2006 Year In Review.. Pt I
December 31st, 2006Of course we are going to do one of these. A lot happened in 2006. For starters, Sugar and Spite was born (reborn, really, but it was definitely the birth of the Comic). And also, we went to a LOT of concerts. There was good music, bad music, lots of tv, and all manner of other things that we have opinions on that we may or may not have mentioned here already. We thought it would be fun to compile a list, and I’ll be posting it over the next few days.
Before I start, though, we’d like to wish everyone a safe and awesome New Year!
Year In Review - Part I
Stuff We Saw
March
Franz Ferdinand & Death Cab For Cutie
Ali and I went to see this show at the Tweeter Center in Camden. Weirdest match-up ever, but a great show. Franz Ferdinand made much with the rocking. The music is great, but they are even better performers than they are musicians. Also? Not hot, but so convinced of their own hotness that you are totally deceived. And we love the use of pop art. Death Cab was after Franz, which was kind of jarring when the rocking suddenly stopped. However, Ali was totally stoked to see them. They were also very good, and entirely too gracious. Dude thanked the audience after EVERY song and sounded surprised that we had all come to see them. We kept a running hipster dude count at the show, but got bored with it after we hit 117 (this entertained us for about 3 minutes). We are totally mean. Franz Ferdinand and Death Cab - please come back next year. But necessarily together. -Mik
June
They Might Be Giants
I went to this show alone. This is the first time I had seen anyone at the TLA in Philly, and I fell in love with the venue. I’ve loved They Might Be Giants since I was 12. When I first went in, a guy was playing a ukulele. I have no idea if he was any good, because it was impossible to hear him. After about 5 minutes, everyone ignored him. Then The Last Car played, and they were great. They did 3 songs about Mr. T. I approve of this. Then we waited for the band. And waited and waited. They were playing music over the sound system and Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend” came on. The entire audience began to sing along. It was fantastic. They Might Be Giants’ set was amazing. They popped streamers during the James K Polk song, which is one of the most surreal moments of my life. Surreal, and AWESOME. Also they had us all open our cell phones and they played by the light of the screens. All in all, one of my top 3 concerts. Ever. -Ali
Video Games Live
Mik talked about this here. Amazing, amazing, amazing. Although I would have liked a little more Final Fantasy music. -Ali
September
The Who
OMG wow. Ryan and I went to the tour opener in Philly at the Wachovia Center. I discovered the Who when I was in high school, and they are one of my favorites. It never occurred to me that they would join together (heh) again and I would actually get to see them. It was awesome beyond words. You could tell that Pete and Roger were having fun up there, and touring again because they were in to it rather than a gimmick. If I could have done only one thing this year, this would have been the one. -Mik
October
So You Think You Can Dance
Dancing! Killer seats! So good. I am glad that the show was able to go on tour. We saw this at The Academy in Music in Philly. It’s a beautiful theater (although it’s good we paid the extra money because we have sat in the crap seats there before), but the venue’s ticketing office was not really equipped to handle the mad fan-girl rage. But all’s well that ends well. -Mik
Ok Go & Cheap Trick
It rocked. And then it didn’t. And then we left. -Ryan
Ok Go was great. Damien kept telling all the “hot ladies” in the audience to shut the fuck up and let the old people cheer. And then he whipped tiny tambourines into the crowd. We are so seeing them again in February. Cheap Trick was loud and kind of annoying and also not playing the one song we knew. So we left. -Mik
Damien is so hot. He needs to call me. -Ali
December
The Killers
The show was supposed to be in October but got postponed. This worked out well for me, actually (see above re: already busy). Ryan and I went to the Electric Factory in Philly, where there was much waiting for the band to come out. Once the show started, it was worth it. Brandon Flowers is a crazy man. It’s like watching a robotic gerbil on speed who also happens to be singing and sporting a crazy moustache. OH MY GOD THE STACHE. They are very good live, and the audience was totally into the show. There were a few times when the crowd was singing along to the extent that you almost couldn’t hear the band. With the exception of the drunk douchebag who kept screaming for them to play “The Ballad of Michael Valentine” (which they did not), it was awesome. -Mik
Stuff We Listened To
My Chemical Romance
I’ve always liked MCR ever since “I’m Not Ok”. I love the punk rock. The fact that Gerard Way is exactly my kind of gorgeous goth boy didn’t hurt either. (Even though I called him “That Goth Boy From The Helena Video” and thought he was about 19.) But then some time in late August I heard that they were putting out a new album. A rock opera. And then I got really interested, because even though I adore the stripped down DIY garage rock, I would LOVE to see the return of themed albums filled with rocking on a monstrous scale, made by people who are Not Kidding about the Rock. Because the rocking is important. The Black Parade came out. And I am going to make everyone listen to this album. Or else we can’t be friends. The concept album is BACK! -Ali
The Killers - Sam’s Town
I freaking love this album. Its like a twisted cowboy carnival that is sort of also a funeral. It took me a few listens to warm up to it, because I think I was listening for singles and rocking and it doesn’t really play like that. It’s an actual album. Which I’ve gotten out of the habit of listening to in this world of mp3s and, oh yeah - crappy albums. Lots of Mikkie stars. I love it so much. -Mik
Ok Go
We saw the Treadmills Video at my apartment while watching MTV Hits. Which we do a lot. It’s not too often that a video sends me into stunned silence. I immediately downloaded more songs. Does it sound cheesy if I call them a breath of fresh air? Cause that’s what they are. -Ali
Muse - Black Holes And Revelations
I love this music. Mostly, it’s sexy and grimy and it hits me just exactly so in the dark place in my soul. And then there’s Knights of Cydonia, which is like, OMG, who brought the LARP back into the Rocking?!? Also, GIRL ON A UNICORN. Rawk. -Mik
Lordi
Thank you, Eurovision. Thank you so much. -Mik
Q-Unit
I don’t know what kind of stoned genius decided to put Queen and 50 Cent together. It should just be a goof, but it works. It works scarily well. Go download “Bohemian Wanksta” if you need proof. Hell, just do it anyway. -Ali
Weezer
I bought Make Believe this year. Weezer continues to turn out great work. The album doesn’t really have a coherent thread, but I am always impressed by their versatility. They can do New Wave, nerd rock, sad all-broked love songs, and just straight up rock. And you know if you have a Weezer album, you will be rocking out in the car. Guaranteed. -Ali
…And Stuff We Didn’t
Panic At The Disco
Points for great visuals in most of your videos. Minus for almost everything else– the fact that your lead singer’s voice is annoying, the grinding way your songs get stuck in my head for weeks and won’t go away, the faux catchy titles that don’t actually mean anything or make any sense, the way your songs build like they’re going somewhere but they never do, and the complete overload of airplay that “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” got almost all year. I want to like the whole Cabaret of the Damned angle, but it feels fake. This band isn’t doing anything that other bands aren’t doing better and with more sincerity. A complete triumph of mediocrity. Come on 2007, we can do better than this. -Ali
Die, Slow Jamz, Die. And Also The Rap.
I know there have always been slow jamz, but does it seem like the falsetto cooing of the horny young gentlemen has increased over the last year? Ne-Yo and Chris Brown, I am looking at you here. It’s like you are battering my brain with a stick made from boredom and lies, and IT HURTS.
And while I’m on the subject of music that kind of sucked, I can’t think of one good rap song that happened all year. Not even Ludacris. Its like rap is all about bling and booty and dances that do not involve any actual dancing anymore. And that’s such a shame. -Mik
More to come…