Virtually Home

My dream of seeing Phoebe Bridgers headline with her full band finally came true. The "Farewell Tour", made a stop in Saint Paul and the little Turf Club sold out way faster than I anticipated. I tracked down a ticket anyway, showed up at doors opening in the freezing April. I thought I would be able to walk right in, but the doors weren't open yet and I regretted leaving my jacket in the car. I met some new friends in line, and we chatted while the room filled up. The album cover art was the backdrop they hung up behind the band. A prom-style silver curtain with its title was set up in the back for fans to take photos, with or without the band. The main microphone was strung with fairy lights. I was into the vibe. Lomelda opened, huddled in a heavy coat. Hailing from Texas, she couldn't believe the show. I sympathized. Her set was synthesizers and an electric guitar -- sad vocals, I recall, but not what she was saying. She had a charming stage presence. Phoebe ...

Stephen Hawking was an incredible scientist and said a lot of interesting things. One of the things he did that was most valuable was make science interesting to non-scientists and relevant in pop-culture. In the wake of his death, his quotes are making the rounds on social media. From my perspective as a biologist, the two most-often shared Hawking quotes this week are the worst choices to be broadly disseminated among non-scientists. 1) "Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious." Astrophysics is rad, but also there are SO MANY things going on under your feet we still don't understand. Turn over a rock. Look at a salamander or an insect or a lichen. Honestly, just look at the rock. You can be curious about why we're here in such a more direct, accessible way than is implied by this quote, taken out of context. There are a ton of ways to be a scientist, or just a cur...

When I go outside, my face stings, until it goes numb. My lungs burn, and that never abates. Inside, static electricity infuses everything and makes the cat distrust being touched. My skin gets dry. I get to choose between cracking hands and constantly applying a layer of grease to my entire body. My nose bleeds. I am disgusted by the smell of the blood, and the trickle of it in my throat. Everything outside is colorless, except where it's dirty. The filth cakes everything and gets tracked into every building. It's so cold that liquid freezes on the ground and never thaws. You can see every shiny patch where someone has spat, or vomited, or discarded their cold cup of gas station coffee. You can see every place a dog has pissed, yellow on white, for months. The streets are dangerous and the sidewalks are worse. I can't walk without risking falling down. Every time I encounter a staircase I envision ways in which I can fall down and break my bones or shatter my teeth...

Phoebe and Harrison in Saint Paul I decided these shows can share one post: Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers at the Palace Theatre, Saint Paul, 9-7-17 Phoebe and Harrison in Milwaukee Saint Paul was a no-brainer. The Palace only recently reopened after having been closed a few decades, and it was my first chance to see the venue. It's an old-fashioned theatre with a standing-room-only pit and a balcony with seating. The vibe is an interesting mix of ornate and run-down that appeals to me. It has a kind of annoying series of ramps and staircases to get to the stage, which the venue implemented so they can check tickets before people get to the pit, but is annoying when everyone is trying to exit at the same time through bottlenecked passageways. "Lua" trio Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers at the Pabst Theatre, Milwaukee, 9-8-17 The Pabst was cool because I had never been to Milwaukee before, and it's the middle of downtown, with a "secret...

Everything Now A friend invited me last-minute to see the Arcade Fire on their stadium tour. I had caught them once at a festival and remembered it as a raucous celebration of a show -- in my memory, now, it's more of a bright roar than anything. I thought it sounded fun to revisit, even though I haven't really heard any of their last couple of albums. The gimmick of Everything Now  is that the band is sponsored by a bunch of fictional global corporations. The logos cover all the merchandise, the performers' clothing, and scrolled across the scoreboard and banners in the arena. I wasn't sure how I would like this. The pre-show was fascinating and also irritating, by design. Every few minutes a green-screened cowboy would take over the scoreboard and make an announcement in a patently fake accent. Win Butler's visit to our section Just as the band was entering, in a boxing-style procession to the center of the arena, I realized I had lost my wallet. I was...

My favorite venue on a nice day There's nothing like being in my favorite venue, in the heart of my hometown. I had fun seeing trying to see the venue through new eyes: the giant sepia portraits of country and western stars, the spring-loaded wooden dancefloor, the disco ball and neon star in the ceiling, and the faded awning above the stage make the place feel old and kind of hokey, but in the best possible way. Cain's has been my favorite thing about my hometown for about half my life at this point. So many of my favorite Tulsa memories happened there. Ian Felice during the Felice Brothers set I visited the Gypsy coffee shop on my way to the venue and waited outside on a nice, sunny day. My friends arrived from their trip from Kansas City all the way out to Memphis and back, and we had a nice time waiting for the show. I appreciated the warmer spring weather, after leaving frigid Minnesota. Conor and the Felices played wonderful sets. This was my Life in the Dark ...

Nils of RAA I found out Rural Alberta Advantage was playing pretty last minute, through an online ad. I bought a ticket the day of and went solo. The band was incredibly nice, and expressed gratitude toward Minneapolis for being the most supportive US city on their tour the last couple of years. They stopped through the Twin Cities and played at a sold-out Cedar Cultural Center to try out some new tunes in November of last year, which was a great show. They since recorded their album and promoted it all over North America and Europe, and last night was their last American show before heading back to Canada to wrap up the tour. Paul of RAA Yukon Blonde, another Canadian band, opened. Their music was at times sort of soul-inspired, but mostly really enjoyable and catchy rock. It's a five-piece band that features three people who seem to share the songwriting (or at least the singing) duties. I'm not sure it's the kind of thing I would listen to on my own, but I enjo...