Northcoast

For the record I was totally kidding about "Race War" and "sex.assault." I thought they were stupid because they're provocative. But I shouldn't be surprised that you took me seriously, Adam, given my refusal to use ":)" and the like.

I still think "Bear" would be a cool name, though. Honestly.

I watched "Adaptations" two night ago. I really liked it. Worked for me, but I thought someone here didn't like it for some reason. Would like to know why.

One last thing re: band names, this sounds dumb, but I think the word "the" is too overused right now. The Hives, The Hot, The whatever. Everyone's a "the." You'll have to wait another three or four years before can put that definite article before your name.

Not much time, but how about these for band names?

Race War
sex.assault (all lower case, kinda' like india.arie or whatever)

Also, I did see the Blur show in Portland, and I think it was worth $25. (1) Because I love Blur and the new album, and (2) they're kind of celebrities in my mind, and for some reason that makes spending $25 more palatable. Regardless, they were fabulous. As Adam said, Ambulence and Trimm Trabb were exciting live, and the crowd was really into it. One of the better shows I've seen.

Later.

Sorry I forgot to call you about the show Adam. I went golfing yesterday, and the show completely slipped my mind. I don't know if I would have gone or not. I was sort of burned out though after going to that Foo Fighters' show Saturday. Which reminds me. I've got a couple things to say about that show. I went because my brother likes them and he paid for the tickets (talk about expensive - with Ticketmaster charges and fees the total was over $40 per ticket). A couple of observations. Arena rock shows suck. I hate when bands extend songs by adding all sorts of stupid breaks in songs that aren't included in any recorded version of the song. The Foos must have had a "rawk out" extended metal break in every one of their stinkin songs. If they would have just stuck to playing the songs, they could've added 5 or 6 more songs to their set. At one time I thought drum solos were cool, but they're not. I understand cheering for a band that you really like, but for Christsakes, there were several people around me yelling so loud I thought someone was getting murdered in cold blood. The funniest thing was when Dave Grohl brought out Grant Hart (from Husker Du fame) for a song during the encore. Of course, no one knew who the hell he was. Anyways, I'm looking forward to seeing Built to Spill - they're playing First Ave. in September for $10 or $12.

I have a question about ticket prices for concerts. At what point do you just say no to buying a ticket for a band you would really like to see? I guess I'm just amazed that Blur is charging 25 bucks (advance and door). I think that to charge that amount you either need to have two or more well known bands or it has to be one huge megaband playing a big venue. If you decide you're going to play a "club" tour, you should not charge more than 15 (18 to 20 at the most). I'm not a cheapskate, but I think I might end up passing on the show because I refuse to pay that much for a ticket to First Ave.