new york shows

shows in NYC

MAY 6th -Lightning Bolt, Ducktails, The So So Glows, Pterodactyl
This was an outdoor ordeal, Great loud awesome band, been waiting to see them all my life, i went alone and walked around hitting my pipe in phone booths, i got pretty stoned and just stood around, drinking free redbull and smoking cigarettes, watching all the college students eat their cheesecake and have such a solid genuine fun time. ducktails was a bit of a dissapointment, i actually felt kind of emberassed for this guy. I was looking around wanting to say, this is cool guys right? but honestly it was just some big jawed guy making sounds and occasionally singing karoake over them. he obviously doens’t make his music for anyone but himself. which i s something i respect very much.  pterodactyle was really cool and fast and loud.  then wehn lightning bolt finally came on i was so excited and they played amazing, he hit those drums with trememdnous foorce that beat down like thunder pitched down and fast forwarded.

June 18th the oh see’s
This was a really great show, i got there and scoped the place out. it was a big inside, had a bunch of nice leather lounge furniture, and then there was a restuarant type setup, to the right a flight of stairs leading to bathrooms.  the alcohol bar was to the left and back in the dark rroom, wehre a black lady guarded like a dog the gate to the bowlers, it was dark and teh band was playing loud. a screen hung over head projecting nature documentaries and footage of elephants.  the bar was expensive as usual, and i spent all my money as usual on draft beers. brooklyn summer lager to be exact. delicious. i was sitting in a big leather arm chair people watching when this drunk woman and her friend asked me to take a picture of them, we got talking a little and then i ended up hanging out with them a bit. when we went up to use the bathroom he went in the ladies room with her and she told me to, but i didn’t want to get kicked out for a line of cocaine. so i peed and ditched them.  I think this pissed them off cause they saw me with a beer and said oh justus already has a drink. when we were talking they asked wehre i was from and they seemed suprised i was from utah.  i asked why they asked me and they said that i looked eastern european, like a polish or russian person maybe.  this made me feel kind of cool. if i wanted i can tell anyone i meet i’m from poland with some fake accent, i could probably get laid much easier this way.  i told them i waas going to save a bench, and they never came back. they ditched me i guess they thought, but i came alone for one reason- to see a band play.  i was smoking a cigarette outside when a redhead around 30 years old asked me about my cracked cellphone screen (more like shatttered) it struck up some conversation and we talked for a little while. she was an editor or something for a magazine and we talked about how many writers are in new york city. everyone calls themselves a writer, and none of them write good.  this includes me, i’m learning to stop thinking i’m an artist and just be one.  its hard though i’ve had a little pollution in my head spread out and go along way, beating on my body as i walk down the street out of sync with myself wishing i wasnt there, i go to this place in my head where i’m not there i try not to be there, and it sucks with the shaky control and loss of pleasure.  impulsively tripping down curbs and compulsively lifting my hands to my face in a habitual frenzy and not looking anyone in the eye.  i walk different in soho i feel more accepted and normal there, its beccause i’m white and it is strange but black people are still new to me and i don’t know how to handle them, i am a bit afraid of their naturalness. but the girls do turn me on i’ve seen some fine piece of black ass.  so at this show i was out of cash and didnt bring a joint like i should have.  so i watched the elephant movie and watched the people pack in to the large bowling alley venue.  the sound girl was admireing the sound guy, she must have been an assistant i sensed a strange thing between her and him as i watched her get close to his shoulder with her face and he stood there confidently not looking at her when he spoke.  she was leaning and puttin gherself there for him. i bet he was married. something i’ve learned about new york shows is that they are just like shows anywhere else.  there is an audience and a band performing. the audience however here is different, everyone is too uptight and busy looking hip and cool to let there hair down and bob their head, this energy efffected my ability to let my head bob, so i stomped on the ground hard all night and wiggled my knees.  when the band got on stage they looked exactly how i imagined trhey would. the bassist i recognized from moments ago outside, he was right next to me smoking during my conversation with the magazine editor, i thought he might be someone from the badn because a woman was taking a photo of him as i was coming back in.  the singer guitarist was a healthy guy with a hip milatary haircut if that is even possible. the band started with a hit form help, and was loud and fast.  listening to their record i never imagined how fast they physically have to play to get that dancing wall of fuzzy energy to jump out at you.  it was rock and roll baby, the bassist was like a natural  machine, he was constantly moving his head to the tempo of the fast songs, it looked impossible.  the singer had a great energy and when he spoke to the crowd he had a delay on his voice and he was very short and sweet. this guy looked like osmeone i would want to know. had his head on tight, enrgy to sing in a crazy voice and strum his guitar like a madman.  inbetween songs he would pickup new guitars and flaunt them around while playing with them high up right under his chine, the guitar was like a machine gun body part. he looked like he was part of the guitar and his arm must have a battery to move like that.  muscles too.  this was a guy i look up to.  inbetween songs he would shake his hands off and you could tell he had overcome and pushed through a certain level of discipline he needed to stand the physical pain and discomfort that was bound to be cause from anyone playing as fast.  the songs went on and they executed them perfectly with the tamborine girl not singing as much as she did on the record they have. they had a crazy new song that was kind of prog rockish and psychedelic but still sounded great. the drummer went off on a solo and he played in an interesting surfer feel and rounded the drums like bases on a field. they were up there for aobut 10 songs or so and didnt stop with the energy, they looked like they barely broke a set. when they announced the last song after the drum solo you could tell they were not letting you see how tired they were.  so they slammed out another tune and we all shuffled out like a pack of sardines.  i knew an encore wouldnt happen because it a thing of the past.  so i went out smoked a cigarette. and found a slice of pizza to counter some of the low beer effects i was beggining to feele. my legs were tired from standing and stiff from trying not to touch other people in the crowd



ERIC COPELAND