Hi kids,

I'm back from not having any internet and boy am I glad.

I caught a show last Sunday. Mindless Self Indulgence at the Knitting Factory. I was slightly disappointed in my experience. Let's get started with the opening bands.

DEARESTAZAZEL: Oh my word, what? Okay this group was totally cheesy and slightly desperate? If they were trying to be ironic I missed the joke. They were just okay musically. The drummer took his shirt off, the guitarist stuck his tongue out and I was not impressed. The only one I could relate to was the bassist, who at times had a goofy grin on his face as if he couldn't believe he was actually on tour. That was the only genuine moment in their set.

INNERPARTYSYSTEM: All right, these guys are slightly better, but there was still something severely lacking in this outfit. They had synths, which I like on a basic level. Unfortunately they had a conventional sound, complete with fairly obvious lyrics when it came to the love song. (I didn't really understand the other songs.) During the love song the singer caressed his mike stand in a really disturbing manner. Rachel and I noticed an album review in Spin and it kind of summed things up well by giving the album 2 1/2 stars. There is a bit of promise in their set, but they fall just a bit short.

MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE (you probably thought I just didn't know how to use the spacebar, but the other bands' names are really all just one word): These people know how to put on a show. Jimmy does audience interaction well and everyone knows it. I got a pat on the head by Jimmy during one point and I think a sibilant sound meant that I got a bit of spit on me. That's all well and good, but this was actually way less satisfying than the show I caught two years ago. For one thing, there was no encore. Encores are practically a given, but we were told to clear the floor. Dang. Last show, I got a dollar bill signed and Jimmy wrote Urine on my arm. (I have a picture of it somewhere...) A drunk friend of mine also grabbed my hand and made me squeeze Jimmy's ass but that's neither here nor there. I didn't hang around but I don't think they were giving out autographs. So all in all, none of the band's blew me away.

OH and Jason Mraz sold out. Who knew that would happen? NOT ME. So shed a tear for me.