn't called Shirtless of the Day.

July 03, 2011

#144. Sometimes all you need is a simple design.

July 02, 2011

#143. In 2006, during the World Cup, The Rolling Stones issues shirts for all the countries.  Of course I had to have Italy, and they won so it was even a cooler shirt to own.

I usually don't wear Stones shirts on an even numbered day.  Maybe that's a story I'll share on another Stones shirt day.  But I wore this today because I thought it would be appropriate to wear my country to a family reunion.

July 01, 2011

#142. The Licks shows were quite the feat.  In many towns, the Stones played 3 shows.  They would play a theater, an arena and a stadium, and would design their set lists to fit the venue.  Of course, the theater shows were the most difficult ticket, but I ended up scoring one on the 2nd hand market.  However my friend Paul Serchia lined up at the Wiltern the day of the show at the ungodly hour of 5:30 AM and got in at the last minute for FACE VALUE.  But I got my money's worth, standing less than 20 feet from the stage.  As an added treat, the late, great Solomon Burke opened the show.