my presidential weekend of shows

i'm sorry to all of you who missed the dirty on purpose show at northsix last friday night. it was one of those nights to be remembered. brooklyn rock and roll history. there was even a busload of english school kids -- 16 years old -- to see dop headline brooklyn. their teacher had brought signed permission slips (how cute!?). they were all so excited, and so were we.

the air was already magical. i mean with oakley hall, hopewell and jaymay on the bill, it was just one of those amazing nights -- the kind that you'll look back on and think, "whoa, i'm so happy i was there to see brooklyn's finest emerging acts show everyone what they got." several people came up to me and said they were just blown away. i was too. it was the best dirty on purpose show to date, and it was special to have so many supporters in the room showing their love!

the band played many songs from their upcoming full length album, and it was heavy shoegaze heaven with new songs like "no radio," "kill our city," "always looking," "your summer dress" and "lake effect." they also played some hits from the sleep late for a better tomorrow ep like "mind blindness" and "spider eyes."

oakley hall were really great -- that indie rugged country rock with beautiful melodies. pretty wonderful. we heard them rehearsing downstairs before their set, and then they rocked it onstage. if you haven't checked this band out, and you're going to see the yeah yeah yeahs on saturday at bowery ballroom -- go early and witness their wonderfulness. my favorite song is "lazy susan." there's such a classic feel to it, like it was written in the 70s an amped up for contemporary audiences.

hopewell also gave a stunning and energetic performance with their psychedelic jam rock. plus, they seem to be really nice, humble guys, which maybe isn't important to some people, but is imperative to me.

i was simply, achingly mesmerized by jaymay. she sings some backup vocals on the upcoming dirty on purpose album, and i've been a fan of hers ever since. there's this sweet vulnerability to her music that is undeniably blissful to the senses. i was super excited and giddy when she dedicated her first song, "gray or blue," to me. and even more wowed by her entire set -- especially when she broke out the a capella trumpet in one of her songs. it's amazing to see someone mimic the sound of a trumpet so naturally. i loved it!

at the knife skills show at mercury lounge on monday, the band's set was cut off before they could play their killer song, "doctor doctor." that was a bummer. those wolfmother people must be crazy because they wouldn't let the band go on past a certain time. i don't see what the rush was... but that's how the industry works. you have big wigs from interscope buying up all the tickets, and then they pressure the venue and the sound guy to keep everything on schedule so that all the industry-ers won't end up going to bed too late on a monday night.

the black lips left me blue -- so much so that i left the main room after just one song. i heard the lead singer whipped out his dick and peed in his mouth at the finale. then he spewed it on the audience. unfortunately, the music was as immature as his antics, and so the set suffered in my eyes -- though i'm sure there were lots of people who were into it for the sheer "shock" value of it all. the vice people seemed pretty excited about them, but let me tell ya, they ain't no bloc party or the streets.

i was pretty excited to see wolfmother and see what all the hype was about, but you know -- it's hard to please me. not only do i look for that special oomph, i also look for originality. and while wolfmother had the showmanship and huzzah, they lacked an original sound. in fact, they sounded like the bizarre baby of jack white and ozzy osbourne. someone told me that they were actually asked in an interview if jack white wrote their songs for them. ouch. all in all though, the crowd full of mostly industry types lurrrved their aussie metal sass.