Virtually Home

Miwi La Lupa's opening set Phoebe Bridgers is a singer-songwriter out of Los Angeles, whose first single, "Killer" was released on a 7" she cut on Ryan Adams' label, PAX AM. She's been working with Mike Mogis in Omaha, presumably on recording her first full length. Her songs are beautiful - she has an incredible voice and a unique delivery. Her guitar work is great, and her songwriting is sad. Basically she's everything I want in a musician. Conor evidently agreed, saying that her being in town was the inspiration for this show. He wanted us to hear her. I was stopping through Omaha on the way to my cousin's memorial service in Tulsa, and I needed something to lift my spirits. Paradoxically, it was a night in a dark bar, listening to sad music that did it. The world just melts away, right? The night was pretty magical because of the setting. Pageturners is one of my favorite bars in the world, in part because of the ambiance. It has dark wood ...

Miwi La Lupa's opening set Phoebe Bridgers is a singer-songwriter out of Los Angeles, whose first single, "Killer" was released on a 7" she cut on Ryan Adams' label, PAX AM. She's been working with Mike Mogis in Omaha, presumably on recording her first full length. Her songs are beautiful - she has an incredible voice and a unique delivery. Her guitar work is great, and her songwriting is sad. Basically she's everything I want in a musician. Conor evidently agreed, saying that her being in town was the inspiration for this show. He wanted us to hear her. I was stopping through Omaha on the way to my cousin's memorial service in Tulsa, and I needed something to lift my spirits. Paradoxically, it was a night in a dark bar, listening to sad music that did it. The world just melts away, right? The night was pretty magical because of the setting. Pageturners is one of my favorite bars in the world, in part because of the ambiance. It has dark wood ...

Miwi La Lupa's opening set Phoebe Bridgers is a singer-songwriter out of Los Angeles, whose first single, "Killer" was released on a 7" she cut on Ryan Adams' label, PAX AM. She's been working with Mike Mogis in Omaha, presumably on recording her first full length. Her songs are beautiful - she has an incredible voice and a unique delivery. Her guitar work is great, and her songwriting is sad. Basically she's everything I want in a musician. Conor evidently agreed, saying that her being in town was the inspiration for this show. He wanted us to hear her. I was stopping through Omaha on the way to my cousin's memorial service in Tulsa, and I needed something to lift my spirits. Paradoxically, it was a night in a dark bar, listening to sad music that did it. The world just melts away, right? The night was pretty magical because of the setting. Pageturners is one of my favorite bars in the world, in part because of the ambiance. It has dark wood ...

Gang of Four I was very tired on September 29. I had spent the preceding 24 hours frantically getting work done, driving the ~4.5 hours to Madison, seeing the Mountain Goats, snatching a few hours of sleep, and driving home, only to cram in another partial work day. I wasn't sure I had another show in me, especially one as high-energy as I knew the Faint's show would be. But I also couldn't talk myself out of it. The first time I heard the Faint was the week I turned 16. Bright Eyes was playing with them at Cain's Ballroom, the legendary Tulsa music venue of my youth, and my mother bought a half dozen tickets for my birthday. I invited some friends, and we made our way to the show in the cars of people that had driver's licenses. It was a pretty transformative show. I got hooked on the Faint, first and foremost, and it was my first Bright Eyes show. But arguably, this was the show that made me fall in love with shows. Tired or not, I dragged myself to the ve...

John and company never let me down. The shows are always a breathtaking moment of escapism provided by a band that somehow never takes itself too seriously while also upholding a ridiculous level of professionalism. Darnielle has written so many songs , but still can and will play just about any of them on request. I get the sense it's sort of a matter of pride. I once roadtripped from Norman, OK to Denton, TX (not only because I wanted to hear "The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton"), where John claimed out loud that the last truly rock'n'roll thing about these shows was spontaneity. Seeing the Mountain Goats has always seemed a nearly holy experience for both the band and the fans. I realize that's probably immensely burdensome for the musicians...but. You can imagine how bummed I was that they weren't coming to Saint Paul on this most recent tour. I wasn't dissuaded. I bought tickets to the Madison, Wisconsin show, even though it was more tha...