Reminder: Bobbie Peru, etc.

Saturday, Nov. 21: Bobbie Peru, Slim Francis, Bloodshot Hooligans @ Sully's Pub, Hartford

We mentioned these guys already when they played in Danbury, but here's some extra details via the heterosexual Advocate.

Midweek Music: Metric

Wednesday, Nov. 18: Metric @ The Webster, Hartford

That's right folks, get ready to convert those lbs. into kgs. Ha ha, just kidding, not going there... I've read Metric's poorly written, incredibly convoluted biography over at what may or may not be their official site, and I can't make heads or tails of it, I think it was supposed to sound artistic. But I like what I hear from them - reminds me of a female fronted Interpol, with that cool, indie rock detachment. Metric will play Hartford along with Band of Skulls - what a terrible name, maybe it makes more sense in their native English! Name aside, Band of Skulls are apparently shaking things up on the New Moon soundtrack, so yay them. We need to count our blessings when Hartford is bestowed with such hipness: One, two!

Watchin' TV: The Prisoner (Remake)

I don't mind admitting that my knowledge of the classic British television oddity The Prisoner began and ended with the Iron Maiden song until recently. I mean, sure I'm a pretentious Euro- and Anglophile, but this shit was way before my time, you know? But anyway, between Iron Maiden's tune and the always wonderful Ian McKellan's involvement with AMC's about-to-be-aired miniseries remake (or re-imagining as it is trendy to call these things), count me curious. I've checked out a few episodes of the original series (available free On Demand now, fellow Comcast customers), because I feel like it would be kind of intellectually lazy and a disservice to myself to go into it cold.

Unfortunately, as I've just been reading, remake star (the new Number Six) Jim Caviezel doesn't see it that way. He admitted to sci-fi blog io9 in a recent interview that not only had he never seen the original series prior to his involvement with the remake, but that he didn't think it was worth investigating subsequently to inform his performance. This is such a pretentious stance - the desire to be original and unique trumps the value of allowing the source material to influence your reinterpretation of it? And yes, I appreciate the irony, given that the role itself is about insisting on one's individuality and free will, but it's very silly to imagine that a remake stands alone from its source, or even that it should. And especially egregious in this instance, where the original performance in question involved an actor-writer-creator, Patrick McGoohan, whose personal vision pretty much defined the original series. [See Jim? It only take a cursory bit of preparation to sound like you know what your talking about.]

Much of the audience for the remake will probably be fans of the original Prisoner, and many will be curious culture snobs like myself who took it upon themselves to do their homework in advance of this TV watching event. This segment will appreciate nods in the remake to the original, layers of meaning that can only stand to enrich the program. Too bad Caviezel's contribution will be devoid of such complexity.

At least we can count on Ian McKellan to have correct acting values:

omg wtf?

Monday, Nov. 16 @ The Space, Hamden

I was just browsing around, wondering there were any cool things happening in CT this weekend or ever. Over on The Space's calendar, I stumbled across a mysterious listing for a "1^st Annual Christian Metal Night." This concept of "Christian metal" is destined to clusterfuckery as it is, but the only link for this gig is some total assclown's MySpace page, which features a bunch of Christian rap performed karaoke style by the artist I presume to be "King James," purveyor of "off the hook Christian rap from crunk styles to reggaeton with classical." Further futile investigation on Youtube tells me there's an actual Christian metal band that can play instruments and stuff, also called King James, but they appear to have no affiliation with the assclown or gig in question. Alas, I am not available to attend this intriguing happening, but hope that some other godless heathen will and let me know what's up!

I wanna hold 'em like they do in Hartford, please

What: Gay Night
When: Sunday, November 15
Where: Vegas Blvd., 233 Sisson Ave., Hartford, CT


It seems only fitting that this Vegas-themed dive wouldn't have an equally trashy address here on the internets. We can only provide you with two opposing Yelp reviews, if you're into that sort of thing. In our experience, hanging out at Vegas is kind of like sitting in your living room, only with more hipsters*. They let you change the channel, no one really talks to one another (not even the people who came in together), and you can often smell pot coming from the back room. This is the scene on say, a Tuesday, anyway... I think the weekends are typically livelier and full of even hipper hipsters. Oh, and our personal favorite... there's Elliott Smith in the jukebox.

What we're getting at here, is that there have been rumors about a gay night cropping up at the ol' Vegas Blvd, and according to our sources, the fun begins this Sunday night. When we asked for time specifics, all we got was "all night." So, depending on what that means to you, show up "whenever". And wear something gay.

(*Hipster data may vary from your own living room.)

Midweek Music: Bobbie Peru & Slim Francis

Wednesday, Nov. 11: Bobbie Peru, Slim Francis @ Cousin Larry's, Danbury

Several years ago when I was journalisting professionally I had the pleasure of writing about a band called Adom, who I thought really had something. They were from Georgia, but their label had moved them to Manchester, England, which is very sexy on its own. Additionally, they had attracted the interest of my favorite proggy band, Porcupine Tree, who took them around on tour in Europe. Adom played an excellent show in 2004 at BAR in New Haven, and I was sure that the lead singer and I must be soulmates, since he was hot and worked in newspapers too.

Alas, it was not to be. The band was not to be at all. But their legacy survives, sort of, via Bobbie Peru, a band featuring Adom's bass player, who is also hot and works in newspapers, as frontman. Bobbie Peru is a lot more abrasive and punk, and has fucked up anatomy porn lyrics about getting eaten alive and shat out. They are touring with their good friends, Slim Francis, who sound nothing like them (they sound like agreeable classic American rock, or "indie" as we call it when it's new).

They are playing at Cousin Larry's in Danbury this week, and they'll be in Hartford Nov. 21 at Sully's.

Update: R.I.P. Phallic Dino

Oh noes! The phallic children's climbosaur has been retired at last. We'd like to think our mocking had something to do with it, but who are we kidding? We have no readers, and anyway, it was his time. He was split completely through, which didn't look very safe. Our drives down South Road will never be the same. 'Tis the end of an era.

Hit Me Bloarzeyd One More Time

Sunday, Nov. 8: Bloarzeyd, The Vultures @ BAR, New Haven

Truth be told, New Haven's Bloarzeyd are a bit abrasive for our delicate aural palate, but we want very badly to like them anyway, as they seem authentically odd and entertaining, and have very funny (as opposed to irritating) pictures and art on their MySpace page. Apparently this is our very last chance to see them; Sunday night's show will be their last. That's so romantic. Like breakup sex.

Also performing will be the also appealingly abrasive Vultures, also of New Haven. Gee, it would be refreshing and geographically desirable for your scenic bloggers to be able to hear some of this adventurous aggro music in the Hartford area one of these days, instead of the same old schlocky hardcore and poorly executed local metal we are occasionally treated to. Oh well, whatever.

FamiliART

Hey look! The only artist we've ever met will have more work on view at the only gallery we've ever heard of!

Haha, just kidding, we know about loads of galleries and museums, and have met some other artists too. Actually, we totally know Greg Garcia, who is also participating in this group show presented by the Libertine Collective at Middletown's MAC650 Gallery. The art on the flier is certainly eye grabby. Check out the opening reception this Saturday, Nov. 7, 7-10 p.m. Art will be on view through Nov. 27.

Annie Get Your Gay

It's amazing what can fly under the radar when you're livin' in The HC. And it's not just us, because we've spoken to others who are just as naive to some of the hip cultural activities you can find in Hartford. For instance, it just (really, like, 2 minutes ago) became apparent to us that there are actually 2 different gay film fests held at Cinestudio every year. The Connecticut Gay and Lesbian Film Festival is organized by Out Film Ct and takes place in the spring. The EROS (Encouraging Respect for All Sexualities) Film Festival opened earlier this week and is organized by a campus-based group.

Eight films will be shown over five days. It's already Thursday evening, so it's safe to say you only have three more tries to check out the festival. The most intriguing to us is the doc Still Black: A Portrait of Black Transmen. We're pretty sure you can infer the subject-matter from the title. That one plays Sunday, Nov. 8 at 2:30pm. The rest of the schedule can be found here.

Too stupid to live?

According to the Hartford Courant, West Hartford school officials are alarmed over students' playing the cleverly named "Passing Out Game," wherein an individual purposefully hyperventilates to the point of - you guessed it - passing out, in order to catch a buzz. A district-wide effort is being made to educate parents and children as to the dangerous consequences of this thrilling game, which include personal injury and death.

What the hell is wrong with these kids? Didn't they get enough love? Haven't they heard of drugs? If kids are this stupid in the first place, we say let them remove themselves from the gene pool - and watch those CAPT test averages go up!

Deer Tick, you're making it kind of hard to like you

Thursday, Nov. 5: Deer Tick @ The Space, Hamden

Providence, RI's Deer Tick are one of the coolest bands we've heard from our area (we claim the whole region, what with the states being so small). We love their gritty, soulful, Americana-inflected classic rock sound (e.g "indie") and think they would be simply lovely to see in concert. However, we've just gotten a look at their woefully ironic myspace page - look, they're a "Christian Rap" group! They have hideous facial hair, and dress like they're going hunting! HA! They put the band logo onto a cheap looking beer can!

Anyway, party on guys, the music is fine. We might prefer to see them at a different venue, like the Iron Horse this Saturday, where we could pretend to enjoy a can of PBR, or better yet, genuinely enjoy some other beverage that doesn't taste like pee-pee.