Category Archives: Photography

Sexy Brokenheadphones?

The other day I was taking my boys on their morning walk around the marshmallow ghetto.  As usual I was wearing my headphones that were not broken and jamming out to good jams contained within my iPod.  As I got to an intersection I stopped to avoid getting run over.

While waiting for the light to turn green I noticed a car containing two cute girls smirking at me.  Immediately I smiled back thinking that the sun might have been reflecting on me making my appearance that much more stunning.  They both started giggling and I immediately thought they were giggling at my dogs because they are pretty cute too.  I turned to look at them and thank them for attracting cute girls for me and that is when I discovered what all the smirking and giggling was all about.

Sweet Lou was taking a sweet poo.

Awesome.

Anyways I wanted to apologize for the lack of posts within the last few days after almost overflowing the site earlier this week with reviews and whatnot.  Don’t worry I still have tons of material to review but sometimes work gets the best of me.

Today though I was approached by my friend’s website Sexy Photo Trip (SPT) about helping them out.  The site is 18+ so all you youngsters you need not know what they are all about.

Marcos + Matt + Emily = Sexy Photo Trip

So what is Sexy Photo Trip you ask?

Here is a video that can explain it:

Bascially SPT is according to their site:

We are 2 photographers and a make up artist, traveling the country documenting our travels and telling our stories. We shoot naked girls throughout all of this. They are very nice and very tight. We like girls who chew gum and walk with confidence.

We are road trippers, documentarians and voyeurs. We’re here to document a day in the life of interesting women willing to share intimate details of their life with us and to make very nice, very tight sexy photo shoots.

It’s not porn by any means, it’s art and it’s fun.  Marcos and I made nice nice a few years back when I was a writer for a certain site I care not to talk about any more.  We met up in Austin for an event and have remained friends since.  He is one of the reasons I got a little more serious with the camera and he is also the reason I speak like Borat a lot.

Marcos asked me if I could help SPT with supplying music for future videos seeing on how I am exposed to a lot of bands these days.  Of course I said yes.  I am looking forward to working with SPT in the near future and hopefully one day can be in on of their videos being remixed as I scream at traffic.

If you are interested in photography of beautiful women with little or no clothing as well as witty smart humor head over to Sexy Photo Trip and see what happens when three friends travel around the country for the sole purpose of taking sexy photos.  Nice.

Jumping Around Cleveland On A Tuesday & Thursday

On Tuesday I ventured the hip streets of Waterloo before checking out Those Darlins at the Beachland Tavern.  Any time I ever see a show at the Beachland I make sure I stop at two of my favorite shops in Cleveland.  Both shops are independently owned music stores by awesome folk.

First up is Blue Arrow Records.

The floors of this store are amazing.  Yes, those are record sleeves.
The floors of this store are amazing. Yes, those are all record covers.

Every time I go in this store I page through the bins of vinyl hoping to score something good to take home and throw a needle on.  I have found some great finds there including some old Rollins Band records as well as a Propellerheads vinyl.  I love the randomness that I can find there and the constant music playing on the speakers is enjoyable as well.

Focusing on mostly rock the store offers all sorts of genres of wax.  Store owner Pete Gulyas not only knows his stuff but loves to share it with others.  The guy also has one hell of a personal Clash collection on display at his store right now.

Blue Arrow Records is one of those stores for any seasoned music fan as well as novice collector to go crazy about.  Recently Pete told me that he is going to be the east side distributor of Derek Hess prints.  The store got even cooler once he told me that.

About a block down the street is the other shop I always make sure I stop in at when in the area.  The store is Music Saves and recently the store celebrated their 5 year Store-A-Versary.  More on that in a bit.

The coolest Dunny sits on the Music Saves counter.
The coolest Dunny sits on the Music Saves counter.

Music Saves is the other mecca of a music store on Waterloo I try and frequent a lot.  The store is full of new and used vinyl as well as carries CDs most of which are indie bands but there is also punk, hip hop, and rock too.  If you can’t find what you are looking for, the good folk at Music Saves will even attempt to special order you something.  The owners are pretty damn cool too and so is their black cat appropriately named Vinyl Kitty.

While visiting on Tuesday I was informed that Music Saves was celebrating their 5 year Store-A-Versary on Thursday at the Grog Shop featuring some great music and guaranteed good times.  I was invited to stop by and hang out so I made plans to do so.  Sadly I knew Vinyl Kitty was not going to be there but I still planned on attending.

On Thursday before I headed to Coventry I made a stop with my friend to stop at the St. Greg’s carnival in S. Euclid as a handful of old friends were hanging out there and grabbing a bite to eat.  There is a memory from my past that always comes to mind when someone says St. Greg’s carnival.

Story time…  (Mom you might not want to read this, haha)

I met this group of friends while taking classes at Tri-C.  There were five of us yet we called ourselves “The Four Horsemen”.  These were the guys I bowled with and partied with while in my early twenties.  I even got a place with one of them for a year but that is another story in itself.  “The Four Horsemen” slowly drifted apart mainly because I moved to Akron and a couple of them started families but we made a pact to start hanging out a little more frequently.

Anyways I am sure you are wondering about this St. Greg story.

These friends of mine all grew up in S. Euclid, all went to school together, and have all been friends since childhood.  They took me in and treated me like I was one of their childhood friends and before long they were taking me to a summer ritual of theirs, the St. Greg carnival.

The church ran carnival featured some of the best Italian food as well as legal church gambling, games, and of course beer.  One particular year we attended I was broke and joked with my friends as we walked past the fishbowl game that if they won a fish I would eat it but they would have to buy me a beer.

I did not think they were going to do it to be honest, but they did and the guys started pulling out $20’s and bought endless amounts of ping pong balls to try and throw in the fish tanks to win a fish prize.  Shaking my head as they keep trying to win the fish I asked myself what the hell I got myself into.  After five minutes of throwing ping pong balls there were seven goldfish in bags being held by my friends with huge grins on their faces.

Not being one to ever back down I took the first goldfish, popped it in my mouth and had a nice little sushi snack.

People started gathering around me as I downed the second and third fish.  The carnie behind the fishbowl game booth was cheering me on as were most of the crowd.  There were of course a few people yelling at me for doing such a terrible think but they did not understand I was getting beers out of it.  My friends of course were going nuts.

Seven fish later we were off to the beer stand for my reward.  Was it worth it?  Yes.

Oh memories.

So it was to be expected when I saw my friends at St. Greg’s this year they offered to win more of fish.  Instead I was treated to some fired dough, ciabatta bread, and other delicious Italian foods.  We sat around for a few and chatted but just before 9pm I had to get going so I could make the show.

While driving down to Coventry I decided to make a couple of shortcuts so that I could just get to the parking deck without driving down Coventry and boy am I glad I did.  As soon as I got in the area I noticed that there was an abundance of cars parked on the streets and soon started seeing streets closed off.  I managed to get my car to the parking deck and snagged a great spot.  When I went to put some quarters in the meter I saw this:

Honestly I had never seen anything like it before.  The entire strip of Coventry was closed from Euclid Hts. to Mayfield road.  It was crowded as hell too…

Slowly making way to the courtyard in front of the Grog Shop my concert going pal and I made it before the show started.  My friend Ryan who is the drummer for Upsparing Sea spotted me and we chatted for a bit before they took stage.  I’ll be honest with you all and confess that even though Ryan is a pretty good friend of mine, I had no idea what his band sounded like.  So when he and his three other band mates took the stage I was just as curious as the rest were to hear them.

Unsparing Sea put on a great show and I have to admit I really got a kick out of their style.  I loved the fact that they had a cellist and also an Ol’ DIrty Bastard poster hanging from the lead vocalist’s mic stand.  Their sound was more indie folk and they really sounded well.  I did feel bad for the band though as they had to pack their instruments into an already clogged stage thanks to the headliner but it did not seem to bother them at all.  Head over to their MySpace page to get a taste of some Unsparing Sea.  Who knows, you might like it just as I did!

Here’s a video of Unsparing Sea’s “Wolves At  Wedding”:

The second band, Baltimore’s Ponytail really confused me because I could not decide if I liked them or not.  Almost all of the crowed loved them but I myself could not grasp why.  I enjoyed the music tremendously but the lead girl with the mic making random yeps and cries was giving me a headache so bad that I opted to leave mid-set and head home.

I of course took a video to share with you all.  This was one of the tamer songs and the more and more I watch it, I think I like it…

Now on the other hand I am the one that Tweeted:

Ponytail on stage. This some weird indie sh@t…and I think I like it.

Moments later:

I lied. This sh@t is way too weird for me. Sounds like wild animals having sex on a piano.

Followed by:

Someone take the goddamn mic away from the little kid on stage. Oh wait, some people are actually clapping to this noise.

Finally:

All I can say about this band is WTF. Seriously I feel so lost. I am not cool enough to be here. I do not understand. Help.

I was not kidding when I said I left mid-way through Ponytail’s set.  I opted to miss out on Yeasayer and kind of regret it but at the same time I had a pretty busy day and just wanted to get home.  I got hell from Melanie from Music Saves when I said bye to her and I deserved it.

Walking down Coventry with my friend we opted to hit up Phoenix Coffee for a little pick me up.  It was a good ending to a busy day.  With the streets still crowded after midnight we walked back to the car and headed back.

Good times.  I needed them.

Those Darlins – Beachland Tavern – Cleveland, OH – 07/14/09 – Concert Review

For the third time this year Nashville’s trio of vixens also known as Those Darlins returned to Cleveland. The trio recently released their debut album on their very own Oh Wow Dang records and the girls decided it would be best to celebrate via touring the states. Having just played the Beachland Ballroom as an opening act a few months ago, the girls were headlining their own show this time at the cozy little Beachland Tavern.

I really did not catch the two opening band’s names nor do I care to know them for future reference. The first band of the night with the canine name really had this cool young Stooges feel at times but to be honest, they needed to practice more. People do not pay money for shows to watch two plus attempts at starting a song let alone see the signer get angry with the snickering crowd because of the mishap. Simmer down tight jean wearing lead singer lad; practice makes perfect, anyone can tell you that.

The second band was just too much for me. Imagine a lead signer you think might have a signing voice like Chris Martin only to be shocked by vocals that resemble more Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star) meets Ween. There was a small crowd checking them out and I was not one of them. The music was not bad but adding that creepy helium singing over it just ruined it.

Ed. Note: Now normally I try not to bash bands too much while performing (blatant lie of course), but it’s kind of hard not to when your good buddy and music critic Matt is sitting next to you.  I won’t post anything we “Tweeted” that night but feel free to try and find the few that we did post while sitting through that torture.

Luckily Those Darlins were up next so unlike someone I know, I stayed for their set. After all it was the whole reason I was at the tavern. I sure as hell was not there to see the two opening bands…

With a slow start into their set Those Darlins played as the crowd stood motionless almost like Lake Erie zombies but soon everyone mellowed out after a few songs and drinks. The threesome of ladies played their all too familiar boot-stomping fun country-rock and by the looks of all the nodding heads in the tavern I was not the only one enjoying it.

Smiles were all over the faces of Those Darlins as they played quite a few tracks off of their debut album including “222”, Wild One”, and to comical “Whole Damn Thing”. For the first time since I have seen them live they jumped off the stage for a moment to interact with the crowd and at one time Kelly Darlin almost leveled my friend to the ground as she dove towards him with bass in hnd. Nikki Darlin even took the mic to the floor and danced with one lucky gentleman as she sang.  Fan interaction is always a good thing.

There’s a reason why I have seen these ladies live so many times. Is it because they are good looking? Perhaps. Is it because I really get a kick out of their style? Indeed.

There’s just something so addictive about their blend of music that just captured me the first time I heard it. Since then I am sure many of you readers know I became almost fanatical with them. I joked with Kelly Darlin after the show that night that I was a “Darlin Junkie” and she laughed but understood my gratitude for her and her band.

If you have not checked out the band yet do me a favor and at least hit up their MySpace page and sample some of their songs. You might be surprised, as I was, and might like them. Punk rock attitude, drinking dames, and country music fortitude; does it seriously get any better than this???

More Warped Memories…

So tomorrow the all day punk rock summer camp, also know as the Van’s Warped Tour, returns to Cleveland.  Once again I, along with a few of my friends, will make way through the endless crowds of kids to check out some amazing punk rock bands including Bad Religion, NOFX, Flogging Molly, and Gallows.

Armed with my trusty camera (the pics in this post are from the 2007 & 2008 Warped Tour FYI) I plan on doing my best to take some killer photos to share with all my readers.  I always have fun mingling with the fans and the bands and already know tomorrow will be an amazing day.  I may even sneak in a couple of photo sessions or interviews too.

I can not even tell you the number of Warped Tours I have been to but I know I have attended over half of them that rolled through Cleveland since 1996.  There were good times and bad times as well as times I do not even remember.

I’ve seen the festival blossom into what it is now and have watched grow as it moved from venue to venue in Cleveland.  I even remember the one time it was held at the Agora!  I think that was in 1997 and I do not remember any of it except for it being very cramped.

Having already recapped the 1996 Warped Tour in a previous blog, I though I would continue the fun stories although I am not sure my other Warped memories can top that dog choke chain story…

Here are a few select years I remember:

1998
I remember this Warped Tour being at the Nautica Stage / parking lot in the West Side of the flats in Cleveland.  Utilizing the parking lot the festival did not seem too cramped but I know that a whole ton of kids snuck in without paying as the fences were unguarded and short.

There were a few bands I can recall without looking them up on the internet that played including Bad Religion, NOFX, Rancid, Deftones, Kid Rock, MXPX, Unwritten Law, and the The Aquabats.

It was a good time although I was not feeling very well.  I was having stomach issues and just did not want to be bothered by anyone.  During Rancid a girl was punching people and kicking the guys in their lower abdominal area.  I yelled at her for her to stop kicking people in the junk after she got me once.  She went for round two to my crotch with her Doc Martin and I grabbed her foot and…well that’s all I have to say about that.  Everyone in the pit cheered.

My long time friend Gary was with us and I remember him flicking off the Goodtime III as it sailed past us.  The horror on the people’s faces was priceless.

Kid Rock…wow.  Kid Rock was one of the closing bands for the day and I kid you not (no pun intended) there were less than twenty people checking him out.  No one seemed to like him.  In fact, after a couple of songs my friends and I took off as did most of the crowd.  (Not even a year later Kid Rock would be opening up for Metallica)

2004
Ha, this was the year my pal Anthony and I collectively spent over $211 on beer.  Yes, $211 of our hard earned money was spent on overpriced draft beer.  I had brought a lot of cash with me planning on getting some merch from a lot of the bands I was a fan of and instead thought it would be a good idea to spend it on rounds of beer.

I think the Casualties played as well as NOFX, Bad Religion, Lars Frederickson & The Bastards, Anti-FlagYellowcard…umm…that’s all I got.  I was pretty hammered at this Warped Tour.  Ok, pretty was an understatement.

About 10 beers into the day my friends and I found an area to the left of the main stage that we pretty much staked ground at when there were bands we did not care to see.

“Eiffel Tower” was born that day too.  No, I am not talking about the Paris landmark, I am speaking of a cheers that takes 3 or more folk to engage in.  Anthony and I would hold our beers up high in the air to a random beer drinking attendee and scream “Eiffel Tower!!!!” expecting them to hold their beer up too.  At first people looked puzzled at the gesture but soon the beer drinking folk loved it and honestly I think we started something awesome that day…in fact I know we did.

In case you need more proof how much of an a-hole I can be, Yellowcard had just finished up their set and the younger crowd was leaving the main stage area because I think Bad Religion was playing and they needed to get to some other pop-punk stage.  Drunk and annoyed we started yelling at the kinds “get you of here you jerks” as well as called them “phonies”.  The looks of their faces was priceless.

I was that guy, that drunk guy, that annoyed everyone.  Hey, I was having fun so I guess that is all that mattered.  Thankfully we sobered up before the show’s end and then killed even more time afterwards ensuring no dangerous/stupid decisions were made.

2006
This was the first year that I got a VIP pass to the Warped Tour thanks to my lady and to the Transplants‘ guitar tech Jay Bastard.  This year I actually went to Cleveland and then the very next day to Cincinnati.

Avenged Sevenfold, Senses Fail, Transplants, No Use For A Name, My Chemical Romance, Dropkick Murphys, and others were on this bill.

In Cleveland I was tame but Cincinnati was a different story.  I was reunited with Anthony and even though the two of us planned on only spending little money on beer we still got hammered.  “Eiffel Tower” was introduced to Cincinnati that day.

Later during the festival Anthony and I were beyond wasted looking for our girlfriends who were actually on a tour bus with Tim Armstrong (Rancid) and Jay Bastard enjoying the AC.  Anthony and I were hanging on a fence trying to watch the Dropkick Murphys having no idea where to find the girls while sweating our asses off.  Eventually the girls found us drunk morons and walked us back to the car.

I swore to never again get hammered at the Warped Tour.  That sun was lethal and drinking did not help it one bit.  In fact I think it made us drunker…haha.

2007
This was one of those years I will never forget in my life.  Not because of the festival but because of mother nature’s fury.

This was actually the first festival I would not only attend but also review for the blogging site Blogcritics.org.  I was pretty psyched to have the opportunity to review the festival yet a little nervous becuase it was the first time I had ever really reviewed a festival.  I was so clueless what to do or where to go but I soon figured it out.  See below for a link of my review.

I drank one beer this time.  My friends…did not.  “Eiffel Tower” returned to Cleveland.  I kept a good eye on my friends this time to make sure they stayed out of trouble.  I should have kept my eye on the sky.

Around the 3 o’clock hour the blue skies turned dark and a freak thunderstorm rolled in to the Cleveland area.  I remember calling my lady asking her if she was getting hit by the storm.  She was at a dog park by our house and she stated it was still blue skies and had no idea what i was talking about.

This devil of a storm for some reason decided to slowly pass downtown Cleveland causing just horrible conditions, especially for folk like myself who were stuck outside with only tents to protect.  The storm pounded the area with heavy rains and winds so strong I swore we were in a tornado.  Everyone made the best of it because honestly, what the hell were we to do?  Luckily I was under the main tent surrounded by a ton of other folk.  Some kids were not so lucky hiding under bridges and wherever else they could find cover.

After the storm I walked around the grounds and it looked like armageddon.  Almost all of the merch tents were either packed up or blown over and destroyed.  The power was out in most of the city and there were hints of the Warped Tour not going on.  Even though the rumors were brewing, not many fans left and stuck it out waiting for an official announcement.

Kevin Lyman, the founder of the Warped Tour, made way to a stage where Coheed & Cambria were to play stating that the storm was one of the worst he has ever seen.  He also added that the show would go on and that they had two generators to power the two main stages.  He also offered all the storm survivors an added bonus and told everyone that their ticket stubs were good for admission to any Warped Tour for the duration of the summer.  I did not take advantage of that offer but some of my friends did.

As the sun set Bad Religion took the stage with a single hanging light bulb hovering over the stage.    It was a bittersweet ending to one heck of a day.

Click here for the review I did for the 2007 Warped Tour on Blogcritics.org

2008
Pretty tame year actually.  Since earlier in the year I put drinking on a hiatus I just flooded myself with water and enjoyed such acts as Against Me!, Story Of The Year, Gallows, Gym Class Heroes, MC Chris, 3OH!3, Beat Union, The Briggs, Pennywise, and Bouncing Souls.

Click here for the review I did for the 2008 Warped Tour on Blogcritics.org

2009
The day starts tomorrow at 11am.  I am sure I will have some stories to share.

Until then, have a good one.

The Avett Brothers w/ Special Guest Samantha Crain & the Midnight Shivers – Akron Civic Theatre – 06/19/2009 – Concert Review

Friday night in downtown Akron was one of those nights to remember for many thanks to The Avett Brothers.  It was one of those nights that anyone who came to the show will think of for years to come with help from their amazing performance.  Intimate at times as well as a full on rock show, everyone who had a ticket to that show left satisfied.

North Carolinian brothers Scott and Seth Avett once used to fill the quaint Kent Stage in Kent, OH but thanks to their success as a folk rock band they needed a bigger place to play.  With help from the Kent Stage crew the boys left that smaller stage for the classy Akron Civic Theatre, a stage I think suited them perfectly.

Having no idea that there was even an opening act, I was thrilled when the curator of the Kent Stage announced that Samantha Crain & The Midnight Shivers were taking the stage.  Having just recently been introduced to the country rock act I found myself even more excited to be at the show.

Samantha Crain and crew took the stage and received a warm welcome just after eight o’clock.  After a few songs in it was clear that the crowd had accepted them into their ears, thanks to her unique singing style and country rock, and were cheering loudly after each song.

During one moment after a song Samantha Crain stated she missed a note and declared “everyone hits a wrong note” and continued on how she is hard on herself for doing so even though she knows it happens.  The crowd all seemed to agree with what she said and not once did I hear any wrong notes played.  Then again I only had heard a couple of songs prior to seeing her set live.

Samantha Crain admitted it was only the second show her and the band had played with The Avett Brothers and thanked them for the opportunity to share the stage.  Admitting she came from a small town in Oklahoma she basically confessed to living the dream.  Seeing her jump around excitedly on stage as she strummed her acoustic guitar just proved how excited she was to be up on that stage.

Shortly before the Avett’s took the stage, die-hard fans started screaming out “Happy Birthday Scott!”  Clearly many of the fans knew that one of the members was celebrating their birthday in Akron that night.

With the curtains still drawn The Avett brothers along with Bob Crawford started their set off with “PGFA”.  Everyone in the house went wild upon hearing the music begin and once the curtains were opened it was clear to everyone how great this band truly is.  With an array of instruments behind the trio everyone’s attention was focused on the amazing folk-rock playing from the banjo, the stand up bass, and acoustic guitar as well as dual signing that had just begun.  To add to the stage’s appeal there was a giant backdrop of a ship that resembled Scott Avett’s art.

While standing in literally the middle of the venue I felt that I had the best place to hangout at for the night while taking in all that The Avett Brothers dished out.  Their songs, as my friend Seth said it best, gave me that feeling that many in the past had to have felt when the Beatles first started playing their music live.  I was heavily sucked into each song they played and had a smile on my face that lasted pretty much until I got home that night and finally fell asleep.

Throughout the set Joe Kwon would join the trio and add cello to some of the songs.  The brothers would share singing duties and seemed to swap out guitars during every song and at times even during some of the songs.  It was really interesting to see Seth Avett swap guitars and narrowly miss continuing the song but he is a pro at what he does and there were no interruptions.

Playing through songs such as “Please Pardon Yourself”, “Die Die Die”, and “It Goes On & On” The Avett Brothers sounded as amazing as I thought they would.  I missed many the opportunity to see this band live in the past and regretted it each time.  Finally though I found myself at one of their live shows feeling privileged to be in their presence.

In between songs fans were screaming out requests to the stage in hopes that their favorite song would be performed spur of the moment but The Avett Brothers thanked them for their requests and continued on.  Seeing them smile up on stage as they performed just proved how great of a time they were having as well.  At one time a fan screamed that she loved them and Seth Avett responded “we love you too.”  The band even played a new song from their upcoming album to be released in September.

That one new song the band played just made my night.  It was titled “I & Love & You” off of their upcoming late summer release I & Love & You.  With Scott Avett taking the drumming duties as well as signing out the I and love and you with his hand as the crowd sang along I found myself getting chills.  It was a great feeling and a great love song.

After the band played “Skin & Bones” they exited the stage.  Fans screamed and applauded the amazing performance while at the same time were still hungry for more.  Luckily the Avett’s were not quite done yet and returned to the stage moments later with a couple of extra helpers, Kent’s very own folk star Jessica Lea Mayfield and her bearded brother David.  It was the perfect end to an amazing evening.

The Avett Brother’s live show turned me into a bigger fan than I already was.  I really think the live experience just intensified their talent.  While leaving the historic Akron Civic Theatre I heard no complaints at all and everyone was just in a great mood.  I do not think I have ever attended a show quite like the one I did on that warm Friday night.  I can not wait till the next time these boys come back to a city near me.  I know I will be there in a heartbeat.

The Avett Brothers Setlist (as taken from the band’s web forum):
PGFA
Solomon
Paranoia
Please Pardon Yourself
Die Die Die
PGFR
Down With The Glistening Shine
Gift For Melody Ann
Song Of The Dying Sailor
Greensboro Woman
Salina
It Goes On & On
I & Love & You
At The Beach
Murder In The City
Swept Away
Talk Of Indolence
Matrimony
Skin & Bones

Encore (with Jessica Lea & David Mayfield)
Talk Of
Will You Return