It was nice getting together with a few of the fells and watching RAW last night in honor of Andy going to California, "with an achin', in his heart." Just kidding, I don't know what that means. It is also good to know that Andy's dad is doing well after surgery for prostate cancer, he's a good man. The trip that Andy and I made to visit Dave (and Jason) in Cincy went pretty well. My car made it, we did not become Cornhole enthusiasts, and everyone lived, so that's good enough.
Now back to the rock. Though I did not make it to this year's "Mission of Burma-esque" Hempfest (if anyone gets that joke and can post what I was getting at, you win a free, yet-to-be-determined, totally awesome prize), I caught some fine acts at OSU's Springfest Friday night. After saying goodbye to my friend Armond for the summer (and watching some West Coast Choppers with him while enduring his reverse racism jokes, haha), I made it over to the oval in time for Immortal Technique's set. He was alot better than I remember him being at Scribble Jam last year, but that was a shitty setup and he was just there as part of Breez Evahflowin's set, so I guess it's no surprise. He was very fired up, and definitely made an effort to know something about what's going down in Columbus (though he kept yelling "Fuck Penn State" like they're OSU's big rival, oh well). He's a funny, angry guy, and his beats are pretty good. Maybe I'll get around to buying an album at some point. Soon after his set, 95% of the hip-hop guys I knew in the crowd took off, as that was all the hip-hop for the night (though Przm did try to get an Illogic set going, it was quelled and Illogic went back to watching his kids). Next up were the Thermals from Portland, OR. They have a fair amount of indie buzz right now, but their music sounded too much like pop-punk for me and I really couldn't get into it. I really tried, it just didn't happen. Then Weird War hit the stage. They're definitely weird, three guys and a dude in serious 70s/80s retro duds. The lead singer starts out with a rant about how they're from Washington DC and the city waas designed by Masons with all these archaic angles and that's bound to make you crazy or something. Then the funk hit the fan. I loved these guys, it was like weird, paranoid, laid-back, funky MC5 or something. I don't think everyone else was into it too much, but it was too funky for me to stand still, so I loved it and bought a CD. "AK47" is the song of the week, FO SHO!!! After a break, the headlining Unicorns of Canada hit the stage. They all wore light-colored dress pants, light-colored dress shirts, and skinny ties, and the lead singer looked like Doogie Howser, definitely a funny sight. They were good, but the sound was pretty bad, and for all the hype, I was disappointed. They definitely have a college following, as all sorts of girls (and boys) were singing along to their crazy pop-whatever songs. Good stuff, but Weird War was definitely my favorite of the night.
Thursday night, despite changes in billing order, parking nightmares, and overall fatigue, I succeeded in getting a drunken Ashley and myself to Little Brothers to see Spookie Daly Pride. Of course, first we had to make it through locals the Big Creak, who were decent but played too long. By the time Spookie and the boys hit the stage, there were about 20-25 people in the whole joint. But just like two years ago, they rocked it just the same. I yelled out for "Coffee and Pot" and they played it, I guess putting up flyers for a show gets you authority or something, haha. Anyway, SDP is a quality, non-stereotypical jamband that everyone will LOVE! Maybe. Ashley likes them. And I got a t-shirt with the SDP version of the Red Sox logo, pretty sweet.
Wednesday night was the quality $5 local hip-hop extravaganza! After Andy and I hung out for awhile, Flip the Early Riser hit the stage and did his usually-solid set. If only the man had brought his CDs to sell, I would have bought one! You would think artists would know that I'm money in the bank when it comes to CD sales and be ready for my presence. Next up was Envelope with DJ Amos Famous. It was another smashtastic set from Clintonville's favorite bike messenger. "You Don't Feed My Babies" is a sureshot summer anthem, so buy yourself a copy of his EP at Omnimix, or you'll be sorry! Then Spitball came on and started "Rockin' It." This set reminded me of the two basic steps of hip-hop enjoyment:
Step 1: Hold the floor!
Step 2: Hold hand in pain!
Yes, the original (I guess) version of "Hold the Floor" was performed, and at first, the small crowd was reluctant to mosh out. Then Przm jumped in the crowd and it finally broke loose. It was great to push around a bit, but then I ended up hitting my hand funny and I must have sprained or bruised something pretty hard, because it hurt for a day or two. Oh well. Illogic came on at the end and killed it for over an hour. It was nice that he was able to get quality sound for a hometown set for the first time with the new material. He performed all sorts of stuff, including most of the still-not-available "Off the Clock" EP, and we loved it. Columbus needs more awesome $5 hip-hop shows. Oh, and the hot girl from Donato's was hangin' out with Bru Lei again, boo hoo hoo. She did say hi though, it was nice.
OK, I've written enough. Between Wednesday and Friday last week I saw 10 bands for $5. It was great. But it all pales in comparison to Bonnaroo. I'm heading off to Manchester, Tennessee on Thursday with Chops and Doug for a weekend of rock and misadventures. Sometime you'll get a full report, but no guarantees on when. See yas later!!!
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