Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

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OK Go and the Substitute Person

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Last week I posted about the fantasy of being a substitute person – filling in perfectly for a favorite band with none of the risk of being the permanent solution.

This weekend I saw the phenomenon in action when OK Go pulled a fan out of the audience to play “Here It Goes Again” with them on stage.

(Afterwards, OK Go was impressed by Eric’s performance, noting, “Most people think they know how to play it because they played it on Guitar Hero.”)

As amazing as it is to be the substitute person, it also uniquely rewarding to watch a substitute person succeed at their task. It’s as once-in-a-lifetime for an audience member as it as for the substitute!

My favorite substitute person memory is from 2002. Guster played our Drexel Spring Jam, and a young flautist in the audience convinced them to bring him on stage to play the flute parts at the end of “Fa Fa.”

Not only did he play the exact flute part from the album, he played arrangements of the horn parts and sang backing vocals.

That remains one of my favorite concert memories of all time.

Monday Mixtape, 8/9 Edition

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I made you a mixtape!

A few weeks ago I received an email out of the blue from one of my favorite indie songwriters, the fantastic and frequently award-winning Mieka Pauley. Many moons ago I had volunteered our (former) house for a private show, and Mieka was finally ready to redeem our invite.

Such was the genesis of our impending house concert on 8/22, with Mieka Pauley and a special performance by yours truly, because this little shindig is AKA The Crushing Krisis 10th Anniversary Concert.

WOOT! (You can RSVP here.)

Mieka’s been on my mind all week, as is every one of Filmstar’s 17 songs as I try to absorb them all into my bass-playing body. Thus was the genesis of this mixtape. You can download all seven songs as a 38MB zip for a limited time.

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1. “All The Same Mistakes” – Mieka Pauley
This was the free advance track from her outstanding 2007 LP Elijah Drop Your Gun. It’s an outstanding song, and probably the reason I chipped in towards her fan-funded album.

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2. “The World Is Mine” – Filmstar
Despite it’s simple bass line, this song is the one that’s vexing me the most in rehearsal. Not coincidentally, it’s my favorite of all of their pre-2010 tunes. Watch it live on YouTube.
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://music.filmstartheband.com/track/the-world-is-mine">The World Is Mine by Filmstar</a>

[Read more…] about Monday Mixtape, 8/9 Edition

A Moment of Krisis

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The first glimpse at our new house and my first vlog, all rolled into one. I promise this will not devolve into another semi-pornographic web cam unless I acquire a set of Brad Pitt abs.

Good idea? Bad idea? Sign of the Armageddon?

Conan O’Brien, Tina Fey, and The Chuck Norris Rural Policeman Handle

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Okay, this is the last one, I promise.

(Seriously, if this had happened on television I wouldn’t care at all, but it happened in real, physical space and I want to share it with you because it was just ridiculous.)

Photo via my lovely date for the evening, @brimil

A recurring theme of “The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour” was all of the things Conan O’Brien isn’t allowed to do. He joked that not only is he prohibited from being funny on television until September, but he is prohibited from appearing on TV entirely and so are similar likenesses, such as Johnny Neutron and (hilariously) Tilda Swinton.

Conan made a big deal over wanting to do his “Walker Texas Range Lever” bit for the tour even though NBC may hold the rights to that title. So, he instead presented “The Chuck Norris Rural Policeman Handle.” Each pull of the handle produced a riotously out-of-context Norris clip.

After pulling the handle for a few choice clips on his own, he brought out Tina Fey to do the honors. Except, Tina’s clips weren’t so much hilarious as they were disturbing…

The best part is Tina’s face after the third clip at 4:21. Priceless.

Visit the “Legally Prohibited” tour Wikipedia page for the full list of guest appearances. Only the LA and NYC shows manage to trump Tina Fey and Trey Anastasio as special guests (the first night in Radio City Music Hall featured the ridiculous array of Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, Paul Rudd, Bill Hader, John Krasinski, and Vampire Weekend).

Considering I originally bought my quartet of tickets to scalp for a profit to Conan-obsessed fanboys, I’d say that my attending the show and witnessing all of these hijinks this would be the highlight of my year if I wasn’t buying a house in seven days. And this is coming from someone who just jumped out of a plane and was almost murdered by pine barren monsters.