How odd. The one weekend where I simply cannot head out of an evening and come home tired but trollied is the one on which I would cheerfully do so multiple times. That's the weekend where, on Friday night, the Skatalites (the freakin' Skatalites!) play The Studio, and the really rather fun looking new cult film night, Mondo Weirdo, debuts at The Academy with a screening of Gimme Shelter.
On the same evening, Brit brokenbeat (no, I don't know what it is either, but it's probably a gas) exponents Bugs in the Attic play Galatos, and Tourist headline the new PowerTool-sponsored Indie Club, way upstairs at the St James. And it's Ant Timpson's 40th birthday party.
And - holy shit - Wing is playing Real Groovy at 6.30! Now that's the beginning of a special evening right there.
The next night, there's HDU at Studio, as advertised on this site (those free tickets were snapped up smartly). Pluto, the D4 and Motorcade play the Powerstation (yes, the Powerstation - the bFM ad is really funny). The Checks play the Masonic in what must be one of their last shows before heading for their big year in Europe. Shaft, Voom and The Nudie Suits play the King's Arms. Tim Guy, Steve Abel and Dunc Tha Funk are up at the Leigh Sawmill, there's an Interdigitate event at Galatos.
Not quite in my line (although I'm keen to hear from any motherfucker who goes to both): DJ Zinc at Fu; and Buddy Guy and Robert Cray at the St James.
And on Monday night, Ian Pooley plays a late one at 4:20. The kids will doubtless proceed from there to pay their respects to the fallen at the dawn ceremony at the Domain …
But I'll be having a quiet one. My honey, on the other hand, might be going to the Flaming Lips at the Royal Albert Hall. Wow.
Erratum: Until it was corrected, yesterday's post named Ticketek as the ticketing agent for the Rolling Stones show. It was, in fact, the competing company Ticketmaster.
Filthy liberal traitor alert: Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein has written Senate hearings on Bush, now for the Vanity Fair website. And the new Rolling Stone cover story, by leading American historian Sean Wilentz, is The Worst President in History? They're both quite persuasive.
And in a similar vein, there's now a video to go with Waxaudio's popular mash-up of Bush enunciating the words of John Lennon's 'Imagine' …
PS: Seeing as you all love freebies so much, I have obtained two double passes to the Mondo Weirdo premiere tomorrow, which (like all Mondo Weirdo screenings) features a special themed cocktail. But just to make it interesting, I'll oblige you to tell me the full names of the three directors of Gimme Shelter.
PPS: You may have heard about the van fire from which Ryan McPhun and the Ruby Suns escaped with their lives but not much else, leaving them seriously stuck on their US tour. If you can't make the benefit gig at the Schooner tavern in Auckland tonight, you may feel moved to make a donation.