is tuesday too early to start pining for the weekend?
Later today I'm definitely going to do the Question of the Day, which asks you to describe yourself in five words or less. I just really don't think I've got it in me right now.
What I do want to discuss are the plethora of activities about which I'm excited this weekend.
A pair of CD releases are going down on Friday night, both long-awaited by many. Fire Flies, a band mostly based out of Brooklyn, are unleashing their second full-length album at a show at Valentine's at 8:00 PM. Their first, while representative of their sound in a technical sense, I felt lacked the manic energy that makes their live shows so exciting. To see them on stage is to know how big they're going to be, and how lucky you are to be there. From what I've heard of the new record, it seems to do a much better job of capturing this spirit, really what they're all about. They're being joined on stage Friday by Jared Funari and Sgt. Dunbar and the Hobo Banned, both extremely impressive live presences themselves.
About two blocks downtown, another musical revolution of a very different ilk will be raging: after five years together, we are finally getting a record by the amazing Five Alpha Beatdown from Iceland. The album, aptly titled Hello We Are Five Alpha Beatdown From Iceland, will drop during an epic fifth anniversary show at the Lark Tavern which will feature every incarnation of Five Alpha Beatdown that has ever existed, and there have been a fair number of them. To attempt to describe the Beatdown to someone who doesn't already know is something of a fool's errand, suffice it to say they have such songs in their catalog as "Ninja of the Nasty," "T-X-T for S-E-X," "Inga Inga" (her first name is Inga, her last name is Inga), and their signature tune "It's Time To Rock," which features the world-renowned lyrics "It's time to rock/Why aren't you rocking?" That pretty much sums it up, I think. Their shows are always the most fun you've ever seen, and I'm hoping against hope that I'll be able to catch most of it after Fire Flies' set. I'm pretty sure they're starting at 10:00 PM.
Of course these two events, each of which I would never forgive myself for missing, are up against each other. This results in an altogether unprecedented effect: I'm waiting until Saturday night to see Pirates of the Caribbean. I know that many people think that going to see a movie on opening night is less than ideal, perhaps even insufferable, but for me, there is nothing better than being in the crowd, standing in line, people chattering and cheering. I love hype, I love excitement, and getting caught up in it is the best way I can think to spend my time. So I'm allowing myself to get swallowed in the CD-release hype this Friday, and hopefully, there will be enough residual energy left for Pirates when I go on Saturday.