Viva Las Vegas, Day 1

It really was a shame that just as I was about to post regarding the trip Mixy, Jober, and I took to Vegas in March, the computer crashed!!!  The classic photo of Jober in front of the Wheel of Fortune slot machine just after hitting 400$ on the wheel is lost forever.  Hopefully we can restore some of the glory with these posts on our most recent escapades in Vegas this past weekend.  I drove up with Mixygirl, and Toro flew in on Saturday.

 

The drive up which passes through the Mojave desert was beautiful as usual.  We stopped at a rest stop, so I could take pictures of a Joshua tree, and these creepy crowes. 

This time, we stayed at the new Wynn resort.  It's been hyped up to be the ultimate luxury casino resort, but early reviews are mixed.  I personally loved staying there.  The rooms were awesome.  The casino is not built to be as flashy as the Bellagio or the Venetian, so maybe that is part of why people have been somewhat disappointed.  It seems to have been designed to keep out the "riff-raff".  It has a very closed off design to it.  The casino is tasteful but not overdone. 

 

On the left is Mixygirl in the lobby.  I loved the touch of these beautiful tile mosaics on the floors in the lobby as well. 

 

There's a stairwell leading to an avant-garde like waterfall.  The stairwell is filled with these mechanical parasols that go up and down. I thought it looked pretty cool. 

 

The suite we got was really nice and fun to stay in.  The decor was well done and we really enjoyed the his and hers bathrooms with jacuzzi bath tub.  The widescreen wall mounted LCD tv, and the alarm clock-radio that you could plug your ipod into were nice touches also.

 

You know how most resorts have a big outdoor attraction thes days, e.g. the Bellagio fountains, or the Mirage volcano?  The Wynn has this huge wall made of gold colored bricks with water running down it.  You can't see it from the strip, it's covered by a wall of trees (which goes with my theory of the Wynn being designed to not attract a lot of foot traffic).  Well before dinner, Mixy and I chilled out in front of the strange waterfall, which had alternating lighting to give a very spooky feel to it. 

 

So we had a couple of drinks and were happily mesmerized by the waterfall, when suddenly the lights dimmed, and the most bizarre Vegas strip show I've seen began.  Cirque du soleil type images were projected onto the waterwall now which became a screen.  An orb ascended from behind the wall, where images of a woman were projected on it, singing a cirque-esque song. 

 

Just when we thought it couldn't get any stranger, two huge dancing puppets popped out from behind the wall and did a little jig!!! For the grand finale, a head came out of the water and finished singing the song.  I wasn't sure if we really saw what we saw, or if someone spiked our drinks with LSD, but I guess the photos are the proof. 

 

After the strange waterwall experience, we had worked up quite an appettite, so Mixy and I headed to eat at Alex.  The cuisine was French Riviera style and the chef who owns it is Alessandro Stratta.  I've been wanting to try it ever since my coworker told me his favorite restaurant in Vegas was Renoir at the Mirage.  Renoir was Stratta's last restaurant which he closed, in order to start the new one at the Wynn.  Given that I had not photographed my food in a long time, I forgot to photograph the first 2 1/2 dishes.  The first dish was absolutely incredible, it was a little cup of ginger cream (like creme brulee), topped with soy flavored gelee, and then tuna sashimi and osetra caviar to boot (DHS)!!!  The second dish of Maine lobster quenelles with tomato-crawfish-zucchini was decent.

 

The next dish was saute of foie gras with spice roasted peach and toasted almond milk.  The dish on the right which I forgot to photo til 1/2 way through was the roasted Daurade with caramelized orange, candied fennel, and red wine sauce.

 

The highlight of the meal was the Wagyu strip loin with yukon potato gratin and chanterelle mushrooms.  This dish was amazing!!! We've had too many versions of Wagyu beef lately that just taste like normal beef.  This dish was like eating slices of Toro, in that the strip loin slices were so buttery and perfectly marbled (super DHS).  As sort of a pre-dessert, we had coconut tapioca with tropical fruits.

 

I was pleased, that I made the right decision to substitute a cheese plate in place of my dessert.  Mixygirl had the chocolate and gianduja caramel with espresso gelato and hazelnut.

 

I love it when they serve a bunch of small tiny desserts in addition to your regular meal, at French restaurants.  The madelines, petit-fours and chocolates were all exceptional.  The meal was incredible, and the only downside was that Mixygirl got very sick again from eating too much .  We were beat, so we headed to sleep after dinner.  I did manage to play a little blackjack before going badk up to the room, and won 150$ that night.  The bad news is that the next day I lost all that and more.

White Stripes and Dinosaur Jr.

This past week has been insanely fun.  A couple of shows, a Vegas trip, and now Mixygirl is away for two weeks with Greedymonger in Russia.  Let's start with last Tuesday, when I caught the White Stripes at the Greek Theatre.

 

So, I like the White Stripes and think the White Blood Cells, and Elephant albums were amazing.  However, I am not what I would describe as a superfan.  The Greek Theatre show made me a believer though.  We arrived just in time, as they went on stage the minute we reached our seats.  The set was amazing.  The backdrop had a back lit apple on it in the center.  You can see what I mean by  checking out their website.  The glowing apple was set in the middle of a black and red mural of mountains and palm trees.  I realized halfway into the set that The backdrop represented the Garden of Eden.  And if so, that meant that Jack and Meg were playing Adam and Eve.  Very appropriate, given that they are man/woman, sister/brother, ex-wife/ex-husband all at once.  I felt the show was just intensely powerful, and a rare statement of rock performance as art.  The music that they have appropriated and invented as their own is at the same time highly derivative of the blues, and punk rock, yet totally and utterly original.  The power of Jack White's singing and guitar playing, was just that... powerful.  And while Meg's drumming sounds at times woefully unskilled, that night it fit perfectly in this creation that they have made together.  I had personally been skeptical of the future and worth of this band due to Jack White's tabloid exploits with starlets and marriages to supermodels, but this show blew me away. 

 

 

After another day of work last Wednesday, Mixygirl and I joined Bagel and Damon for Dinosaur Jr. at the Avalon.  Was it as good as the Spaceland Reunion show a couple of months ago?  No, but what did you expect.  The show still kicked ass though, and we saw Chloe Sevigny in the audience again.  Highlights included "Just Like Heaven", "Little Fury Things", "The Lung", and slam dancing to "Freak Scene" which is a dream come true for any boy who grew up listening to post punk in the late80's, early 90's. 

Music Tag!

THE RULES:

List five songs that you are currently loving. It doesn't matter what genre they are from, whether they have words, or even if they're any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying right now.

Post these instructions, the artists, and the songs in your blog (Xanga). Then tag five other Xanga friends to see what they're listening to.

I've been tagged by Torosushi.  These are five amongst many that I've been listening to a lot recently.

1) The Raveonettes: That Great Love Sound

2) Rufus Wainwright: Hallelujah

3) Dead Kennedys: Viva Las Vegas

4) Ze Malibu Kids: Your Bed

5) Pearl Jam: Last Kiss

I don't have that many other Xanga friends, so I can't tag 5 people, but the people I will tag are Ankimojunkie, Moglandor, and Joberiffic.

Good news, the ipod has been fixed, and the data has been restored onto the new hard drive!!!  Thank God,  I would've gone crazy if I had to load 10,000 songs onto another hard drive.  Last night Mixy, Jober, Jober's friend Todd, and I went to a Dodger game.  The game was very boring, but of course the rituals of dodger dogs, beer, and the gift shop were quite enjoyable. 

I think we were on our way to the gift shop when Jober noticed that we had just walked by Jason Bateman.  I didn't see him though, so I don't know if it counts as a sighting.  Is Bateman considered Tier-A now, because his show Arrested Development rocks?  Jober found out that Bateman has had season tickets in the orange section for years.  In other great news, tomorrow is Mixygirl's last day at work!!!!  They are going to have a pizza party for her at the office tomorrow, and tomorrow night the Cheese Panda clan will take her out to dinner.

So, the computer is finally fixed.  Now I can post my own pics again on Xanga.  I still wasn't able to download the program yet that will let me load my ipod music back onto the hard drive.  Here's some pics from X Games this past weekend.

Mixygirl in front of the Big Air ramp in Staples parking lot.

Dead Kennedys in Staples parking lot

 

Vert ramp competitions in the Staples Center, and Jeff Garlin (from Curb your Enthusiasm), on the right in the red t-shirt presenting an award.

Had a very cool past week or so to report on.  Last Friday Moglandor arrived from Paducah Kentucky via Las Vegas to spend some time in LA before he starts law school in 3 wks!!! On Friday, we started out by checking out the Barrington Dog park's Lemonade Fridays with Mixygirl and Kapono as well.  It was really fun, and then lemonade was actually really good. 

After the fun dog action, we headed to 3rd street in Santa Monica and had a good meal at the Border Grill.

We chilled out later that night.  On Saturday, we headed out to the Arclight theatres in Hollywood to check out a movie called the Aristocrats, per Moglandor's recommendation.The movie was produced by Penn from Penn and Teller

The movie had a very interesting premise, and turned out to be hilarious!!!  The aristocrats is a joke that comedians tell each other after the curtains go down.  The joke is about a guy who goes to a talent agency, and shows the agent an act involving his family in lude acts.  When the agent asks what the name of the act is, the punchline is "We call ourselves the Aristocrats".  Pretty dumb joke, as everyone agreed, but the fun is in the different comedians coming up with the most disgusting, pornographic and just plain sick scenarios that the lude act involves.  (Bob Saget probably told the sickest rendition of the joke).  You guys should check it out, I totally recommend it.

After the movie, we headed across the street to Amoeba Music.  Moglandor hasn't bought much music in the past three years, so he told me to pick 5 CD's that were must buys.  I ended up picking a lot more, but I hope they are to his satisfaction, cause my musical reputation is at stake. 

Later that evening, (after a brief encounter with Juddy, Jober, and Turtle), Mixy, Moglandor and I drove down to Whittier for a Gravely Disabled gig.  This time we played Lovato's son's baptism party.  I was really psyched because I had never been to a real live chicano fiesta before.  We arrived right after the Mariachi band left (damn!!!).  There were colorful streamers all over the spacious backyard, and plenty of sexy latinas hanging around (don't worry Mixygirl, I take my marriage vows seriously).  The show sounded good, but I don't think a mediocre punk rock cover band, was what they were expecting.  Most of the crowd filtered away during our set.  The sole holdouts were the rhythm guitarist's kids, Mixy, and Moglandor (thanks for the support).  It was really fun though, and I enjoyed myself.  We even got to boogie a little bit afterwards to cheesy disco songs.

On Sunday, I thought it would be cool to show Moglandor around up in Malibu.  Little did I guess that the summer weekend PCH traffic was going to be insane.  It was fun however seeing all sorts of fancy cars, and being able to study all the Malibu beach houses will driving by at extremely low speeds.  After a slight detour at Dementia (ROOR icemaster is awesome), we arrived at Malibu Country Mart, which is a little shopping center with a playground for rich little kids hang out at.  We had a great lunch at John's Garden, which is a health food/sandwich shop adjacent.

After lunch we headed over to the Malibu Art Fair.  It was pretty lame actually.  Most of the stuff was really cheesy typical California Beach style art.  We headed back after that to meet up with Mixygirl because we had tickets for King Tut at the LACMA.  Before LACMA, we hit up Taylor's steakhouse in K-town for an old school steak experience.  Sinatra used to frequent this place a lot back in the day.  The food was pretty good there, but Mixygirl got screwed again.  This is the second time in a month that she has ordered a ribeye steak, and she has gotten prime rib instead!!!

Well King Tut was pretty cool, but slightly disappointing at the same time.  We were packed in like sardines to view the luxurious items from Tut's tomb in the Valley of the Kings.  I enjoyed seeing all the stuff.  The last time I saw this stuff was in 1993, when I visited Cairo after spending a month on an archaeological dig in Israel.  (I realize now, that deciding to go on that trip was one of the best decisions I ever made in undergrad).  A major bummer however was that all the large burial masks, like the one you see above, were left in Cairo and not at the LACMA exhibit.  All of their advertising was misleading because they show what looks like a large burial mask, but is really a blown up photograph of the head of a small coffinette used to bury Tut's organs in. 

Next morning, Moglandor and I visited Venice Beach.  As usual the regular collection of bong vendors, cheap t-shirt stores, freaks, and homeless people were in abundance.  The coolest freak exhibit of the day was a collection of dry erase boards dedicated to free speech, featuring multiple controversial essays, such as the one regarding the existential question of "Did Jesus Masturbate?".  Check it out the next time you're in Venice.  Lots of Kapono fans also, in Venice.  We got stopped every 10 seconds with fans that wanted to pet and play with Kapono. 

We spent the afternoon chilling at home, and watched a DVD about a south african cop who turns into a mastermind bank robber.  Pretty good.

After Stander, we met up with Mixygirl at the Farmer's Market to satisfy Moglandor's insatiable taqueria appetite, at Lotteria.  They have the best burritos there, made with Albodingas.

After Lotteria, we walked to the Grove and saw the new Willy Wonka movie.  We all enjoyed it, but it wasn't perfect.  I didn't really care for the aloof, prissy boy take on Willy Wonka that Depp provided.  It was visually really well done though, and the plot flowed well.  The next morning I bid Moglandor a fond farewell at LAX, but accidentally shut the trunk door on his head, when he was taking out his luggage. (Not that kind of luggage).

After a very cool day of work, I headed out to the Echo, in echo park to check out the Muffs.  I haven't been to that club before, but I will probably go a lot more now.  Very cool crowd.  Not the jaded scenesters like at Spaceland, but more like the freak scenesters that used to be everyhwere in the punk rock era.  You would think that having been to so many Muffs shows in the past months, that it would get tireseome.  Even I would've predicted so, especially since the last one at the Spaceland left me underwhelmed.  But I gotta tell ya, they just keep getting better and better.  The audience was the key.  There is nothing like working a hard shift in the ER, and then slam dancing at a Muffs show with a guy wearing a Mexican wrestling mask in the pit with you.  The set was just great, and the Muffs had the most fun I've seen them have in a long time. 

This past Saturday, Mixygirl had the great idea of checking out the X games at the Staples Center.  Pictured above is the insane "Big Air" ramp, where skaters have to take an elevator to the top before they ride down a ramp that launches them ski jump style.  It was pretty cool, but we only saw a couple of skaters do it, cause of the long line to get in.  After Big Air, and checking out some skater vending booths, I saw a stage where a band was set up to play.  I asked the soundman who was playing, and he told me it was the Dead Kennedys.  Holy Shit, I thought to myself (actually I think I said it out loud).  I know that seeing the Dead Kennedys without infamous lead singer Jello Biafra, is like seeing the Doors without Jim Morrison, but I was still intrigued. 

 

They came out and actually rocked pretty hard.  I enjoyed myself at the show.  There were a lot of crusty punks doing their mosh pit thing.  The lead singer now isn't even Brandon Cruz who replaced Jello in a later incarnation.  Its some young 20-something kid named Jeff from Philadelphia.  It was really trippy to see the infamous DK logo, sitting next to a logo for Saturn, ESPN, and X Games.  Who would've thunk it. After the DK's, we headed into Staples for the regular vert ramp stuff.  First we saw the women's finals which were kind of boring.  Only women's gymnastics, and tennis, are interesting in my opinion. 

The next thing up was the in-line vert demo.  The highlight was definitley seeing child prodigy Takeshi Yasutoko, and his brother land some crazy tricks.

After the in-line demo, was the best trick competition in men's vert ramp skating.  Pictured above is Shaun White (Mixygirl says he looks like carrot top).  He kept trying to land a 1080 degree flip, but couldn't do it (must've tried like 20 times or more).  It's never been done before, so I'm bummed he didn't land it.  Lots of other cool and crazy tricks though.  Bonus for X games, was that we got to see Jeff Garlin hand out the awards for best women's vert skater.  Later that night, we met up with Greyhound and Juddy for some Karaoke action at the Gaslight in Santa Monica.  Juddy sang "We're not Gonna Take it",, by Twisted Sister.  I sang Sedated by the Ramones, and Baby one more Time by Britney.  It was a very fun week, and I am looking forward to the upcoming Vegas trip and lots more fun to come. 

(Brad Wilk)

Moglandor is "in the house" now.  Last night was pretty mellow, we ate at  Border Grille, met up with Jober and Ankimo junkie and chilled out at home.  Tonight should be better, cause Gravely Disabled is playing a chicano baby baptism party (Lovato's).  Forgot to mention earlier that last week, Mixygirl, Dober, and I went to coral tree cafe, and had lunch next to Brad Wilk, who is the drummer from Audioslave/Rage Against the Machine.

 

Elizabethan Collar

Self Explanatory

Had quite the interesting week so far, here's the recap.  Last Sunday, the sad day came when Kapono needed to get fixed.  I had no idea how brutal the surgery was.  He came home with his lower abdomen shaved with multiple nicks, and a one inch incision about an inch away from his scrotum (meaning they had to drag his balls out of that incision)!!!  The upside was that I could make fun of him for his conehead collar (aka elizabethan collar), that he had to wear to prevent him from licking his stitches

I also have been watching a lot of the Family Guy.  I didn't watch it at all during its first run on TV, and I'm not sure why cause it's the most hilarious show on TV now.  I love all the pop culture, and Rhode Island references.  My favorite character so far is Brian the talking dog, and my favorite scene so far is when the guys drink ipecac and have a non-stop barf fest for a few minutes.  I haven't laughed that hard since the marijuana relationship montage in Harold and Kumar.

Last Thursday, I caught a cool new band from London with Bagal and Sedlic, called the Go Team at the Troubadour.  They were very fun and sounded like indie-rock mixed with 70's soul music.  The lead singer was very energetic and the whole vibe was very happy.  Their album right now is still only available by UK import, but I heard they're going to release it in the US soon.

Well after a late night of weekday concert going, we definitely got the munchies.  After the show we mosied down to the infamous Pink's hotdogs, where we proceeded to wait in line for 40 minutes like all the other late night Hollywood goers.  I haven't eaten there in a long time.  The chili dog I got was actually amazing.   The chili was a great consistency, not as super oily and disgusting as Tommy's.  The hot dog itself was incredible.  The skin burst with every new bite, like eating caviar.  Then the juice would come out.  I definitely recommend going to Pink's for the late night Hollywood munchy fix.

This past Saturday, Mixygirl and I checked out Beck supporting his new album Guero, at the Universal (AKA Gibson) Amphitheatre.  We had dinner before the show at Gladstone's Citywalk, which was cool because that is where we ate on our first date before a Weezer concert in 1995.  The opening band was the Decemberists which was pretty fun.  Petra Haden of that dog fame played violin for them.  Beck turned out an amazing set that night.  He has written so many awesome songs over the past ten years, and he played all of the good ones that night.  I almost forgave him for being a scientologists.  Highlights included the "best dancer in the world" providing funky entertainment, and towards the middle of the set they brought out a dining table.  On the dining table were all sorts of cups and plates and wine glasses filled with different levels of water.  Beck played a couple songs on acoustic guitar while the other 5 and members played percussion and chimes with the dinnerware on the table.  It sounded and looked amazing. 

     Preser (AKA Dober), is staying at MG's and my place because he moved back to LA and is going to work at TMMC ER also.  He just got a really cool apartment in Hermosa Beach today, after a frustrating week of apartment hunting.  It's going to be really cool having him back in LA.  Also, Moglandor is coming to visit this weekend, so there should be much more fun to be had and much more blogging to come.  The tentative plans include shopping at Amoeba Records, watching a movie, going to the King Tut Exhibit, and a Gravely Disabled gig. 

     I had a fantastic week.  I worked 6 days in a row last week which is a lot for working in the ER.  The good news is I saved 2 people's lives!!!!  I was definitely looking forward to 4th of July weekend, which did not disappoint.  On Saturday, I joined Mixygirl's clan for her cousin Bryan's wedding.  The ceremony was enjoyable, but the reception was really special.  They had it at a cool Art Deco Latin/Italian restaurant in downtown LA.  LA doesn't have much more of these places left.  I felt like I was attending some sort of swanky function in Gotham City.  The band was really good also. 

     Speaking of bands, on Sunday my band Gravely Disabled got together since a prolonged absence (October was our last gig) to play the 4th of July (but on the 3rd) party for the UCLA emergency medicine residents.  Its also a traditional party to welcome in the new incoming residents.  The gig went very well.  Mixygirl said it sounded the best yet out of all of our shows.  The residents even crowdsurfed for one of the songs!!!  The songs that I sang were Photograph, I think we're alone now, In your Bed, and Rock 'n Roll Radio. 

     On the actually 4th of July, I had to work in the ER.  It was pretty cool though,  when I got off, I drove to Anaheim Hills to join Mixygirl and Toro to check out the local fireworks from their hillside vantage point.  Mixygirl just got the new Lexus hybrid SUV, so I was definitely excited to check it out.  The car is awesome, and probably the most comfortable and best handling car I've ever been in!!!  After checking out the fireworks in Anaheim Hills, we drove back to West LA.  On the way back, every 30 seconds, you could see fireworks all along the freeway route.  It was like the whole city of Los Angeles was one giant celebration.  Definitely a really special moment. 

     On Wednesday, Mixy, Toro, Julie Butler, and I headed to the Pantages in Hollywood to check out the 2004 Broadway musical Wicked.  I thought it was incredible.  It has the reputation of being a little too mainstream, but I thought it was really well done and clever.  It retells the story of the Wizard of Oz, but from the perspective of Elphaba, the Wicked witch.  It cleverly shows us that it was her that was actually the "Good Guy"  all along.  The music wasn't that strong, but there were a few really good numbers, including my favorite, the Act I closer, Defy Gravity.  The second act definitely is not as good as the first one, but overall a very cool musical. 

     I definitely made the most of yesterday.  Had the day off, and Juddy just got back from Buffalo, so we went downtown together and joined Mixygirl for lunch at LA's best seafood restaurant (which I've never been to yet), the Watergrill.  The food was awesome, and I see how they get their reputation.  I had a grilled Yukon river salmon, which in my mind redefines the word salmon.  It tasted incredible.  The color of the meat was a brilliant orange, rather than the pale pink that so many overcooked and poor quality salmon filets have.  It just melted like butter in my mouth, and you could cut it with a fork and it wouldn't flake.  You all need to check this place out!!!

     Early that evening, Mixygrirl and I had the pleasure of checking out the Eels with strings.  For those of you that forgot, the eels are a cool band whose only hit was in the late 90's, called Novacaine for the Soul.  The lead singer, named E, has had quite a productive career since then, if not in the commerical arena.  The set this time was backed by a string quartet and was truly unique and original.  E was really funny, and I hope to catch them again during a rock and roll format show. 

     Instead of an opening act, the Eels played a Russian stop motion animation.  I have to say it was probably the weirdest opening performance I've ever seen.  It was a cute story of an alligator and a tiny mouse named Cheburashka.  They were travelling to Moscow, along some train tracks, and in doing so stopped environmental polluters and poachers along the way.  Cheburashka was very cute.

     In true punk rock fashion, cause the Eels show was early, Mixygirl and I headed over to the Knitting Factory afterwards and caught a blistering set by the Muffs.  We convinced Bagal to come along, and he brought his friend Steve, who is the owner of Fais-do-do.  The Muffs show for some reason was more enjoyable than the last one at the Spaceland.  I think it was a cool, the way we saw the almost classical music type perfomace of the Eels, and then got to see the Muffs rock out.  That's all for now.

Had a pretty fun week so far.  Worked a lot and still had a bunch of Gravely Disabled practices.  The hard drive is officially dead, in the meantime click here to visit Torosushi's site to see the posts of our Japan trip photos (don't forget to scroll back til you see all of the posts).  On Saturday after a night shift, Mixygirl took me to see an awesome movie called March of the Penguins.  It was made in Antarctica under the harshest conditions by a French director, and released by National Geographic with Warner Independent Pictures.  The movie follows a group of penguins during their annual breeding which takes more than 7 months.  The penguins march through the harshest winter imaginable to a breeding ground 70 miles from the ocean.  There they endure incredible hardships, many of them dying in order to have a baby.  It was beautifully shot, and not too cheesy in the way it's presented.  Morgan Freeman did an excellent job narrating.  Check this movie out!!!  After we saw the movie, we had a great dinner at Charlie G's steakhouse to celebrate Dinah's graduation from Respiratory Therapy school.  Jober picked the restaurant and it turned out really good.  We had awesome crab cakes and a deep fried lobster tail with honey-mustard sauce.  My veal chop turned out amazing.

I forgot to mention that earlier in the week, I caught Batman Begins.  I have to agree with everybody else, that this film was excellent.  It was definitely the best movie adaptation of a comic book, that I have ever seen.   I would say that my prior favorite comic book as movie was the first X-Men, but Batman Begins clearly blows it out of the water.  I think the movie stands on its own as a film instead of just being the typical comic book movie device for stunts and guest stars.  Christian Bale was excellent in the movie.  I've loved him since Empire of the Sun.  I heard that he gained a crazy amt of weight in a short period of time because he had to film Batman right after the Machinist. 

This Sunday, Mixygirl and I met up with Bagal, Sedlic, and Damon to see Arcade Fire open up for David Byrne at the Hollywood Bowl.  The show was put together by ultra-indie cool radio station/NPR station, KCRW. 

On our way in, we spotted Drew Barrymore with her boyfriend Fab, drummer of the Strokes.  They seemed pretty non-descript.  Drew had her hair down and was wearing an olive colored army jacket.  I guess it makes sense for a star trying to go incognito to sport that look. 

  

The Arcade Fire with their debut album Funeral

Fortunately, we caught the beginning of the Arcade Fire right as we walked into our seats.  Their debut album funeral has definitely been on my heavy listening rotation after the amazing Coachella show.  The mood was initially subdued at the Hollywood Bowl.  That's mainly cause people are used to going with a picnic basket and sitting down in their nice box seats to enjoy the performances.  The performance was just too powerful though, and by the end of the set the whole audience was on their feet clapping along to the songs, and heaping thunderous applause on the band.  I thought the set was amazing.  Again, maybe not as good as Coachella, but definitely still special (Coachella brings that extra magic to seeing a band, which is rarely re-created upon repeat viewings).  The band sounded fantastic, and seeing them play all different instruments was cool again.  Regine was an amazing performance for the two songs that she sang lead vocals for.  They also sounded a lot different b/c the Tosca strings who had been touring with Dave Byrne joined them for most of the songs. 

 

Next up was ex-Talking Heads leader, David Byrne.  I have to admit that I wasn't expecting that much from the show, I was there more to see the Arcade Fire.  David Byrne kicked incredible ass however.  He is still an extremely weird and quirky character.  The songs he played did have that worldbeat flavor that most ex-new age/punk rockers seem to favor (e.g. Sting, Peter Gabriel).  I have to say though that it didn't sound corny at all and I really enjoyed it. 

The show defnitely got surreal when a marching band descended from the upper levels to join Byrne for the last three songs.  Fleetwood Mac did a similar stunt, but to cheesy effect during their reunion tour with the USC marching band, but this was a different group of people called the Extra Action Marching Band from San Francisco.  They were dressed in G-strings and leather collars and S&M masks.  It was a totally freaky scene seeing David Byrne and this crazy marching band in such a historic place such as the Hollywood Bowl.  They tore into a ripping version of Burning Down the House, and the whole audience went crazy.  If you think that was weird, it got even more surreal as David Byrne launched into his final song, a pitch perfect, and super energized cover of Beyonce's hit "Crazy in Love".  Everyone just lost it after that.  It was a bit of a bummer though because there was no encore (probably due to the Bowl's strict curfew policy).  All in all a surprisingly awesome event, and I'm glad I got to go.  Final kudos to Mixygirl for packing an excellent picnic for the show with homemade red pepper/eggplant tapanade and fresh mozzarella sandwiches.