October 31, 2005
Fight On!
The Britons of Albion College play Division III football in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. On Saturday they defeated the Hope College Flying Dutchmen by a score of 34-0. Next week they play the Scots of Alma College. I wondered if it was some sort of conference requirement that either your college's name or mascot had to have something to do with northern Europe or be completely generic. This thought then led me to actually figuring out just how common these mascot names were in collegiate athletics. Counting only institutions that give four-year degrees, here's how it shakes out:
Adrian Bulldogs (38)
Albion Britons (1)
Alma Scots (10)
Calvin Knights (25)
Hope Flying Dutchmen (3)
Kalamazoo Hornets (11)
Olivet Comets (4)
St. Mary's Belles (all-female college) (2)
Tri-State Thunder (2)
Wisconsin Lutheran Warriors (26)
Universities within the same system with the same mascot were not counted twice, and any modifier automatically meant a seperate mascot (i.e., "Scarlet Knights" doesn't count for the total number of schools with "Knights" as a mascot). I was surprised by how many Scots there are and how few Comets. I also think that the Belles of St. Mary's are awesome. Especially when played on the mouse organ. To give an indication of how common these team names are, I calculated a conference-wide average of how many teams have the same mascot as an average school from that conference. If you really want to get the complete breakdown, email me.
MIAA: 12.2
Big Ten: 5.7
PAC-Ten: 10.8
Big XII: 10.5
SEC: 17.4
MAC: 11.3
I suppose that the moral of the story is that the Big Ten is significantly more original when it comes to mascot selection than any other conference that I know well enough to name each member school off the top of my head. Except for the MAC, every conference up there has one set of Wildcats. The SEC gets its inflated numbers by having two Bulldogs AND two Tigers (38 teams nationwide are Bulldogs, 44 are Tigers). The most common team name that I've found is "Eagles" (49 schools).
October 28, 2005
Experience Required
How much I value a movie or a song often depends not on the quality of the work, but how I felt when I saw it for the first time or whether I can tie it to some experience. Idlewild's "In Remote / Scottish Fiction" isn't an objectively great song, but I listen to it all the time. I got that CD in my senior year of college, back when I was going out to Albion all the time to pick up my brother for Michigan football games. I was out near Chelsea one Friday afternoon when this song came on. It was an impossibly gorgeous day; small cumulous clouds didn't so much block the sun as catch it, illuminating themselves. The grass was as green as it gets for a late-September day in this part of the state and the trees hadn't yet acknowledged that it was fall. The first half of the song is fine enough, but the second half made me feel like I was flying. It's a sea of mile-wide guitar hooks and crashing drums rising over a poetry reading. Literally, a poetry reading. The poet laureate of Scotland wrote and performed his work "Scottish Fiction" for this track. It's a lot of rah rah, hooray for Scotland, we're very dogged sort of stuff, nothing special, but somehow that song works. It was a rush, just speeding past farms and stands of trees.
Sometimes this cuts the opposite way. I was excited about The Aviator, so I just went to see it one afternoon when I didn't have a lot to do. It's not that I really wanted to see it right then, but I had the opportunity and I took it. It's a movie that just didn't go past my brain. Leonardo DiCaprio pulled me out of the story a few times. Cate Blanchett's Katherine Hepburn almost did the same thing, but that was more of a "Wow, it's like she's channeling Kate" acknowledgement of the performance than a "Nice accent, DiCaprio". I didn't even recognize Kate Beckinsale, which is kind of a compliment after Laurel Canyon and Pearl Harbor. Underworld was only slightly better, due mostly to the generous use of black leather, both fake and real. Anyway, except for some of the set pieces (Fake air battle! Plane crash!), the movie didn't make a huge impression on me.
Garden State is a movie I like way more than I should. The characters are broadly-sketched, quirky is mistaken for endearing, there are serious dialogue problems, etc., but I still really like it. When I saw it, I'd had a horrible day. Gray sky, a full morning and afternoon of soul-killing job-fair hell. There's nothing quite like the cold dagger of "All applications are done online," and the attendant fiction that anyone would ever see them to make you feel like you've been wasting your time. I was sticking around Ann Arbor to go to Sarah Harmer's concert at the Ark, so I had a few spare hours. The movie theater seemed a likely place to fill them. Garden State delivered what I wanted.
October 27, 2005
Hot Streak
So I guess that mocking the mp3 player shamed it into picking better material. It really had a good sequence going this morning.
Neko Case - Furnace Room Lullabye
Barenaked Ladies - Lilac Girl (this one's really good, I swear)
The Decemberists - Engine Driver
Elliott Smith - Twilight
Astrud Gilberto - Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars)
QUeen - Another One Bites The Dust
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Y Control
Gorillaz - Rock The House
Earl "Fatha" Hines and Billy Eckstine - Stormy Monday Blues
Neko Case - Twist The Knife
Badly Drawn Boy - Stone On The Water
BNL - Pinch Me (Skip!)
Guided By Voices - The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory
(Did you ever think that some of the guitar sounded like "Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday"?)
Neko Case - Wayfaring Stranger
Led Zeppelin - Kashmir
Liz Phair - Johnny Feelgood
Travis - Quicksand
BNL - Make My Heart Fly (Proclaimers cover)
Neko Case - South Tacoma Way
Uncle Tupelo - New Madrid
Sarah Harmer - Took It All
So, out of 21 songs, only one that I actually skipped. That's a good record with me, even considering that I'm the one who loaded all the music on here. It's also clear that it has a little bit of a Furnace Room Lullabye thing going on. Or at least a Neko Case thing, not that I can blame it.
I don't ever use the "Notes" function in Outlook, but I accidentally clicked on it today. My only note, dated 6/27/2005, 3:08 PM: "Jimmy has fancy plans and pants to match."
October 26, 2005
I Am Young and Vital
My second arena rock concert in 5 years was very different from the first. Instead of a sea of Hot Topic shoppers, we were awash in middle-aged parents. We saw zero people younger than my sister and her friend. None. Not even kids who came with their parents. There were a few people approximately my age behind me, so I felt like I wasn't alone, but we were clearly at the shallow end of the age spectrum. Like continental shelf shallow, dropping to the abyssal plain. A 65-ish couple was at the bottom of our section, holding up an Irish flag. And what's with all the Ireland gear being worn to the concert? Like the shirts and the hats and the hey hey? U2 know where they're from. It's not like Bono's going to be running along the walkway, stop and say, "The gentleman in Section 203 of the Upper Deck has a proper appreciation for the Emerald Isle, for he has a t-shirt endorsing it. He must be a man of discerning taste and overwhelming charisma. I will invite him backstage and give him deed to my overflow."
I've seen plenty of Scotland gear at Travis shows and Canadian flags at BNL concerts, but the phenomenon makes me wonder if this ever happens at shows for lesser-known artists: Do people bring Welsh flags to Super Furry Animals concerts? What about Sri Lanka t-shirts for M.I.A.? Or Icelandic stuff for Sigur Ros? When I saw Sarah Harmer at The Ark, I don't remember any maple leafs on anything, but I see so many of those anyway that they tend to melt into the background.
We knew that the Gavin Rossdale-led Institute would be opening, so we were in no rush to get inside The Palace. As we went up the steps inside the building, it was clear that Institute was loud, bass-heavy, and not really making us feel like we wanted to go inside. None of us had really eaten dinner, so we got some extra-gougy slices of pizza ($5!). When Institute kicked into "Machinehead", I barely noticed for about a minute and a half. It's not because I don't know the song, it's because I hear it every time I go to the Palace for any event ever. They play it all the time at Pistons games and I'm pretty sure they played it during the Green Day interbandium. We went down to the seats for the last few songs of Institute's set (Row H, right in front of the mid-level suites, at about half court for a Pistons game).
Thoughts (from myself, Megan, and KT):
"Oh my God, it's four guys from someone's garage and one of them happens to be Gavin Rossdale."
"They do not dress like rock stars, that's for sure."
"This place is very, very empty right now"
"Gavin's hanging onto 1996 a little too much. He needs a new haircut. And a new sweater. And some new jeans. Maybe just a whole style makeover." "Even if the idea of Harajuku Gavin is kinda scary."
"Is Gavin Rossdale . . . skipping?" "Yes, he's definitely skipping." "And on Bono's catwalk, too."
"He has to know that none of those people actually want to touch him. They're just practicing for Bono."
"You know, he's trying very hard, and I appreciate the performance, but . . . no. It's just not good. It's this same muddy post-grunge, bass-heavy sound on everything. And 'Information Age' sucks."
Barker/Wallace Opening Act Criteria:
Institute flat-out suck, but they play by the rules for the most part. Their sound is ill-matched with U2, but if they insist on touring, I think they'd be very adequate as an opening band for the Foo Fighters. Just don't make me listen. Overall grade: B- (A-, except for the sucking part).
During intermission, I mentioned to Megan that the DJ here was trying harder than the guy at Green Day. We still knew almost all of the songs, but instead of massive mainstream hits we got Radiohead, Interpol, Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, The Cure, and The Clash.
For the U2 part of the show, I direct your attention to Craig, who knows the material far more thoroughly than I do, for a superior recap. If my memory is accurate, the setlists for the main shows were identical, so I'm pinching it directly from him.
City of Blinding Lights
Right away, Bono's voice was sounding pretty rough. It loosened up as we got a few songs in, but I hope he gives it some rest soon. Still, the show starts well with this one. The treble and bass levels had given me pause during the intermission, but the mix was really quite good for the concert.
Vertigo
Elevation
I think Bono went into "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" at the end of either this one or "Vertigo".
I Will Follow
I'll take "U2 Songs That Were Released Before I Was Born" for $200, Alex.
The Electric Co.--The Ocean
I can't confirm whether they did this one again, but it sounded so much like old U2 that I think they did. At the end, Bono started wandering into another song I don't know, but faded out.
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
At the end of the sing-along, Bono goes wandering again, then apologizes. It looks like The Edge doesn't remember the whole tune that Bono wants to fade out on.
Beautiful Day
Miracle Drug
This song is way too on the nose for me. It's prose instead of poetry, which is not what you expect in lyrics.
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
Love and Peace or Else
Bono puts on his rock messiah bandana and calls for us to coexist, dorkily done up to include the crescent, star of David, and cross in the word "COEXIST", written across his forehead.
Sunday Bloody Sunday
"When Johnny Comes Marching Home" is slipped in here between choruses. Bald Guy, three rows down, starts air-drumming and his buddy, Beer Gut, goes for the air guitar.
Bullet the Blue Sky
Bono slips his rock messiah bandana over his eyes and gets down on his knees with his hands over his head. I think he's trying to make a point about Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. It's a good thing he doesn't care about looking ridiculous. Neither does Late Forties Guy in front of us, dorking out like there's no tomorrow. Hands in the air, but with clenched fists and no farther than head-level, so it looks like he's doing the imaginary clean-and-jerk on the weight set down at the gym he might not have visited this month.
Miss Sarajevo
"Some people have never forgiven us for putting on the plastic pants, but some of us had a lot of fun on the ZooTV tour."
Pride (In the Name of Love)
Where the Streets Have No Name
The one-two punch of "Pride" and "WtSHNN" is a great way to close out the main set. And we get our first invocation of Rosa Parks for the evening. If I were just a little more mean or cynical, I would've bet $20 on Bono mentioning her.
One
Late Forties Guy whips out his Blackberry to make a phone call. This is not my vision of rock and roll, but to each his own. They do a good version of the song, but no "Old Man River" like Craig saw.
----------- 1st Encore -----------
Song I Don't Know (acoustic, just Bono and The Edge)
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses? (starts acoustic)
"Well, The Edge, what's up on the jukebox tonight?" Another campfire-style singalong, which I happen to enjoy. I turn to Megan, "This song came out when you were about 5." "Oh, that's why I don't know it."
With Or Without You
The Edge has to take the long way around the "Bomb Shelter", but Adam and Larry are already vamping on the bassline. Bono starts the first line, but The Edge isn't ready yet, so Bono just stops while the audience takes over for an unguided singalong which lasts up until the first true chorus. Bono starts the lyrics at the beginning again and they roll through the song. At the end, he turns the microphone towards the crowd and waves goodbye.
----------- 2nd Encore -----------
All Because of You (maybe?)
Another new one, I think. A solid effort.
Bad
Bam. Second encore. Sorry, I apologize for that. But I really wanted to see this one live and they came through.
I got these tickets almost by accident. Whoever was supposed to take them at Radar couldn't go in the end, so they kind of fell in my lap. I liked the show, even if it meant getting home at 2:00 AM. I don't think I'd actually pay for tickets, though, at the current rate. In the expense of one U2 ticket and the cost to get there, there's enough money for me to go see at least three club-sized shows with a 400-mile round-trip travel budget. If I'm spending that much on a concert, I want to at least see a 35-foot lemon-shaped mirrorball.
October 25, 2005
Random
I love my mp3 player's sense of humor. I skipped past Coldplay's "The Scientist" and it took me straight into Sleater-Kinney's "Dig Me Out". Sweet. Listless, melancholy piano exchanged for punk violence = hooray. Then? Barry Manilow's "Bandstand Boogie". I didn't even know I had that waste of disk space. I hated playing that song in jazz band; why would I download it? Skip to The Shins' "Kissing The Lipless".
I've been listening to "Good Flying Day" by The Sadies a lot. It's not even the best song on Favourite Colours, but it's the one I keep playing and it's my favorite for now. It's short, uncomplicated, singable, and it's about general aviation. It's a good song for a bright, blue afternoon with maybe a few scattered clouds overhead.
October 24, 2005
FOGHAT
Questions! Answers! The thrill of victory! The agony of defeat! Sleeping on the floor! Construction on the Skyway! Italian food! FOGHAT was a lot of fun and it brings my count of "Tournaments I Won The First Time I Played Them" and my "Tournaments I Won Riding On My Teammates' Coattails" counts up to 3 and 4, respectively. Unsurprisingly, the former is a subset of the latter. Thanks, Craig, Leah, and Catherine. You people are awesome.
That said, I'm somewhat disappointed that we didn't activate Operation Golden Tee. Friday night, at Nevin's Pub, I had the misfortune to be seated with my back to the Golden Tee machine, which drew a sizable post-collegiate, exclusively-male crowd. With the amount of middle-aged man-ass I found planted on my back, I wondered if I'd turned into one of the horses from City Slickers. Typical sequence: Take a drink. *Bump*, *spin*. Share QB tales. *Bump*, *SPIN*, "Ohhhhhhh!" Try to eat. *Bump*, *spin*, "WHOOO!" Compare/contrast Thursday night experiences. *Bump*, *spin* "Ohhhh." *Spin*, "Ohhhh!" *Spin*, "OHHHH!" Subtle and not-so-subtle mockery crept into our conversation. High fives and "WHOOS!" were exchanged during lulls in their gameplay. We discussed the advisability of imitating their hanging-on-to-the-frat-house-just-a-little-too-long behavior at the tournament ("Operation Golden Tee"), which I'm sure would have won us many friends. The table next to us finally opened up, at which time we made our escape. Nobody should get that excited about fake golf. Phil Mickelson doesn't even get that excited about real golf.
I started slowly on Saturday, but that wasn't the case with everybody. Seriously, the preliminary rounds were "The Craig Show, featuring Leah". I think I started to pull my own weight when we reached the playoffs. My best buzz of the day: Getting The Partly-Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell off of about three chapter titles in a playoff match-up against the Gerbils.
October 21, 2005
Context!
The scene: Watching NFL Sunday Ticket in Kevin's basement. Two linebackers break through the offensive line to sack the quarterback.
A reference that will get you a laugh:
"That'll put your panfish down."
A reference that will get you a puzzled look (unless Anne is there):
"That'll put marzipan in your pie plate, bingo."
Just so you know.
October 20, 2005
7 Days of Silence
More-astute readers may have noticed that this page made its return to the internets on Tuesday after week-long absence. My bank was spectacularly slow in issuing me my new debit card, so that made paying UMONLINE unusually difficult; it's all sorted out now. Thanks to everyone who noticed/cared, especially those who took the time to ask me about it. It's nice to know that other people are interested in something I essentially write just for myself. I might even develop grandiose plans for the future, like a comments widget. Somebody stop me before I go too far . . .
Addendum:
Dave has no interest in stopping me. Thanks to him, the Charles Rogers Watch is now automated through the magic of Java Script.
October 19, 2005
Greetings from Michigan
I'm a little slow on the uptake most of the time. Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lakes State by Sufjan Stevens is an album I should have bought two years ago based solely on the track names. So big thanks are due to Leah for fixing this problem. I really love this album, and it's not entirely due to my affection for this state. But it helps. Most of the track names evoke a specific response from me. Either I've been there or my brother's been there or I know someone from there.
Flint (For the Unemployed and Underpaid)
Flint isn't a city that I visit; it's a place that I drive through. I can't remember the last time I set foot in the city. How do I know when I'm going through Flint at night? It looks like Detroit. I don't know what's going to happen to Flint, but it feels like the city is slowly suffocating. The auto industry built Flint and then abandoned it.
All Good Naysayers, Speak Up! Or Forever Hold Your Piece
It isn't about a specific place, but it makes me think of Jackson and the founding of the Republican party, given what it has to say about the political worship of commerce.
For the Widows In Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti
Paradise is a tiny town up north in the UP, just a bit of a drive (by UP standards) from Tahquamenon Falls. Really, it's the last chance before the falls, so when we took our UP trip when I was a freshman in college we stopped for lunch in Paradise at the restaurant there. Literally, the only restaurant. Probably not the only bar, though.
Ypsilanti is like Ann Arbor's sister who went to community college instead of getting a four-year degree. She does well enough, but there's a sizable income gap. It's a decent place, but it has its bad areas. Once I went to a Habitat for Humanity build site in Ypsi as part of a UAC retreat. It was a good time, doing actual work and actually getting to know people instead of sitting around doing icebreakers. The last time I specifically went to Ypsilanti was for a pop-culture trivia contest at the new library.
Say Yes! to Michigan!
Does anyone outside of this state remember that ad campaign? "Yes, Michigan! The feeeeling's for-e-ever!" That was part of my childhood. I've never been to Ponshewaing, but my mom was born in Cadillac. There's a hill near their old house that used to ice over in the winter. All the cars from out of town would gun it up the hill, then begin the inevitable slide back to the bottom when they finally lost traction.
The Upper Peninsula
Much of the UP is still a mystery to me. Other than taking the ferry from St. Ignace to Mackinac Island, I've only made one trip up there. On that trip, we drove to Sault Ste. Marie and over to Munising, making a few stops on the way. One thing I remember is the way the pavement on M-2 changes color with the content of the local soil. In copper country the asphalt takes on a greenish cast; in other places it's the iron that turns the road orange-red. And the trees are always there. Always.
Tahquamenon Falls
Tahquamenon was one of the stops on the UP trip. I didn't really know what to expect of it. I'd seen Niagara Falls, so there was no way this could compare to that volume of water. But I didn't think it would be just some trickle, since so many people made trips to see it. The first surprise was that I'd have to walk a mile to see it. My asthmatic/diabetic grandmother was with us, so this posed a slight challenge. Everyone made it to the falls and down the wooden stairs to the viewing platform.
The Tahquamenon River isn't really that big, maybe 200 ft across at the upper falls. The Huron in Ann Arbor is probably wider in places. And the falls aren't that huge. It's not like the Niagara Escarpment, where you might as well be falling off the end of the world. But at the upper falls it's a pretty large river suddenly taking a 50-foot header off a rock shelf. And unlike Niagara, you're alone in the woods with it.
The river flows through cedar swamps and carries away the tannic acid leached from the trees. It has a noticeable brownish cast as it goes over the upper falls and it's stained the rocks behind it. It looks like someone took a small brook running over a log and just increased the scale to monstrous size.
When you're done admiring the upper falls, you walk down a path to view the lower segment. The lower falls are completely different. The drop is smaller and it's made in increments. Five cataracts wash around an island in the middle of the river. It's lush and green with some trees on it. I'm told that you can row out to it, but I didn't see anyone willing to make the attempt.
Holland
I'll be driving past Holland again on Friday when I make my way to Chicago. My AP European History teacher moved there back in the '80's. Most of the people he met had been born there and were descended from the Dutch settlers that gave the city its name. Most of them were part of the Dutch Reformed Church, the descendant itself of the Separatists who'd fled England but who didn't board the Mayflower. One Sunday he decided to mow his lawn, so his neighbors came out to tell him that people around here don't do that on the Lord's day. My brother's 5th grade teacher lived there for a while as well. Her neighbors asked her to keep her kids inside on Sunday. Their own kids were getting jealous that they couldn't play on the Sabbath.
Detroit Lift Up Your Weary Head! (Rebuild! Restore! Reconsider!)
I drove through Detroit on Sunday. The last time I actually went into the city was two weeks ago. When people ask, I say I'm from Detroit, even if I've never lived inside the city limits and I currently reside 160 miles away. I'm from Detroit; that's it.
My city's had a rough 40 years. It's been "on its way back" since 1968. More people have left Detroit than still live there. Manufacturing isn't an easy gig to get these days. But people are committed to this place. Things really started to change in the '90's. The lip-service commitment to downtown from suburban residents and businesses started to change into actual foot traffic. The theater district started shrugging off decades of disrepair. The Tigers decided to put their new stadium in Detroit instead of out in the suburbs. Crime came down. The Lions decided to return to the city. People were less afraid. It's still not a desirable place to live, but you don't hear as many jokes these days about stocking up on ammo before having dinner in Hamtramck.
Romulus
Romulus is better known as the site of Detroit Wayne County Metropolitan Airport than as ...anything else. Honestly, I've never made a trip to that city that wasn't airport-related in some way. Picking up, dropping off, flying out, coming back.
Alanson, Crooked River
I drove through Alanson during my Christmas vacation last year. It's on the way from I-75 to the Petoskey / Harbor Springs area. My brother and I drove over to Nub's Nob to do some tougher skiing than what was available near Gaylord. Alanson is a one-horse town at the crossroads of M-? and Us-? and you have to cross the Crooked River to get there. It's a part of Michigan where they like their snowmobiles and pick-up trucks. The tourist revenue they see is mostly derived from the gas station and from the motels that cater to snowmobilers.
Sleeping Bear, Sault Saint Marie
My favorite place on this planet is up near the Sleeping Bear Dunes. I've been climbing them since before I can remember. My mom's been going there since they had actual dune buggy rides. This was before the National Park Service decided to care about erosion. These days, the only way up is to fight your way up a wall of sand. The first dune never really stops; it just melts into a less steep part where it makes contact with the second dune. I didn't make it to the top of the second dune until I was in middle school. I expected to see Lake Michigan ("the lake") on the other side, but all you get is another dune. And another. And four more after that. Then you get to the lake.
They Also Mourn Who Do Not Wear Black (For the Homeless in Muskegon)
The new Lake Express car ferry sails out of Muskegon across the lake to Milwaukee. It's a big time-saver for my aunt and uncle in Iowa when they drive to Glen Arbor for our annual vacation. I don't know much about the economic situation up there. They do have Michigan's Adventure, kind of the poor cousin stuck between Six Flags and Cedar Point.
Oh God, Where Are You Now? (In Pickeral Lake? Pigeon? Marquette? Mackinaw?)
To be honest, I'm not even sure where Pickeral Lake is, since Google Maps couldn't find it. There are several called "Pickerel Lake". One's up in Kalkaska County. There's another one that's only half an hour away from Grand Rapids. Pigeon is a city up in the thumb. I've been to people's cottages up in Caseville and Port Austin, so I'm pretty sure we had to drive through there. Marquette is another city I've driven through on our UP tour. For the first time in recorded memory, last summer we didn't force my dad to drive over the Mackinaw Bridge on our way to Mackinac Island. We allowed him to park in Mackinaw City (yes, the spellings are correct) and took the ferry out to the island. On the UP tour five years ago, it was from a hotel room in Mackinaw City where I watched Dave Goodman's episode of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?.
Redford (for Yia-Yia & Pappou)
Detroit Catholic Central High School was in Redford during my youth. They always won state titles in football and quiz bowl, irritating many people I know to no end. I went to only one actual tournament there; it's where I first met Ati, I think. Redford's an inner-ring suburb; this year CC decamped for Novi, a high-growth area. The center of the metro area keeps drawing away from downtown.
Vito's Ordination Song
October 17, 2005
"If anyone asks you why you like college sports, tell them about this weekend."
Well said, Random Guy two rows behind me at the Penn State / Michigan game. Well said, indeed. My weekend was so good. I saw two hockey victories, one of them a certifiable Big Game, and a football win that ranks with the best non-overtime games of the past 35 years; a win that goes a long way toward exorcising the demons of Colorado and, more importantly, makes it a lot easier for this team to finish with a respectable record.
Hockey (#7) vs. Boston College (#5).
This is, by far, the biggest game on Michigan's schedule before Thanksgiving. The CCHA swooned last year in non-conference play and it seriously affected the number of teams from the conference that made it to the NCAA tournament. The last time Michigan beat BC was in 1998 to win the NCAA title. Since then, they've lost two very big games to the Eagles in the tournament. This was an opportunity for a young team to make a statement and to pick up some critical quality-win points.
The Yost crowd knew this and they were revved up for this game. So were the BC players, although maybe they were a little too worked up, since they took their first penalty only 59 seconds into the game, then compounded the problem by taking another one just 38 seconds after that. It didn't take long for Jack Johnson to snap a shot past Cory Schneider to put the Wolverines up 1-0.
Another penalty, just a few minutes later, gave Michigan some trouble on their own power play. BC's penalty-kill unit was buzzing down near Michigan's zone, but the Wolverines escaped down the left-hand boards. Matt Hunwick's shot from the point was tipped by Travis Turnbull, but turned into a pass to TJ Hensick, who buried the puck in the net.
Andrew Ebbet should have already realized that the CCHA is really cracking down on hitting-from-behind incidents, and thus should have avoided putting his team in the spot that he did. He put a weak hit on a BC player that didn't entirely come from the front. However, the player hit the boards and Ebbet was tossed. Five minute major, game misconduct. Two minutes later, Chris Collins fired a shot at Billy Sauer. Sauer almost made the save, but the puck dribbled into the net.
The Wolverines fought off the remainder of the penalty and no team would score for the rest of the period. But the hits kept getting harder and harder. There were several spectacular open-ice collisions in the first and second periods. The box score makes it look like the refs were calling everything, but that's not true. They only called the big, obvious penalties and generally let the two teams play. It was just a hard-hitting game.
Michigan regained a two-goal lead about seven minutes into the second period. They managed to put some even-strength pressure on BC when TJ Hensick sent Travis Turnbull a pass in the slot. Turnbull got his own miss after Schneider couldn't swallow the rebound and put it in the back of the net.
Five minutes later, the Eagles came back. A breakdown in the neutral zone gave BC what amounted to a 3-on-1. Sauer stopped the first shot, from Brian Boyle, but the puck was again dribbling through the crease and Dan Bertrum tapped in the easy goal.
Michigan almost got their two-goal lead back. As the second period was winding down, Andrew Cogliano took a header into the corner on a nasty hit from behind by Tim Kunes. Since fair is fair, Kunes was tossed as well and Michigan received a 5:00 power play. They still had about 4.5 minutes of power play time left to start the third period with, but they couldn't convert on it.
The teams exchanged power plays for much of the period, but nobody could get anything going. Finally, with just over a minute left on the clock, Cogliano took the puck and headed for the net. A BC defender pretty much sprawled in front of the crease and Cogliano went airborne. Schneider made the save, and I expected the BC player to take a penalty. Instead, Cogliano was called for charging. Then something predictable happened. BC threw everything they had at the Wolverines. When they finally worked their way past the blue line, Peter Harrold crashed the net and slammed the puck past Sauer. Then something less predictable happened. Referee Matt Shegos immediately called back the goal and sent Harrold to the box for charging in what really looks like a make-up call. Which was awesome. Michigan successfully held off BC for the remaining 27.5 seconds in the game and the place went nuts. Best hockey game in at least two years.
Football vs. Penn State (#4/#8)
A 3:30 game means a loooong tailgate. We got there at the leisurely hour of 9:30 and set up for our five-hour party. I ate so much food that I didn't feel hungry again until 10:00 at night. French toast, tortilla chips, beef tenderloin sandwiches: We had it all. Seriously.
To save myself from exploding, I took a walk at noon up to Central Campus. I avoided Border's this time, because I really don't need to buy any more music magazines. The enormous line at Steve & Barry's also prevented me from buying cheap shirts, but there wasn't anything to stop me from going through the used-CD racks at Schoolkids Records. I found a promo copy of The Sadies' Favourite Colours for $.99 and Jessie Sykes's Oh, My Girl for $3.99, both of which breached my impulse-purchase threshold. Rejected titles: RATT, a Tejano Christmas album, various country Christmas CDs, Toby Keith, and Surfin' Pluto. Never heard of Surfin' Pluto? They were the first band to play at Planetfest '98, the first and ONLY time I've ever heard of them. The really weird thing: I mentioned them last weekend in a conversation, the first time I've done that in years.
The Michigan Stadium crowd was hungry for this game; I could sense it when people started shouting down the cheers from the Penn State fans. It grew when Penn State's band came out. The unrelentingly average Blue Band is like a low-rent Spartan Marching Band, honestly. They don't do seizure-entries, but they don't do anything else that's special. Lots of square formations, lots of faces. They made a lame, slow, square attempt at "The Victors". After their show, the PSU fans gave them a big cheer. It was quickly overshadowed when the Michigan crowd saw our band loading the tunnel. Pre-game went very well. The sweep lines were clean and straight, the sound was louder than the Blue Band, despite having fewer people on the field. And everyone sang "The Victors". The real explosion came, however, when the team rushed the banner.
The teams quickly got down to business. Michigan won the toss and elected to defer. The Nittany Lions started abusing Michigan's run defense and pushed down deep into Michigan territory. The defense finally stiffened and Penn State was forced to try a field goal against the wind, which missed. The Wolverine offense took over on the 20, but couldn't do much of anything. The teams kept trading possessions and no team was able to take possession past the 30. Penn State missed another 35-yard field goal and finally the Wolverines got their offense going. It wasn't much, but Garrett Rivas made his 35-yard attempt and gave Michigan a lead that they held for the rest of the half.
Both bands were trying to impress each other at halftime, so that meant modern/classical shows. The PSU Blue Band selected "Composers Who Fled From Nazis" and the MMB went for "Salute to Leonard Bernstein" from The Big Book of College Halftime Shows. Both bands sounded a little muddy, but Michigan did very well with its West Side Story segments.
Things heated up quickly in the second half. Steve Breaston took the kick back to the 30, giving the maize and blue their best field position of the day. Then the running game got moving. Mike Hart made a 17-yard run and Kevin Grady powered his way 14 yards downfield. It looked like Michigan would have to settle for another field goal when faced with 3rd and 10 from the 22, but Tyler Ecker caught a pass down on the 2. Mike Hart punched the ball into the endzone and the Wolverines were up 10-0.
Another set of possessions followed where neither team could muster much of anything, then Penn State found its legs. They marched down the field toward the south endzone before being stopped near the ten. This time they made their 25-yard field goal and were only down a touchdown. Michigan's offensive lethargy seemed to be showing itself again, resulting in another punt. The big play has hurt Michigan badly this year and Penn State got one out of Tony Hunt. His 61-yard run was the key in a drive that ended with an incredibly predictable draw play for a four-yard TD run by quarterback Michael Robinson.
Michigan got the ball back and got a first down. Chad Henne couldn't find a receiver on his next pass play and tried to run with the ball. He made about five yards and ran straight into cornerback Alan Zemaitis. While Henne was grinding for extra yards, Zemaitis stripped him of the ball and ran it into the endzone. Penn State's line is such a strength for their team and they showed it on the PAT attempt. The long-snapper skimmed the ball off the turf, where the kicker picked it up, made two good moves, and put the ball in the endzone for a two-point conversion.
The stunned silence didn't last long, however. Henne made up for his lapse by leading the offense down the field in textbook fashion. I'd been saying all day long that they should be throwing to Mario Manningham. They finally got him the ball with 9:32 left in the game and it was for a touchdown. He burned his man at the five and made a wide-open catch in the end zone. The stadium went nuts. Mike Hart wanted the ball and he got it. He punched in the two-point conversion to tie it all back up. Pandemonium.
The defense stood up on the next drive, forcing Penn State into a punt that Steve Breaston returned past the Wolverine 40. The offense made some moves, but they stalled out near the Penn State 30. With the wind at his back, Garrett Rivas made the longest field goal of his career, a 47-yarder to put Michigan up 21-18 with 3:45 left in the game. The relieved crowd erupted again.
Penn State took the ball near their own 20. They finally opened up their passing offense and it was working reasonably well against Michigan's depleted secondary. Number 2 finally burned us in the air, but he was taken down near the Michigan 35. The defense stood up again, taking the Nittany Lions to 4th and 4 after instant replay had overturned a completion that would have given them a first down. Decision time. Penn State, wary after their previous kicking trouble, elected to go for the first down. Michael Robinson fumbled the snap, picked it up, then hit the hole near the outside of his line for a six-yard gain. PSU kept pressing closer, and Robinson ran it in again from three yards out. They hit the PAT to take a 25-21 lead. I'd like to point out that the band failed to play "Livin' On A Prayer" at this time and during the entirety of the ensuing drive. This should be rectified for future comeback attempts.
But they left too much time on the clock.
With 0:53 left in the game, Penn State chose to, rather than squib the ball or kick it out of bounds, allow Steve Breaston to attempt a return. Big mistake. Breaston caught the ball near the five and returned it almost to midfield on an 11-second play. Henne threw the ball to Avant for a quick 17-yard gain. On third and short, Mike Hart made a great 11-yard run, making it to the sidelines and preserving Michigan's final time-out. Steve Breaston caught another Henne pass, bringing the Wolverines down to the Nittany Lions' ten with six seconds left. I told my cousin "Manningham, in the endzone." Not yet. Henne looked for Avant on the right side of the end zone, but he was well-covered. With one second left, Michigan ran their final play. Henne spotted Mario Manningham streaking through the back of the endzone and put his pass right on the money as the crowd lost their collective minds.
Hockey (#7) vs. Merrimack
With the football game behind and fall break ahead, not too many students showed up for the game against Merrimack on Sunday. It was a very low-key, laid-back atmosphere for Yost. The linesmen were the same set as Friday and Steve Piotrowski was the ref, so my natural thought was "This crew is way over-qualified for this game." Michigan came out and looked flat for the first few seconds before Merrimack helped them out by taking their first penalty at 0:37. Yet another hitting-from-behind major was called at 1:30. Merrimack clearly did not receive the memo on this one.
That was all it took to get Michigan rolling. TJ Hensick scored at 4:41 and then all was quiet for another 3:00. Then he intercepted a weak clear from the goalie and flipped it toward the net, where Kevin Porter banged it home at 8:01. Another three minutes, then Andrew Cogliano fired a sweet one-timer. The scoring cheer wasn't even over when Andrew Ebbet scored at 8:52. Cogliano scored again at 12:53, and that was it for goalie Jim Healy. Frank McLaughlin was next in front of the firing squad. At 14:06, Porter scored again and he completed his hat-trick at 17:41 with a power play goal. Someone was v-e-r-y slow on the uptake. One last ballcap hit the ice just before the puck dropped and one of the linesmen nearly skated into it, despite the entire arena yelling "Hat!" and pointing at it.
With Michigan up 7-0, nobody was really expecting them to keep pouring it on. We saw a LOT of the fourth line for the remainder of the game. Fardig, Swystun, and MacVoy got some nice playing time. Swystun got Michigan's only goal of the second period at the 7:54 mark. Noah Ruden gave up Merrimack's first goal of the game with a mere 36 seconds left in the second.
With Michigan up by so much already, we declined to stay for the third period. But I'm told that Merrimack made another goalie change to start the third period, that Merrimack scored a second time, and that Zac MacVoy got a goal for Michigan to finish the scoring at 9-2. Oh, and Mike Mayhew saw some playing time. I wish I could have been there for a chant of "Goalie-goalie-goalie! Sieve-sieve-sieve!".
Next week: Hockey (#1!) vs. Michigan State (#10); Football at Iowa. But I won't be at either game. I'll be at Foghat. I'm following last year's pattern: Michigan gets a much-needed, incredibly exciting victory at a key home game that started at 3:30 PM and ended well after dark. The next weekend, I travel ~3 hours to play in a pop-culture quiz bowl tournament. My life is nothing if not predicable.
October 10, 2005
Reverse
I'm still recovering from the weekend just a little bit. On Sunday night, I fell asleep in front of the TV twice, in front of football at 7:00 and baseball at 10:00. I'd dropped Leah off at the Kalamazoo train station at 3 only to realize that she'd left her Magnetic Fields CD in my car. We'd been using it on the way to the station to ward off Garrison Keillor. "A Prairie Home Companion" makes a Stephen Merritt song sound like The Ramones: Loud. fast. Possibly violent. I'd left all of my CDs in my apartment after burning her the few decent ones I had that she didn't.
It had been a surpisingly brief layover between our brunch and getting her to the station. A halfway decent internal compass, rudimentary knowledge of major local streets, and dumb luck allowed me to get us back from the Cherie Inn without getting seriously lost. I'm pretty sure we drove by the old location of my company, a large building that Siemens now owns. I didn't point this out, mostly because nobody cares about stuff like that but me. Strangest thing we saw: A sign proclaiming a set by "DJ QUAZAR". The sign was attached to a wireless store.
Stumbling upon the Cherie Inn in the first place had been an adventure. I'd driven into downtown for the first time with the idea that it would have some sort of local restaurants that went in for brunch. I followed the signs to Grand Rapids Community College on the thesis that college -> food. Wrong on both counts. Continuing on, we quickly hit a nice residential area, went by a big church (In Grand Rapids? Color me shocked!) and hit a small row of shops. Nestled in among them was the Cherie Inn. The place was full, which seemed like a good indication of quality, so we stuck through the wait, and it proved a good idea.
Dave, Emily, and Joe had cleared out by 10:30 or so, bound for Ann Arbor. We can all be surprisingly quiet when we want to be, I've learned. As part of the ever-accelerating process of me turning into my father, I woke up at dawn. On barely four hours of sleep. The New Pornographers' set hadn't ended until 1:30 with, of course, "Letter From An Occupant", so we didn't get into Grand Rapids until 2:30. Sleep deprivation was getting to me and I tried to fill an Aero Bed without closing the cap at the other end. Everyone was getting a bit punchy, so it was for the best when we were in agreement that collapse was the only option.
The trip up from Kalamazoo had been mercifully uneventful. We'd all made it out of Club Soda alive. I don't know if I'd ever want to go back there. It looked like a serious firetrap. Exposed wiring, wooden walls and stage (w/ concrete footings). One door at the front, one at the back; small steel pillars running from floor to ceiling; three turns required to make it to the front door. I realized this all as I slowly made my way to the door.
It's been two days, so I don't know if I can recall the entire setlist, but I'll try. This is in no way related to the actual order they were played in:
Twin Cinema
Jackie Dressed In Cobras
These Are Fables
Streets of Fire
The Bleeding Heart Show
Sing Me Spanish Techno
Use It
Star Bodies
The Electric Version
From Blown Speakers
The Laws Have Changed
All For Swinging You Around
The End of Medicine
It's Only Divine Right
Mass Romantic
Letter From An Occupant
The Fake Headlines
The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism
Jackie
They finally got Neko's vocal mix right for the encore. "Letter From An Occupant" came out loud, clear, and on-key, which is more than I could say for parts of "Mass Romantic" earlier. She'd been complaining during sound check that she needed more reverb, but they somehow weren't able to give her any more without squeaky feedback coming through. A completely smashed Dan Bejar also came out for the encore. Dan must have the most precise diction in the world, because he sang "Jackie" without slurring too badly, despite guzzling another Beck's on stage.
During the regular set, they'd brought him out for a few other tunes, like "Streets of Fire" and "Star Bodies", and he'd been pretty far gone as well. The sound at the club had been spotty all evening, and I was most disappointed with it during "The Bleeding Heart Show". Feedback kept creeping in, robbing a song that depends so much on building tension of a lot of what makes it so powerful. They had to back off that tension to let the feedback dissipate and at the end chorus they couldn't go all-out like they do on the album. If not for the sound sucking so horribly, this would have been a superb show. The songs from Twin Cinema sounded really crisp and the stuff from The Electric Version carried a lot of energy through the show, especially "It's Only Divine right" and "All For Swinging You Around".
Before The New Pornographers' set, Dan's main project, Destroyer, had opened for them. Dan was already drunk, but they still played a good, lean set, if not particularly tightly. The music itself is similar to the songs he writes for the New Pornographers. Lots of wordplay and expressions you wouldn't expect to show up in pop music. Various other Pornographers play with him in Destroyer, so Kurt Dahle, Blaine Thurier, and bassist John Collins were up there with him. Thankfully, Kurt had decided not to join in what had been Saturday's theme: Shirtless drummers with chest tattoos. Thank you, Kurt. Thank you very, very much.
Barker/Wallace Opening Act Criteria:
Destroyer rates at about an A-, verging on an A. I've docked them points for drunkenness affecting the performance. At the end, Dan hilariously knocked over the mic stand as he walked offstage, then looked back to deadpan "it's all part of the show". Since Dan's in the New Pornographers, he can't be expected to thank them. "I'd like to thank me for letting me go on tour with myself and my bandmates." That would be stupid.
The opening opening band was Immaculate Machine. When she was 19, Carl Newman's mom gave birth to a daughter she put up for adoption. Years later, the now-fiftysomething daughter reconnected with her mom. Carl not only learned he had a sister, but now he also had a trained vocalist for a niece. Long-lost niece Kathryn Calder now sings and plays keyboards in the New Pornographers with Uncle Carl. She's also the lead singer / keyboardist for her own band, Immaculate Machine.
Barker/Wallace Opening Act Criteria:
What's not to like when a trio sings pop songs about broken ships, the future, and existentialism? They were a really good, tight band playing art-pop songs that managed to remain unpretentious. Kathryn Calder has to have some serious musical training, amateurs don't play keyboards with their fingers flying all over the place like that. They were slack in moving from song to song a few times, but they had such a good rapport with the crowd that it's hard to ding them too much for this. Overall grade: Strong A-.
The opening opening opening act was a local band called Gerudo. They were four guys from Western who threw together every weird chord and time signature they could get their hands on, occasionally landing near something catchy before shying away from it. Their sound never came together for me. They'd won a battle of the bands for the right to open this show and a bunch of people near the middle of the stage were rocking out to them. Later, I said, "They clearly had fans," which Dave quickly corrected to the more accurate "They clearly had friends."
Barker/Wallace Opening Act Criteria:
Overall grade: C. My expectations had already been lowered once I Googled the source of their name. In the Zelda world, the Gerudo are an Amazon-like race of beautiful female warriors. The alarm bells of "Dork alert!" were racing through my head. When something is too geeky even for me, it's such a bad sign. They came close to obeying most of the guidelines, but the whole "Be good and entertaining" part is a killer.
We'd all arrived in Kalamazoo through different means, finally all meeting up at the door to the club. Dave, Emily, and Leah were hanging out in the Radisson lobby. Steve, Joe, and I were at the Dragon Inn. We were almost the only people there, but the food was decent. In fact, nobody was there when we first walked in. The neon "OPEN" sign was lit up, but the interior was mostly dark and there was no hostess up front until Joe asked the darkness whether they were open. A young woman appeared from the back of the restaurant, led us to our table, flipped on the lights, and turned on the Chinese pop music. Joe was disappointed to be out-cheesed so soon after we'd listened to his ultracheese mix CD. Outcheesing Kenny Rogers when he's at the top of his game is very difficult.
The Dragon Inn wasn't exactly our destination of choice when we arrived in Kalamazoo. We'd headed straight for Club Soda, but we were informed by Dave that they wouldn't be opening the doors until 8:45. Downtown Kalamazoo wasn't exactly teeming with places that proclaimed "Cheap food served quickly", but we happened down a side street and decided to give the Dragon Inn a shot, on the premise that Chinese food usually does mean "Cheap food served quickly."
At this point, we were already going on faith that our cars weren't going to be towed. Some guy in the parking lot told us that we didn't have to pay the machine, which really simplified things, but I couldn't find a sign to back up his claim. The drive into Kalamazoo had been relativiely simple (only one missed turn!). After the game, Stephen and I had picked up Joe at the Cube and driven to Albion, where Steve retrieved his car and followed us all the way to the club. As for the game itself, I really don't want to talk about it. Stupid Minnesota, winning the Little Brown Jug for the first time in 18 years. Hate.
Things had been going well up to that point. My aunt, uncle, and cousin from Chicago had found their way to our tailgate. I think my cousin is the only 8-year-old in the world who quotes the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy movie. They came while my brother and I were up in town at Border's. I found my music magazine equivalent of heroin. Damn you, Pop Culture Press! I can't put down a magazine with photos of Neko Case AND Sleater-Kinney on the cover! I also think that I must not be underground at all. The Ponys rated a full page in Magnet and a mention on the cover of Punk Planet and an interview on the inside.
The walk to Border's was necessary to ward off the chill in the air. People had cheered at the tailgate when the sun had come out for 15 seconds. Stephen and I had already thrown the football around the parking lot, so once the warm sting of the football left my hands they started feeling like blocks of ice again, like they had when we rolled in at 9:30 for the 1:00 game. Road construction on I-94 and I-96 had forced us to take the long way, taking I-696 to I-275 to M-14 and finally winding our way through downtown Ann Arbor.
Leaving at 8:30 by itself had meant that I woke up only a little after 7:00 AM, leaving me without a lot of sleep following Friday's hockey game. Before it let out, some idiot from Parking Services had already put the chains around the Coliseum lot, but some helpful guys held the chains up while other people drove under them. Quinnipiac had kept the game tight, and Michigan held only a 1-0 lead going into the third period. After Michigan pulled ahead 2-0, Quinnipiac got on the board and made it a much closer game. Michigan quickly struck back, killing the Bobcats' momentum and sealing the game.
Stephen and I had arrived just barely on time for the hockey game. Traffic wasn't the problem, it was that Steve wanted my Veronica Mars tape to catch up on the new season. However, he did save me from starvation. When he got in the car at Albion, he brought granola bars, staving off my hunger until we reached a Jimmy John's. He's a gentleman and a scholar, people. Gentleman and a scholar. And an athlete. Like I mentioned on Friday, he sent me an e-mail telling me that he's now a varsity athlete. He's now a member of the hunt seat team, 1-2 year walk-trot division. Woo!
It was a good weekend. I left work at 4:30 on Friday, traveled 562 miles over the next 48 hours, and had a great time along the way.
october 7, 2005
That Just Raises Further Questions
I received the following missive from my brother this morning:
If you've been taping "Veronica Mars" could you bring them home with you, as you know I don't get UPN at Albion.
Thanks,
Steve
P.S. I became a varsity athlete this week based almost entirely on my inexperience in the sport. I'll tell you more in the car.
What does this tell me? For one thing, it means I did my job this summer and hooked him with my tapes. For another thing, it means that he is now several classes above me in jock-osity. My sister, actually, was the only one of us three to letter in high school, although we all played at least one sport, and her letter was in golf. I played JV tennis for three years and Steve was on the wresting team for about a year, but that had to end so he could undergo his second eye surgery.
So what in the world could this sport be? My candidates are bowling, ultimate frisbee, and equestrian. I don't even know if Albion gives varsity letters in any of the three, but those are the only three sports I know he plays on a regular basis. The idea of ultimate frisbee as a varsity sport is stupid, so I'm throwing that one out. He also implied that his inexperience is an asset, so that could mean that he has a high handicap which they expect he can beat as he quickly improves, like a low bowling average that they expect him to start beating on a very regular basis. Or maybe there's a beginner division in his sport. Does equestrian have a beginner's division? And I just realized that now he has to worry about extra benefits and all that fun stuff. I better make sure that nobody buys him dinner; I wouldn't want to get Albion put on probation with the NCAA.
My mp3 player is being completely weird today. I have 3,248 songs loaded on it at the moment. It's played about six Ramones songs, whereas I only have 30 Ramones songs total, and it played three of them within half an hour. It's played 5 Liz Phair songs (I only have Exile In Guyville and whitechocolatespaceegg), "Video Killed The Radio Star" by The Buggles and by Presidents, and when I put it on random after listening to Twin Cinema again, what did it pick? "Jackie Dressed In Cobras".
October 5, 2005
Entertain
They were onstage for less than 90 minutes, but they ripped through 16 songs and just blew my mind. Sleater-Kinney showed me how it's done last night. I wasn't even sure if I was going to go until 5:15. I'd have to drive back and forth across the state (at $3 a gallon), I had laundry to do, I had work the next day at 8:00 AM, etc.
In the end, I just couldn't not go. S-K have such a tremendous reputation as a live band, but the last Detroit show they played was dragged down by the stone-faced hipsters with their begrudging applause, and I wanted to be a part of something better than that. So I jumped in my car and headed across the state without a ticket, just hoping to get in the door. Twenty minutes before the show, I walked up to the ticket window at St. Andrews Hall, gave them $15 (Take that, Ticketmaster "convenience charge") and walked right up to the stage. I was in the third row of people, up on the right side (where Corin Tucker would be standing). I don't think I've ever been closer at any show I've ever been to.
The Ponys played first, and they were decent. How you feel about this band ultimately rests on your affinity for squalling guitars and shouted/sung vocals, and I have a pretty high tolerance for both. They sound like The Hives if The Hives had heard just a little more surf rock and Man Or Astroman. They were incredibly tight musically, but they might want to purchase another chord or two and (please) some voice lessons. The blonde lead singer guy was about eight feet tall, but I've finally found someone in rock who's shorter than Corin Tucker. The pint-sized bassist couldn't have cracked 5'2" even in her boots and she looked terrified. But between her and the drummer (the guy was like a machine), the rhythm section was rock-solid.
Barker/Wallace Opening Act Criteria:
No audience banter at all; they didn't even say who they were until they played their last song. The guitarist occasionally said "thanks" after some applause, but that was it, no mention at all of Sleater-Kinney or their album or anything. If their record was $10, I'd consider buying it. Overall Grade: B / B+.
After a quick half-hour intermission, Sleater-Kinney hit the stage. Carrie Brownstein picked up her black guitar and started riffing, just messing around. Janet Weiss picked up her sticks and clicked off the beat and away they went, crunching into "The Fox".
The Fox
Within the first minute, they're all locked in with each other, driving to the end. I can tell that this is going to be a better show. The front row is hopping up and down, with the people behind them bobbing their heads along.
Wilderness
I was wondering how this would play without a bass, and it works surprisingly well. Corin tackles the lower register of the guitar as Carrie skirts along a couple octaves higher. Janet does that head shake she has. They're already starting to look sweaty. It hit 84 today in Detroit, a strong gasp of Indian summer. Either St. Andrews doesn't have air conditioning or they've already shut it off for the season. There are big fans for the audience, but they're pointed further back, so I don't get any relief. Janet has her own fan tucked into her drum gear, but Carrie and Corin will just have to tough it out.
Jumpers
A big cheer for the opening notes of this one. Corin really starts opening the throttle here, her voice ringing out clear and strong. They go nuts when they hit the instrumental segments. Carrie's jumping and kicking as she plays the hell out of her solo.
Sympathy
This song just kills me, every time. I'm so happy they're playing it. I get chills when the main guitar line locks in. Corin Tucker's voice is a call to arms, in and of itself, and when she slams into the verse that starts "WHEN the moment strikes . . ." it's such a force of nature. I saw a review once that said it isn't unbelievable that she does this every night. What would be unbelievable would be if she didn't.
Rollercoaster
Fine, I'll admit it. I got suckered by the fake stop in the middle AGAIN. But, hey, cowbell! This song has a big, flowing rhythm in its live performance and they're clearly enjoying themselves at this show.
Combat Rock
Carrie takes center stage for this song and rips through it, spitting venom like this song is brand new and drawing a chorus of raised fists as Corin claims to love her daddy Uncle Sam.
What's Mine Is Yours
When they played "The Fox" and "Wilderness" one after the other, I thought they might just go straight through The Woods, but then they skipped to "Jumpers". Carrie and Corin improvise for a while before jumping into this one. They draw out the break in the middle for Carrie to get more solo time, and she uses it well.
Modern Girl
This is another one I was wondering how they'd pull off live. On The Woods, it depends a lot on the clipped fuzz to overtake the song as it moves on. They didn't have that option here, so they just played it straight, ramping up their own volume and relying on Carrie to up the intensity.
Get Up
I wonder if this has anything to do with the tuning that Corin uses for the rest of the songs, but this version of "Get Up" sounds darker than the one from The Hot Rock, like some of the chords have been changed to minor keys, giving some of the vocals a more sinister cast. It's an arresting difference.
Let's Call It Love / Nightlight
I can't separate these two, they're really a more like a suite than a pair of songs. "Let's Call It Love" begins with Corin taking on the vamp role and ends when it dissolves into a jam session. It's not a shapeless middle, but it's all improvised. Janet calls them back to attention and signals that "Nightlight" is about to begin by locking back into the beat. Carrie kicks in with her thick riffs and Corin moves back to the microphone. I'm reduced to open-mouthed gaping as she puts her voice through its paces, from soft and chilly to loud and strident and back again.
Entertain
They follow "Nightlight" with a thunderous, boisterous, raucous "Entertain", the crowd shouting along to Carrie's accusations as Janet rattles the floorboards. When they reach the end, the crowd goes wild and they exit the stage. That was the quickest hour and fifteen minutes of my life.
------------- Encore -------------
The Drama You've Been Craving
"We haven't played anything from, Dig Me Out yet, right?" I'm worried that they're going to do "Words + Guitar", where the sing-along part failed last time they were here, but I'm also hopeful that we'll get a chance to redeem ourselves. Instead, they launch into a bristling take of "The Drama You've Been Craving".
Oh!
This song gets the best sing-along of the evening, as the crowd heats up enough to take care of the response part of the call-and-response chorus.
Step Aside
Corin: "I think we can say that this is definitely our best Detroit show since Zoot's. Is Zoot's still around?"
Crowd (sadly): "Noooo."
Some Guy: "Zooooooooot's!"
Carrie: "I guess we can do some Springsteen. Oh, you said 'Zoot's'. Guess I'm going a little deaf. We're not going to do anything from the first record or Call The Doctor. We'd like to present you with something we've played a few times less."
I miss the horns on this one, but I'm biased. Maybe they could do what Ben Folds does for "Army": He teaches the crowd the horn part and has them sing it.
Promised Land
After a conference, they decide to do some Bruce anyway, closing with a version of "Promised Land" that really shows off their chops. Carrie handles the verses and Corin joins in for the chorus. They tell people to sing along if they know the words, but they've picked one where I don't know them all. It's an amazing performance for a song that they just picked out of thin air, tight and well-paced. I wish The Boss could hear it.
------------ Epilogue ------------
I left St. Andrews Hall tired, sweaty, sore, amazed, energized, with a huge smile and I felt the same way when I got home at 1:00 AM, completing my 320-mile round trip. This was the concert I'd been searching for since I saw Ben Folds at the State Theater with Ryan and Gordon back in 2003. It's the only performance that's come close to matching the passion from the audience and the performance from the stage in one complete package. I'm so happy that I went. I just couldn't not.
October 4, 2005
Charles Rogers Is An Overpaid Idiot
Charles Rogers Watch
1 Days Since Our Last Incident
0 Days Back In Operation
WDFN (AM1130 in Detroit) is reporting that Charles Rogers has violated the league's substance abuse policy, testing positive for an unnamed street drug for the third time. He'll be suspended for the next four games. Dave said it, Craig posted it at Honolulu Black & Blue, and I agree: Charles Rogers is officially a bust. I could add a new category to the old "Charles Rogers Injury Watch", but that would just make it more cluttered. Time to just reformat it.
October 3, 2005
Right In Time
Charles Rogers Injury Watch
383 Days Since Our Last Accident
52 Days Back In Operation
Sunday was a good day. Brunch with the parents, which featured continued gloating over the football game, followed by watching NFL Sunday Ticket with the Ann Arbor contingent. It was nice to see Dave and Emily back from their honeymoon and to get a few things sorted out for the coming weekend. My dad couldn't use them, so he'd given me his three tickets to the upper deck box things for the Michigan hockey game, so I offered those to whoever wanted to go. Anne and Steve took me up on the offer, so we headed down to Yost for the first time this season.
The Wolverines were taking on the University of Toronto Varsity Blues in an exhibition game, though you wouldn't know it from the box score. The list of penalty minutes was LONG. UT lost a player to ejection in both the first and second periods.
Michigan controlled the play a lot of the time, but they didn't get many bounces to go their way. They made it out of the first period with a 1-0 lead, having allowed Toronto only four shots on net and taking 14 of their own, when a fight erupted before the teams left the ice. It was cleared up without anyone getting a game misconduct, but plenty of guys were hit with "roughing after the whistle" penalties and Jack Johnson was tagged for instigating.
The second period ended in a draw. Michigan only allowed three shots this period, although two of them were extremely dangerous. New goalie Billy Sauer seemed to take the pressure well, but he was lifted before the third period and replaced by Noah Ruden. The Wolverine defense promptly hung him out to dry on a textbook 2-on-1 early in the period and Toronto tied it up.
At the other end, Jack Johnson clanged one off the crossbar, his second near-miss of the afternoon. UT got another 2-on-1 and almost made it a repeat performance, but Ruden made a spectacular glove save at point-blank range while sprawled on the ice. Things remained tight until TJ Hensick burned everyone in sight, taking the puck coast to coast before stuffing it past UT's goaltender.
David Rohlfs was hauled off on a weak holding call (he had his arm around a guy as they dragged each other down), giving the Varsity Blues a power play. A weak clear allowed Toronto to keep the puck in the zone at the end of the power play, and they stuffed it past Ruden to tie it up again.
In the end, Michigan finally got the goal they'd been chasing all day. With a little under two minutes to play, Michigan pushed the puck up-ice and sent it around the offensive zone. Hensick passed to Hunwick, who took a shot. The rebound popped up in the air, and freshman Andrew Cogliano was able to get it to Kevin Porter, who was able to will it into the net.
We were all expecting this game to be a blowout, but Toronto is well-coached, they play great defense, and their goalie made a tremendous effort, stopping 50(!) shots. Michigan, like you'd expect of a squad with 11 freshmen, is still trying to come together as a team. They're all terrific athletes, but they're still relying too much on individual effort. You can go pretty far on that alone (see: TJ Hensick's goal), but it's not going to beat Boston College in a couple weeks. I look forward to seeing some improvement in next week's game against Quinnipiac. The penalty kill unit looked sharp, as did the power play set, so special teams looks like it won't be a huge concern. The goalie situation is still kind of a mystery, and we probably won't see if Sauer's the real deal until the Boston College game.
After the game, I had no real expectation of getting anywhere, but I went up to the Michigan Theater to see if they had any single tickets left for the Lucinda Williams concert that night. To my surprise, befuddlement, and joy, I got a ticket on the aisle about two-thirds of the way back on the main floor. I killed a little time at the Border's across the street before getting to my seat at the Michigan.
The opening act was a guy named CC Adcock (guitar/vocals) and his band consisted of Cedric Watson on accordion, fiddle, and vocals. They were from Lafayette, Louisiana and it was Cedric's first time in Michigan. Weirdly, they entered the stage to a recording of a steam train. They played a couple of original songs (minor key, medium tempo, good but not spectacular) before CC announced he was going to take us back to Louisiana via song, back to the Maison Creole. Here they dipped into more traditional zydeco stuff, and it really worked. Cedric Watson plays a mean accordion and they have a tight rapport when jamming on this classic music. It was like having an episode of "American Roots" being recorded right in front of me. They took on another old French tune, with a title that CC translated as "Let's Talk About Drinking, Not About Getting Married" and tore it up. Cedric had written a new tune in the Creole tradition (CC called him "one of the new Creole Cowboys out of Lafayette"), which he debuted for us. Translated title: "She's Short, But She's Cute", which started out very French and slid into more familiar zydeco territory. They finished up their 50-minute set with more original stuff like they'd played at the beginning.
Barker/Wallace Opening Act Criteria:
There was a LOT of audience banter, but it wasn't long, rambling stories. It consisted of short introductions for EVERY song. They asked for the audience to clap along twice, but it wasn't a big stretch since the audience had already been giving them boisterous applause. The thank-you was short and sincere, they didn't presume anyone showed up just to see them, and they didn't have any hits to play. Their song-to-song speed was "meh", but most of the music was really good. There were lots of solos, but that's the nature of the beast when it comes to their kind of music. Plus they were really good at it. Overall grade: B+.
Lucinda and her band made it onstage a little before 9:00, which caught me by surprise. They started out with a song I'd never heard before, "Handful of Dust", before heading into "Drunken Angel", one of my favorites off of Car Wheels On A Gravel Road. I snagged a brochure on the Michigan Theater, so I had a place to write down the set list:
Handful of Dust
I was coming back from intermission, so I missed most of that one. It sounded good, though.
Drunken Angel
The tempo was rushed and the vocals were a hair too late, but the song is just too good to let that get in its way.
Fruits of My Labor
The song is so languid and loose on World Without Tears, and that comes across here, but it's also fluid and it moves along. This was a strong performance. After the raucous response at the end, she said "Y'all can stand up if you want", but nobody did. I wish they had. I like standing at a concert or a sporting event. I can sit at home if I want to. Standing makes you more involved and alert to what's going on in front of you. A concert should be a participatory experience.
Those Three Days
This one is tighter, quicker, and more alive than the one on the album and it really works to its benefit.
How to Live - new
A new song, about dealing with a break-up and re-learning how to be on your own. It was the third slowish song in a row, but it wasn't about to put anyone to sleep. Big applause and high energy level from the audience, so she announced, "We had a set list all written out and everything, but set lists are made to be broken. Y'all seem like an intelligent audience, so we're changing it up a bit."
What If - new
This new one, I'd say, was the weakest of the bunch. It poses a bunch of what ifs, doesn't answer any of them, and they aren't that interesting to begin with. It was also the fourth slow song in a row, and the energy level finally began to flag a bit.
Jailhouse Tears - new
For the third new one in a row, the tempo went up a bit. This one's written as a call-and-response dialogue between a man and a woman, one of whom is always getting arrested. It's played with great humor and it's a lot of fun in a traditional-country ("stone country") mode. She said that it's been suggested that Hank Williams III do the male part, but for show purposes she sang both parts. "Do you think country radio would play that one?" she asks. A guy yells, "Country radio sucks!" "It's so bad!" she cries, a mixture of ruefulness and deep amusement on her face.
Out of Touch
DAMN. I'd never heard this song before, and now I'm going out to buy a copy of Essence today, or maybe "Live at the Filmore". This song smoked every other live performance I've heard this year. The band blew the roof off the Michigan Theater and doused everything in hydrazine. This is a driving, medium-tempo, minor-key, intense rocker about exes crossing paths years later. At the end of the song, the entire audience leapt to its feet to applaud. I was hoping people would stay standing, but it was not to be. Doug Pettibone, the guitar player, deserves special praise. The other thing is that, while keeping the song so intense, the tempo didn't creep out of hand. The chorus remained drawn out, so the lyrics didn't trip over each other and none of the tension was released until the very end.
Sweet Side
Pushing the tempo helped this song move better. The sense of being half a step behind that I got from "Drunken Angel" works here with the spoken/sung vocals and skittering drum and bass accompaniment. It also moves past the tough vocal glissandos quickly.
Where Is My Love - new
Whether this new one succeeds will depend, I think, on how the vocals go in the studio. The pitch changes within words are more demanding than on any other song I've heard from her catalog. The instrumental portion wasn't that interesting, slow with some jazz influences, but the vocals help out.
Righteously
This one really came to life onstage. The drums were more insistent, the guitars sharper, the bass thumping harder. Now I've got a memory to knock out the Syd-stalking-Vaughn scene from Alias where I first heard this song. Doug the guitarist messed her up twice, extending his solo for a good 32 bars beyond where she thought it would end.
Essence
"Essence" is another song I hadn't heard before last night. Musically, it strongly reminds me of "Somewhere Else" by Kathleen Edwards, pointing to another young female country singer she's influenced. It's also another song where the pull of a slower tempo adds to the tension. I always hear the melody of a song much more clearly than the words when I hear it for the first time, but even I can make out the theme. She's expecting something, an intimacy that might never become real. It's gorgeous and heartbreaking.
Real Live Bleeding Fingers and Broken Guitar Strings
I wish they'd kept the space from "Essence" and "Out of Touch" on this song. This is the one song for which I'd had really high expectations. It rocks so hard on World Without Tears, but they squeezed it too much live. It was a huge performance, but the tempo was too fast to let it become epic. I didn't know before that this one was inspired by Paul Westerberg's solo work.
Joy
CC Adcock came back out for this one, leading to a lot of guitar heroics between him and Doug Pettibone. The song rumbled and shambled along, anchored by the drummer and bassist, as the setting changed from West Memphis, Arkansas to Slidell, Louisiana and back. It's so much fun to see this one live.
----------- 1st Encore -----------
Lake Charles
This song's even more poignant after the hurricanes. Rita went straight over Lake Charles, her hometown. She said it's been good being on tour with other Louisianans. I miss Emmylou Harris on backing vocals here, but it's a sweet performance.
?
This is the only song where I couldn't figure out the title, but I liked the song. Like the previous one, it slowly rolls the lyrics around.
I'm Suffering - new
Right off the bat, this one reminds me of "Atonement" from World Without Tears, but it's nowhere near as abrasive as "Atonement" was. It has harsh, distorted guitars, but they don't plod here, they walk. It's a riveting song live, and I hope it translates well.
Get Right With God
"Even George Bush has to get right with God." True. This sounds like an older gospel rave-up, but it's also off of "Essence". CC Adcock comes back for round two with Doug Pettibone. Drummer Jim Christie destroys one of his sticks, he's beating on that snare so hard. The song eventually ends, but I'm not sure the amps will live to fight again.
----------- 2nd Encore -----------
The Day Billy Joe McAllister Jumped Off the Tallahatchee Bridge
A familiar song by Bobby Gentry. It's a meandering end to the evening. They'd like to keep playing, but it's 11:00 and they're being pulled off.
Good concert, though not the religious experience the Free Press promised, so it suffered from very high expectations. It definitely would've been better if the NPR crowd had stood up. It was the same problem at the Aimee Mann concert. I think we go to these shows for different reasons. They're there to go out together, to take a break from the kids, and to listen to music. I'm there to let loose and have fun with other people who really enjoy this show. A good concert is a participatory experience. I don't (necessarily) mean you have to jump up and down all the time and sing along as loudly as possible. I do mean that, to get the full experience out of a rock concert, you have to be on your feet, paying attention, and actively appreciating what's going on. This may lead to moving your feet a bit. The relationship between artist and audience can be tight, and there can be a big payoff when it is. Green Day bridged that gap in a 20,000-seat arena because they had a willing audience. At last night's show, there were big, appreciative cheers, but the concert didn't meet its full potential because they didn't stand up and interact with the stage and with each other. Also, some idiot wanted her to play "Freebird". Jackass.
October 1, 2005
The Spartans Play Good Ball (But They Still Lose to Michigan!)
Wow. Another overtime stunner between Michigan and Michigan State, with the good guys winning for the fourth year in a row. Actually, the sixth year in a row if Spartan Bob doesn't have a way-too-quick finger on that clock back in 2001, or if the refs had called The Most Egregious and Obvious Hold In The History of Football. This game had all the makings of another classic between the maize and blue and the green and white. Michigan, the great champ humbled by losses to Notre Dame and Wisconsin. Michigan State, suddenly confident; an offensive juggernaut imposing their will on the Irish and the Illini; the Spartans ranked and the Wolverines not, the first time since 1968 that this was the case.
I was so worried about this game all week long. Actually, I'd been worried about it since before the year began, but things started to intensify after the MSU beat Notre Dame in South Bend. Suddenly the Spartans were A For-Real Team, not just the pesky underdogs that seem to grit one out every once in a while up at Spartan Stadium, no matter how poorly they've played in every other game. When Corso picked MSU, I wasn't surprised at all. He's hated Michigan ever since the refs missed a call when he was coaching Indiana. When Kirk Herbstreit also went with State, I was a little more worried. He hates Michigan as much as any Buckeye, but he's usually rational with his analysis. After Michigan stopped MSU cold on their first drive, I relaxed a bit. When Mike Hart busted a 45-yard run that led to a quick TD to Jason Avant, I relaxed a bit more. When Mario Manningham hauled in an easy 43-yard TD catch, I started to enjoy myself. When MSU picked up their touchdown on the next drive, I knew I'd need the Rolaids. Down the stretch, the game was a nail-biter. The second half nearly frightened me to death. Looking exactly like the team from the Wisconsin game, the Wolverines frittered away the third quarter. The only redeeming part was that the defense stopped the Spartans far enough away from the goal line on a 90-yard drive that they had to kick a 27-yard field goal, which they missed. Finally, the maize and blue came tearing down the field on offense. Hart busted a run for 60+ yards, the longest of his career. Tyler Ecker was chiseled out of a touchdown by a dicey call of incomplete, but the pass interference penalty called on his defender let Mike Hart make a Vick-like dive for the endzone and the score, somehow keeping his knee off the turf long enough to break the plane.
As Michigan drove down the field again, I thought, "One more touchdown and I can relax. One more Michigan touchdown." Then the most horrible thing happened. Chad Henne raised his arm and was tackled by a gigantic defensive lineman. His hand was moving forward and the ball went straight into the turf, where 320-lb Domata Peko and his lion's mane scooped it up and carried it back the other way for a touchdown. The play was reviewed, and I was yelling for it to be overturned. Gary Danielson said it looked like Henne had changed his mind and was trying to pull it back in. Somewhere in Ann Arbor, Joe and his lawyer friends were screaming, "It's an objective standard! It doesn't require intent!" It didn't matter that he wanted to pull it back in, he still threw the football. Apparently the officials agreed with Gary, so they let the play stand, resulting in a tied game at 31 all.
Leon Hall returned the ensuing kickoff to the U of M 40. Michigan then mounted the most conservative drive possible, running Mike Hart back up the field, wearing down the clock and the defense. They worked the ball down to the MSU 12 on a drive that included 2 4th-and-inches plays where the offensive line showed their grit. All was set for Garrett Rivas to be the hero, and then he shanked it right. The Spartans took the ball past the 50, but then were tackled for big losses to end the 4th quarter and set up overtime.
Jason Avant won the game with his brilliant call of "tails" on the coin-flip. Michigan chose to defend first. The Spartans got nowhere and Drew Stanton was almost intercepted. The defense stood up and forced MSU to kick a 37-yard field goal, which they missed. Now it was up to Michigan. A screen pass to Avant netted about six yards and Hart centered the football to give Rivas his best chance. The third-down field goal was good and I started to breathe again.
Pity John Goss. He's going to get dumped on this week. A missed chip-shot field goal from a tough angle and a medium-range OT kick that just drifted right mean that he's the automatic goat for the Spartans this year. And he deserves some criticism, yes, but I'd save more of mine for the receivers who dropped balls all over the place. Mr. Scott, I'm looking right at you. On the other side of the ball, it's clear how important Mike Hart is to this team. What's also clear is what sort of team these guys can be. They can win the big one on the road. They just need to come out with this sort of intensity and they can move mountains.
