05/31/08 Consider the Source/Fiasco/Aa/The Beets/etc. @ Goodbye Blue Monday, Brooklyn, NY

The tail end of this all-day Todd P showcase was supposed to take place on a beach in the Jamaica Bay, but the forecast called for rain, so it was moved to this Bushwick watering hole.

The decor of the bar was a pop culture junkyard explosion. Towers of cathode ray tube televisions and other archaic audio visual equipment lined the walls. Doll parts and action figures glued to mirrors adorned spare surfaces. The outdoor courtyard was strewn haphazardly with mattress springs and outsider sculptures. It was perfect.

Bands included teen punkers Fiasco, lo-fi indie rockers The Beets (not from Doug) and noise masters Aa (aka Big A Little A).

But the best act by far, to my hippie ears anyway, was the Middle Eastern influenced prog-jam trio Consider the Source. I had heard their name bandied about and checked their tunes online, but seeing them live was a treat. It's not much of a stretch to call the bassist Claypoolesque.

Little did I know then that just a few weeks later, they would be performing in my very own backyard.

05/31/08 So So Glos/Eskalators @ Bowery station>M train, New York>Brooklyn, NY

Local all-ages, all-venues show promoter Todd P planned a unique event for this Memorial Day weekend, starting with a subway platform performance by lo-fi punksters So So Glos.

From there, the original plan had us headed out to Jamaica Bay for a waterfront day fest. However, the inclement weather forecast changed plans.

We piled on to the Brooklyn-bound M train for an old fashioned train party featuring the 3rd wave ska of the Eskalators en route to the day's final destination.

05/24/08 The New Deal/Awesome New Republic @ Bowery Ballroom

After Raya Brass Band at Rose, we headed across the Williamsburg Bridge to catch one of my favorite bands at their most frequented NYC digs.

The opener was a high energy dance act in a similar vein that got the crowd moving with renditions of "Eye of the Tiger" and "Thriller."

The New Deal put on yet another wire-to-wire all-out dance party. They may be predictable, but they are predictably awesome, masters of the tension release peak jam.

LISTEN HERE!

05/24/08 Raya Brass Band @ Rose Live Music, Brooklyn, NY

Just a few weeks before this pristene spring day, I had taken my girlfriend to get a cheap mountain bike, so she could join me on city rides on days like this one.

So that's what we did.

The ride from Flushing to Williamsburg takes a little under an hour, about the same as the train.

Unfortunately, my girlfriend, inexperienced as she is in the ways of the bicycle, suffered a minor injury en route to Rose.

Luckily, the bartender at Rose provided some tender loving care and Band-Aids. After catching the tail end of Raya's set of rollicking Balkan-tinged brass reverie.