the weekend of butch, part one

How about an actual recap of the weekend?

leighblack and I took off for the wilds of Wisconsin on Saturday morning. It was a beautiful day for a drive! Also, Tomah offers a gas station that sells shot glasses shaped like a cow's udder, so our day was entirely made right from the start.

We met some of Leigh's friends when we got to Madison. All in all, there were five of us for the show ... and then, we made friends in line! Okay, Carla made friends in line, and Leigh made friends in the crowd. I just kinda hung out. ;) All in all, the Madison crowd was a very friendly one, laid-back and good-natured. We were allowed to wait for the doors inside the bar, which was better than sitting on the concrete outside with the under-21 crowd. Inside the Annex ... well, it's cozy. And it has a brick floor, which is a big minus when you're standing on it for five hours straight. The stage was long and narrow, which meant that each of the opening bands had their drummers stage right, rather than in the back, which was rather weird.

As for the opening acts ... Rocket is an all-girl band out of California, with a musical style and fashion sense reminiscent of the Go-Go's, back in the day. They were a good time - great energy, fun show, they really gave it all they had. The one big drawback was the lead singer's voice ... she's a bit breathy and high-pitched for the kind of music they're playing. They'd be a much better band, I think, with a singer who had a slightly lower and more powerful voice. She (and the rest of the girls) was a doll, though, sweetest women in the world! I can't help but like them, even if her voice grates after a while.

Then, there was The Honorary Title, who were ... okay. They're perfectly serviceable emo boys, with the pretty lead singer and good melodies and all that. But, man, I think they were the wrong choice to open for Butch, even if he did work on their album. Rocket was a good choice, because their energy matched Butch's. THT, however, were waaaaaay too mellow for this show. There were portions of their sets during which we were fighting back yawns. When you've got a crowd standing around for five hours, I think you need to keep the energy up, especially when they're expecting the main act to rock their faces off. It just wasn't a good musical match. However, they did have a adorable little drummer who somehow reminded me so forcefully of dragonsinger's husband that I was tempted to hunt him down and ask if he had family in South Carolina. Hee.

Finally, it was time for Buuuuuuuuuuuutch. :D Would you like some video recaps of the show? I thought you might. :)

Uncomfortably Numb - the opening song of the show.
Bethamphetamine (Pretty Pretty)
Don't Move - at the beginning, you can hear Leigh and I debate about who's supposed to be taping this song. Immortalized forever and ever on YouTube. Hee.
Race Cars and Goth Rock - worth it for the opening monologue. :)
Too Famous To Get Fully Dressed - which, by the way, I have been singing to myself NONSTOP for FOUR DAYS. Good thing it's one of my favorites, huh?
Over Your Head - with opening tease of "The Joker".
Best Thing You Never Had - hey, I kinda managed to get shots of him on the floor! That was completely blind shooting. Also, it's cut off at the end; you can hear me saying "oh shit" ... this was the point I almost passed out. Fun, huh?

Yeah, there was illness. I forgot to drink water the entire day. I r smrt. Long about the piano portion of the evening, I started to feel woozy. I crouched down on the ground for most of "Cigarette Lighter Love Song", and then thought I was good enough to stand back up and tape. Not really. Got through most of "Best Thing" before the room started to go black. At this point, I wisely decided that the bar was a good place to be. Two glasses of water helped, and so I watched "Born To Run" and "Lights Out" from the back of the room. Watching "Lights Out" from the back of a small room is never a bad idea, because you can get good views of him in the middle of the crowd. :)

So, show ended, it was wonderful, I felt better. We made a token attempt at stalking, but he disappeared into a car just as we walked outside. Damn. Oh, well. IHOP was calling our names, anyway.

Minneapolis in another post. Those videos are almost done uploading, anyway. :) Photos coming soon, too! Because I'm nothing if not obsessed thorough.