The Books

Went to see The Books last night. Wow it was super. thank you to matt h. for the ticket for my birthday. yeah! what a great present!

He bought a tiny cd which has their compositions for elevator sounds as commissioned by the french government. very cool. ding dong.


i haven't been to many shows lately but i certainly enjoyed the books. the visuals they had to accompany each song were excellent. they used found images to accompany the found sounds they incorporate into their songs. some of the image collages were very funny - such as people going to see an evangelist dancing and falling, the tape was sped up and replayed and looped. the editing of the images together was really well done. there were moments that were completely mesmerizing. i only regret giving up my good spot near the front to go get a drink. i seem to have forgotten the rules of going to shows. number one being - never give up your spot. when i thought i might go back i was met by an impenetrable wall of wide male shoulders. i slinked to the back and watched from there.

okay - i do have some questions for todays youth. (yes i felt very old there). 1. Since when have men started wearing patchouli oil??? seemingly straight looking, hippy men doused in Perfume. and it's so strong... when they walk by one is assaulted by the smell. actually many of those young things were exceptionally smelly. i mean they were wearing loads of products and cologne or perfume. i just don't remember everyone smelling so much when i used to go out a lot. and some of the colognes they were wearing were weird, like fahrenheit. okay is fahrenheit still in ? it can't be, it's like wearing drakkar noir. it smells so dated.

2. why do people go to quiet art rocky concerts and then Talk through the entire thing??? when i got in my second position at the back, there was this super annoying gay guy blabbing through the whole concert and what a jackass he was. ..." she is such a bitch...any man would be like okay to a one night stand with her but because of her butt but the second date NOWAY... she is such a MILF but then it's help! like run away..." Okay - if you need to talk shit for more than an hour don't do it in a small room inwhich people are watching and trying to listen to a concert! so terrible. anyone can talk shit at any bar for free and Not ruin everyone else's time. several people looked over at him - as if to say "shut up" but he paid no head and right on gossiping loudly.

That's one thing that is so much better about seeing shows in New York. There's no such behaviour allowed. and if you try to pull that shit... someone will, guaranteed, tell you to "shut the fuck up". and you will.... and if you do not you will be punched.

Frankly, the last show I saw at the Bowery Ballroom was way funner than any show I've ever seen in Toronto. They were fights and yelling the musicians, and they yelled back and it wasn't even punk, it was, on the completely other end of the spectrum, Love, with renowned gun-toting landowner Arthur Lee. newly out of prison.

Toronto is soooo polite. when one tiny opening came up in the crowd, when i was near the back, no one would move into it because the shorter people staid put behind it so it would be rude to move in front of someone shorter than you. instead we all just cautiously surveyed the opening, wishing one of us had the courage to make the move into it. i really wanted that spot but you just can't break toronto code like that.