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Just when I'd begun to warm up to the Lashes, frontman Ben had to go and bust himself up mid-show last Thursday at Chop Suey after launching into the drummer's kit. Like one Back in the Day friend of mine says, "They shouldn't have reintroduced that video footage of Kurt flailing into the drum kit." I agree. If you're not a tiny wastrel high on smack, chances are you're gonna hurt something if you attempt to do as the great one did. And can I just say, Jesus Christ, the Andrew W. K. after-party looked like a physical rehab center, Ben struggling with his crutches while my friend Katie and I strained to stay upright on our canes. I guess I'm lucky a fashionable boot can camouflage my unsightly support system. But it's there, so mind the cane, kids. I've also heard that the tiny drummer for New Luck Toy is enduring a wired jaw after a good time went bad in the infamous Egg Room, which, frankly, needs a warning at the entrance: "If you come in here, chances are high that you will be injured or spontaneously make out with awful people."
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December 8 marks the first monthly installment of Team Bent at the Crocodile. Billed as a "Queer Music Monthly Featuring Bands and DJs," the inaugural night features V Is for Vendetta, Family Outing (which, of course, includes former Hazel/Team Dresch member Jody Bleyle and her bro Allen of Usasexual and Necktie Party), King Cobra (Rachel Carns of the Need), the Dark Places, and a DJ collective in the back bar comprising Enemy Kite and Kremlin.
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This Thursday, November 21, the Tractor out in Ye Olde Towne hosts a bunch of musicians gathering together to play music to benefit anti-war-in-Iraq group Not in Our Name. Show starts around 7 pm and scads of performers will grace the stage for the cause; a partial list includes Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter, Travis and Corey of the Turn-Ons, Lisa Brisbois from Hell's Belles, a partial lineup of the Walkabouts, and Bill Frisell. Entry is $10 but if you can part with a twenty it would sure make you look swell.
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If you need a Seaweed fix, the band has contributed an unreleased track ("Days Missed Dearly") to a North Carolina compilation CD titled Patchwork. The album features bands from Chapel Hill as well as Seaweed and its offshoots Gardener and Kittitas. Check local record stores or go to www.mereexposure.com for info on how to get your Seaweed-lovin' hands on a copy.
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And speaking of sightings of the long lost, it appears Dylan Carlson is back in town, because posters touting his band Earth were spotted at Re-bar.
