Last Night Was Cool.

Last night was cool. It was neat to see Exit Stencil's recording studio, and Music Saves had an energy going on that I'd not seen there before. Plus, I bought a few new cds, so I have something to listen to for a while.

For the record, I picked up Del the Funky Homosapien's new one (Eleventh Hour) and Film School's sophomore release (Hideout). I also picked up some kinda bizarre anonymous book and a copy of the new Bears cd (local pop sweethearts) on impulse at the register. Oh yeah, and a button for 50 cents.

Speaking of Film School, on May 4 Music Saves is sponsoring a weenie roast outside the Beachland, followed by a show by Film School, opened by my favorite local act, Unsparing Sea. Be there or, well, don't get any hot dogs.

Other than the music stuff, I was able to pick my Muny up from Shoparooni (little bastard didn't win me anything), check out a couple group shows at Vision and ArtsCollinwood galleries. I don't really like group shows, at least not if there is more than 2-3 artists. The excellent new curator lady at ArtsCollinwood told me about the next show, which sounds awesome. Also, I purchased one of the pieces (for $40, I think!), titled "Yellow Duck on Purple Pond." When I get to pick it up early next month, I'll try to remember to post a picture here.

We closed the night with the show at the Beachland. It was just ok, the opening band was from Columbus and the singer/guitarist clearly had a man-crush on Jeff Tweedy. Don't get me wrong, there are worse people to have man-crushes on, but still, it was sooo obvious. Haircut? Check. Blazer with jeans? Check. Plaintive quiet almost off-key on purpose wail? Check. I bet he went to the stall with migraines and then kicked out the drummer for being better at his instrument later.

The next band were populated almost entirely with douchebags, acting like fools before the show and desperately trying to impress the members of the next band, which was populated entirely with attractive hipster girls. I don't think their efforts were successful. I mean, dear god, they shouldn't be successful. But you never know.

The last band made me have visions of Hole, with a pretty killer background band over-shadowed by the skanky yet confident lead singer. It would be awesome if they found a better singer (both in terms of vocals and demeanor), but they won't.

The one band I really wanted to see bailed on the line-up, so it was one of those $5 for nondescript live music nights. You could do worse, I suppose.