Archive for the ‘music’ Category

Thursday in Philly on Friday

Last Friday I took a trip to Philadelphia with my friend to see Thursday at the Trocadero. This was my first trip to Philly for a concert since probably 2004 when I went to see Dashboard Confessional, Thrice and The Get Up Kids in the Spectrum.

I have, however, been going to Philly a little more often lately for Union soccer, so I’m more comfortable with the city than I’ve ever been. But since my car was being whacky, my friend drove. We got down there and parked in a shady parking garage and went over to the venue. I gotta say, the Troc is a cool place.

It’s a really old building, that, despite being the setting of countless punk and metal shows, manages to hang onto the styling of its roots. There are decorative facades surrounding the large, high ceiling stage, with a balcony area that serves as the 21 and over drinking area. The crowd was just about the perfect size, with it not at all feeling empty, and yet not too crowded that you felt stifled.

The opening acts were forgettable but I really did enjoy Thursday. They mixed up some of their really old stuff in with some newer material, and proved to me that they can still hang with the best in this genre that they helped define over a decade ago.

Later that night I met up with some friends who live in the city and we went to a bar called Nodding Head Brewery, which served a bunch of microbrews, including this one hefeweizen that included some green Woodruff syrup. I personally was not a fan of that, but all the girls seemed to go nuts over it. I tried the Grogg as well as the 60 Shilling, and both were excellent.

The next day we decided to walk around and do the touristy things that nobody from the city ever does. This included going over to Love Park, as well as to the art museum to see the Rocky steps.

It was a fun weekend.

Breathless

suck it kanye

the more i listen to taylor, despite not being a huge fan of any country music with few exceptions, i find her and her songs to be ridiculously charming.

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I signed up for last.fm a few weeks back when they started the Xbox 360 preview program with the last.fm integration (friend me!). It’s pretty sweet as an internet radio thing, but after hooking it up with my local library I realized I’m embarrassingly obsessed with Breathe Carolina. Trying to deduce how this happened, I have come to the conclusion that a combination of catchy songs, very short songs (only one song on their first album is over 4 minutes), and the fact they’re on my ipod nano which i rarely change the music on, means that this band is ranked number one with a vengeance on my playlist. So now I have to listen to any band other than them to get them off first place.

what a fucking week

this week has been mostly awful. i’ll write something cryptic about it on a piece of paper and post it here some time. stuff just kept hitting me one after another. i mostly just crawled into a little hole to get away. the let downs continued even today. suffice to say, i did not go to philadelphia.

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i thought this was totally cheesy and cute. secondhand serenade is one of my favorite singers. the guy made this video in Microsoft Paint.

Penn State’s Effing Epic Movie Halftime

Batman, Rocky, Back to the Future, Star Wars, Superman. Even if you’re not a fan of marching bands, you gotta admit the Blue Band’s halftime show this past weekend kicked ass. The Rocky fight was awesome. And Vader? Are you kidding me? Sick!

All Time Low’s Nothing Personal

I just listened through the newest All Time Low album, Nothing Personal and it’s really good. It’s straight up pop-punk, and so if you’ve hated pretty much every pop-punk album you’ve ever heard, you’ll despise the bubblegum that comes with this CD. But if you can get past that, it’s got some really catchy tunes. Definitely check it out! Two of the highlights (which aren’t singles yet, and I personally like better than either of the current singles) are the catchy “Sick Little Games” and the slower, essential ballad “Therapy”.

I’m sure eventually these videos will break, so be sure to check out the actual album (or listen on the All Time Low MySpace.)

4/5

Michael Jackson 1958-2009

Michael Jackson died today. I am seriously bummed by this. I’m old enough to remember Michael Jackson’s peak during the 80s, and I idolized him. Just ask my mom about the ridiculous dancing I did when I was little, muddling the lyrics and sliding across the floor. I’m stunned and numb… this is a huge loss.

Movin On 2009 at Penn State

Long time no update, so here we go with a few pictures from Movin On, Penn State’s spring concert from earlier today. It was cold as balls so I didn’t stick around the whole 11 hours or so of the show but I did catch the earlier bands Acalasia and One Downtown Avenue, and the last band, the Spill Canvas, who headlined. They were really good live, despite the weather.

I loveded you piggy. I loveded you.

My new camera is here and I’ve been poking through the manual for a while. But in reality I just need the weather to stop being so shitty so I can get out and use it. That’s the only way I’m really gonna figure out what all these features mean. Until then, I can just shoot dumb stuff like this:

Piggy by ~scotttopic on deviantART

I saw this band Acalasia play two shows yesterday.. one was an acoustic set they were doing in the Hot Topic at the mall, then later in town at the Brewery. They’re really good. Krystal, the singer, has a lot of energy and a great voice. So they actually have another show tomorrow.. depending on the weather I might check it out. And bring the camera!