My Gold Mask and Shimmer.

  I was disappointed that I could not arrive earlier to see all the bands. I barely made it in time to see My Gold Mask. I wanted to make it on time for Lightfoils. There were so many other MGM shows that I missed for one reason or another that this time I could not miss. Gretta and Jack I have observed them since their days as Bang Bang and the lightning bolt ties Jack sold at the merch table. What it is noteworthy for me is seeing them go to Shimmer. Philly and Sarah's Shoegaze/Dream Pop night held at Slippery Slope once a month. MGM....just chillin'.
  My fascination of them carried into My Gold Mask from Bang Bang. Right now for this here post I've had to back track to see which songs I heard when. Cocaine Nose was an early favorite of mine. I know I got a CD of that somewhere, but fortunately meanwhile there is bandcamp. I was impressed with their song writing, how resonant it was. I knew with just hearing two songs of theirs. There was something about how they put a song together.  I can pile on the songs I'd want to hear in Nocturna. Its dark dance floor friendly and local. One of their first shows as My Gold Mask was at Empty Bottle. And get this...there was this show they played with Phantogram at Subt's. Almost no one went to this. I barely made it to Phantogram and just a hand full of people. That was a Wednesday, I believe. I fucking know, I wrote about it. Anyway I missed Lightfoils but there will be a chance to see them again in time. Here at least I made it for My Gold Mask. One of my sister's favorite local bands. A Thousand Voices puts them at 2009 but I feel like they go years back beyond that. I noticed how occasionally they would get in print. I should have bought that magazine at Reckless. And now here we are at Subt's for Anxious Utopia. The pictures will document for me several different events. It will hold the memories of other noteworthy moments. Battles is sleek, bouncy cool electronic dance. And its just the first to have that description. If you already are a fan since fucking Cocaine Nose then you already bought the damn CD....vinyl?....vinyl...and the shirt, nice. Hmmm, you got the lightning bolt tie? NICE!!!

 So when I see them I'm briefly taken back to when I know she went. My Gold Mask has years soaking inside Chicago. Fucking hell.....I lost my train of thought!  Oh...Battles.... I know they played this! I fucking love the video. Gretta's eyes! Gretta's eyes....they got the depth and intensity of Chris Walken, from The Prophecy. Mad fucking intense and beautiful at once. And as Battles begins to brand itself into the texture of my mind, Dissipate. Oh and I can dance all slow with Dangerous. If you already own Leave Me Midnight, perhaps you were there at Subt's as well.
  For me its worth while to see Jack and Gretta hang out at Philly Peroxides Shimmer. Its not the first time I see them at a Philly related event. Its awesome to see them there. As I was dancing I was greeted by Zee Shan and Cory from Lightfoils. Sarah and Philly said hi the moment I went on the dance floor. Slippery Slope had a good Tuesday night crowd. I saw many familiar faces as I danced on a corner. Hmm, and there I saw Gretta and Jack at the bar, occasionally talking to Philly. And so a swirl of memory fragments get triggered. Philly later offered to break the ice....I retreated, the moment would come. I did not want it forced or awkward. It was enough to see the cycle of support. Its significant these fleeting cycles. Here we got a night that is set aside for a certain type of music, attracts a nice modest stable crowd. And here is Philly, Sarah with Jack and Gretta. Yeah, William was there too. Cory and Zee Shan with other familiar faces. As I said my last good-bye, they played Wax And Wane from Cocteau Twins. For a moment considered staying, hmm, fuck it. I left. Wax And Wane was to be that exit track I hear fade and ease the walk into Milwaukee Ave.
Zig

Walking Bicycles at Emporium

  Walking Bicycles at Emporium....I wanted this post to include seeing Beat Drun Juel...anyway I was fucking late.... this time I was hearing new music from them and I was really into them.  Most of the pictures here are of all the other times I saw them. There is always that chance that you may not like a band's new work, and indeed with the Bicycles there is an album I mostly do not listen to. I have it, I'm glad I do because I believe that eventually it will sink into regular rotation, but I don't push it and the Bicycles don't really play from it. So there is always that chance of that absent spark being just dormant. I was beginning to visit that stage when you give a second look to tracks you skipped before when Bicycles began to play from their next.
  To Him That Wills The Way had me locked firmly as a fan over again, and now so have these new songs that I cannot name or identify. I just know that I was into what I was hearing and looked forward to hearing it more and more. These new songs they played at Emporium. It was not that long ago when To Him was just as intangible and now I have the physical LP and the download on my itunes. I cannot get enough of that LP. I can explore listening to it now but there was a time when this was still something to see when they played it live. And I am happy that I did not miss it. So they played Emporium and I did not miss that. I missed Beat Drun Juel who played before them, but I was at least happy to know they played on the same stage. They just fit very well together and they are all so very nice people. It was nice to talk to them. I so rarely see Julius, and so I hung around him and Jocelyn. I find myself at ease talking to these people I find fascinating.  And on top of all that....they think I'm cool. And the vicious cycle blows me the fuck away. So I'm cool with these little conversations I get from them. They got me into Shameless after a conversation about the south side. I don't really recall asking shit about songs like an intrusive Star Trek fan. I try not to be that kind of fan boy with the Vulcan ears....and there would be no reason to dress Star Trek for a Bicycles show. There is always something hilarious and fascinating to observe with Jocelyn and Julius.
  And nobody owns this fucking word exclusively. I find the color right for both BDJ and Walking Bicycles. They both are aggressive, and they both define that word very differently. Donna's guitar playing is sharp and cuts and punctures while Walking Bicycles attack you with blunt instruments leaving you with internal damage. Its still a novelty to see Walking Bicycles play a stage that is not Empty Bottle. So I fucking go for it. These new crop of tracks have me following them like the first time when I heard  Welcome To The Future. Its that rounded blunt and bass heavy post punk aggression. Their engine is clear in that I can really hear how each component functions and calls and answers to the other, a real ensemble effort. Anyway, so I really like what's coming from Walking Bicycles and my only reference to it is To Him. I can say that I hung out with them or I can say I followed around Julius or Jocelyn in seeing the bands that followed them. Fuck! Hmm. I just thought it was cool to see them in a venue that isn't the fucking Bottle. The actually performance is so brief and fleeting. And they are friends.
Zig.