Friday, May 7, 2010
I've been meaning to blog about this, but have been busy with finishing up my master's program that I almost forgot. But trust me, all it takes is a moment to remember! What an amazing night!
To start, the girls (Elizabeth, Kelly, and Anna) and I had been planning for this day/evening for a few weeks. Thanks to my friend, Cosmo, we had found out that Josh Homme would be a part of this event and that became the incentive to take a half day off work and head out to LA!
I'm a late bloomer, so I had not a clue what Bring the Rock was. Turns out that it is the brain child of Greg Behrendt (think a punk rock Ty Pennington on speed), who by all accounts is fan-freakin-tabulous! Truth be told, when he first came out, I thought perhaps he was gay (it was the sweater), but he did make reference of a wife in regards to his story of how this show came to be. The man loves music. He loves everything about it. The sound and the stories behind how the music came to be. I totally respect that. I wish I could be that committed.
Back track for just a moment. Friday came, the girls and I worked a half day so we could make sure we'd have a spot in line for front/center seats. We got to LA shortly before 3p and got situated. Wandered over to Largo at the Coronet which is a stunning and intimate less than 300 seat theater. The box office was open and the gentleman working was awesome. We were told to come back at 7 to get our seating assignment but that as "diehard fans are rewarded" he guaranteed us front and center. This allowes us to spend the afternoon wandering the area, grabbing a bite to eat, and in the end discovering the tastiest tequila I've ever had!!
Once back at Largo, we hung out until it was time to go in. Ran into Dweezil Zappa who was attending the show in support of his sister, Moon who would be performing. Speaking of peforming, here is how the show went:
The show opened with Reigning Monarchs - Mike Eisenstein, Peter Adams, Mark Rivers along with Nina Gordon (Veruca Salt) and Jeff Russo (Tonic) who made up the band The Eletrick SnoFlake. Think of a very white bread folky looking group. And then they broke into their version of Straight Out of Compton. You get the idea. Funny stuff!! In between the various comedians/musicians, The Eletrick SnoFlake entertained the full house.
For a more entertaining review, here is what Greg had to say about the evening:
Friday night's Bring The Rock at Largo was a total blast in the pants area. It's been at least 3 years since we've done one here in Los Angeles, and that was at the old Largo where if you got 75 people you had a rocking house. Well the new Largo At The Coronet holds about 280 Hot Punks and Kittens which is much harder to fill. Especially since I'm not nearly as popular as I once was. I am however slightly better dressed. (Note Day Of The Dead grey cardi and shorty tux pants w/ Chucks) But thanks to the big heartedness of Ben Stiller, Moon Zappa, Josh Homme, Paul Greenberg and Brendan Walsh we were able to fill that sucker up for one of the best nights of entertainment you can have in skin. Josh from Queens of The Stoneage regaled us with a story about having a midget hurled at him in Germany. Brendon talked about taking to many mushrooms and missing Ween, Ben shared the surreal experience of he and Judd Apatow pitching the the Rolling Stones a movie idea that Mick had pitched to them to pitch to the rest of the band unbeknownst to the band, and Moon confessed to having a bizarre romantic? relationship with Mike Bordin drummer for Faith No More. Each story was followed up by a song sometimes performed by the story teller and Electrik Snowflake who opened the show alone with the prettiest version of Straight Outta Compton you are likely to hear. Oh and my buddy and comedy genius Paul Greenberg gave a drum miming seminar. Me? I sported a poumpahawk, (my word) did something funny? and then was unable to play my favorite song on guitar! Proceeds went to support Stillerstrong.org We will do one again in late summer! I'm making my wish list now. Does anyone know Dave Grohl or Brad Pitt? STAY TUNED
Highlights for me:
- Listening to Josh's story of being in Germany and having a very large man toss a midget on stage, who then went into full ninja stance before jumping back into the crowd. Story got better, since according to Josh, he figures anything thrown on stage becomes his. And later on after the show while hitting on the female bartender, the large man appears claiming that the woman is his girlfriend. Seeing the midget, Josh claimes "well, that's my midget." Moral of the story is that if Josh claims all items tossed on stage as his, then I'm sure as fuck going to find a way to catapult my big ass onto stage during the next show!!
- Ben Stiller telling stories about being approached by Mick Jagger with a movie pitch. And then the surrealness of watching Stiller play the drums w/ ESF. Playing a Stones song of course.
- Moon Zappa was an amazing story teller with awesome comedic timing! She closed the show w/ feather in her cap and an emotionally funny version of Colors of the Wind, a song from Pocahontas: " Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon, Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned? Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains? Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?" Damn good stuff!!!
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