Wonder Fair's summer "OurTube" series at the Spencer continues to be the best bet in town for the silly and profound. Last night's curated video (by Eric Dobbins) consisted of a strange boy calling himself "Bumpity Boo" and doing an interpretive dance/poem to honor the Fourth of July. Easy target, right? But Kelly John Clark's critique took us deeper, quickly dismissing a New Historicist reading (Bumpity Boo is an old Japanese cartoon, but so what?) before delving into an ontological examination of how interweb imagery taps into the many "iterations" of our own identity (bonus points to the gang for incorporating the classic Special Agent Cooper/surveillance camera scene from Lynch's Fire Walk With Me into the critique).
Chip: "I liked the part where BARRR did a redneck interpretive dance while waving five redesigned Old Glories."
Verdict: four out of four free Mexican cokes (that shit is more powerful than blue meth).
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Our friend Courtney Belle checked out a show at the Beaumont in KC last night that likely flew under your scenester-radar (because the band has a dude from Twilight in it!). Here's her very funny review. Thanks for writing, Courtney. We love guest columns (and now we have an image stuck in our heads of a writhing mob of KC cougars "rubbing one out" simultaneously after the show: thanks for that too!).
100 Monkeys at the Beaumont Club by CourtneyBelle
The 100 Monkeys show is the estrogen fiesta where puberty meets midlife crisis. For those out of the know, one band member, Jackson Rathbone, is concurrently part of the inexplicable cultural phenomenon that is the Twilight movie franchise. (See also Dread, Hurt, and God help him, The Last Airbender). Admirably the band takes pains to keep that little fact under their trendy pork pie hats. Sadly, nothing has stopped the hordes of sex-starved Midwestern tweens and their surgically altered mothers from queuing up to get a glimpse. While the band’s members can, and do, play four to five different instruments each, their performances are overshadowed by the crowd. It is distracting to think that every pheromone pulsing female in the room is desperate to rub one out before curfew.
Overheard Culture Clash Bathroom Conversation:
Scantily Clad Girl: My friend told me to wear these shoes, now I feel like I look like a prostitute.
Dead-Pan Soccer Mom: It’s not your shoes they’re looking at.
As for the other bands I can only say this:
-No, Canada, you cannot wear a waist coat AND a hat at the same time.
-Tell your girlfriend a pillow case is not a dress, no matter what kind of shoes she’s wearing.
-Not a Planet was really good. Go see them at The Granada the 21st.
-Overall, I recommend that Chip see the 100 Monkeys show next time they come round. Where else can so many suggestible virgins and cougars be found with so little effort?
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As ever, there are plenty of events to occupy your time this weekend and here are a few of them.
1) Ashes to Immortality, a relatively new six-piece bluegrass-y outfit, will open up a hoedown on the Replay patio this evening for a matinee that also features our soft-spoken bluegrass-buddy James Dean Rose (whose vocals are forever lost with the Replay patio's sound). We're guessing there's a 90% chance that Tyler Gregory will play with at least one of these bands, if not both. And we hope Monzie Leo's in the house too!
2) Nashville's The Ettes hit the Replay on Saturday and this description should make your scenester-senses tingle.
The Ettes, a trio of mono-monikered retro beat punkers, chose to record their new record at world "famous", all analog, Toe Rag Studios, in England, with the truly legendary (if rather obscure) producer Liam Watson." (www.hybridmagazine.com).
3) The Sandbar's 22nd birthday street party will be a rollicking event on Saturday evening prior to the Replay festivities. This year has a shark theme, and we were sold on the party as soon as we read this phrase: "40-foot long inflatable shark slide." Look for us to be drunk and sliding.
4) And don't forget that you have two more chances to see naked people on stage at the Lawrence Arts Center tonight and tomorrow at 8:00 (downstairs). The director of "The Naked People Play" was so pleased with our review that he thanked us personally. You're welcome, Jerry. And thank YOU for bringing naked people to the stage.
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But perhaps you need a nice break from fast-paced scenester life. If so, do what we did yesterday: take a 15 minute trek southeast of Larryville to lovely Vinland, Kansas for a town fair so adorable and small it can fit in your pocket.
You will see bluegrass under the stars, being enjoyed unironically and without the aid of PBR. We like this photo, which unsettles us a little because we find this hipster-free world amidst the cool, evening breezes of Anytown, USA strangely attractive (we better get our asses back to the Replay posthaste before we find ourselves hitched up to a stocky cornfed gal and spending our evenings on the front porch drinking Lemonade waiting for the tractor pull to begin).
You will see pies, delicious pies, in glass cases, but you won't be allowed to eat them, because they are being judged on Saturday.
And you will see scarecrows of all types that will frighten you witless.
1 comment:
Why cookie rocket, you silly, silly bitches!?!
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