Incredible show, I am beyond happy that I got to see them perform, plus they had great openers - Kid Dakota - totally explosive and fun energy and Love is Chemicals. Also Connie Minowa, the wife of the leading force behind Cloud Cult, painted this picture during the show, and then auctioned it off to the highest bidder:
Then The Kills came to town, all rock & roll and acting the part. I swear there was a fan blowing on them the entire time, while the girl, "VV", prowled about the stage like a caged animal. This is the tamest video I have of the show, but I posted it because the sound is the best
Then, last week, Jeremy and I hit up the Mates of State show. Their newest album requires more then just the typical keyboard and drums, so they had a violinist (sometimes guitarist) and cellist up on stage with them. The new additions rocked hard! I don't think I've ever seen a string section more animated and into the music they were playing. I tried to capture it here (the sound quality stinks tho, so be prepared)
Before the end of the month, we get to catch Beirut (only time I saw them was SXSW and it was incredible!) with The Brunettes opening, as well as Neva Dinova!
Now, onto the weekend! Saturday, Jeremy and I went to Lucky Ju Ju Pinball in Alameda (this is a town next to Oakland). Basically you pay $10 and play as much pinball as you want. There are about 3 dozen pinball machines to play. We spent a good 2 hours there trying them all out.
The coolest/craziest pinball there was called Orbitor 1. It is hard to explain, but it is one of the strangest pinballs I've ever played. The ball actually goes behind the paddles and all around an uneven surface. They do a better job explaining it all if you go to the link posted.
Sunday we went to the Jack London Square farmer's market for some super fresh and delicious produce. We basically ate breakfast there with everyone handing out free cherries, apricots, raspberries and other great samples. We picked up a bunch of fresh goods, then decided to head out to Tilden Park in the East Bay, where we got to ride this awesome steam train! It wasn't the cog railway, but it sure was fun holding our own among all the 5 and under crowd.
choo-choo!
zee caboose
We wandered around and Jeremy found this gnarly old tree that had fallen over.
Then we took a little hike around inspiration point and decided to take some silly pictures for our amusement. Enjoy!
Before we went home, I managed to prick my finger on this beaute
twice.
But to make up for it, we went to Heinold's First and Last Chance Bar
with Paul and Dayana, and enjoyed the slanted floor, sea-worthy atmosphere and lamented that we'd miss out on drunken hopscotch.
No pictures from Monday, but we rode our bikes up to Berkeley and rummaged thru Amoeba Music and got latte's at Mediterraneum Caffe who claim to have invented the latte. I'm skeptical, but they were quite tasty.
As with all weekends and holidays, they must come to an end, but I'm going to start rallying for a national week off holiday, in honor of, let's say, the working class! Three a year, mandatory, on top of your normal paid vacation time.
ya.
