Set List for June 6th 2009

(firstly) Thanks La Vida Mocha! Nobody has ever treated me better and we'll do it again really soon!

I've been meaning to put my set lists on here for a while and I did a couple of times and then stopped and now I'm doing it again...

The problem is I didn't write one for this past weekend and now I'm having to do it from memory...so here goes:

(Prepare to be amazed)

1. I Miss You

2. Hallelujah (Cohen cover)(after a failed attempt to play "People Using Cars". "People Using Cars??" Yes.)

3. Downtown Train(Waits cover)

4. The Boogie Man(Heres's where it gets fuzzy)

4 and 1/2...Drain You(Nirvana cover)

5. Sand Dance

6. One More Cup of Coffee(Dylan cover)

7. Sweet Dreams(Eurythmics cover)

8. Sea Monster

9. Somebody's Dream

10. Hybrid Moments(Misfits cover)

11. The Black and Violet Masquerade(Then there was an intermission)

12. Crash and Burn

Then it gets really fuzzy...(I know I did a cover of Springsteen's I'm On Fire)

13 and 1/2(?)...You're Gonna Break My Heart

14. Can't Help Falling in Love(Elvis cover)

15. King of Pain(Police cover, after forgetting the words to Don't Stand So Close To Me)

16. We Specialize in Broken Wings

Hmmmm...now that I look at this list I can see that's it's probably completely wrong. I'm sure Zack will correct me though since he plans to follow my blog now:)

I always try to do better with this stuff and make a set list and stick to it but the show never goes quite the way you plan and someone will ask for something that you didn't think to put on the list. And looking back on it now I did a lot of covers...more than I think I usually would but it worked. ...Speaking of which I can't believe someone acually liked by version of Don't Stand So Close To Me.

So there it is. If you weren't there, now you can gaze upon this list and pretend like you were. If you really want to make it realistic, forget some of the words to Drain You.

Don't Leave Me Lonely

I used to have all my songs from UNDERGROUND on this other journal online but I forgot where that's at so here's this song again:)

"Don't Leave Me Lonely"

I've been waiting so long by the payphone
Just wanting my baby to call
I've been sitting all alone in this dark room
My back against the wall
I just can't believe it but
I'm still carrying a flame for you
I could wait forever and I guess I will
If you want me to

And I suppose you think it's all a game we play
But it's so real to me it happens everyday

And I'm waiting on the line
Waiting all this time
And this time ain't the only
Waiting on the line
Hanging on this time
Begging please don't leave me lonely

Listening to the same song for so long on the jukebox down the hall
You could be my savior all you have to do is pick up the phone
And call

And I suppose you think it's all a game we play
But it's so real to me it happens everyday

(Chorus)

Don't leave me lonely, Begging please
Don't leave me lonely, don't leave me lonely

(Chorus)
You think I'm broken, but I'm not broken
But baby please don't leave me lonely

I haven't done that song in a really long time but I'm pretty sure those are the lyrics. That's the way I'd sing it right now anyway...Cheers:)

"The Black & Violet Masquerade"

"The Black & Violet Masquerade"

Everyone who's anyone is here
And anything you'd ever want is near
One thing to remember let's be clear
It over if you show them any fear

Somebody told me it's only a game
But I feel so lonely inside of this place
While we're playing dressup on the stage
I wanted to tell you, I wanted to say

Don't ever fade, don't ever fade
Even if they offer you the world don't ever fade
Into the black & violet maquerade
Into the black & violet maquerade

Pomp and Circumstance is being played
Everybody wants to see you dance to the funeral serenade
Forget the empty promises they made
Death for decadence is an unworthy trade

Nobody told me the price that you pay
And they kill you slowly for talking this way
This isn't the hit parade; it's an open grave
Now everybody's watching, let's be brave and come what may
Don't ever fade...

Devils in every direction and no earthly protection
I turned around to find you ran away
You should have stayed

You should have stayed, you should have stayed
It was you and me together all the way
But you ran away, and I felt betrayed
You should have stayed

Everyone who's anyone is here
And no one knows if no one shows their fear
I know you're still out there somewhere
If you're listening, if you still care

Don't ever fade...

Into the black & violet maquerade
Into the black & violet maquerade
The black & violet maquerade
The black & violet maquerade
The black & violet maquerade
The black & violet maquerade


This song probably makes less sense now that people can actually understand the lyrics but I like it and I enjoyed writing it:)

The Show 2.14

The Show was a success largely in part to Susan and Hutch over at The Well who helped get all the technical stuff worked out. Nicolette did a great set and helped out with my stuff as well. Niki sold some masks which was awesome and the show was good timing in and of itself because the next day I was too sick to move so I'm glad we got to did everything we planned to do for Valentine's Day before I got the plague. Don't worry about me; I'm still a little under the weather but I'll be just fine:)

This is the setlist. We were going to do "Sweet Dreams" with the cello and the keyboard but technical difficulties made it a little too much to ask for so I just did that one with the techno set:) Overall, I was really happy with the way things went musically and I'm looking forward to growing the whole synth-pop Dream Machine aspect of my music right now:) Also, I don't have a picture of it yet but I unveiled the Phonohedron which is this cool thing I made with guitars and keyboards and a big metal face in the middle of it but more about that later...

You can find out more about Niki's masks and other clothing at www.myspace.com/stretchercase and you can even comission a mask to your specific likings:) The next show will be bigger and better, I promise! I will leave you with some pictures I stole from Ann Kraynak Rodriguez's facebook page. She took some cool pictures that night and I want you to see just how awesome I looked and I will do that through the art of taking someone else's photos from the internets. Hopefully she won't press charges:

Exibit A=


and Exibit B =


I also promised the lyrics to the new song "The Black & Violet Masquerade" and I'll get those up on here in the next couple of days. Thanks to everyone who came out to the show and I hope to see everyone soon at the next gig which is yet to be announced!

Cheers and happy V-Day!

Hell Box

So I'm getting ready for the show this Saturday at The Well and I'm trying to get some things in order that have needed to be done for a while, not the least of which is an overhaul for Hell Box.

Hell Box is a small box that we kept a bunch of stuff in for the band like extension cords, quarter inches, tri-prongs etc., and it was named for the horrible, jagged, metal edges that would rip your flesh when you tried to move it. It wasn't always an evil box; it just took a lot of abuse and over time developed sharp metal spikes. It's predecessor, Hell Trunk was actually a pretty dangerous little trunk with pieces of rusty, spiky metal everywhere and we actually left it out for people to put tips in...very carefully.

Then there was Hell Box and now it's covered with black duct tape so it's looking better these days. I can't seem to find the lid which at this point is actually the bottom of the box. It somehow got turned upside down so the lid must be locked at all times or the contents will spill out everywhere. I honestly don't remember how that happened.

The best thing about going through Hell Box was looking at a few historical items of Seth Boulton & The Dream Machine that had been left behind in our trail of destruction. I wanted to share these with you now:



The first thing is a setlist from when we played Xhedos Cafe in Ferndale Michigan. I wasn't going to wear makeup for this acoustic show but Stacey, my drummer's twin sister's partner, seemed disappointed so I ended up wearing makeup.

Here's the other side of the flyer for the show.



Notice this was before the new logo for the band was done. I don't think Xhedos exists anymore. Although I'm pretty sure Laura and I had coffee at the same place under a new name last time I was in Detroit. They still have a stage and do acoustic shows.



This set list was for a show we did in Greenboro I'm pretty sure. Or maybe it was The Spot. Before it closed or course. We've played a lot of places that have changed names or closed. I don't think it was our fault but there is a disturbing correlation.




It's kind of hard to read but this one's pretty funny, it's a list that Nicolette made of all of the songs we did. I don't think we ever played all them at once but we might have. We never played "Cannon Ball" more than a couple of times and there are some covers on there that I'd kind of like to work up again.

Also in Hell Box was some electrical tape, a bunch of Underground CD's, a copy of The Cure's greatest hits, some sunscreen which we always tried to never be without and the best item of all:



This is the emergency stick of Secret deodorant from the bottom of Hell Box. It's been everywhere from Detroit to Nashville and I'm pretty sure everyone in the band has used it at least once although I'm not positive and I don't know how you'd prove something like that. Still, that's what I'm putting in the description when it goes on eBay.

Well, Hell Box is looking good, things are a little more organized and I feel like I've really accomplished something today. Plus I've had lots of fun with the new scanner today. Today was a good day.

Sucks

I was going to write one more blog for 2008 but I'm pretty sure the calendar on this blog is set to some Lithuanian time and date because I have to be cute and do stupid stuff like that so I'm pretty sure my blog is already thinking it's 2009 even though I've still got a couple of hours.

That sucks.

And I'm currently working on a dance pop cover of a Nirvana song.

Happy New Year:)

Dwarf Hamsters

I didn't get any sleep last night. Dwarf hamsters kept me awake with their incessant wheeling about in their cage. And the cat chased some plastic piece of crap around the house for hours. She won't play with you for five minutes. You can throw one of her toys and she just stares at you like you're crazy but last night it was on. She was all over the kitchen with something that wasn't even one of her fancy little catnip toys or anything. It was just something that's really freaking loud on the kitchen floor at 4 in the morning. Anyway, okay I think I'm done. I'm in a coffee shop listening to Johnny Cash and everything is better now- even if it is in a rather fuzzy, slightly surreal state of being at the moment. The kind that only comes with a colossal lack of sleep.

I'm working on some new lyrics for a song called "There is No Success Like Failure".

I've nailed down the chorus first which is something that doesn't normally happen for me until much later in the evolution of a song. Maybe I'm starting to get the hang of this songwriting thing. No, it's a nice thought but no:)

Anyway, the chorus:

"There is no success like failure
There is no success like loneliness
And there is no love like no love at all
And yes we love to watch you fall
Yes we love to watch you fall"

That's about it. It sounds good in my head. It can sound good in your head too. Just pretend like The Beatles are singing it or something like that. It always makes me feel better about my stuff to pretend like really awesome people are singing it:)

So there are the lyrics for the chorus. I expect everyone to be able to sing along at the next show...Which will hopefully be at The Well in Pineville soon...

Christmas Eve

So this year I've had to participate in trying to explain to a 3 year old the concept of Santa Claus and I realized something. You can't explain Santa Claus to someone who's never heard of him without sounding high...

Santa? Well he's this guy who lives at the North Pole...with elves...and they make toys...and then he uses reindeer to fly to the roof of your house...and he comes down the chimney and gives you presents...no, really...no, I haven't been smoking anything...

And so on and so forth. Next year I'm just going to tell her about the birth of Christ complete with teenage pregnancy and mass infanticide. Because that's what Christmas is really all about. Yay, Obama!

I haven't played any shows lately and I really think it's having an effect on me...

Anyway, have a Christ-y, Christ-y Good Time!

Speaking of which here is the clip of Jim Carrey on Conan talking about the whole Christ-y Christmas thing and you've got to watch it till the very end with the song and all because that's what Christmas is all about:

iDogs

Have you seen the iDog?? It's a little dog that plugs into your stereo, MP3, what have you, and dances to the music that's being played. It's like one of those flowers with the sunglasses from the 80's except it's like, 5 times as expensive. Or like one of those dancing Coke cans also with sunglasses and headphones...Having said that, my Christmas list is pretty short this year. I want an iDog Dance. And I can't help but feel that the reason has something to do with some kind of consumerist denial of the impending financial crisis that even now is affecting our economy in a very scary way...oh well, I'm sure if I just close my eyes and buy things and hum really loud when I hear there's a problem it will surely go away. Or instead of humming I'll just sing "iDog Dance, iDog Dance..." to the tune of "Jiggle Bells" or something equally as festive. Is that even the way you spell it? With the little "i" like in iTunes?? Anyway, I'm sure Santa will know what I mean in my letter.

I rant about the weirdest crap...maybe I need some kind of medication for Christmas...

And that's another thing! It's CHRISTmas, ok? Jesus was born, a bunch of stuff happened and YOU get presents so say His name in the title you bunch of ingrates.

And yes, that's the note I want to end on. It's my prerogative...which I just spelled correctly because I checked. Merry Christmas to all!

Crazy Little Guy Records

www.myspace.com/crazylittleguyrecords

and this thing which I like:

K9 Justice League CD is finished!!!

The K9 Justice League CD from Crazy Little Guy Records featuring the acoustic version of "Somebody's Dream" is finished and on sale now for $5!



It's the only place you can purchase a physical copy of that song right now and it's got a lot of other bands on there and it's for a great cause! You should write them on their myspace page and ask them about it!

GNR

So Chinese Democracy finally happened...




I'm just curious, did anybody care?

The Solution

Look, I'm not going to mention any names because I'm a nice guy AND I don't have to for everyone to know exactly what I'm talking about so here goes...

I have the solution for all the problems with the recession right now! It occurred to me while listening to the radio today. Just regular old radio, not satellite or anything fancy and this song came on the radio...like I said I'm not mentioning any names...but I started thinking about how much money was being pumped into this particular "crooner"'s single, album, promotion, etc., and I thought what if we took all the money that we were putting behind crappy music and used that to stimulate the economy in a positive way. We could build schools, pay our teachers and police force a decent salary and of course, actually put some of the money into real music programs for entertainment and education.

Think of all the millions that go into billboards and commercials and internet ads; even just to get a song played on the radio costs a fortune and it's all being spent on this crap...not mentioning any names...and my God, no one even cares at this point! It's not like everyone is clawing over each other to buy these CD's! (Kids are too busy playing video games with GOOD music in them!) All this money is basically being spent on advertising just begging people to pay attention to artists they don't care about!

So what if we had a rule, like, ummm, if you're album sounds like a bad soundtrack for an Old Navy commercial all your funding has to be redistributed to useful areas of society. Now, this would stimulate the economy and encourage artistry because the artists that people actually liked, that created a demand for themselves without the benefit of their audience being told what to think through the media would be able to make music and art and reap the rewards of producing a good product while the other...I'm gonna say who...would just go away and their money could help bail out all those auto workers, the people who actually provide a service that people need AND want.

And they don't get a reality shows either...just because...although those do seem to do better than their albums...all those people and their albums...those horrible, horrible albums...I'm not mentioning any names...

Status

I'm hungry.

Donnie Darko

Am I the only person who thinks that Donnie Darko was HILARIOUS!?!

I mean, Come on, the first line of the movie is: "I'm voting for Dukakis."!!! That's so awesome! It works on so many levels! And it just gets better from there! There's the whole conversation with the girl whose mom killed her dad or whatever and when I say it like that it doesn't sound funny I know but it really is the way they do it. And then a plane engine hits their house!!! And Patrick Swayze and then the whole Smurfette discussion! Anyway, yeah...I love that movie.

A Magical Photo

Did you ever see that Sky Captain movie? That's what this picture reminds me of. I kind of went crazy with the glowy sepia tone thing in photoshop but I'm pretty happy with it. This was from The Crooked Door and there were all these antique looking mirrors behind us when we played so I thought the effect would work. Also, I actually glow like that when I perform so it gives an accurate portrayal of what it's like to look at me during a show.

I Miss You

Now I can't remember what I was gonna blog about but it was awesome...

This is an old picture (please note the subtle Curb Your Enthusiasm reference in this blog)

I like that shirt. I think Leigh took this picture. Everyone said it looked like an old Buddy Holly record cover or something along those lines. Old school. I liked that about it too:)

This was back when we used to play at Borders a long time ago. I really liked playing all those places we used to play. I wish we didn't have to play so...quiet. It's really hard! That's why most bands don't do it. You can play a lot more venues, especially in this town when they realize you can control your volume. But it's hard to play so it sounds good and quiet and effectively gets your point across musically. That's why most acts don't do it...I suppose...maybe they just don't like playing at a controlled volume and maybe it's only hard for me.

It's weird but a lot of venue owners don't realize soundboards have faders on them and you can actually control the volume that way. They think you can actually make yourself louder by playing harder or something. I guess that works on a drum kit and most of the time we didn't have one of those before Laura came along...I think most bar owners don't understand the laws of physics...And I played an acoustic guitar and I guess that's not as scary as an electric guitar that uses electricity because that's louder...I'm just complaining now...

Speaking of the quietest show on earth, Leonard Cohen is touring again. I haven't checked but I'm afraid he's not going to play in the states. I made myself sad:( Can't go on...must go on...can't go on...must go on...

Today's Show for The Animal Rescue

Today's show went really well and I'm happy to say that I was actually excited to do a show:) I've taken some time off over the last few months and looking back on it I'm glad I did because I think I was really burnt out and didn't even realize it. Now the idea of playing new shows and trying out new material seems like something I really, really want to be doing so yeah, thanks Steve for getting us NSAI musicians lined up to play such a great gig for such a great cause!

Also, Niki made gift bags that looked like pieces of candy. They were filled with a couple of CDs, stickers and some leftover Halloween candy...mainly Swee Tarts...pictures of these creations will be available soon!

Today's setlist:

Somebody's Dream
Crash and Burn
Sweet Dreams
The Boogie Man
Hallelujah
You're Gonna Break My Heart
Folsom Prison Blues
We Specialize in Broken Wings
(November 8th, Harley Davidson in Matthews, NC)

I read somewhere that some folks like to see the band's setlist when they read these things and since I actually wrote out a setlist I thought I'd post it here. And I guess this is the first setlist I've ever put on the web. I know, it's quite something but hold your applause till the end.

Today was just acoustic guitar but looking back on it I should have brought the nightmare machine along and played with the synthesizer. It was windy and a bee chased me around a little at one point but I was brave and did the whole set all by myself. Thank you.

Obama is President!

Who knows what could happen next? America is moving into a completely different paradigm, at least potentially. Anything is possible! What if the republican party realized they needed to update their roster? This country is finally ready to vote for something other than a rich, old white man like the last, well, ALL of the presidents EVER until now. Or what if we voted for someone who wasn't even a member of the corporately-owned, two party system that has buried itself so deeply in our society and rules over us with an iron fist? Who knows what will happen next?! The answer is...probably nothing. I am such a wet blanket. I can't help but be a little cynical when it comes to the political game but I am really happy we have an African American first family and you know what that means: it's all smooth sailing from here. Just like when the Jews finally got out of Egypt. (I know, sarcasm is the refuge of losers...but it's just so easy.) Well, I'm praying everyday for this country and its president and you should too!

Umm...let's see, I've gone from inquisitive and optimistic to ironical and darkly fatalistic to preachy. You see? I'm all about change:) ...And I'm kind of an ass.

Yep, good blog...good blog.