Last Thursday we kicked off our evening at the Spin offices for another round of Spin House Live. A few weeks ago we saw the Fever play there, and this time around we came to check out singer/songwriter Ben Kweller. We knew we liked Ben Kweller, but we weren't entirely smitten and we wanted him to win us over. Oh, and did he ever.
Ben Kweller is kind of like the younger brother I never had, and if I HAD one I would want him to be... Ben Kweller. He sings sweetly endearing tunes twinged with humor ("I want to kill this man but he turned around and ran. I¹ll kill him with karate that I learned in Japan."- from his new album's title track "On My Way" and covers of "Ice Ice Baby" (up for a limited time here....I couldn't help myself) and romantic earnest ("The Rules") . Most of Kweller's songs tell a story, which worked perfectly in the close quarters setting we were in, and I think at the end of his set everyone in the room felt like they knew Ben at least a little bit better.
Thursday was followed up with a crowded sweaty party at Rothko where we FINALLY saw The Futureheads (has anyone ever heard the remix of The Streets "Fit But You Know It" featuring them? you can hear it on Itunes and it rocks) and totally fell in love with them (and it wasn't just the sparks and pints of vodka tonic either).
Nicola still can't get the songs out of her head. I'm not even sure if the boys from Franz Ferdinand ever actually djed anything, but whoever was playing whatever down in the awesome new basement was doing a pretty great job... it also took us half an hour to figure out where they put the basement entrance at but it worked out in the end. I don't really remember much else, but it was a fun evening and I got to have a Jenny Penny slumber party and look at lots of pretty shoes.
Then Saturday we went to see Morning Theft. I love the stage at Tiswas. Everyone sounds great there, and looks even better. Somehow the boys ended up all wearing almost the same outfit, but it worked and worked well (and I don't mean the same outfit like The Hives or anything). Their new song, called "Now," is amazing... but you have to ask Rob what it's about...
Finally just when you thought "HEY maybe Nora needs to got to bed now!", we went to Misshapes. There was Jarvis Cocker, djing to... a mosh pit. I kid you not. You may as well have tried to crowd surf there. Whatever, it was fun anyways, and Audrey just completely owned the dance floor even though I think she only spun a few songs, it was excellent. Brian Molloy is maybe my favorite person to dance with of all time, maybe because he knows all the lyrics to all the songs AND sings them all. Overall, best Misshapes time I've had in a while, mainly because I think they didn't let in as many people so it wasn't always entirely jam packed. It pays to be a regular sometimes.
Phew, okay I think that's all. Tonight go to Atomique... Audrey has all the details. Fun times, and cheap drinks for two hours. This week is going to be insane, esp. with my working @ an advertising agency doing god knows what. Whatever, eat a taco and come along for the ride...