State Theater Returns!

This fall the place we saw The Strokes, Interpol, Brian Ferry, Faith No More, Incubus, Joe Jackson, Kings of Leon, Violent Femmes, The Used, and multitudes of other performances will open the doors again! Guster recorded their dvd Guster on Ice there during a 2 night WCYY Holiday Bizarre stand.  Local bands "graduated" to that stage during the first Class of 200- show which was held there and included Cosades and Loverless.  The Paranoid Social Club, Twisted Roots, Rustic Overtones and Jeremiah Freed all played there too.  Some bands who come through town, playing the Civic Center for example, reminisce about playing there and ask if The State is still open! In a few months the answer will be Yes!


This is just another feather in the cap we call Congress Street! Port City Music Hall installed their new marquee last week! The Art Walk has bloomed into an awesome monthly event! Genos, Space Gallery, One Longfellow Square and Empire keep the music community busy and thriving. Galleries and eateries continue to open and become popular.  Ottos Pizza now has Enzo next door for sit down food, beer, and wine. The State will add to the ambiance and activity! 


Here's the official statement:

New York City’s The Bowery Presents, an independent promoter, and Alex Crothers of Higher Ground Presents, an indie promoter in the New England music scene, have signed a deal to reopen the State Theatre in Portland, Maine. Lauren Wayne, a music-industry veteran and Portland local, will serve as general manager of the State Theatre and will lead the charge in booking, with the first shows slated to begin this fall. Before the venue reopens, The Bowery Presents and Crothers will continue the extensive upgrades started by the owners. Expect about 80 shows a year with a cross section of live music from diverse performers. If you want to be the first to know what’s going on, just add us, or go to www.statetheatreportland.com and add your e-mail address at the top of the page.

http://www.facebook.com/statetheatreportland

Looking forward to the announcement of that first show! Brooklyn Vegan just blogged about it too. 

13

Today I found this notebook full of poems and lyrics I wrote between 13 and 15 years old. I cannot believe how like this I still am. How these same images and words and themes have just continued to play out in my life. Maybe I should have been reading this all along. It's full of insights and reveals how some things I "forgot" along the way only resurfaced over time. I'm publishing some here. In case I ever lose the notebook.

My Guitar (I was 12 or 13 when I wrote this)

He's tan and amber brown
and sparkling clean
with a red and yellow strap made of velveteen.
We share all our feelings and music's our thing
He stays in tune and I play the strings
We've had great times together, we've been through war and peace
We'll always be together and our songs will never cease.

Metaphorical (14-ish?)

I am a piece of clay
I can be molded and shaped
by many things...
I am a computer being filled with information for future use..
I am the sun,
I try to make life brighter for others
I am a spectrum
I reflect what I have come in contact with
I am the wind
Free to come and go as I please
I am a machine
under someone else's control
I am a prison
part of myself locked in.

photo by Robbie Kanner 2009

This is just titled April (age 14)

Forget the way he used to walk
Forget the way he used to talk
Forget the look upon his face
Forget his strong and warm embrace
Forget those nights
Forget your song
Forget his voice so clear and strong.
Forget he sang to you at night
Forget the times he held you tight
Forget the first time that you met
The mem'ries hurt so just forget.

The Phantom

A shapeless transparently gray ghost

Floats up into the night sky;

Overhead to blur the flickering stars

And awaken the sleeping sliver of gold.

A wisp of smoke disappears

Learning

I need you to guide me

But don't try to force me.

You can advise me

But don't try to coax me.

I can use your help...

But don't do it for me.

Just reach out your hand to me

I will accept it

But don't hold too tight

For I must be free.

Old Man Sings

When I was young
every day was as a beginning
of some new thing
and everyday
ended
with the glow of the next
days dawn
All of My Life I HAVE BEEN
Seeking
SEEKING!

 

photo by Devin Ivy 2008

 

Circa Survive, I like your moves! and the blinks of your eyes (click me baby)

setting: House of Blues in Boston, Ma. on Monday, May 17th
players: Coheed and Cambria, Circa Survive, Torche

Action: Dropped Devin at Logan for the flight to France and drove on to Fenway area. Scored an awesome parking spot free 'til 8am. Hotel check in. Decent room. Ideal location near House of Blues.  Matt from one of labels has my tickets and I leave to meet him down on Landsdowne. Line! I've never seen a line like this for a HOB show! I hang by the box office to wait. Claudio goes inside for soundcheck. Anthony and someone else walk out after theirs. 10 minutes. Matt comes out of the venue and whisks me in the side door! Yeah. 

Claudio from Coheed is doing an acoustic soundcheck for fans. It's "Juggernaut" and it sounds as great as last time at CYY.  Sweet. I haven't eaten but no way I'm going to leave the venue again and get in that line.  I met some cool kids who were also standing along the rail that separates the floor from the first landing. That's my favorite spot.  They save my place to I can grab a pretty soggy slice and a Bud Light.  That will do. Food is merely for energy tonight anyhow. 

Torche was loud. Talented, sure. Very loud.

I know the set times so I'm counting minutes. 8 until Circa Survive at this point. Another Bud Light-or was that my third? No, it was numero dos now that I think of it.  Set times are on the dot. I love that.  

It's been, let's see, since London in September of 2007 that I have seen Circa Survive play a show (not counting Bull Moose for Road to Record Store Day this spring).  I can't believe it's been that long. I just edited this line 3 times and had to go back to photos to figure it out! 

First song of the set is the opening track on Blue Sky Noise! It makes me feel like my heart will squeeze right up my esophagus and out my mouth! Is that too much?

"GET OUT"



I could write more but let's just see another video instead. These aren't mine and I was over on the other side near Colin. My phone was about dead so I didn't take any pictures. I do have one taken by Lou from the VIP area where I watched the last 3 songs.  Anywho, here's maybe the 4th song or so where Anthony gives a shout to his brother Mike (and Mike's wife) who introduced him to rock n roll (side note: Mike, like Anthony, is an Aries).

"Stop the Fucking Car"





Pictures are few. 

 I admit I was backstage with Circa during some of Coheed and Cambria's show, but I could hear it all! If I hadn't just seen them play Port City Music Hall I wouldn't have missed a second. Since I had, I opted to hang in the Circa space for a while and absorb some of whatever chemical reaction that would bring on.  Then I watched the rest of the show from that little window you see up above the left side of the stage and I did take a few photos. The crowd had the Coheed fever and the band sounded amazing. I really wanted to be a crowd surfer during this show. Then again I had a dress on. 

Coheed and Cambria's set:

One / The Broken
Here We Are Juggernaut
Al the Killer
Everything Evil
World of Lines
Made Out of Nothing
Three Evils (Embodied in Love and Shadow)
Pearl of the Stars
Time Consumer
No World for Tomorrow
Guns of Summer
A Favor House Atlantic
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
---
Far
Welcome Home
21:13 

These are honestly my two favorite bands to see live right now. Could have seen Pearl Jam and Band of Horses across town instead, and I'm sure that was a spectacular show, but I'd choose these two again tomorrow. Or most any day.  

Rock! 

some questions that linger: Can the Irish not be analyzed or psychoanalyzed? Is AG the devil? Or a fallen angel? Are we all just bags of blood? Does all the battle just take away from the story in Avatar? and what about portals? Was Lou's air guitar to the Police song the best air guitar ever? ever!? Why can't working pass/gray haired Lou get a beer at the bar? Are they kidding? Will I ever meet the fourth Green brother? (Mike says not ever) Should I have just driven on to Montreal? Could Branden skate over the border? is the truth disguised in all your alibis?

Thank YOU!

to all these people who made my 10 Year Alternative Mornings party absolutely perfect! It was really a whole week of party and good times and house guests and fun for me!  I saw the sun rise on Sunday morning.
Love, love, love to all of you!

Jon Clemons, Rob Evon, and everyone at Port City Music Hall
Herb Ivy, Jared Payton, Devin Ivy, Maria King, Elijah Ocean, Bebe Buell, Miek Rodrigue, Sheridan Giordano, Pete Giordano, Sonny Robinson, Adam Powers, Mark Lennon, Michael Anderson, Dan MacLeod, Rob Riccitelli, Dan Capaldi, Kate Follaytar, Sarah Mallory, Angie Weymouth, Jill Koufman, Jen Jacques, Keith Mann, Mike Tillson, Sharon Sprague, Dave Bloom...it meant a lot to me that you were all there!

I broke a glass! Before my first glass of Prosecco! Breaking a glass can be celebratory and mean never returning to the way life used to be. Like breaking a champagne bottle to christen a ship, I will take this as a good omen! Miek photographed me a moment later.

Hangin' in the blue Green Room: Loverless

Out on the town for the Friday Art walk the evening prior: Bebe Buell, Sheridan and me

Devin partying with me during Bebe's set:

More photos here: Flickr Photo Gallery
 L'chaim!