Panda Bear Update

Either I fucked up the timezone conversion or ticketmaster decided to start the sale early. Either way, I'm happy.

I was just pointlessly checking if tickets were on sale (completely not expecting them to be) and Suze and I now have a ticket each to see Panda Bear and I'm listening to 'Young Prayer' to celebrate. Weee!!!

On a related note, anyone who's bitched about ticket 'booking fees' before obviously hasn't purchased for shows in the US. Their 'service fees', which are never mentioned until payment, were 40% for this show! And most others have also had rediculously large 'service fees'.

Deerhunter @ Bowery Ballroom

Well, at least this ticket acquisition was a stress less affair. Infact, I didn't have to do anything at all as Susan was the driving force behind this one.

I know little about Deerhunter. I electronically acquired their latest album last night and gave it some fleeting attention, but nothing to make an impression. The gig's only US$15 though so it's a low-risk investment.

Second Panda Bear Show

Well I'm pretty damn delighted! After quite some disappointment finding out that the NYC Panda Bear show sold out (several months ago), I've stumbled across a listing of a second show for the same price on boweryballroom.com.

Given that I was thinking about paying $50 to a slimey eBay scalper this is quite a stroke of luck. It's not over yet though, tickets go on sale at 10pm tommorow and given the popularity of the first show I'm not overly confident.

Brooklyn?

From the outset of our holiday organisation we had decided to stay in Manhattan, simply because that's the 'centre' of New York City. And that's where we've been not-so-successfully searching for apartments.

Today we were offerred a one bedroom apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. A quick internet-search revealed that Williamsburg is quite good at producing some shit awesome bands: We Are Scientists, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Interpol, The Twenty Twos, General Miggs, The Cloud Room, TV on the Radio, Nada Surf, Say Hi To Your Mom, Dirty On Purpose, White Magic, Japanther, Time of Orchids, Oneida, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Diamond Nights, Les Savy Fav, Langhorne Slim, Vic Thrill, Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice, Ghost Exits, Matt & Kim, The Rapture, Pixeltan, Enon, Young People, Ex Models, Rogers Sisters, Black Dice, Out Hud, Sightings, Aa (aka "Big A little a"), Parts & Labor, Gang Gang Dance, Artanker Convoy, Double Leopards, BARR, Leaders, Awesome Color, Liars, !!! (aka "Chk Chk Chk"), and Animal Collective, among many others.

But that's not going to enhance my living experience, is it? Unless, of course, Nic Offer and Panda Bear are my next door neighbours.

So anyway, the apartment looks a little something like this:


and will cost US$60/night. A friend warns me that Brooklyn is not the safest of areas and I'm also wondering if I'm prepared to give up the Manhattan locale.

I don't know what to do.

Travel Insurance

Today Suze and I conveniently sorted out our travel insurance at our university's STA Travel branch.

After asking around about how to go about selecting travel insurance, I came to the conclusion that I'd just go with the simplest and easiest option (the insurance provided by our travel agent). Travelers to the United States of America are required to purchase the highest level of travel insurace cover, eliminating that potentially difficult decision.

The total insurance for the 39 day trip came to $330 which is a small price to pay for the peace of mind that they will repatriate my remains.

Wilco Tastes A Little Sweeter

Last night I moped out of my room after having one of those i-just-got-hit-by-a-truck afternoon sleeps and feeling like death when my housemate looked up from his phone and cryptically asked me: 'How much would you pay to see Wilco?' (the gig was that night, and they were leaving almost immediately). After I returned a severely pained expression he divulged that a friend wanted to sell a ticket for half price ($40).

Without answering I had a cold shower, dressed myself, stuffed my mouth with pea and ham soup on toast (all in about 3 minutes) and then announced that I was going.

Sublime decision, James. The gig was fantastic! Due to being in the company of mindless fanbois and fangirls I found myself one-off the barrier in a beautifully air-conditioned Tivoli watching one of the best live shows I've ever seen.

And while this most definitely takes away the bitter taste left after my Hammerstein disappointment, it makes me even more excited at the prospect of a second NYC gig.

True Colors Tour, Washington D.C.

"For the first time ever, music legends and today's hottest artists take the stage for a historical musical event - Cyndi Lauper, Erasure, Debbie Harry, The Dresden Dolls, The Gossip and The Misshapes with host Margaret Cho join in celebration of the inaugral True Colors concert tour in support of the Human Rights Campaign. This 15 city nationwide tour...will feature five hours of nonstop music with other exciting special guests appearing on select dates throughout the tour including Rufus Wainwright..."

I just then managed to somehow secure tickets to this already sold out concert and I'm pretty fucking excited. And since it's a four hour bus ride, I'll probably take the opportunity to check out America's capital city.

Bitter Wilco Disappointment

Well I was pretty excited about getting to see Wilco, Low and the Hammerstein Ballroom all for the price of AU$46. So much so that I stayed up until 2am to purchase tickets.

But due to my own complacency, my shithouse internet connection (much worse than dialup) and New Yorkers propensity for Wilco I didn't manage to secure a ticket (after an hour of trying). And now I'm pretty disappointed.

There's room on their schedule for another show, and brooklynvegan is rumourmongering a show in Brooklyn the day after. I won't get my hopes up, but I'll keep my ears pricked.

Tortoise w/ Four Tet & Steve Reid @ Webster Hall

While sitting here waiting for Wilco tickets to go on sale at the ghastly hour of 2am, I decided to download and check out some Tortoise who are playing on July 8th at Webster Hall.

Tortoise are a band I've known about for four years and have been vaguely meaning to explore. But haven't. Anyway, I liked what I heard, and Suze was keen and I'm now the proud owner of two virtual tickets ('Will Call' tickets according to American lingo) to this gig.

From what I've read Webster Hall is a popular venue for live acts but isn't a favourable choice for punters. Though, a few comments from some NYC tastsemakers hasn't put me off.

The gig is being supported by Four Tet, aka Kieran Hebden, in collaboration with Steve Reid, an American jazz dummer, who has played with the likes of Miles Davis, James Brown and Sun Ra. Yay!

Craigslist: Apartment Hunting

While chasing down a potential accommodation-providing contact in NYC, we were told to check out craigslist.org. I'd heard of craigslist before but wasn't really sure what it was. It turns out it's a ridiculously popular free classifieds site for practically everything.

After browsing the Manhattan temporary accommodation listings for a few days, Suze and I decided to post our very own 'Sublet/Temp Wanted' listing. And here it is.

Well, that was pretty damn easy. Now I just have to sit back and let the offers roll in.

UPDATE: 30+ hours later, no response. :(

Al Gore's Live Earth: 07.07.07

Organisers have announced that the US leg of Al Gore's 7-continent, 24-hour Live Earth concerts will be held at the Giants Stadium in New Jersey (which is just beside New York).

Tickets go on sale on the 16th of this month but I can't seem to find how much they cost.

The line-up includes:

* Kanye West
* AFI
* Kelly Clarkson
* Akon
* KT Tunstall
* Alicia Keys
* Ludacris
* Bon Jovi
* Melissa Etheridge
* Dave Matthews Band
* Rihanna
* Fall Out Boy
* Roger Waters
* Smashing Pumpkins
* John Mayer
* The Police

and while it's not that impressive, I think it's still worth going to.
(I'm just bitter about the fact that the UK lineup has Madonna).

UPDATE: Not going.

Free Television Gig

Two weeks ago, brooklynvegan reported that highly-respected, NY-based, protopunk band Television would be playing a FREE show at Central Park on June 15th as part of the Summerstage concerts. While this excited me, it was cutting it a little fine given that we touchdown at JFK Airport at 5.20pm that evening.

In a stroke of luck, the concert has been rescheduled for June 16th, giving us just the right amount of time to locate and settle into our apartment, come to terms with the fact that we're in NYC and hopefully recover from my virgin jetlag.

The band will be supported by Apples in Stereo (who I've heard of, but not heard) and Dragons of Zynth (who I've not heard of nor heard).

Hopes aren't soaring yet though, as no official announcement has been made and I have no idea how the ticket allocation, if any, would work.

Seinfeld Site Seeing

I don't like being a touristy tourist hopping from photo opportunity to photo opportunity via carefully mapped-out paths in travel brochures designed to tick all the stereotypical travel boxes, but I can totally make the exception for some rad pop culture landmarks. And since Manhattan is the setting of my favourite American sitution comedy (and possibly Susan's too), we'll be taking a few Japanese-style snaps at the following places.

Tom's Diner is the restaurant used for the establishment shot for Monk's Restaurant and is probably the most famous Seinfeld location in New York. The location was most likely chosen because if shot from the right angle its sign just reads 'Restaurant'. The restaurant looks nothing like the Seinfeld set on the inside but I'm still hoping for a Big Salad on the menu.

The next location is the infamous International Soup Kitchen which inspired episode 116 of the 7th season, "The Soup Nazi". I have read that this business is now closed (or is closed for the Summer) but we'll be heading over there anyway to find out for ourselves and after reading this review, I'll be disappointed if they are.

Other locations include Jerry's Apartment (which does not resemble the exterior shot used in the show, but is infact that actual apartment Jerry lived in while in New York), Elaine's Apartment and Westway Diner (where Jerry and Larry devised the show and most likely provided the inspiration for Monk's). For a comprehensive list of locations, see 'Seinfelds Real New York'.