Melt Your Face Off

So tomorrow morning I am leaving on an early flight to the city of sin….Las Vegas! Awesome! I have never been, and am looking forward to my first visit there. Not only does one of my favorite childhood friends (Ann) lives there, but I’ll be doing something I have yet to do…musically that is. I am going to go to Vegoose!

You might be asking, “What is Vegoose?” Well according to their website:
”Vegoose is a Halloween festival extravaganza that draws inspiration from its Las Vegas location and, of course, the spirit of Halloween. In addition to an eclectic group of music performers, there are interactive attractions, performance artists, and art installations - including elements of the Las Vegas entertainment and performance community. Don't forget to bring your costume!”

I will not be in costume. It ain’t my thing, y’know? But this will be the first large scale music festival I will have ever gone to. I’m pretty excited because looking at the schedule there are plenty of acts I want to see, and best of all they don’t overlap! Which I think is pretty rare.

I am not attending on Saturday, because like I said I have never been to Vegas so I want to explore it some. Plus there are only three acts I would want to see (The Raconteurs, Cat Power, and Tom Petty) that day, and I’m okay not seeing them at this type of event. Sunday has more acts I want to see, and some acts that I have already seen before (sometimes multiple times), but wouldn’t mind seeing again. I hope to see Band of Horses, Built to Spill and Fiona Apple. I have already seen Guster, Jenny Lewis, and Ben Folds. Phil Lesh & Trey Anastasio are on the same time as Jenny, so I have a feeling I'll end up going to see them. I need to be accommodating to the other people who will be with me, and I think Phil and Trey will win out. But they would be a good act. Plus when do you get to see a member of The Grateful Dead and Phish perform? So I know I’ll be blown away.

I plan on coming back on Tuesday. Monday night I am going to see Widespread Panic (WP) for the 4^th time this year. Say what?!?!? Yup, that’s right. I had never heard of WP until my friend Paul started doing lights for them. And whenever I and our friends get the chance to see Paul while he’s on the road, we end up seeing WP. They are a fun band. Not really my thing, but they have a following—The Spreadheads. Cute, huh? I do like one of their songs a lot. It’s called “Second Skin.” Kinda long, but really good.

When I get back I’ll give you all a full report.

xoxo,
Stefania

Vegoose web site: http://www.vegoose.com/2006/

P.S. As we all know the weather has cooled down a bit. Couldn’t we have had a longer Indian Summer? Oh well. One album that I find myself going to these days is “Post-War” by M. Ward (the “M” stands for Matt).

This album is perfect for walking around on a cool, crisp day looking at the leaves change. It’s also great to listen to while sitting on your couch under a blanket, with a warm beverage. Themes of love, loss, life after war, and well life in general make this an album that you can’t just listen to once and then put on the shelf. These songs will seep into you. And you can listen to the album over and over and over again…all the way from start to finish.

Some of my favorite tracks include a cover of Daniel Johnston's “To Go Home” featuring Neko Case, “Chinese Translation,” and “Magic Trick.” And as I was typing out these three songs I was like, “But wait! You like “Rollercoaster” and “Poison Cup” too. And how could you leave out “Right in the Head”? How could you? And what about the others?” Which always tells me that if I have a hard time picking out a favorite song on an album, then the whole thing must be pretty good.

M.Ward’s web site: http://www.mwardmusic.com/

Video for “Chinese Translation”