Blast update

In the October issue of Blast I have pieces on Totally Michael, Dragonette and Land of Talk.


In other news ...

Highlights of this past weekend included my first time seeing Madonna, at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night, which was truly mind-blowing. I wish I had a tenth of her physical stamina. Among other things, the performance reinforced my belief that "Like a Prayer" is the greatest pop song ever written. By the time the show ended, it seemed like most of the audience members (myself included) had forgotten that the time Madge kept us waiting for her to come on (nearly two hours late) was about equal to the length of the concert itself.

Lowlights included the New York Magazine 40th Anniversary Party at Hammerstein Ballroom, where a typical stellar live performance by The National was preceded by an excrutiatingly un-funny performance by comedy troupe Stella - which was particularly disappointing for me since I'm a huge Michael Ian Black fan. Seriously, their jokes felt like they were tied to lead balloons.

My kind of Nationalism

I was literally moved to tears more than once by The National's performance at BAM last night. I've never been so emotionally affected by a concert before (and no, I wasn't on anything except a beer). My eyes welled during the opening chords of "Start a War" and I bookended the show with a similar reaction during the closing notes of "Gospel." The band's flawless performance, augmented by a nine-member pseudo-orchestra was 90 minutes of bliss. Opener My Brightest Diamond opera/indie/punk mishmash was easy on the ears too. And Sufjan Stevens' guest appearance playing piano for "Ada" was also a special treat.

The album "Boxer" pretty much acted as the soundtrack for my move to New York, which was a perfect fit, since the band's songs are so sentimentally evocative, both musically and lyrically. And having first row, dead center seats less than 10 feet from the stage, enhanced the experience immensely. (Singer Matt Berninger bumped into my foot as ventured off the stage during the first encore ::goosebumps::).

I also signed up for a "Friends of BAM" membership, so I'm really looking forward to checking out all the great stuff they have to offer in the next year.

The National, along with Modest Mouse, are opening for R.E.M. on their spring/summer tour. I'd encourage any music fans to get tickets yesterday.

Set list: (courtesy of The Music Slut)
"Start a War"
"Brainy "
"Baby We'll Be Fine"
"Slow Show"
"Secret Meeting"
"Mistaken for Strangers"
"Squalor Victoria"
"Abel"
"Wasp Nest"
"Racing Like a Pro"
"Ada"
"Apartment Story"
New song (title not given)
"Karen"
"Fake Empire"

Encore 1:
"City Middle"
"Mr. November"
"About Today"

Encore 2:
"Gospel"