Hottford Flashback: XY Eli's Dance Party

We happened to get chatting with area musician XY Eli and poet C.C. Arshagra this weekend, and they got to telling us about their public access show they used to produce back in the early 80s which put a spotlight on the hip-hop culture of the day, including break dance and early rap and graffiti art. These guys were on the cutting edge for our area. Check out their vids on Youtube, including present day commentary and great old school footage from their program.



We know at least one guy who is going to appreciate this post!

The New Peru

Thursday, June 17: Bobbie Peru @ The Space, Hamden


Hey look, it's our old friends, Bobbie Peru, or the new American edition of the band, which is ever-so-slightly less exotic now that they are based in CT instead of the UK, and yet much, much more accessible. It's all a give and take, isn't it? We've told you all about these guys before. Catch Bobbie Peru this Thursday at The Space, along with The Poison Control Center, Fan-Tan, and After Three Seconds.

Bobbie Peru will be hitting downtown Hartford next Friday, June 25 with a gig at Up or on The Rocks. You'd have to drag us kicking and screaming (or bound and gagged) to a club downtown, but we understand many people like that sort of thing. Whoa, that sentence could be interpreted a couple different ways. You decide.

Saturday Night Live: Punk at Snapper Magee's

I've explored some of the daytime delights of "charming little Torrington" (as we've referred to it in my family for years) and blogged 'em up before, but last night I took on Torrington after dark on the suggestion of friend-of-the-blog Julia Sloan (Ms. Brazen Betties) and took in a night of live music at Snapper Magee's, which will be my local pub after I move to Torrington, or should I call it "the next Collinsville." Jackie Scenic couldn't be with me last night (which sucks, cuz she would have loved this joint) but my Substitute Scenic and I determined that Torrington is ripe for - if not already on its way to - an artsy fartsy hipster revival. The evening was basically a tube of wonderful - the club, the bands, the peeps were all just great -,so snark and hilarity in this post will be minimal (sorry!).


Snapper Magee's is plenty adorable on the inside, with walls and ceiling plastered with classic concert posters, pinup inspired art, naked ladies and demon women, and in spite of cheap booze prices and a somewhat "divey" vibe, they have a good selection of drink for snobs like me to choose from (I chose Magner's). Julia is like the mayor of Torrington, so she introduced me to the owner, relevant local cultural leaders and pointed out the coolest shit on the walls (and ceiling).


The first band was AmRev II, a ska-inflected punk outfit. I was impressed with their look and their sound. They were playing as a two-piece, which I assumed was on purpose, but apparently there was an absent bass player.


My favorite band of the night was definitely Big Sister, straight outta Westchester. This female fronted punk act was reminiscent of early No Doubt, or current The Action Design, a cool-ass band I've mentioned before. They had super-high energy, catchy songs, and the contrast between frontlady Lauren's balls-out singing and self-deprecating between-song affect was extra endearing. Unfortunately they're not gonna be Big Sister anymore - a name change is imminent due to a conflict of band names with some other Big Sister, so stay tuned on that front.


I only caught the beginning of the set by Jukebox Romantics, but they were putting on an explosive show from what I saw. This band is having a hot-shit moment, about to embark on the Warped Tour (which comes to Hartford July 11), so now I can say I saw them when...

It was a bit of a slow night at Snapper's by everyone's account. But slow or no, the people who did come out were enthusiastic, well dressed, and nice (to me). The "small state" phenom struck again, as I reconnected with peeps I had classes with and someone I photographed at another event. I'll be looking out for more shows by Big Sister under their forthcoming new name, and would definitely hit up this downtown Torrington spot again.

(Check the FB gallery for more pics)

Delicious metal sludge

Monday, June 14: Eyehategod @ Daniel Street, Milford

Wow, I can't believe I'm having so much scenic envy for Milford this week, but they've got that pirate thingie, and this Monday they've got Eyehategod. Actually, Daniel Street has a pretty hot lineup in general thanks to Manic Productions. It's just hard for the Scenics to make it down there. Eyehategod are NOLA based sludge legends, and if that doesn't mean anything to you it's probably not worth explaining. I tried to get into Eyehategod as far back as high school, because that one sexy antisocial guy (who ended up being totes gay) had their t-shirt and I wanted to like whatever he liked, so I picked up a cassette at Music Outlet in Enfield. But I have to admit, this shit was a little too brutal for me, and it took experiencing the power of their live performance several years ago at the Webster Underground for me to really "get it," but I was really blown away at the time. The Daniel Street show will also feature some CT metal - Ipsissimus (we totally know them) and Iron Hand, along with Nachtmystium and Howl.

I feel like I could take these bands more seriously if they had something other than Myspace pages to link to. : ( Whatevs.

Got a real job? Can't make it out Monday? Check out Eyehategod tonight in Brooklyn at Europa, or Sunday in Providence at Hell.

This Pirate Festival thing: it exists

Saturday, June 12: Captain Kidd's Treasure Hunt/Pirate Festival @ Downtown Milford


Today at one of our gigs, a coworker happened to mention how excited she was about "Pirate Day" this Saturday in Milford. Aaarrr, what say ye? Pirate Day? Apparently Charles Island off the coast of scenic Milford is one of several reputed possible sites of Captain Kidd's legendary buried booty, and this is excuse enough to celebrate with a day of pirate-related silliness, including a scavenger hunt, pirate comedy (hopefully all "aaarrrrr" jokes, that shit never gets old), and contests for talking like a pirate, salty dogging (huh?), and looking like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean (we'll just be over there shopping for new boyfriends... and girlfriends, presumably this is a gender-inclusive competition). There will also be entertainment whose pirate connections are nebulous at best - live bands, belly dancers, fife and drum music.

This is as good an occasion as any to strap on our peg legs and get out there... LOL - "strap on." JK, we're not even amputees. Here, enjoy "Pirate King" Kevin Kline (love him!):

We Just Can't Quit You, Liquid Lounge

Thursday, June 10: Liquid Lounge @ CT Science Center, Hartford

The CT Science Center's Liquid Lounge is that emotionally abusive impossible SO we just keep coming back to, and not just because we've got nowhere else to go. We've seen the Tao of Steve and understand that this shit is all just a game, but boy can the Liquid Lounge play - always keeping us waiting (in those stupid drink ticket lines), manipulating our self-esteem with weird practices like attendance cut-offs and advanced ticket discounts, promising us the moon (or a free drink or something) if we would just get their early, dangling kink and excess in front of our eyes in the form of pole dancers and pricey eats, and of course playing to our need to feel intelligent with that "geek chic" talk (you know how us sexy girls just want to be called smart?). Oh, and apparently there's gonna be karaoke. We love karaoke.

Silent Civilian Get Scenic'd

Saturday evening I was faced with my usual dilemma of having all kinds of great invitations and plans, and having triple-booked myself or so - c'est la vie when you're being scenic. And so it was that I found myself really wanting to go this BBQ party, make it to my dinner plans, but also having said I would do some "press" with Silent Civilian, who are on a US tour with Fear Factory and Prong that stopped by the Webster last night. Additionally, I was trying to figure out how I could make an interview with an LA metal band relevant to my CT blog.

I touched base with Silent Civilian vocalist (and new friend-of-the-blog) Jonny Santos and asked him if he wouldn't mind sampling some of our favorite CT beer and stopping by a party, which was totally in the neighborhood anyway, instead of chatting in some dressing room at the Webster. He wouldn't mind at all, in fact, could he bring a bandmate? I stopped by CT Beverage Mart to pick up some Hookers (variety pack), swung by the Webster to pick up some metal guys, and we were on our way.

At the party I immediately enlisted Jonny's help with my cooler. What a gentleman! Here he is pretending he's gonna run off with the beer, but really, where's he gonna go? The beer is for him anyway...

We got right into it. Jonny prefered the Blonde (ale). Typical! Drummer Ryan and I ultimately liked the Irish Red best. Nobody liked the IPA best. That must be the one for people who like the actual flavor of beer. The fellas got right into making all the obvious hooker jokes, so they'd fit right in at the brewery (where it's all double entendre all the time).

They also got right into pointing at shit, so they'd fit right in at CT Scenic - they just did this on their own, no prompting!

I thought I recognized Ryan from somewhere, maybe some other band? But Jonny was like, "No, you've probably just seen him in those Geico commercials." WHOA - SNAP!

Call it groupie-dom, make fun of my romanticizing of touring musicians if you must, but let's face it, these people have more fun than us and their stories are just better. They live life as a continuous road trip/summer camp, and if you been on a road trip or camping, you know that the funny shit is nonstop. I've seen Almost Famous, OK, I know they're not really my new best friends. But still, I want to hear about how bands on the road are always looking for that next Walmart so they can use the toilet and buy socks and whatnot. Jonny was telling us about how he accidentally walked into the empty women's room to take a crap, but by the time he finished, it was full up with women, so he tried to hide his face (and beard) with his hair and escape undetected. And I want to hear about what a trip it was getting nominated and going to the Grammy awards (with his previous band, Spineshank) and drinking martinis with Dolly Parton and Lemmy. Jonny was so sweet, saying how his bandmates brought "trophy dates" but he brought his daughter! He also reminisced about being on Ozzfest 2001, where Crazytown got booed off the stage nightly, and Sharon Osbourne awarded his band "Most Intoxicated" at the end of the run. Silly awards - just like summer camp!

I had to ask about that name - Spineshank?! Jonny was like "Listen, I don't normally tell people the truth about this" and how he usually goes into some profound explanation about how it's about backstabbing and shit, but really - REALLY - he was watching Home Improvement and misheard the term "spline shank" and thought it sounded really cool. HA!

Damn, I didn't even ask him about his new band's name, Silent Civilian... We ran into a little trouble with the grill. The guys tried to help.

We were having a blast, and I think we all would have been down to just party with the Hookers all night. But I had dinner to get to, and Jonny and Ryan had to play a gig or something.

PS: Ultimately, I was proved not wrong in that joke I made in a previous post about the Webster being kind of like "your ass" - there was no AC last night, and we were sweating our balls off, had to make frequent escapes to the cigarette corral to get some cooler air, and left before the end fantasizing about pool hopping and showers. Good thing the pregame action was so much fun!

Ready for Those Flashing Lights

Here it is... the moment we've all been waiting for... Katie Scenic's karaoke debut! It's a very special day in a Scenic's life when her attention whoring finally outweighs her performance anxiety, and luckily for you, we documented the occasion.

What better artist to pay homage to than the biggest attention whore of all, Lady Gaga. Her eccentric outfits and sexy women's prison videos cannot hide the fact that she is actually a witty and talented songwriter whom we can't seem to stop referencing. We've already told you how versatile and moving the seemingly trite pop hit Paparazzi can be, but now let us demonstrate. (ie. Look what we can do!)



Jackie Scenic prefers to do her attention-whoring in the privacy of her own home. Thank god for the internets!

(note the leopard-print snuggie in the background...)

It's a Gay Gay Gay Gay World

Pride season is upon us and its hard to keep track of all the gaytivities. Let us walk you through them.


The Gay and Lesbian Film Festival is already in motion at Cinestudio at Trinity College. It goes 'til June 5th so you can still catch some homos on screen. Remaining films include:

Wednesday, June 2, 7:30pm: We Are the Mods
Thursday, June 3, 7:30pm: Prodigal Sons
Friday, June 4, 7:30pm: Undertow
Saturday June 5, 7:30pm: The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls, followed by the cloing night party.

Each feature is preceded by several shorts. Tix are $15.

Next on the gaygenda is Connecticut (Hartford) Pride on June 5th. It's usually pretty tame, and there's no parade, but it's a reason to get drunk in Bushnell Park. With lots of gays.


Boston Pride is apparently a 4-day event from June 9-13. What on earth could take that long? The actual "festival" and "parade" are the 12th at noon. Other events include a Guerrilla Queer Bar on June 4th, location TBA, the Dyke March on June 11th and a Jamaica Plain Block Party on the 13th. Boston Pride has never wooed us in the past, so we'll see if we're up for the drive this year.


The Pride of all (American) prides, NYC, is pretty much all month long, but the main events are the weekend of June 25. Our favorite activity is the parade which will be Sunday at noon. From what I recall it goes into the evening, ending up somewhere in the village where dancing men in thongs are greeted by drunken dancing men in thongs, while the Lesbians try to avoid whoever they made out with at Henrietta's the night before.

Last time Jackie Scenic went to NY Pride, she forgot her ID AND had the flu, but still managed to have an amazing time. This was the scene on Coney Island that weekend:


Good thing Nathan's doesn't card! And neither did that pile of trash.

We just missed Women's Weekend in Provincetown, but there is another chick event there July 21-25 which we are tempted to check out. Anyone been?


The Provincetown International Film Festival is June 16-20, which isn't specifically a gay event, but gay enough.

Saturday, June 19th is Rhode Island Pride, held in Providence. We've never been but they seem very excited about their "illuminated night parade".

I'm sure there's even more gay shit happening this summer, but that's about all we can handle. We didn't even mention the usual monthly events, First Sundays at Tisane, Club Lucy (uh, we keep mentioning it and never going), and that other thing in Cromwell, er, Rockyhill. There's also a new monthly meetup, Ladies Like You, meeting every second Saturday at the HGLHC. (TMI, this event will get it's own post soon).

Rhymes Galore

Jackie Scenic went tag sale-ing in Weha and found this delightful Rhyming Dictionary. Maybe we'll start blogging only in rhyme now. It's never too late to add a "poetry" tag.

If you are curious about any words/phonetics in particular, please inquire and we will gladly meet your request. I mean, only if it's hilarious of course.

The Scenic entry was a little disappointing: