The Big Gigantic 2/20/13 Toads Place

Capacity crowd of 20 yr olds to see drum and sax combo BG. Found a relatively safe viewing location amongst the throng. A young wide-eyed hipster could not stop high fiving me the entire evening. Kids in shorts (it was single digits outside), shirtless binky sucking next,next gen hippie converged at Toads for the scene. The show was similar to the 2011 GOTV Saturday late night, two white guys one played drums while the other played sax and laptop. Computer generated bass shook one's leg hair but the music was not inspired. Vocal snippets and computer crescendo seemed to move the crowd, but not me. This music is more of a backdrop for the scene, kind of like disco for the times. It's ironic that BG used to be affiliated with the Motet, one of the best percussion-heavy jam troupes in Colorado history. I left early for an easy exit to see the streets crawling with cops poised to scoop up those with the largest pupils. As with most music like this, it is best heard outside.

The Residents, Iron Horse Northampton MA 2/13/13

I consider myself fortunate to have persevered blizzard charlotte's aftermath to view the "40 Years of Weird" tour by the Residents. While I cannot begin to explain the checkered history of this avant-art-rock collective, my notes on the evening's festivities seem like the best kind of review. To set the stage, two giant inflatable snowmen with intertwining candy canes form an entrance to the stage. The players, Randy: lead singer/talker dressed as Santa, Chuck: keyboards and electronics, dressed as a chicken, and Bob: on guitar, dressed as a bug. Here goes: Picnic n the Jungle//Demented Midget in a co-dependent relationship with a giant//Struggles//Snakefinger dies of a heart attack in Austria in the 80s// Randy has fight with his swivel chair shaped like a huge pair of lips//between songs Randy rocks autistically on candy cane entrance// chuck lives on a chicken farm, randy lives with cat Maurice on West Pico in LA// randy was beat by eddie murphy for the donkey voice in the Shrek movie...fahk//chuck aims electronic etchasketch at keyboard for a feedback solo//bob seems like Buckethead in his metal-prog approach to guitar//randy has been married 11 times//mandy's butt->everything is black// friend lenny does porno films, rnady's profile pic has him with fake phallus so he "couldn't even make it in the porno business!"// maurice gets hit by a car but only needs a small amputation//lost all money in media-rich "mole" phase in the 90s//randy kicks candy cane, it deflates as he exits// bob skronks out a version of "o tannenbaum" as randy blows up a huge christmas tree with eyeball as the star// closes with "auld lang syne"...............wow