I Wish I Went To This Show Last Night

I present to you...De La Soul.

In Memory of the Halfway Deceased

I’ve never been good with surgeries. I’ve had a problematic body ever since I came out of the womb. My surgeries run from having the inside of my nose reconstructed from the inside (although I still have a deviated septum, which will result in a nose job sometime soon) to getting a spinal tap due to the possibility of meningitis when I was about eight months old. All in all, my surgeries usually cause more immediate damage. This was the same case when I got my wisdom teeth pulled yesterday.

When I walked into the oral surgeon’s office, I expected only two wisdom teeth to be taken out. That was not the case when I wake up from my anesthesia. I wake up with blood dripping from my mouth and unable to walk to my car. It was like I got drunk off too much tequila and took some acid at the same time. I don’t remember the drive back home, but I do recall lying on my bathroom floor for a while because I couldn’t properly stand. Eventually, I got into decent shape and my mom told me what happened.

The oral surgeon didn’t tell me, but he told my mom that he’d be taking out all four wisdom teeth, despite the lower two teeth had not grown in yet. This perturbed my mom, and both my mom and dad expected some hardships with this procedure. This was the case, because I wasn't breathing for a time while under anesthesia. I expect this to be a bit of a problem. That shouldn’t happen, right?

I blame someone at work for jinxing me, and also for inspiring me to give me a reason to post. For your troubles, I offer some songs on pain. Or the supernatural. Or dying. Not that I would’ve died while getting my wisdom teeth taken out. But, you never know.

FYI: I put up a picture of Jennifer Coolidge because that's how I looked yesterday. Good times.

MP3: ‘Yesterday’ – Atmosphere

MP3: ‘See That My Grave Is Kept Clean’ – B.B. King

MP3: ‘Bury Me With My Car’ – Ben Sollee

MP3: ‘Body in a Box’ – City and Colour

MP3 ‘Hospital Beds’ – Cold War Kids

MP3: ‘Name in Stone’ – Dead Man’s Bones

MP3: ‘Ghosts’ – Fanfarlo

MP3: ‘Ghosts Under Rocks’ – Ra Ra Riot

MP3: ‘Ghost Town’ – The Specials

It Doesn't Take No Sherlock Holmes... An Arctic Monkeys Review

Sometimes I think to myself that, at the ripe age of twenty, I might be too old for intense concerts. In between Modey Lemon and the Arctic Monkeys sets, my surroundings at Highline Ballroom began to overwhelm me. I’m already accustomed to the amount of pushing and overcrowding within a rock crowd. For some reason, I couldn’t handle the teenagers last night. It’s a known fact that high schoolers are kind of annoying. The combination of someone’s lack of personal hygiene, another girl’s Rapunzel-like hair ending up in my mouth and the wave of those needing pictures of the roadies setting up the stage made me a bit enraged. I was oh-so close to losing it and moving towards the back of the venue. Just in the nick of time, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs parted the crowd like the Red Sea.

Who would’ve thought that Diddy would redeem an entire concert for me? We’ll get to that part in a bit.

The opening band, Modey Lemon, set the mood for the Monkeys with their high-energy performance. Appearance wise, they were a bit mismatched. Singer/synthesizer Jason Kirker was wearing a sweater vest, while guitarist Paul Boyd resembled a 90’s grunger and drummer Paul Quattrone looked like he was soaked in blood. What lacked in their lack of coordinated outfits was forgotten with their strong garage-based set. They were naturals on stage, and they knew exactly where to position their fingers on their instruments with their eyes closed. While it wasn’t entirely necessary to have their final song become a 15-minute jam session, seeing how much effort they put into their craft is much appreciated.

Arctic Monkeys’ twenty-song set was full of instrumental highs and technical lows. They had some sound and guitar difficulties scattered throughout their 80-minute set. Lead man Alex Turner jokingly brushed off the troubles. Playing a good assortment of songs from past and present (their latest release, Humbug), surprisingly muscular Turner, guitarist Jamie Cook, bassist Nick O’Malley and drummer Matt Helders brought their ‘A’ game to the states. Crowd-pleasers such as ‘Brianstorm’ and ‘I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor’ made the floor shake, and lighters and cell-phone lights were brought out during slower tunes such as ‘My Propeller’. However, the rambunctious crowd reminded me of piglets running amuck in their pigpen. The crowd was a mess, and it made me a bit sick. I thought that they could possibly ruin this experience, the night I’ve been anticipating for at least a month, for me.

Cue to Diddy splitting the crowd with his sumo bodyguard with him. When he first appeared in the balcony with his posse, I expected him to stay put up there all night. However, I don’t know what provoked him to get into this crowd, but it was like he wanted to experience the music that night. He got in deep and plopped himself next to me. It didn’t hit me that I was touching arms with him until I looked over and literally saw his Proactiv-treated face right next to me. I had to embrace the moment. I moshed with him until I lost him during ‘Potion Approaching’.

With people lining up in front of the venue since the morning (luckily, the kids who got to Highline at 5 AM managed to score some last minute tickets), this show was the concert of the summer for some. While both Arctic Monkeys and Modey Lemon had extraordinary sets, the crowd was on the verge of ruining my experience. I can thank Mr. Combs for redeeming my night and making it an experience I’ll never forget.

There's No Way I'd Bleed Myself Dry For You

I can't really be a fan of Coldplay. It's not because they remind me of U2 in the sense that they're European and make bland music. It's not because Chris Martin hooked up with one of the more standoffish and sneakily bitchy celebrities in the business, Gwyneth Paltrow. It's not even because I find 'Yellow' to be one of the most elementary love songs in the past decade. No, I don't blame my irritation towards them for any of these reasons. I blame a guy for making me despise Coldplay. So, in honour of their closing All Points West tonight, it's time for a personal anecdote.

About four years ago, I had just broken up a very short-term relationship with a guy who owned neon green Converse. Enough said. A month later, two events occurred. One, a friend wanted to set me up with her boyfriend's best friend. She gave me a picture and said that he'd get in touch. He was REALLY cute, but I wasn't expecting anything out of it. Second, Coldplay's lead single from their new album, 'Speed of Sound', was released on radio. Both the song and this guy blew my mind. I found both the guy and the song to be well-worded and eloquent in manner, and both also made my heart skip a beat. They each made me conteplate things that I haven't considered prior, and they made me want more of what they were supplying to my ear and heart.

I thought it was fate when Coldplay announced a tour that was coming to the tri-state area. I thought this show would change my life. I imagined him and myself on a blanket under this star-filled sky in New Jersey, listening to the song that instantly made me think of him. In retrospect, New Jersey wasn't the most ideal place in terms of romance. However, honestly, this person changed my perception of what I wanted in a boyfriend or friend, and the only way I can describe how I ever felt about him was through that song. So, naturally, I bought a pair of tickets for the two of us, anticipating that things would be perfect up to that point.

About two weeks before the concert, I stopped hearing from him. No calls, no texts, no e-mails, no instant messages. There was no explanation behind his absense. He just wanted to be out of my life. I usually don't become vulnerable in relationships that don't really exist, but this was the only time where I let some bugger break my heart. It hurt to listen to anything Coldplay ever released, so I permanently banned them from my iPod, iTunes, stereo, car, future mix CDs, or any mean of media.

I never did go to the show. Instead, I sold the tickets and bought myself tickets to see Hootie and the Blowfish.

I think the main reason why I remain bitter towards both the guy and Coldplay is that, in a weird act of fate, I eyeballed the very same person on my very first day of college in my school bookstore. Precisely, we ended up strangers at the same college.

Perhaps the lack of closure make me still despise the guy and Coldplay. Luckily, Coldplay has ended up slowly decaying, in terms of quality of music. Their latest musical efforts have been only lackluster, and I couldn't be happier about that. I'm glad that I don't have the option of relating their music to any more of my romantic endeavors. However, if I did manage to be attracted to their musical stylings nowadays, I'd still be slightly distraught.