MATM Pt. 2

I drove up to Columbus , getting there pretty early, around 8:30 actually.....which is the time Mark told me to....where am I going with this. Well, MATM didn't go on till 12:30....yep. But it was cool, I mean, I got in for free, which I never complain about. It also gave me time to get to know new band member Mike Fiction and his lovely.....lady friend (can't contradict his bio). He's a terrific guy (and I'm not just complimenting to so not have bad feelings between me and the band, he's honestly just a sweet guy). He's been in some cool bands, including goth band Gossamer and his side project with MATM's keyboardist Elias called Pressure : Penetration.

He's also a photographer, which we did chat about for a while and I may work with him and the band again soon. Back to the show. They had a decent opener, but one who I don't remember the name or any of the songs very brightly, but hey, I have a shitty memory. The second opener was a cool little band called The Science Fiction Idols. They have their own brand of cool, punky, cock rock. Very L.A., but not bad at all.

I Want You To Lie (just click on it)

Finally, after an incredibly long night of waiting, Manda & The Marbles came on. And from the get go, you could tell this was going to be a fun performance. And even Manda falling completely on her ass before a song started couldn't stop it. They opened with the first MATM song I ever heard:

Dangerous


From there, they just went through great song after great song. They even popped in a new one....entitled....."New One". I think they'll need to brainstorm some more on it. They played old favorites like "Sex Object" and "Forget About The Day" and cuts off their newest album (Angels With Dirty Faces) like "Lipstick" and set closer "Kids Just Wanna Dance".

Kids Just Wanna Dance

They even came back on for an encore for one of my favorite songs, "Fast Cars".

Fast Cars

I even learned what might be their new idea for their next music video, which I hope to God I can be a part of. What that is, I can't reveal. But in the end, I can't say anything bad about this show. Mike pulled off an amazing job for his first show with the band and the band, who I'm sure had to work just as hard, because they hadn't played a show for almost a year. And I never even noticed. They were just that good.

P.S. I'd also like to give a shout out to Matt of You Ain't No Picasso. I've known Matt now for about a year and a half, right before he started his blog. I was probably one of the first five to read it (I'm also a member of the Bishop Allen board where we all met Matt) and I'm just shocked as hell to see how well Matt's done. He's linked me a couple of times now (today was my best day visit wise on the blog because of him and Gorilla Vs. Bear) and he deserves all the success he's gotten.

My Backup Girl!

Now if me and Lisa don't work out, I have my real muse, the woman who I've had a crush on for many years. Her violin has soothed me to sleep many nights. Her name is Petra Haden, and she's the most kickass violinist ever!

She used to play with that dog. and recorded with The Rentals many times. She also has four solo albums, two of them colaborations (Miss Murgatoid and Bill Frissel respectively), one a complete cover album (Petra Haden Sings The Who Sell Out) and then one complete a capella album (Imaginaryland).

I first heard Petra when I bought Return Of The Rentals and I heard this really sweet, yet very spunky violin player. Her voice melted my heart. Who was this siren?

I ended up buying all the that dog. records I could get my hands on (currently 2 out of 3, they're impossible to find, along with her first two solo albums). She's guested on so many albums now, with such artists as Green Day, Beck and Spain (which her brother Josh was in). She's now in The Decemberists, one of my favorite live bands. I actually got into them because of her, but that's another story. One that is very heart breaking.

But recently, I was shown one of her newest (at least, new to us) covers. "God Only Knows" is probably one of my top three favorite Beach Boy songs and I just had to share it with you guys, along with a couple of other perfect songs by her.

God Only Knows
Yellow (Coldplay cover)
Red

For those of you who's favorite movie is Chasing Amy (like me), then "Red" should be a particular find.

Confusion Abound!

Sorry folks, after starting this thing, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. Until I've got more pictures loaded up, I felt weird about posting. But I have more photos! Whoo-hooo!

But first, I must finally admit something. I think that me, Bubba Da Cat, should be on a TV show. Which TV show you ask (even though I know no one reads this)? That would be #1 Single! Yes, I must date Lisa Loeb!


After watching her show a couple of times, I feel she is the most perfect girl for me. She's short with my favorite body type, which is not pencil thin, but something to hold on to. She's got glasses, which are always the cutest things in the world on a short girl. She's a musician, which just melts my heart, for she's got a great voice. And she's Jewish.....and for some reason, I have a thing for Jewish girls, yet have never dated one. Of course, she's now stated in the most recent episode she wants to date a Jewish man, but I swear, even though I'm atheist, I can convert! I can be anything you want me to be Lisa, ANYTHING!!!!!

Back to our regularly scheduled boring post:

I shot two shows recently, one for We Are Scientists and one for Manda & The Marbles. I'll talk about the WAS show and trip at a later date, for I haven't gotten the pictures or video ready. But MATM, I have stuff for that.

If you've never heard Manda & The Marbles (who shall be known as MATM now), you're missing out. In the previous post, I said I love female fronted power-pop bands, and MATM is one of the best I've ever heard. Combine The Go-Gos, The Ramones and maybe a splash of Liz Phair for good measure, and you have MATM. And the sad thing was, the first time I saw them, I was completely underwhelmed. They were on a huge bill with Steriogram, The Killers, Stellastarr*, The Thrills and Phantom Planet. I just don't think they fit on a real huge stage, like the one at ProWest in Columbus. But I've seen them twice since and they fufilled my theory on them playing better in a small club. Both times were at Skully's, a great small-medium sized club in downtown Columbus. This last time, I wasn't going to be able to make it in, cause the show was 21+....and I'm sadly, still 20 (turn 21 June 19th baby, oh yeah).

Anywho, I made my plea to the message board of MATM and Mark Slak, drummer extrordinaire, emailed me. I had said I would take photos for them, free of charge, if they could help me. Mark gladly took up that offer. I'll have more tomorrow, but until then, here are a few pics:



More tomorrow!

Where Was I?

Sorry about that, I fell off the face of the Earth for a few days. With school and constant work, I took a few nights off from the internet....I know, crazy, but it needed to be done. But I'm back, at least for a while. I'm still getting things prep'd for my trip to Cleveland on Tuesday. Finally picked up a cell-phone, which I had been dreading for years, but you do need them for emergencies.

By the end of the week, I hope to have a bunch of pics from the Cleveland show processed and completed, but who knows. Until then, I have an interview with one of my favorite artists ever coming soon, and maybe some new video of some scientists I know. Anywho, I really haven't told anyone much about myself, at least in musical preferences. Well, I'm mainly into power-pop/power-punk, mostly female led. I don't know why, but I just love it. Bands like Manda & The Marbles, Saving Face, Paramore, that dog., The Lovemakers, The Dresden Dolls and a bunch more. But I'm here to post one cool little song. It's a band called Sixty Stories. They were (for all of my favorite female led bands are usually broken up) from Canada and were a pretty cool power pop trio. Check this song out:

Second Hand Tables & Chairs

Visit Me In Cleveland!

This coming Tuesday, I will be at The Grog Shop in Clevelnad, OH for We Are Scientists. This will be my fifth time seeing them and you'll definitely notice me from most likely a blue Bishop Allen t-shirt and a camera in my hands. Please, if you are into this band, come say "Hello" cause I always love meeting new WAS fans. It's weird, this past July, they were playing in Columbus at this hole in the wall called Bernie's Distillery. Then, months later, they were playing blocks away at one of the biggest venues there, Newport Music Hall. How this band has climbed....I still like Bernie's better, they had so much ENERGY there.

Also, a girl in one of my classes made me this mix CD with a couple terrific tracks on them, which I'll post more of later. But one really caught my attention....my pop sensibilities. It's a band called Even In Blackouts. They're an acoustic punk band formed by former Screaching Weasel John "Jughead" Pierson. They have three acoustic guitars, an acoustic bass and a full drum kit. They're lead by Liz Eldredge, who has really sugary sweet vocals, which are a weakness of mine. The band themselves remind me of Pain, who did the song "Jabberjaw", which Cartoon Network played all the time back in the late 90's. But here's the song:

Class Of 84

You can check out the band here.

Weezer

Weezer was my gateway drug. I must have been 13 or so when I first got into them. I loved the movie Mallrats and Weezer had the closing song on the movie. Great song, "Susanne", still one of my favorites. But it made me wonder, is this the same band that did that "Buddy Holly" song (you have to remember, this is when I first started getting into the internet, so that was seven years ago). I did a little reseach and I downloaded a bunch of songs. But one really stood out....

I Just Threw Out The Love Of My Dreams

This song featured Rachel Haden singing and I instantly fell in love with her voice. It may be a bit high pitched for some, but something about her voice made me swoon. And that's where everythign started. This song got me interested in that dog., which was her band with her sister Petra, Anna Waronker and Tony Maxwell. that dog. was such a great band, mixing new wave, grrl rock and power & chamber pop. that dog. got me into New Wave, Power Pop and Indie music. Hence, where we are now.

The Dresden Dolls

When one of my best friends told me I had to try out some new band she found, I rolled my eyes as usual, because I usually never like bands my friends suggest. But this band who were...."punk cabaret" as she called them, were something different. I'm talking about The Dresden Dolls. I ended up seeing them live this past fall, taking some incredible pictures like these:


(this last one is my favorite, also my grandmother's)

Anywho, I was totally wowed by this band, but mostly be two great songs, which I've linked from The Brigade site:

Pierre (04/08/2004)
Backstabber (06/24/2004)

We Are Scientists In Dayton, OH!

I met We Are Scientists on one fateful night in November of 2004. They were on tour with Bishop Allen, who I had met the previous year. Both are superb bands. But before that night, WAS were not even in my mind. But a fellow message boarder, Nate (of That One Pop Gem fame) told me I should check this band out specifically.

I had already planned on video taping Bishop Allen and The Motel Beds (which with Speechwriters LLC make the four band family) so it wouldn't hurt to tape We Are Scientists. And boy, do I have to thank Nate for that. I've been friends with WAS ever since, and am about to see them for my fifth time in Cleveland in less than two weeks. I hopefully will be videotaping that show, for there hasn't been a bootleg in a long while.

Now, on You Ain't No Picasso, Matt posted a video of "Bomb Inside The Bomb", so I thought that to get a little attention, I'd post a song that as far as I know, there is no live recording of out there....that we know....and yes, that's a hell of a run on sentence. Here it is:

Riffmaster B

Enjoy!

My Very First Post!

As you can see it now, this doesn't look all that great, but soon, this site will be up and running and running well. What is this site going to be about? Well, in my spare time, I'm a photographer and I do a lot of stuff for some local and national bands. This site will be host to my photos and to my thoughts on certain bands, much like a normal blogger.

The first band I have in mind is one that I owe a lot to: Saving Face is the band that first got me into promotion and photography. They were a power-punk group from Madison, WS. I'll always have Sarah Saturday (co-vocalist and bassist) to thank for a lot of what little I've done in the music industry.

So, in their honor, here's a few songs by this lovely band.

Fool's Gold
One Brite Star
A Restless Substitute For Flight

P.S. Sorry about the large file sizes, I had these CD quality when I ripped them.

P.S.S. If you're worried about the legality of these, Sarah encourages people to download these.