thoughtgrenade.

Yeah so I neglected to update for a few days and am actually writing this entry after arriving back at home, but the last half (and arguably most entertaining half) of the trip must be covered in order to make this a complete travel blog, so settle in kids….got a lot to cover and not a lotta time to do it (since I’m passing out as I type.)

Day 6 in Philadelphia marked my first show at the somewhat legendary First Unitarian Church. As the name may suggest, this actually is a church basement on the outskirts of downtown Philly that has hosted some of the biggest and best names in punk, hardcore, metal and indie rock over the years. A considerable amount of quality shows happen at this place almost constantly; yet I had somehow, in my previous trips to the city, never taken in a Church show. This fact has now been rectified.

The show in question was in fact the Philadelphia stop of the Boris pan-America (and Canada) tour with Torche on direct support along with different openers along the way. The opener for the Philadelphia show happened to be Boston’s own Clouds (featuring former Cave In guitarist Adam McGrath), a classic rock tinged metal outfit (kinda like Doomriders just not as good) that I’d actually seen twice and, if my description didn’t make it obvious enough, wasn’t that big of a fan of.

However, prior to the show, I had already been a rather large Torche fan. Having seen them open for Jesu late last year, I was arguably looking forward to seeing them more than Boris themselves. However by the time the crew of adorable misfits I was traveling with got to the venue and actually succeeded in getting INSIDE (as literally the last person ahead of us in line sold the show out…I’ll leave the details of us getting in up to your imagination (though it entailed nothing illegal…or, at least very illegal)) Torche had already been playing for a half hour and therefore I only succeeded in seeing them play for fifteen minutes (despite hearing them relatively clearly from outside.) Their charging, downtuned, borderline-sludgy metal was thoroughly entertaining, but I did not get nearly enough of it.

As for Boris…the first ten minutes were interesting/fun, but I found myself REALLY bored for the hour and twenty minutes that followed it. Maybe I just didn’t get it…or maybe I was just too sober to enjoy it? I guess Japanese avant-psych metal isn’t for me then.

Day 7 consisted of comic books, kosher shwarma, walking to South Philly for records and then an evening reading/listening to said comics and records. Day 8 was a travel day and consisted of getting to New York when walking 25 blocks with my bags to look for records that I didn’t want and ultimately didn’t buy before retiring to Brooklyn for wine and veggie corn dogs (and FYI: Morningstar Farms…..you make an EXCELLENT fake corn dog.)

Day 9, the last “official” day of the adventure, was as good a culmination as I could have hoped for. El Pott along with our beautiful cohort Ms. D (not to be confused with Ms. T, who had returned to Boston at this point.) Began our day with a picnic in a quaint little Brooklyn park where a cross country kickball tournament was taking place with various local bands playing for entertainment. This slightly awkward but generally entertaining scene killed a decent amount of time until what is arguably the event that spurned this entire trip was set to take place: the fantastic triple bill of Hot Water Music, Thursday and Paint It Black.

For those unsure, all three of those bands have been on my “greatest bands of all time” list for quite some time. Paint It Black, featuring the man who I’ve arguably begun basing my life on, Dr. Dan Yemin on vocals, I had seen twice this year already (and enjoyed thoroughly both times.) However Hot Water Music broke up before I began listening to them and just recently reunited, so I hadn’t seen them. However more mysterious was the fact that I had ALSO never seen Thursday despite listening to them almost religiously since I was sixteen (and one of the few remaining emo bands still on my iPod after the great emo massacre of 2006.) Somehow I had managed to miss their performances every single time…spanning two cities…for six years….to the point that my missing them had almost become a running gag amongst those that I discuss the band with (mostly because one of those indomitable madmen who shall remain nameless has managed to see them every time they’ve come to Montreal for probably longer than I’ve even been listening, but I digress…) I had missed them so often, in fact, that I’d forgotten how much I actually wanted to.

Six years and 350 miles later and it was very worth it.

However, that’s getting ahead of things a bit. Paint It Black opened the show and as usual, despite being far out of their element in the giant venue that is Terminal 5, they proved why they are one of, if not the most relevant hardcore bands of the decade (which is funny since Yemin was part of TWO of the most relevant hardcore bands of the LAST decade (Lifetime and Kid Dynamite) as well. Feel free to debate their relevance, you will be wrong.) It’s funny, generally opening bands play for a half hour…but I’ve seen Paint It Black HEADLINE and only play for a half hour, so I would wager other fans of the band were not disappointed as well…though there weren’t very many others. It’s understandable I suppose, since this show was probably quickly labeled an “emo” show due to Thursday’s presence and all the “hardcore kids” tend to steer clear of emo shows and then go bash them on the internet and are then, in turn, bashed by bands like Paint It Black (check out the song “So Much for Honor Among Thieves” if you don’t know what I’m talking about.)

Thursday followed and delivered close to 75 minutes of post-hardcore goodness. While they were once unquestionably an emo band, I’m not sure the label ever really applied to them as much as it applied to other bands of that genre and I’m almost positive that it doesn’t apply now (despite what those lovely examples of humanity on the internet forums claim.) All labels aside, it’s always obvious to me when a band actually cares about the music they’re playing. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, when a show is more than a paycheck to a band it really shows in their performance. Sadly this occurance is seen less and less lately in bands who play venues that are larger than the average basement (or venues that ARE the average basement.) Thursday, who I would assume are the reason the show was at a venue the size of Terminal 5 (since I’m not sure Hot Water Music would require as large a venue and Paint It Black certainly don’t), break the stereotype though. As a band they are kind of at the point in their career where they’re past the point of being “the next big thing” (which they were for quite some time…though it’s up for debate as to whether they actually ever became the big thing they were next in line for) and can really do whatever they want artistically. All of their label and band drama seems to behind them now and while I can’t vouch for how they sounded four years ago, they were tight as all hell now. The vast majority of their set came from their third full length, 2003′s War All the Time, with selections from 2001′s Full Collapse and 2006′s A City By the Light Divided sprinkled in as well as one new, instrumental track (aptly titled “In Silence”) from their upcoming split seven inch with the band Envy. In conclusion: I was fully entertained and a loose end from my adolescence was at long last tied up (in fact my immediate thought once their set ended was “okay…maybe I can grow up now.”)

The unfortunate part was at this point, after being rather active on the dancefloor for both Paint It Black and Thursday, my body was considerably sore and my voice was all but gone…and Hot Water Music were about to perform. This being the second punk rock reunion show that I’d been in attendance for over the course of the trip (see Day 2 of this travel blog if you haven’t been paying attention), I began to ponder just how much of a reunion it is if the band was only apart for three years (or in the case of None More Black, 2 years). However, when you consider how many bands have arisen over the course of that period of time who have tried, often in vain, to fill the void of the dearly departed groups, the return of the forefathers actually means a helluva lot more in comparison. That having been said, having Hot Water Music playing shows again is a very good thing not only for their fans, not only for fans of soulful post-hardcore, but I dare say for the American punk scene as a whole. Having bands this honest, this grateful and this meaningful be active again raises the bar for the whole genre as far as I’m concerned. As for what they played, the simple answer would really be “everything,” but that wouldn’t be entirely accurate. However they did hit tracks from at least five albums (The New What Next, Caution, A Flight and a Crash, No Division and Fuel for the Hate Game) including personal favorites “Trusty Chords,” “A Flight and a Crash,” “The Sense” and “Turnstile.” Based on the variety of the set list and the presence of so many fan favorite tracks I’d say it’s pretty obvious that this band reunited for the fans more than any other reason and as one of those many fans worldwide I can honestly only form two words in response to their performance:

Thanks Guys.

(and if I can stretch it out to five (which I can because this is my blog): Thanks Guys, Keep It Up.)

Day 10 was another travel day as I awoke, tired and sore with barely functional vocal chords, and dragged myself back home to Boston. My bed, which has never looked quite as comfortable, sits mere feet behind me and it’s time to put this baby (both the blog and myself) to bed.

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for the regular banter once I think of something else to rant about.

This has been a thoughtgrenade special presentation.

Not a whole helluva lot occured aside from a lot of lazing around and generally avoiding the shitty weather. This update is really only to maintain consistency.

However, Fucked Up released a new single (which can be found here) and apparently robots know how to rock now. So I guess that’s something.

More to come.

Brownie points to whoever can find the specific reason I posted this last pic.

Boys II Men played a free show in Philly on the 5th of July. I didn’t attend but I was in the general area and one thing really comes to mind while spending 4th of July weekend in one of the most history-rich cities in the country: this day is exactly like every other national holiday in that it’s an excuse for businesses to charge insane amounts of money for things that normally cost less and for patrons to not care.

One specific incident sticks out to me: the city of Philadelphia was actually charging people to get into the cemetary where Benjamin Franklin is buried. I mean what better way to honor this country’s history than by charging people to see what’s left of it?

Happy Birthday America.

The following day was stuffed with post-4th BBQ’s where much good food was eaten and much good drink was to be had. I, unfortunately, had a little too much of said good drink and found myself with a throbbing headache when I woke up this morning on top of one water damaged cell phone and one cell phone that has disappeared altogether (hence anyone trying to reach me by telephone is about as shit outta luck as I am.)

For those keeping score, I can now incredibly regretfully admit that you can cross off “wake up drunk” from my list of things to do this trip.

Fuck.

None More Black Have Returned (I’d say “None More Black are Back….but come on….)

I definitely did other things in Philadelphia on the fourth of July, but all were entirely overshadowed by the event that got me here in the first place: the reunion, after two years, of pop punk legends None More Black.

My own history with the band starts right before they announced their “indefinite hiatus” in 2006 and my reaction up hearing of this hiatus (which was really just a less conclusive way of saying they were breaking up) was something along the lines of “oh what the FUCK, Jason!” (Jason, of course being NMB singer/guitarist Jason Shevchuk, had initiated the unexpected hiatus himself much like he did for Kid Dynamite years before and would do for Lagrecia in 2008.) Needless to say I was rather excited to hear the band members had reconciled and would be playing shows again….so excited in fact that I decided I would make my way down to Philadelphia to see the official reunion show. After all, I had missed the rather awesome Small Brown Bike, Texas is the Reason and Hot Water Music reunion shows (although admittedly, Hot Water do appear to be back for good and I am going to be seeing them in a week, about eight months after they officially reunited…but SBB and TITR had one off reunions) and given Shevchuk’s propensity for unexpectedly breaking up his bands, one can’t really be sure just how long None More Black will actually be back for. Now that I’ve managed to flimsily justify my journey here, I might as well talk about the actual show right?

I’ll say this to begin: it’s ballsy for a band to have their reunion show be an in-store performance and even ballsier to have that store be really fuckin small, so apparently the sheer amount of cohones contained within the ranks of NMB is rather high. Monsieur Potter and I arrived around an hour before doors to find a considerable line outside the small screen print shirt store known as Deep Sleep where the show was set to take place. An hour later, once doors opened, it was basically a free for all to get into the store and Potter and I were one of the last to enter before the band began playing. However, once the show started, the door to the store was basically a constant line of kids exiting and more kids entering to take their place. For you see, to say the store was overheated would be an understatement. However it didn’t seem to phase the band or the approximately two hundred people in the store as spirits were high, dancing (and crowd surfing) occurred and everyone generally seemed to be aware that they were taking part in something special. Playing for just about an hour and a half, if not longer, the band covered what was, as near as I can tell, almost their entire catalog to date, occasionally pausing only to fix their equipment or to catch their breath. By the time it was over I was dirtier than I ever recall being, every piece of clothing I was wearing was literally drenched in sweat and the smile that had been plastered on my face since the moment I entered the store was still very present. Whether I attend their second official reunion show tonight is currently up for debate, however if I do it would only be the sugar on top of the already delicious cake and I consider my None More Black fix more than fulfilled at this point. It’s clear at this point that the band intends to play more shows after these first two in Philly, and it seems likely that they’ll eventually record new material as well. If last night was any indication, that fact is a very very good thing.

Also, for those still keeping score, you can cross “high five Jason Shevchuk” from my list of things to do this trip (I couldn’t bring myself to attack the guy after being so thoroughly entertained by him though. Lagrecia will have to go unavenged….for now.)

Stay tuned…

Alright, back in action.

I wanna take a moment to give some props to my current place of residence in the fine city of Philadelphia, The Pilam. Technically, this place is a frat house, but upon setting foot inside you soon realize that the people here are actually not pompous jackasses and in fact some of the nicest people I have ever met. I find myself here as my long time spiritual advisor/attorney Mr. Potter lives in this towering tribute to free love and good music. They actually put shows and events on here pretty regularly, so if you live in the Philly area and aren’t a jackass, check em out.

Anyhow, my first official day of this journey began with me waking up in my makeshift bed on Mr. Potter’s floor. Ms. T took the bed for the night, but that’s only because she’s prettier than me. Upon waking up and meeting up with Señor Pott we found our way to one of my favorite breakfast eateries on the entire planet: Honey’s Sit n’ Eat in North Philly. Since I first ate at this magical eatery almost two years ago, I’ve tried to replicate the experience a thousand times over in multiple locations, all to no avail. This return trip finally proved to me that no one can make chocolate banana pancakes bigger than my face quite like Honey’s. Thus leads to the second (of four) plugs of this post: If you like good food and quality atmosphere, check out Honey’s; 800 N. 4th Street, Philadelphia.

Following that a semi-note worthy event occurred in my existence….kinda….in that I purchased my first piece of vinyl at a charming store called Tequila Sunrise. I’m too lazy to look up the address, so look it up yourself. However, I’ll now take a moment to put out a formal request for anyone in the Boston or Montreal areas who knows where I can get a hold of a cheap record player to comment the fuck outta this post. (Oh, and for those wondering why I bought a record without owning a record player, I invite you to follow this link)

After scoping out the venue for the None More Black show the following day (a charming little (and I do mean little) store called Deep Sleep….feel free to look that one up too.) We found our way to what, if I lived in this fine city, would be the restaurant I would eat at, exclusively, for the rest of my life. The name is Ajia, the game is all you can eat sushi and the result is the best full stomach I have ever had in my life.

It’s at this point when Hier Potter informed me that we may have blown our awesome Philly food wad in the first day….so we’ll see if this blog contains anymore raving about restaurants in the future.

The evening winded itself down as I completed the first of my goals for this trip: for those of you keeping score, feel free to check “See Wanted while intoxicated” off the list in the last post.

Additionally, today was also noteworthy as the following video was discovered…chances are you won’t enjoy/be as disturbed by it as much as I do/am…but go ahead and try…

Tonight: None More Black. Tomorrow: another update.

For the next ten days (give or take), thoughtgrenade is going to shift it’s purpose and souly document my mid-summer jaunt to Philadelphia and New York City. WHY have I jaunted to Philadelphia and New York City for ten days you ask? I can summarize that in two points:

one: I fuckin wanted to.

and two: theres an abnormal amount of good shows happening and good people living in both these cities over the next ten days (and, I’m going to assume, beyond…but the next ten days are just crazy.)

Although I suppose a better question would be why I think anyone will care about my travels enough to read about them. The short answer is: I don’t expect anyone to care about anything I write in this blog, but this “travel blog” format provides me ample room for both introspection and blatant social critique and I’m really not one to pass such things up.

So lets get to this:

Left Boston yesterday (with my lovely and beautiful travel companion Ms. T) via Megabus. Now, for those of you unsure what Megabus is; like similar company BoltBus, it is a discount bus line created by one of the major bus lines in order to put established “china town bus” service Fung Wah out of business. Of course this isn’t actually their admitted purpose, but anyone with eyes can see that’s the case (and I’m pretty sure that even blind people with any kind of business training could probably see it too.) Now, when I say discount bus service, I mean I paid 27.50 for my entire round trip, which is certifiably insane given the current price of oil, but I am not going to complain (and I WILL laugh at any Greyhound bus I may pass on the road.) After a thoroughly enjoyable (and more importantly, wi-fi enabled) ride and stopover in New York City we came to the first event of note of this trip: traveling through Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Now for those of you who are unsure, Cherry Hill is the location of the beloved White Castle restaurant being sought out in Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (not be to be confused with it’s horrible HORRIBLE sequel, Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanimo Bay……I admit that you readers couldn’t possibly confuse the two, especially since I wrote out their full titles, I just wanted to roast that piece of shit waste of my money one more time.) While in actuality there is no White Castle in Cherry Hill (I later found out that it’s actually in New Brunswick), I was rather excited to unearth one of those “if you’re actually from the area where a movie was set then you know how much they fucked it up” scenarios since the multi-plex that was across from the Burger Palace in the movie, where Anthony Anderson told Harold and Kumar to go to Cherry Hill for White Castle, is actually IN Cherry Hill. I see through you, Kal Penn, I SEE THROUGH YOU!

Following that astonishing bit of Film Geek-dom, I found myself in Philadelphia, where I eventually fell asleep. Thus ending Day 1/2.

Since this is the first post of this “travel blog” (and yes, “travel blog” will be in quotation marks for the duration), I’ve decided I will publically post my “list of things to do while on this mini-vacation.” Admittedly, this list is still growing, but as of right now the following will be done over the next ten days (provided I don’t get my legs broke):

-wake up drunk

-high five Jason Shevchuk for reuniting None More Black (and then, when he isn’t paying attention, punch him in the gut for breaking up Kid Dynamite and Lagrecia (even though I fully acknowledge that we wouldn’t have Paint It Black if Kid Dynamite never broke up…but I think the cosmos would ultimately forgive that one…actually maybe not…………..okay, only for Lagrecia then.))

-Give Chuck Ragan a big’ ol hug.

-Call into my radio show from the top of the Rocky stairs.

-figure out the structural flaws of the liberty bell.

-See Hancock or Wanted and marathon Metalocalypse while intoxicated.

-Give a member of Cloak/Dagger a copy of their CJLO Live Session personally.

-Watch Cloverfield, in New York, then go for a walk (this goal originally had “…while drunk” at the end of it…but that would probably result in my death and/or the pooing of my pants.)

-Get into a baseball fight with a yankees fan (with no less than three Red Sox fans backing me up…I’m dumb but I ain’t stupid.)

-More Goals to Come……….

Additionally, I mentioned the incredible amount of quality live music earlier, so before we conclude: I intend (which is worlds different from “I plan to”) to see the following bands within the next fourteen days:

The Smoking Popes, None More Black, Bearface, The Ergs, None More Black (again), Clouds, Torche, Boris, Monotonix, Matt and Kim, Paint It Black, Dillinger Four, The Circle Jerks, Paint It Black (again), Thursday, Hot Water Music and finally, once I return to Boston, American Steel. (AKA every band I have ever liked. ever.)

Stay frosty kids, more to come.