Midnight Mass just had its tenth year anniversary opening weekend. I can hardly believe that it has been 10 years. Both Josh "Peaches Christ" and I moved to San Francisco in 2006. So it was also just my anniversary of moving to San Francisco last year. Peaches Christ has been entertaining the film freaks of San Francisco for the last 10 years with his amazing summertime movie series at the Bridge Theater. But this is not just your regular midnight screenings. He really puts on an amazing live preshow that is often better than the film he is showing. The movie itself often starts at more like 1:00 am or 1:30 am. Before the movie there is usually some sort of musical number spoof of the movie we are about to see. Sometimes there is roller derby or costume contests.

The crowd is often as entertaining as what is happening on stage. There is nothing quite like a San Francisco midnight movie crowd and it is the reason we all live here. Most of us have come from all over the country and world to live in this wonderful place we call San Francisco. We feel safe and at home here because of the sense of community. And there is always someone weirder and crazier than you when you live in San Francisco. Midnight Mass has always been a place for the freaks of the city to meet and celebrate the movies that have helped make us who we are.

The first weekend of midnight mass was dedicated to our hero John Waters. Friday night was "Desperate Living" and Saturday night was "Female Trouble." Mink Stole, star of many John Waters films, was on hand on Friday for some live performances and a little talk with the audience. Divine was usually the star of most of the John Waters films. But the costars of the movies were often given the best lines and the most amazing characters to portray. Two of Mink's best roles were as Taffy Davenport in Female Trouble and Peggy Gravel in Desperate Living.  Friday also featured some of the best performances from past midnight mass nights. Tura Satana was also on stage with Peaches Christ for a brief chat. John Waters was in the audience but his day was really Saturday.

So last night I finally go to see the Klaxons live. I refuse to go to popscene, so I had to wait for them to play a real show. They played at the Great American Music Hall. Not exactly where I expected to see them, but I do love it there. I have seen some amazing shows there and always love to look at the great architecture and ceiling. Curt actually told me that he would love to be the persong who paints those ceilings, at least in his next life. However, I don't think I could handle being suspended from the ceiling like that. We eventually scored some seats in the upstairs area usually reserved for people eating dinner. But I think I only saw one person eating dinner last night. It is kind of a weird thing to eat while a band is playing. Isn't that what you do before you go to a show? Dinner theater is one thing or maybe eating during a 3 hour Celine Dion performance. But not during the Klaxons. Last night was also the night of mistaken identities. Curt swore he saw my coworker Margo upstairs. But I didn't think it was her until we went upstairs to investigate and I saw her tattoo. But right in front of me, I swear I saw another coworker Nick, who also happens to look like one of the guys in Chromeo. But as soon as he turned around, probably cause I was staring at him, I realized it was not him. We did get some good people watching in, once we got our seats upstairs.






Opening up for the Klaxons was Fist Fite. We planned on missing them but ended up getting there early since we only live a couple blocks away Another reason that I love the Great American Music Hall.  But they ended up being awesome. Like a mix between the Gossip and the Lost Sounds. They are from Portland and really just the kind of band I think of when I think of Portland. The singer sang the entire show through a telephone. But she had trouble balancing the phone between her head and shoulder while playing keyboards. So she eventually got someone from the audience to help her tape it to her head. They had really great stage energy and played super fun loud music. Both bands actually made comments about San Francisco audiences being better than L.A. And I have to agree. I have been to many L.A. shows and they just don't dance or get excited down there as much as up here. I am really glad we got there early to see them. They currently don't have a CD out but I will be patiently waiting for one.

Today is the day of the battle between Spoon and Interpol. I have always been a bigger Interpol fan so I am siding with them. I think most people are really either a Interpol fan or a Spoon fan. Or they don't really care about either. They both have big new albums out today. They both are on David Letterman this week. Spoon has been around a bit longer and has managed to stay on an indie label. This is their sixth abum and it is released on Merge. Interpol had two albums on Matador. And has now made the big jump to a major label with their third album, "Our Love to Admire." This album is released on Capitol Records.  It is kind of just how it works. Many indie bands have made the similar jump. Belle & Sebastian, Death Cab For Cutie, The White Stripes, and Modest Mouse have all done if before. They have all managed to somehow keep their indie fans and develop a whole new fan base that a major allows them. A whole new world is opened up with heavy rotation on mainstream radio and MTV. It works really well for some bands and will most likely work out for Interpol. Some bands don't do as good and end up back on the indies or just simply disappear into the clearance bin.

Don't expect a brand new sound for Interpol. They still sound most definitely like Interpol. The band that you have either fallen in love with or never liked to begin with. As one of those that actually likes Interpol, I am liking the new album. Like most albums, it took me a couple listens. On about the third listen on my headphones I was hooked. I don't think they will ever be able to top what was their first album "Turn on the Bright Lights." I still remember when my friend at Matador told me about this new band "Interpol" that they had just signed. She told me that I was going to absolutely love them. And she was right. This may seem like old news now, but at the time it was  exciting to hear a band that sounded like some new indie version of Joy Division. Now there is a whole new group of bands that have ripped of Interpol ripping off Joy Division. But at least they sort of did it first.

After a very slow week of nothing last week, this week coming up is crazy. July 10th is such a big new release date that I have to get an early start. It is the big week where Interpol and Spoon will battle it out for the number one spot at Amoeba. I am betting on Interpol.  Idlewild just put out a new album not too long ago. It was called "Make Another World." Around the same time Roddy Woomble, the singer with the group was working on slower and more folky songs. He decided to put out a solo album using these different, less Idlewild songs. This album, "My Secret is My Silence" is finally coming out domestic on Tuesday. It has been out for almost a year as an import. But I have patiently been waiting and actually have not ever heard it until a couple weeks ago.



Idlewild has been one of my favorites over the last 10 years. They got their start in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1995. I was first introduced to them with their first real album "Hope is Important." I really liked the album. But they quickly became one of my favorites with the release of  "100 Broken Windows" in 2000. The songs are super catchy and not really too far off from what you could expect from an indie band from the U.S. Sort of similar to R.E.M. It is really their lyrics that set them apart. Very literary lyrics. Its almost like reading a book or maybe a collection of poems when you read the lyrics. Much like Morrissey, Roddy is a man obsessed with literature and authors. He did name his band after the book "Anne of Green Gables." There is really nothing like 100 Broken Windows. It easily was one of my favorites of 2000. I still go back to it every once in a while. And it is still as great as it was when I first heard it.

So I just watched the new video for the new Siouxsie song "Into a Swan." I thought I would share it with all of you. I have known for a while that she is working on a new solo album. But I had no idea there is already a video. Things are now moving fast. The new album is called "Mantaray" and comes out October 2nd.  I have loved Siouxsie since I can remember liking music. She is amazing and is still amazing. She manages to stay brilliant and relevant after all these years. I met her about 8 years ago at an instore for the Creatures and she was not really the nicest person that I have ever met. But Budgie was such a wonderful nice little guy that he kind of made up for it. And she is Siouxsie Sioux so she can kind of get away with anything. There is really nothing like a Siouxsie fan. They are crazy fanatical devoted fans. So this is really something to be excited about.

You can check out the official Siouxsie website for more info. Here is the new video....
Siouxsie -Into A Swan




I am seriously excited for the new album. The countdown begins. Only 2 months to go. And a new albums means a new tour.

The Cure are also working on a new album! It will come out at some point this year. And Porl Thompson is back in the band! Tickets for the October 6th show in the bay area at Shoreline go on sale July 19th. Go to the Cure website for more info. I have never missed a Cure tour in the last 20 years or so. But unfortunately some really good friends of mine are getting married on the exact date of the Cure show at Shoreline. So I will most likely be driving down to Santa Barbara to catch the show there. But they are also playing at Red Rocks in Denver. And I have always wanted to see a show there. And there is nothing like a Cure show. They still put on the most amazing live show. Sort of like what a Dead show was like to a Grateful Dead fan. I guess.