mandalay

as GusGus says to Cinderelly... Happy Birtday!

Wow what a night. I saw so much good music and had such an excellent time. I went to get my haircut after work at Platypus Planet, which was awesome. Kelly is excellent and I got a 25-minute scalp massage and shampoo while drinking a Red Hook. Awesome. Then we had a mutual bitch-fest about moving trauma and I left more relaxed and less frumpy for my birthday celebration. I went to a happy hour show at Red Eyed Fly featuring Just Guns (Joanna's friends' band) and I really enjoyed their set. The sound was a bit muddled but I don't think that was the band's fault. Afterwards, Dave and I went to the Rank and Revue meeting at the Side Bar to sign up for some shows. I am absolutely giddy. In the next month, I will be photographing Phantom Planet, Deathray Davies, Minus the Bear, and the Wilco/Calexico ACL afterparty. Giddy I tell you.

After that, I met Joanna & co. at Casino el Camino and had an excellent margarita and burger. I ran into my friend Krist (who's an awesome poet in the Michener Center for Writers program) and finally met her twin sister. Talked with some cool people about documentary work and the distribution of talent among the population. I headed over to Emo's a bit later and caught the last few songs of What Made Milwaukee Famous. Let me tell you what I love about this band: besides the fact that they totally rocked and had such an amazing energy that it was impossible to stand still while listening, they could give dorks everywhere hope for a better tomorrow and a life as a rock star. Their bassist was the scrappiest most unlikely dude and it made me so happy to see him on stage at Emo's. Ilan, you have to hear this band. Joanna's lending me her CD so I'll burn you a copy if you don't have one.

After WMMF, Shearwater went on. My dear friend Dorothy introduced me to Shearwater, because her brother is the lead singer and her boyfriend plays violin in the group. I had heard their other band, Okkervil River at SXSW, but I must say I think I liked Shearwater better. It's just plain good. The instrumentation is phenomenal. And this show was amazing. Magnolia Electric Company followed and they were good too, though I don't want to have Jason Molina's love children like Joanna does.

All in all, it was a great night. I got to hang out with Dorothy a bit before she left, chat with Joanna and Dylan, and meet some really cool people. And I turned 24. Good times.

posted by amanda @ 10:21 AM