SPRING BREAK

Spring Break 2012 .... It was filled with ridiculously warm weather, Halo Wars Risk, Rayman Origins, potentially excessive amounts of day drinking, and two really great concerts.

We had wanted to go to EMA, but things never really came together. Then Chris won a pair of tickets from the wonderful Radio K last minute. Due to my misunderstanding of how late Macy's stays open, we ended up at the concert considerably early. Like an hour before the opener.... luckily, we got stools! I love the 7th St. Entry, but man does it get LOUD in there. I'm not really one for loud grunge/punk music, however, the opener Nü Sensae was so much better than I had expected. Of course, EMA herself was wonderful. Her mom was at the show, which was pretty cute. EMA handed a bottle of Jack Daniel's out to the crowd and had people pass it around. Needless to say it was gone in minutes. Just a great show to sit back and watch.

Then there was the Grimes show! Another great show at the entry, but not great spots since it was sold out. We managed to find tickets on craigslist that weren't jacked up in price just a few weeks ahead of time. But where to begin!  The opener, Elite Gymnastics, is a Minnesota band inspired by Korean Pop. It's so nice to see new and interesting things coming out of MN, I would definitely see them again and again. Then there was Born Gold, a Canadian band, who almost stole the show with their crazy light show and dancing. It seemed like some members of Born Gold played with Grimes when she came out? She played a ton of great new stuff off her most recent album plus some old good'ens. Some alone, some with band mates. I would have loved to see more, but she said some of her songs can be overly complicated to perform live.

We almost went to zero concerts over break and ended up at two great shows. Despite being loud and crowded, shows at the Entry always end up seeming dear to my heart. Now, I am reminiscing fondly and trying to avoid reality, ie that my life is consumed by schoolwork.

At the Entry with Gang Gang Dance

 I feel like I have seen a disproportionate amount of shows at the Entry this year compared to last year. I think I've only been to the Triple Rock once and the Varsity once in 2011! Last night was Prince Rama opening for Gang Gang Dance, who I was surprised was playing a small venue. I'd never heard of Prince Rama before and they blew me out of the water! From what I understand they are two sisters who were raised on a Hare Krishna commune in Florida. This definitely explains the foreign language they sometimes sing in and the strong Hindu vibes of their music. There is a third member in the band, but he produces and doesn't tour. The lead singer has super awesome hair, plays guitar, and keyboard. But the drummer is where it is at! I loved everything about her down to her bare feet. I have never appreciated percussion so much. The show went a little late but I manged to dance thoroughly up until the second to the last song Gang Gang Dance played. The bassist's mom was standing next to us in the crowd, which was pretty cute. There seemed to be a lot of band family at the show. Their songs are very long and they transition from one to the next, so it can be hard to tell them apart. They opened with Glass Jars and somewhere in there played Adult Goth and Chinese High, my two favorite songs off their most recent album "Eye Contact." I need to start remembering to bring ear plugs to the Entry, though. The music is always loud and I always end up under one of the two jumbo speakers, which generally makes for a great show but a grumpy Jesse in the car for my poor boyfriend.

On Saturday October 1st

and why this was one of the best days of my entire life.

Whopper Jr. with Cheese, No Pickles for Breakfast
Carlos Avery Harvest Howl
Diamond Rings live acoustic in-studio at Radio K
New boots from Macy's
Special Spring Rolls at Taste of Thailand
Girls/No Bunny/Papa concert
Twin Shadow/Diamond Rings concert

So yeah. Missed the encore of girls, 'Hellhole Ratrace' and 'Broken Dreams Club', which were two great songs I'd seen them play at Pitchfork '10 and caught the last two songs of Diamond Rings' set, 'Something Else' and 'All yr Songs', which I saw him play acoustic earlier that day. This was my first night ever going to a show in the 7th St. Entry right after a show in the mainroom. I bought tickets for Girls the day of and am incredibly happy that I did. I was taken aback by the two openers for this show, since I hadn't heard much of either of them. Papa is a band I would listen to on record, where as No Bunny is a band I would see live any day for the energy. Girls has greatly improved their sound and stage presence since I saw them last summer. While I was sad to miss most of Diamond Rings, whom I'd seen before opening for Robyn, it was well worth it to see Girls touring their new album 'Father, Son, Holy Ghost.' I was even able to run from the mainroom and get a first row spot for Twin Shadow. Not to mention the Girls poster, Twin Shadow tank top, free Diamond Rings poster, and Twin Shadow set list we went home with! Best half birthday of my life.