That party was a helluva thing, PART DEUX

In the words of Modest Mouse, "the good times are killin' me." Or at least it feels like that sometimes. Another Friday night, another shindig that utilized my musical services. My friend Tricia from work had a going-away party, as she is moving to Idaho with her boyfriend, and she had me DJ. It was pretty sweet. Of course, the heat/humidity was a bitch, but I survived. There were lotsa cool people there making good requests. There were some technical difficulties that cut off the music around 3, but we had made it long enough. It was cool to rock a party outside my "DJing comfort zone" and have it go rather successfully. I'm sorry to Lee and all the Mannhaus crew for my absence from the B-day party and your resulting lack of sound equipment. Hopefully the party killed shit nonetheless.
Now to cover some bands. Yesterday Andy and I caught two different shows, being the scenesters that we are. In the afternoon, this awesome dude named Lee Keeler had an OSU graduation party where he rented out Studio 35 to have a screening of "Spiderman 2" (originally Scarface and Animal House were possibilities, but I guess they didn't work) and a performance by The Sun. Plus, admission for people that weren't his friends was only 2 bones! Pretty damn sweet. We saw two new Sun videos twice, including an animated one that I loved. Hopefully that will be available in the future, or just on MTV 24-7 or something. Sam Brown's young son had a quality drum solo, including cackling into a mic, and he has the right parentage for greatness. Most of the new Sun tunes sound good, I'm sure when the album drops the wait will be worth it. Last night, Andy and I made it down to the Dell Cafe on Parsons to finally see Dejavu. They're pretty damn good. A variety of quality Latin sounds is how I would describe it. The Dell is a good spot too, there should be more events there. And supporting a co-worker is always good. Friday night before the party I caught The Tough and Lovely for free at their in-store appearance at Used Kids. Their new music sounds pretty nice too, I'll tell y'all about the debut album, "Born of the Stars," when I listen to it.

On Wednesday night, Andy and I made a trek to the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland to see the Greyhounds and Ray's Music Exchange. Actually, it was a CD release party for Cincinnati's RME, but their music was a bit lackluster compared to the deep Texas jam-funk of the Greyhounds. They're one of those bands that I had wanted to see for a long time, so when they even came within 2.5 hours, I had to make it work. It was worth it. The trio of drums, organ, and vocals/guitar/harmonica was kickin' some stank all over the place. Sure, there were a few slower ballads and whatnot, but most of the set was great. The boys in RME are good too, but their songs are pretty damn long, and whenever a very long song stays out of "funk territory" for too long, it gets old fast. The sad thing about this show was the attendance. There was never more than 30 people in the main room, which has to suck for a band from 5 hours away and a band from Texas! But both bands appeared unfazed, which was impressive. And we made it back to town by 2 AM! Good shit.
Well, that's a recap of the recent past. I'm sure there will be some rock shows attended this week, as Abele comes to town for Woostock. Look out Bustown! Also, I'm gonna work on a "plan-a-rock-a-gram" for the fall, as there are alot of shows coming to town and I need to get organized. Have a good week, broshacks.