Diary of a Spitalfield Chauffeur, via my cellular phone records

9:42 am, Sat April 21
I hop out of the shower and receive a text message from "Markalfield" saying that Spitalfield's ride from Newark Airport to the Skate or Die Fest in Flanders, NJ is a no-go, and asking if I'd be available around noon.

9:47 am, Sat April 21
Flight information is confirmed, as is my picking the boys up.

9:51 am, Sat April 21
I leave Sara Holzinger a frantic, frenzied voicemail telling her to call me as soon as is humanly possible, because I do not want to drive alone to the airport.

Roughly 10:45,I leave for the airport, stopping at a fruit market on the way to appease my Granny Smith apple craving.

11:12 am, Sat April 21
Nigel's engine stops in the middle of Route 18.  I shake like a salt shaker and call my dad in a panic.  He calmly instructs me to shut up, put the van in park, and start it again, and explains that because we don't use it all that much that the transmission gets "sticky" if stopped for too long at first.  This works.  I relax and continue on my way.

11:37 am, Sat April 21
Sara calls me back while I'm on the Turnpike.  I tell her about the engine issue, and we fret briefly, until I reach my destination.

12:00 pm, Sat April 21
Text message from Markalfield:  "The bird has landed...  Over n out."

12:25 pm, Sat April 21
Call from Markalfield describing the boys' location in relation to my own, using latitudes and longitudes in the form of "Okay, I'm between 109 and 110 in the parking lot, near those big poles with the red things.."  I ask a friendly security-crossing guard hybrid outside how on Earth to get to terminal A to wait without paying for parking or being ticketed.  He says I have a nice smile and to just drive up and it'll be fine.  I thank him, blow him a kiss, and drive off to find the gents.



Roughly 12:30, we take off, using directions from Mitch, to Route 78 East for the show.

Roughly 1:00 (after TJ used his supreme map reading skills), we realize that Mitch is, in fact, pretty idiotic, and that we were supposed to have taken 78 West.  We turn around near the Holland Tunnel.  I pray a lot.

From roughly 1:00-2:00, we sing songs to pass the time in the hideous traffic mess. Our playlist:

"Little Red Corvette" - Prince
"Hyperspace" - Nada Surf
"Come Into My World" - Kylie Minogue
"See You Around" - Jesse Camp and the 8th Street Kids
"Kiss Me, Diss Me" - Homegrown
"Bells" - Hey Mercedes
"Mad World" - Gary Jules
"Here's to You" - Diffuser
"Change" - The Deftones
"Drive" - The Cars
"Chasing Cars" - Snow Patrol
"Shade" - Silverchair
"Big Empty" - Stone Temple Pilots
"If It's Here When We Get Back, It's Ours" - Texas is the Reason
All of Alkaline Trio's Crimson album

Roughly 2:15, we finally travel a whopping four miles.  Yes, traffic was that horrific.

Roughly 3:30, we get excited to hit Route 206.

Roughly 3:50, we finally get to the show.  I nearly rear-end a minivan in front of us, asking, "Holy shit, Mark, did I hit him?"
"No, almost!"
Susanne, a sweetheart, tells me to drop the guys and their gear off, and to park in the lot down the street and take a shuttle to the show.  A security guard leads me to the back band lot to drop off the equipment, where we all decide that I'm not taking a fucking shuttle bus after driving the headlining act to the show.  TJ gets out of the van and coaches my parking, making sure I pull far enough up to be out of the way.









Roughly 4:00, Mark comes with my meal ticket (a real, literal one--so awesome) and wristbands.  Susanne asks where they found me and tells me I'm a Godsend.  I am reminded of that creepy De Niro movie of that title.  I go watch some band fronted by a chick with questionable taste in belts, but a good stage presence.  Sara arrives soon with her friend who looks like Baelynn and visibly enjoys male attention.

I spend most of the day alternating between hanging out with Sara and sitting on the grass reading The Tempest.  I use my meal ticket on the best cheeseburger I've ever had.

Roughly 4:30, Jeff needs my help because Nigel went all Beyonce on him and rang his alarm.

Roughly 5:30, Mark needs the keys to tune his guitar from the van.  I give the keys to Jeff to hold on to in case they have trouble tracking me down.

7:36 pm, Sat April 21 Mark put in a call and Nigel again rang the alarm.

Roughly 8:15 pm, the boys finally go on.  They call the winning raffle ticket number for an autographed skateboard, which goes to a very happy lil' sk8r boi (please note that typing "sk8r boi" makes me want to kill myself).






  Their set is magnificent. 





















Mark plays a solo cover of Michael Jackson's "P.Y.T."  Life is worth living. 



A blonde adolescent behind me keeps glaring at me.  I mutter for her to die in a fire, smile, and go about my business.

Roughly 9:45 pm, we begin to load out; Jeff, TJ, and JD are amazed by my knowledge of Jay-Z lyrics as I recite "Public Service Announcement" along with the van across from ours blasting it. We head for the hotel.

Roughly 10:30 pm, we arrive at the hotel and I send them off.




Roughly 10:31 pm, I begin to miss them.

*By Jess, who thinks of her pal Carlo whenever she hears "I Loved the Way She Said 'L.A.'"

Happy birthday, Joelle!

Happy birthday to the hardest working, best looking, most darling woman I know. And she's a great mom to her Skye, too!

<3jess

P.S. I have an awesome birthday treat for you Tuesday!

Unspeakable.

Innumerable thoughts and prayers go out to everyone suffering from the travesty that occurred at Virginia Tech today.

So far, there are twenty-two thirty-one killed and at least that many injured, making this the worst (at least statistically speaking) school shooting ever in American history.

It's insane and unfortunate that we're able to make comparisons in situations like this.


*By Jess, who is now no longer in the good mood she'd started her day with.

Brokenhearted: 18 Visions Announce Breakup

"Eighteen Visions broke up." That was not the best news I could have heard from a middle of night phone call. I actually didn't believe it at first, because it made no sense. But alas, a little investigating on the WWW and I found the following:

The End Of Eighteen Visions
After 11 years of making music, Southern California harcore-punk band Eighteen Visions have broken up.

The news comes via online message in which the bands states: "After several years of touring and quite a few album releases we have decided that it is time to go our seperate ways. We have been a band for a very long time and feel good about everything we were able to accomplish. At this point in our lives and our careers we feel its time to move on to something fresh and new. Weither it be music, touring or just being at home to live and enjoy life. We would like to thank all of our fans, friends and families for all of the great support over the years. We would also like to thank all of the bands we have shared the stage with and everyone who has ever worked with the band, opened a door or reached out a hand. We will be playing our final two shows in April. One in San Diego and one in Orange County. Come rock with us one more time."

Eighteen Visions released five albums including their latest, Eighteen Visions, in 2006.

So there it is. Even though I'd still like to pretend it's not true because there's no official posting on the band's Web site or MySpace page. I mean, someone could have hacked into Trevor's profile and posted the bulletin, right? OK, wishful thinking.....

I'm glad I got to see them one last time, and that it was at The Stone Pony with Lostprophets. It was when 18 V and Lostprophets first toured together a few years ago, that I first discovered them, so it's sorta fitting.

This was one live band that I never wanted to miss. They were my only reason for even going to Warped Tour last year. And I must say, everyone in the band is super rad. Mickdeth and Keith even did an impromtu interview with me at Warped Tour last year and it's been a "lost" Planet Verge interview that I was waiting for the right time to transcibe. So I'm gonna do it now and do a whole 18 Visions proper send off for you all. I'll put up my interview with James Hart, who was one of my favorite people to interview.

Even if you didn't love them then, you should love them now.

Here's to the years of inspiration, adrenaline rush-filled performances, stage presence that will make any camera shutter, and music that stood for something and will last in hearts forever. Here's to 18 Visions and wherever life leads them next.

*Joelle, who thinks it is even sadder that 18 Visions are playing their final show on her birthday and wishes she was in California to see it.

In Defense of Don Imus

As a student at Rutgers University, people keep asking me how I feel about Don Imus, who was, until this afternoon, a notorious radio "shock jock"--think Howard Stern, but with sports instead of strippers.

Frankly? I don't give a shit.

Is the Rutgers University women's basketball team a bunch of "nappy headed hos?" Of course not. Everyone and their mother knows this. Is Don Imus a bigot and an asshole? Perhaps. Don Imus is also an old man who was probably around before schools were integrated and whose balls probably sag much lower than anything the RU women's basketball team could ever conceivably dribble. While I'm not saying this is a reason to cut him any slack, I do find it useful to get into his mindset: He's a crazy old dude.

The fact is, bringing attention to Don Imus's comments about the team caused much more harm than good. Most of the student body had no idea who Don Imus was until the media blew this entirely out of proportion and plastered it on front pages of newspapers nationwide, and most of the student body--myself included--still does not care. And now that an actual good governor acting as a mediator between the RU women's team and Imus is in critical condition resulting from an accident happening on his way to the meeting between the parties? I think that was quite a bit of a sign that this has been taken much, much too far.

In addition to that potential tragedy, we also have on our hands the potential damage to our First Amendment rights. CBS and MSNBC have cowered to threats not of moral or ethical integrity, but of advertising pulls. By firing Don Imus, we are saying that free expression--even if it is expression of ideas we may not agree with--is not a Constitutional right, but a privilege that must be paid for by corporate sponsorship, and that is a much more offensive and dangerous view than any that Imus has expressed throughout his decades on sports radio.

*By Jess, who likes football better anyway

THE TAKE ACTION! TOUR 2007

This year music united with 1(800)SUICIDE to try and saves lives. The Take Action! Tour promoted the hotline and is hoping to have an affect…an affect large enough to hopefully take suicide out of the number 3 spot in killers among people ages 15-24.

As I pulled up to the vintage rock palace that many of us Jersey music fans have come to call a second home it was hard to miss the oversized tour buses that the performing talent has inhabited for the past month. The Stone Pony was hosting the The Action! Tour, and its hard to pull up to a venue like this knowing that some of your favorite acts are going to be performing, and not get butterflies in your stomach…

This tour was STAKED with big name talent. The line up included the likes of Kaddisfly, A Static Lullaby, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Emery, with The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus as the show headliner. Hopeless Records Capitalized and set up a huge merch table where you could find random band members chillin’.

The first band of the night is one of AP magazine’s 100 bands to know for this year…Kaddisfly. It mattered very little to them that they were the show opener. They packed their performance with music, antics, and most definitely talent. They pulled the crowd into their performance every chance they got….with their enchanting tune entitled ‘Campfire’ they were able to get a lot of the crazed fans to sing a long. Kaddisfly is certainly a band to watch. Their presence on this tour can not be ignored; great things can be expected from their future.

*Show Spotlight: Kaddisfly, hailing from Portland Oregon is one of this year’s most anticipated acts in the indie-alt world… Since being signed to Hopeless Records, they have already developed a natural, very empowering lyrically driven sound. This band is packed and stacked with the raw talent that no one can deny is refreshing alternative and their release is certainly something that you want to pick up because for a “newer” band, they have it going on.

A Static Lullaby slammed the stage with a lot of their older tunes much to their fans delight. Guitarist John explained to me that they would rather play their older stuff that fans really got into because the band isn’t feeling much success of this latest release. There hardcore sound bellowed around the Stone Pony giving everyone…including myself, chills. You would have never known that they had been “unsuccessful” with the energy that each member of the band brought to the stage. They played their latest song gone video ‘Hang ‘em High’ along with an older hit ‘Lip Gloss and Let Down.’

There is absolutely NOTHING like watching the guys of Scary Kids Scaring Kids take the stage. Each one of them are unique with their stage behavior, but they all deliver a similar message…this is what we love, take it or leave it. Their love of music certainly shines through as lead singer Tyson Stevens belts (and screams) out the lyrics to a hit of theirs…The City Sleeps in Flames. Pouyan’s dramatic and fun stage thrashing, and near de-pantsing makes watching their performance not only a musical experience but an entertaining moment of mystery…will his pants actually fall of this time? The band played one of my very favorites of their album (The City Sleeps in Flames 2005) My Darkest Hour, and it was difficult to find someone that wasn’t singing along. Much like the two bands that played before them, Scary Kids is a MUST watch band. Since I wrote the article on them earlier this year, they have already seen a tremendous peak in their success. Their last album is one that is ALWAYS in the cd player…I come back to it time and time again it never fails to put me in a “comfort zone” ( one that only the best music can provide) and the familiar confidence you get from listening to it, I am hard pressed to see how their up and coming release will be anything but amazing.

Emery was a pleasant departure from the previous more “screamo” type bands we had been seeing…while they still do their share of screaming, their slower ballads are enchanting and make you wanna sway. By far the highlight of their set was watching of the the crazy band members climb the rafter type piping situation that the Stone Pony has all over the ceiling… As I was standing their, not far from Static Lullaby guitarist John, I got a little nervous that the rafter would give and their would be screaming and well, and end to the show. Emery played a solid set, and I say that with no hesitation. They are a band you can watch play for hours.

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus was certainly a crowd favorite. With their radio smash hit entitled Face Down, they have been selling records, and as a result, building a fan base that ranges from college age kids, to 6th graders to post college graduates, and everything in between. They are also a band is that for me, the press, has fun with. Their delightful manner and overflow of creative talent that affects everyone around them in such a positive way is definitely a highlight of watching them perform their album hits. Their emotional out pour in Face Down was most certainly the crowd favorite.

Its hard to find a GOOD solid tour where every band is one you don’t want to miss….but boys and girls…this was one of them. Each band brought something different to the table and it just made it that much better. I give this show 5 out of 5 stars…


PHOTO CREDIT: Amanda Tumulty


*By Amanda who is oh so thankful for soy chai tea lattes from Starbucks

A Whole Lotta Lovin' Butch Walker

My name is Joelle and I'm a Butch Walker-aholic. When Butch binges occur, I can often be found making my own version of his greatest hits and stuffing them into Christmas/birthday/you name it gifts for my friends. I've even sunken to making my mother watch clips of his DVD and my co-workers go visit his MySpace page. Luckily, my boyfriend accepts this and it doesn't cause any turmoil in our relationship. Actually, he's probably even got a manly crush on Butch. He is quite the enviable one, one after all.

No one else can control a crowd like Butch Walker. Hell, he should be called in as an emergency rescue worker next time a riot breaks out, they way people worship his every word. This week, he had the entire pretty much sold-out crowd at Irving Plaza under his command. When he told the audience to sing, they belted out notes. When he said sit, boy did their buttocks hit the floor. The same thing occurred at The Stone Pony the previous evening.

Maybe it’s magic. Or it’s just that current musicians lack personal connections with their fans, whereas Walker thrives. It could be his devastatingly sexy allure and the way he catches that guitar pick after spitting it out his mouth. Or his gift for witty lyricism to which no one can compare and eye locking live performances that make you sweat just watching him work that stage.

Whatever it is, it’s something that middle America needs right now. Not just the indie rockers and hipsters who secretly like those Avril Lavigne songs he worked on. Butch Walker restores faith in modern music. There is life outside emo, guys! There’s a musician who’s schooled in the classics, can cover songs better than their originators and is constantly evolving. And he’s on a stage somewhere in the world right now, holding his microphone out to the crowd and smiling as they sing “Best Thing You Never Had” for him. Each Butch Walker album might as well be a testament in the Rock ‘N Roll Bible.

During my worship this week, I suffered a bit of a straight-edge hangover, going to shows multiple days in a row and not being able to function at work because I can’t miss a moment of Butch Walker in the area. This tour in particular was one of my favorites because he dusted off some Marvelous 3 classics. The only downside was that there were more people in my way and sometimes it was hard to see. But the noticeably larger crowds are a sign that Butch Fever is spreading and that’s a reason to rejoice!

*By Joelle, who has written about Butch Walker more than any other artist and probably won’t be writing about anyone else until next time he’s around. Haha






STAY TUNED FOR MORE BUTCH WALKER AS CAIT REVEALS WHAT IT WAS LIKE FOLLOWING THE TOUR FOR A WEEK AND EVEN LETTING HER VOCAL CHORDS LOOSE DURING A SHOW!

If I could go back and change ONE thing...

I'd totally have let James Valentine of Maroon 5 spit game at me instead of rolling my eyes and walking away.

Yes, they were rude to my beloved Carlo. Yes, they were staring at my rack. Yes, they looked like they could use a shower or seven.

However, they are loaded, and I have tuition to pay. That, and their new drummer Matt Flynn is absolutely lovely.

And did I mention James Valentine is BFF with John Mayer?

If I ever say I have no regrets in life, remind me of this and tell me I'm full of shit.

*By Jess, who would like to someday marry rich so she can stay home and bake all day.

Armor for Sleep Interview with Anthony Dilonno

March 13, 2007 @ UC Irvine Bren Events Center


By: Jackie Rudolph


Sitting with bassist, Anthony Dilonno, from Armor for Sleep in an Orange County college basketball locker room, I was able to learn more about him, the band, and the success that Armor has reached throughout the years. Anthony first started with Armor when Ben Jorgensen (lead singer, guitarist) of Armor for Sleep came up to him at a local show in their home state of New Jersey, and gave him a demo that Armor had been working on. Anthony liked the demo, but was still in another band. Yet, coincidentally two weeks later his band broke up. It was the great year of 2002, and Anthony had just joined this new band which included a pair of cousins, PJ and Nash, and Ben, to form Armor for Sleep which was now in tact.


Armor for Sleep is the perfect name for these guys. Anthony explains that the first few songs that his band mate, Ben, stirred up late at night was his armor for sleep in the dead hours of the night. With Ben’s skill of writing, he dedicated this sophomore album, “What to Do When You Are Dead” to writing songs about death. But why death? Anthony answers, “Car underwater is about suicide. The rest of the record is based loosely around the person who died and how they made a big mistake and how much they want to be back. It’s just an idea Ben had which he wrote about. There’s no primary message. I like how Ben writes the lyrics because his lyrics can relate to a lot of people in a lot of different ways. There’s many different meanings.” There you have it. So try not to underestimate these fellas and think that they’re just writing about death, when really these guys see the world in so many different ways and value their lives.


These four band mates put a ton of effort into making Armor for Sleep what it is today with their constant contributions. Anthony explains, “Everyone contributes in the music part. Ben usually comes in with something that he wrote or was playing with and we’ll feed off that until we’re happy.” With the success of being signed to the major label, Warner Brothers/Sire Records, with artists such as H.I.M and Less Than Jake, Armor for Sleep has shown true success. Yet, success is different in many ways. Anthony says, “I can’t judge success because you work so hard to try to get to the next level and you never know if you’re gonna get to that next level. I can’t put my finger on it because we’re just gonna keep on working as hard as we can.” At least we can say that Anthony is more successful than when he worked as a cashier at Shop Rite at the ripe age of 15.

Now that Shop Rite is in the past, he feels that he has definitely changed over the years. He talks about how he has seen so much, more than what men twice the age of him have seen. He comments, “When you’re doing what we do, I mean you really get to see so much. It’s really kind of just a head start at seeing the world. Just because, you see my dad is 50, and he hasn’t been to half the places that I have. There’s kids my age now who are out of college and do not really know much because they grew up in one place and then moved to another place for 4 years. It doesn’t really go for everyone, but there are a lot of people who don’t get to see much since they’re in one place all the time.” Exploring and creating yourself is what had made Anthony. He loves the life he lives, and is more than satisfied with his career with Armor.

Looks like life is good for Armor. Hopefully, more success is on its way as their third album hits stores this summer. These guys have been working extremely hard on this next album, with recording taking place ever since December 2006. It’s obvious that a ton of effort has been put into this third album. So watch out this summer, with all of Armor for Sleep’s crazy touring and promoting, but most of all make sure you go out buy their new record!

I Had No Idea The Rocket Summer at Irving Plaza

I had no idea The Rocket Summer was just one guy. Before I went to this show a few weeks ago, I downloaded some tracks from iTunes to get a feel for the music (and decide if I really wanted to go to this)! The tracks sounded great and of course I recognized the infectious hit, “Cross My Heart.” So, bopping along to TRS’s upbeat tunes, I headed off to Irving Plaza to see what “they” could do on stage.

It wasn’t until my “i-know-everything-about-all-newish-bands” friend Michael met me at Irving Plaza’s will-call that I learned that The Rocket Summer was just Bryce Avary. This was even more impressive – one guy doing the work of four or five and convincing me that it was a well-oiled machine of a rock group!

The stage show was even more impressive. Bryce sang, played guitar, keyboards, clapped with the crowd, bursted confetti into the crowd, jumped into the crowd and enthused the crowd. It was like Bryce was throwing a massive party and we were all invited to partake in the fun and craziness of the night.

I got a chance to meet Bryce who gave me a sweaty, but genuine hug and a thanks for coming as he explained to me his thrill that Stevie Wonder’s horn section plays on one of the tracks on his forthcoming (July) release. I was also happy to do what I guess might be called a Rock n’ Roll mitzvah (if you’re Jewish) and gave two huge TRS fans (Mike and Steve) an opportunity to talk with their idol. The two teenagers were speechless as Bryce stood less than four feet away, entertaining industry folk. After ensuring them that musicians love praise and love their fans, we made our way over to Bryce. Bryce confirmed that his appreciation of his fans is endless, taking time to say hi to the boys and remembering their names.

To be honest, I left the show in the middle of The Early November’s set. After the full-force effort and rock-solid performance from TRS, The Early November’s set seemed a bit… dull!

Check out The Rocket Summer at Bamboozle on May 5th – I’m sure you can expect to experience some crowd surfing by Bryce and enjoy the party he gets started on stage.

More tour dates on MySpace and NEW ALBUM in July!

Confetti for the crowd

*Jordana

Tune into BBC

Digital cable has changed my life. Now that I have a full-time job and can't watch General Hospital during the day, I get to tune into SOAPNET at night.

But almost even better is BBC on demand. Coupling is the funniest show ever. Forget about Friends! And In the City is a way hot extension of Hollyoaks. They rule me.

That's all I have for you really. I just felt like writing a blog but have nothing to say.

*Joelle

How Terry McMillan Got Her Attention Back

Terry McMillan is the author of a bestselling novel turned movie How Stella Got Her Groove Back, based on her own experience of finding a handsome, dapper, younger gentleman in Jamaica and bringing him back to the U.S. to marry.

After they married, he announced he was gay. She announced they would divorce.

She is now suing the proverbial pants off this guy for "smearing her reputation throughout their highly publicized 2005 divorce." I have some advice for McMillan:

Get the fuck over it.

Honey, it looks like some other handsome, dapper, younger gentleman beat you to stripping the lawsuit off this guy. Suing him for "conspiring to humiliate and embarrass" you--oh, and for $40 million that you know the dude doesn't have--you are only humiliating and embarrassing yourself.

Did you blow all the royalties already?

We'd forgotten you existed until this tidbit popped up in the news media. Chalk it up to experience: You got used for a greencard. Sucks, but it happens. To quote The Main Ingredient (and later Aaron Neville, who, inexplicably, is listed as a "rock" artist on iTunes--hey Apple, you might want a new categorizer): "Everybody plays the fool. There's no exception to the rule."

Now, you can make a bigger fool of yourself via the justice department (way to waste my tax dollars paying your judge) and likely lose your case--or you can be productive.

You're a writer, Ms. McMillan.

This is the perfect material for a sequel. Get on that, and get off my 5:00 newscast.

And if you really want to punish your ex? Force him to watch the film he was the male muse for.


*By Jess, who is hoping Amanda's doing better.

Literal and figurative food for thought.

I am so sick of people nagging me about my nutritional intake and eating habits.

It comes down to this: When I am hungry, I consume whatever food I happen to want at that moment. When I am full, I stop (usually). I am a picky eater and there are very few foods that fall within my "like" category, most of which are unhealthy (read: everything I enjoy besides Luna bars) and many that fall within my "yucky" category (read: seafood that isn't battered and fried beyond recognition, almost all vegetables save for the ones that pass for starches, and anything too ethnic because my tastebuds are inhabited by a bunch of dirty, no good bigots).

That said, if you are sixty pounds overweight and telling me that I shouldn't eat my apple turnover I'd been craving all day "because it's fattening," you really deserve to be vomited upon by an army of bitter bulimics. Conversely, if I am out to eat with you and don't finish my meal because I'm full, I'd appreciate your not criticizing me and telling me that I "never eat," especially if part of the reason I'm full is because I just ate a bowl of soup and a huge cheese danish. If I don't like something, I am not going to eat it. If I don't have room in my stomach for something and it isn't a steak or something irresistibly sugary, I am not going to eat it.

There are plenty of people out there with open weight and food issues, and plenty more with weight and food issues that they displace on others to avoid facing in themselves (thank you, Dr. Freud). If you're on a diet, good for you. If you want a heaving slice of chocolate layer cake, good for you too. Just remember that it's not my fucking problem.

Now, if you'll excuse me, there is a bag of Caramel Creams in my desk drawer waiting to be devoured and chased with Coke Zero, which I drink not because it's diet, but because I like the taste.


*By Jess, who hopes Obama and Clinton join forces.

A Controversal Remix That Will Give you Goosebumps.

Driving to a St. Patrick's Day party last night my amazing friend Lew in an attempt to cheer me up after a day of hell, put on a remix of Green Day's Boulevard of Broken Dreams... containing talent from the likes of Green Day (obviously), Oasis, and Travis. Three of my ALL TIME favorite bands...

Even though with the release of this to the internet world there has been a tremendous amout of controversy sounding the useage of the songs and etc...I think that it came out amazing... and it made my night worth experiencing...

From my heart to your ears...



*By Amanda (who loves Lew, thank you)

Need something to do while you await an update from OUR blog?

The Junior Varsity are in the process of recording what will undoubtedly be a killer new album, and they've been keeping a studio blog of their own, which is more than worth checking out. Read about their encounters with rappers, their fascination with Nirvana's Nevermind, and more here. And leave them comments telling how much you love them, because you know you do.

*By Jess, who went to Hooters for the first time last night and was offerred (and rejected) a job

Love Arcade and The Academy Is at Irving Plaza

Note: Planet Verge also did a filmed interview with both bands; check back here and at PlanetVerge.com in the next few weeks for the exclusive footage!

Last week I was lucky enough to catch The Academy Is at a “one night only” US show before heading off to the UK for a string of performances. Adding to my good fortune, I also had the pleasure of seeing fellow-Atlantic Recording artists, Love Arcade, open the show for their one and only tour date with The Academy Is.

Snowhite, the virtuoso behind Love Arcade truly is a jack-of-all-trades. Not only did he write all of the pop songs for Love Arcade’s self-titled debut, but he engineered, produced, played, sang and even did the graphic design for the album! A hard-worker off the concert stage, when Snowhite performs on stage, you can expect no less!

Snowhite and his band played about a 25-minute set. Memorable songs included “Passenger,” a sexy-pop ballad that surely sent all of the fifteen-year old girls in the audience into daydream-mode and “Keep it Comin,’” an anthem-atic song with a punk-edge, especially live.



Describing Love Arcade is a bit complex as, at the live show, they seem especially edgy and tough, but the pop-hooks and bubble-gum lyrics give them a dollop of Backstreet Boys. Snowhite sings, “keep it crackin’ like a bubble pop pop pop.” Regardless, it’s an interesting mix and a fun show to check out if Love Arcade is in your hood.

And as for the name Snowhite, it’s a high school nickname that stuck (and that Snowhite brings to his stage performance, typically performing in all white). Apparently, Snowhite wasn’t a morning person in high school and his classmates joked that he looked as sickly and pale as a cokehead each morning.



The Academy Is, the headliners of the night, blew the crowd away with extreme energy that couldn’t be matched by a dozen cases of Red Bull. The crowd fed off of the band’s vibes, averaging about four crowd-surfers per song and only a few dropped bodies. The band tells me that they do notice and appreciate their crowd-surfers. Adam, the band’s bass player, shared his one and only crowd-surfing experience with Planet Verge. A few years back, Adam took the plunge at a Midtown show. Unfortunately, Adam found himself passing over the crowd during a song where fans traditionally give two punches in the air as Midtown sings “hey, hey!” I’ll let you guess where on his body Adam took those two “hey, hey” punches..!

I think a huge part of The Academy Is’s success, besides the obvious catchy singles, is how they connect with their fans, on stage and off. On stage, lead singer, William, dedicated a song to a fan he met in line for tickets to their Irving Plaza show. The fan was the first in line and had waited for hours in the rain! There were also several points during the show when William would jump off the stage and reach out to fans or slap a high-five to a passing crowd-surfer.



The band connects online, too. The guys tell me that they personally check their MySpace page and respond to as many fans as possible. It’s no wonder that fans feel such a connection to this band and sell out their shows in record-breaking time!

Now, to single out one or two songs from the band’s Irving Plaza show wouldn’t be doing their performance justice at all. Every song they performed was amazingly vibrant, powerful and full of life (really, the show was nothing short of a fabulous time!). I can, however, highlight a few special and unique moments:

-We’ve Got A Big Mess On Our Hands – the first single off the forthcoming (April 3rd) album titled Santi. Intense drum beat and the crowd already knows the words! Speaking of knowing all the words:

-Attention – the band sang this for the first time in months, but they only sang about half of it, the crowd sang the other half, word for word.

-Seed – Another song off Santi. A real treat and first listen for concert-goers. Big time power ballad.

-New guitarist. Recognize that cute Aussie? Michael Guy Chislett from Butch Walker and the Let’s Go Out Tonites has joined forces with The Academy Is! Michael describes the move as natural since The Academy Is spent so much time at Butch Walker’s house and since Butch produced Santi for the guys.



-Small club tour. For those of you who can’t afford to see The Academy Is supporting Fall Out Boy on their arena tour, The Academy Is is planning a smaller club tour in late summer.

That said, if you can afford the $40 ticket for Fall Out Boy & The Academy Is, do it! Think of it as an investment in your physical fitness – you’ll spend an average of two hours on your feet, jumping, dancing, swinging and singing and you won’t even realize you’re tired til your head hits your pillow at night.







*by Jordana

The downside to big shows

It was a sweat fest at the Kill Hannah/ It Dies Today/ Papa Roach show at Starland Ballroom last night. The venue was completely filled to capacity with metaled out guido people, and it wouldn't be surprising if it was actually over-sold. One thing is for sure, being a fairly short person packed in like a sardine wasn't much fun. What's the point of having a press pass to review a show when you're thrown in with the fans and can't see anything, I ask?

Let's start with the opening act, a local band of middle-aged wanna be cheese rockers whose members, besides the bald singer, haven't gotten haircuts in years. The crowd had to suffer through 30 minutes of them spitting out corny songs like "In Your Mouth" and "Quicksand." For some reason, people crowd-surfed for them. But remember, these were not music people, they were drunk guido-wanna-be-metalers who just didn't know any better. For a band that used so much distortion, their sound lacked power and fell flat. Not sure what was sadder, to be the band playing or the girls cheering for them when they covered The Who?








On to the highlight of the night: Kill Hannah! They owned the stage from the second they plugged into their amps. Actually, they owned things from the minute you walked into the venue. Kill Hannah’s merch table was the only one that had a line. Ironically, Papa Roach’s was vacant. Not sure what that says. There were deff. Kill Hannah tattooed fans in the front row, and during the band’s set, you couldn’t even tell that they weren’t the headlining band. Everyone went crazy. Especially when the band covered Billy Idols’ “Rebel Yell.” Vocalist, Mat Devine is a pro. He spent a lot of his set time being supported by security while singing in the crowd. Kill Hannah have the stage presence, the show and they bring the rock. What more could you ask for? (Ok, I have an interview with Mat going up on www.planetverge.com!)



It Dies Today… What can I say about them? I almost got crushed the first time I saw them play at the Knitting Factory in New York City and this show was no different. Forget about taking pictures in the photo pit. I value my life and am not a fan of getting someone’s shit stained sneakers kicked into my head. Pre-show, new vocalist Jason Wood warmed up his voice while setting up merch. It sounded really good. So there you have the secret to how to keeps screams so strong. Sing. If tonight was any indication, It Dies Today is doing just fine since the departure of Nick Brooks in January. In fact, the only person who isn’t too fine is the kid who left them a comment on MySpace saying he drove an hour-and-a-half for the show just for It Dies Today and then found out it was sold-out.




Headliners Papa Roach, I’m sure tore the Starland Ballroom apart. But I wasn’t there to see it. In fact, I left in the middle of It Dies Today because there’s no point in reviewing a show you can’t even see. However, I did happen to walk into a special acoustic show Papa Roach put on for radio station winners before the show. It led me to have a bit more respect for the band. In the past, I have written them off as just another mainstream radio band, and then once Colby started looking like James Hart from 18 Visions, it was all over. But acoustically, he has a great voice and I really enjoyed all the songs. It was a nice VH1 Storytellers kinda thing. Check out the clips I put up on www.youtube.com/user/planetverge.

*By Joelle

I wish I could drive away to the sunset, back to the day that we first met.

I'm going to be as brief and as non-mushy as I possibly can with this, because I could honestly go on for days:

Four years ago today, I performed my first interview with a then relatively unknown band from Stillwater, Oklahoma at the Birch Hill Nite Club called The All-American Rejects.

That night, from being parked outside with Mike Kennerty knocking on the window of the van I was in, to witnessing Nick Wheeler peeing in a bucket in the corner of their closet-sized dressing room (I swear I averted my eyes), completely changed my life.

I never knew I wanted to do anything having to do with writing, with music, or with bands until that night when I interviewed them for kicks. I was never the same after that. Not only did they make me realize a dream I didn't know I had, they were--and remain--some of the most genuine, sweetest people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, and it's an honor to see my features pop up when I google their lead guitarist's name.

I am so proud of them and their success, and they deserve it more than anyone I know. You know you've made it when my mother calls me and says, "Oooh, I saw the Rejects CD in Target, and I told my friend, 'My daughter knows them!'"

Thank you, Nick, Tyson, Mike, and Chris, for your amazing contributions to popular and rock music, as well as for being amazing people.

Love, Xs, and Os,
Jessica, who was a sophomore in high school back then and is a sophomore in college now and feels old as Hell.

All Hail St. Louis

Greenwheel just may perhaps be the best band of whom you've never heard. I have loved them since their Island debut came out years ago. They wrote the best break-up song ever - "Breathe"(it deff. was the soundtrack to me shedding many tears during my first major break-up)- and never got any credit for it. Except when Melissa Etherige covered it and then came the Grammys. So of course, Island, like many major labels only concerned with marketing music no one really likes but is shoved down consumers throats, dropped Greenwheel.




Fast forward to present day. Meet Go Van Gough- the reincarnation of Greenwheel. The band describes their sound as a cocktail of "sex, lust and anger......lost love and winning hope.....at times.....frantic and visceral,.......at times melodic as a lullaby." There are still signature Greenwheel vibes, a lot because Ryan's vocals are so distinctive. While their self-released debut, RUBY AND THE STARLIGHT BALLROOM, doesn't have any mega-singles, you'll still find yourself coming back to hear the songs. Particularly "So In Love." That chorus had me at hello.

This time the boys are doing it for themselves and I'm excited to see where it'll take them. If they're in your town, don't miss the show. Excellent stage presence and captivating performances will await you.

www.myspace.com/govangoghtheband





I found out about Go Van Gough a few days ago. This morning, while eating oatmeal and opening Planet Verge mail, I came across a band called Autovein. Of course, I dismissed them almost immediately, having never heard of their indie label, Outlook Music. And when the lead sentence mentions "armed with self-produced demos, self-produced video...." you kinda feel like it's gonna be, well shitty. It's bad, I know. But we get countless crap CDs sent here everyday and that's usually the case.

Anyway, I read the rest of the short bio. Turns out the band has supported notable acts on tour, including Fallout Boy, Coheed and Cambria and my favorite boys, LOSTPROPHETS. Then I looked at the press photo and recognized one of the members because he is Brandon from Greenwheel! The bio didn't mention where the band was from (tsk, tsk) so I jumped on their MySpace page and saw that yes, the band was from St. Louis, Missouri.

Autovein are pretty mainstream rock and I can deff. see them getting radio play. The song "Bullet In An Angel" should start breaking the path for them. I like it more every time I listen to it. The vocals sorta remind me of Breaking Benjamin. And even though the members of Breaking Benjamin are jerks who literally walked out of the venue to go brush their teeth or something when I was supposed to interview them and never came back, I still like their music. You just won't catch me supporting their live shows anymore. But that's off topic.

Go listen to Autovein. They were once signed to Columbia (there goes that major labels suck thing again) so you know they're doing something right. The chorus' are infectious.

www.myspace.com/autovein

*Joelle

There's A Reason He's Still Single.

In my two and a half months of post long-term relationship single life, I've met a lot of men. It's amazing how many charming, cute and seemingly-eligible bachelors there are out there when you open your eyes and are ready to see them. And it's so easy to meet them. Just last week I locked eyes with a guy on the 2 train. Embarrassed, and not really wanting to get to know my fellow commuters outside of the boxcar, I looked away and rushed off the train, hiding amongst the masses of the evening rush hour. I was halfway up my block (and rocking out to Motion City Soundtrack on my iPod) when I was startled by the 2-train guy, patting my shoulder.

To my point - they are around every corner, every city block, in every cab and train, at the gym, at the grocery store, the seemingly-eligible men are everywhere I go!

Seems great, right? So many men, so little time?

Not at all.

How do I pick the good ones? Just because a guy chases me off the train, does that mean I should give him a chance? Who do I let through and who do I pass up?

Despite the hoards of men all around, meeting a decent one doesn't come easy. The curating process is a bitch.

There's just always something wrong.

Most recent loser: John.

I thought I had been a curator worthy of the finest art museums on Museum Mile. I thought I had weeded out the creeps for a real man. A smart, fun, witty and ever so cute one! I was even ready, if all continued smoothly, to drop the runners-up, the b-team and the c-team of the "mediocre but maybe this will become awesome eventually" men.

John and I had an amazing first and second date and many great conversations. Dates with John were spontaneous, but well thought-out on his part. For example, he knew how much I liked live music so he picked a show for us to go to – after which we hopped around to every dive bar on the Lower East Side before a late night dessert at Yaffa Café. Knowing I was a vegetarian, on our first date he took me to one of the best vegan restaurants in the city where we enjoyed four courses and three hours of stimulating conversation.

I knew I liked him a lot. And he seemed to like me, too. Each time I saw him he told me many times that he loved being around me, that I was amazing, smart and beautiful. Why was this man still single? How could it be that he'd lived ten years longer than me and still hadn't found anyone yet?

Of course there was a reason!

The first sign that something was off was when I called him on a Sunday night and he cut me short because he was at work. I was a little put-off by the conversation, but understood he was at the office, and who likes to chat when you're at the office on the weekend anyway? He called me back two hours later, but he was even more distant. He asked if we could just talk during the week, and, hardly listening to my reply, hung up the phone.

When the apology e-mail came 24 hours later, I was happy to agree to see him again on Valentines Day.

When he picked me up, he claimed that all the flower shops within three blocks were out of roses and he felt awful because I "deserve all the roses in the city." I swear, he really said that..

I wasn't expecting flowers and didn't care that he showed up empty-handed (really, I didn't!). What bothers me now is that he was clearly lying and I was too hung up on trying to hold onto what I thought was a good catch to question his damn line. Even if he had gone to all the flower shops within three blocks (there are about
four) and couldn't find roses, if he'd made that much effort to look, he probably would've come back with tulips or something, right?

That night he told me that he wanted to spend every second with me.
He wanted to go to work with me, sit in boring meetings with me, watch me write contracts!

And then things really went downhill.

The next day he cancelled our plans for the following night because of a hang over. On Saturday he was "visiting family til late" and on Monday, he left the lamest voicemail message: "It's definitely been a while. I blame myself. I'd really love to see you today, but I have plans. Talk to you later!"

I get it – it's over. Unfortunately, it took me those few hits to my ego because I didn't want to admit that I bagged a bad apple.

But, in life and lust and dating disasters, there's always a message:

Ahh, the reason why he's still single at 35! (That is, unless he's not actually single and has a girlfriend he's cheating on). Any way you look at it, John is a huge asshole.




*by Jordana, who wasn't sure if she should post this, but who is dedicating this to dating women everywhere. Just say no to assholes.

Silverchair Leave Webster Hall in AWE

"I can't even speak right now." That's what my friend Adam (you all know and love his band PERFUMA, right?) said to me after Silverchair finished their encore at Webster Hall in New York City. This show, like the night before at Bowery Ballroom, sold out in five minutes. Not bad for an Australian band that gets zero promotion in this country and was recently dropped by their record label, eh?

The night included mostly songs off of their last release, Diorama. No complaints- that's my favorite album. Refreshingly, the band premiered about five new songs, including the new single, "Straight Lines." All the new songs are super catchy and have SINGLE written on them. I can't wait to hear the album. Once they self-release it, I'll have my New Zealand friends mail me a copy ASAP. No word on a US release date, of course.

As for the good 'ol grunge days of Silverchair, which I'm sure are the ones most everyone remembers... they played "The Door" and "Freak." I was craving "Isreal's Son," and "My Favorite Thing," but that didn't happen. Not that anything was missing from the show. It was perfect. Every note, each vocal breath. And form, well Daniel Johns is looking healthy, totally recovered from anorexia, and has a built bod, which he proved by playing the encore shirtless.

Oh what a night! Let's just hope I don't have to wait another seven years to see them!

WATCH MY FOOTAGE:


The Lever


Ana's Song


Without You



PS--sorry if you hear some annoying girl behind me singing!

Love,
Joelle, who battled a near blizzard to go to this show.

THE Valentine's Day song!

click and fall in looove

Furrever Love

I went to the Exotic Pet Expo this weekend with one thing on my mind--seeing the 9 week old tiger cubs. For years, I have followed Save the Tiger projects and sponsored Russian tigers. It's my dream to actually pet one. The closest I came was when I did a behind-the-scenes investigation on the treatment of animals at The Ringling Brother's Barnum and Bailey Circus while I was in college. I was centimeters away from the beautful caged creature and could watch the whiskers on it's nose move as it was breathing. Amazing.

Well....thanks to the pet show, where a white bengal romped with an orange one, I found a place to make my dreams come true. The Horseshoe Creek Wildlife Reserve in Florida! You can take Animal Ambassador Interactive Tours that include feeding tiger cubs,hold an aligator, play with a baby panther, etc. HEAVENLY. I thought the only place like that was Tiger Island in Australia, where tigers walk around the park on leashes. I'm excited to go.

I also feel in love with an adorable Husky/Lab puppy named Lexi, who you can watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nVXsrUPceY

I applied to adopt Lexi. Wish me luck!

The Husky House is a great organization dedicated to finding homes for these dogs. Everyone likes them as puppies, but has no idea how hard it is to raise a Husky and the older dogs wind up being sent to shelters. It's really sad. Visit www.huskyhouse.org to find out how you can help foster a dog until a home is found, donate money, buy a really cool hoodie, or adopt a new pet today!

This is my husky/shepard Skye. Jessica is her aunt.

*Joelle

Ladies and Gentlemen, They Have Done it Again...

It seems that there are tons of categories you can place bands under....poser-punks, sugar coated pop, hardxcore, altmetal, altrock, i could probably go on forever. Well, there are all those catagories, and then Saliva. The band that has, seriously, made their mark on the world through creating xbox anthems and songs that girls can say "yeah, i did a strip tease to that." Well, boys and girls, they are at it again. The new 2007 version of good 'ol "Click Click Boom" is now in stores, and the single to be released is entitled, "Ladies and Gentlemen." This one is sure to be the new playstation anthem or strip club theme song or something.... Its a catchy number that now graces mine and surround beings ears whenever work summons me.

All I can say, is keep in eye on the youtube...rumor has it there is going to be a major kick ass video....


By Amanda, who thinks kelly k. is super cool.

Girls Don't Cry and Arckid at Pianos

So last night I had the pleasure of checking out Arckid, formerly Spacehog, at Pianos. What a treat it was!

I got to Pianos around 10pm, just in time to catch the house band, Girls Don't Cry. While I appreciated their Go-Gos feel and rather polished songs, these girls made ME want to cry! I haven't heard lyrics so horrendous and cliche since ... well, ok, I take that back, I forgot that Hillary Duff plays at the gym ALL THE TIME!

Arckid was tight. So impressive. Each song rocked out and rocked hard and right into the next. A tittilating half hour. Yes, tittilating. Best song: "Remains." Check em out on Myspace - www.myspace.com/arckid. Their page is a little weak, but I guarantee if you have the opportunity to see these guys play, they won't disappoint.


*by Jordana... who just took a powernap at the office

Anna Nicole Smith is dead.

We have soldiers and civilians dying in Iraq and Afghanistan everyday. We have people starving everywhere. We have women and children being sold to human traffickers (not to mention my favorite, being raped legally in various countries of the Middle East). We have all sorts of shit going down in Darfur. We still don't have cures for AIDS or cancer. We have skyrocketing rates of autism in America, most notably in New Jersey. We have global warming and an oil supply that won't last more than forty years--tops. We have the existence of shows like My Super Sweet Sixteen.

And this "tragedy" is the big, breaking story on the evening news?

God forgive me, but I have more important things to worry about.
Hopefully you do, too.



*By Jess, who's really disgusted with the media today.

The Parisian Paradox

I can't decide whether Paris Hilton is a genius in disguise or if she really is an honest to God imbecile.

She's made a "career" of venturing to night clubs sans undergarments (as well as modesty) and spewing out mindless drivel that winds up--with a photo of her barely clothed and perpetually appearing to be on the verge of winking--on Page Six. She also had that Simple Life show with Nicole Richie (who I find only to be slightly less useless as a human being), but lest we forget--her sex tape debuted before that did.

With the opening of the now-on-hiatus-pending-a-lawsuit parisexposed.com, any and everyone could gain access to Paris Hilton's "private" property (bitch please, it's too easy, and so is she) for forty bucks--and people actually purchased it in droves. What were the contents of the site? Videos of Paris in a bubble bath, on a boat with an overweight man snorting an enormous amount of cocaine off of his own heaving manboobs (seriously, they were so big that I felt a little jealous), and having softcore relations with a model exboyfriend whose name I don't know nor care to learn. There were also scans of prescriptions (use your imagination) and driver's licenses and other paperwork you wouldn't want strangers to get a hold of.

As much as I love to loathe Paris, I think what's more pathetic than her IQ and complete lack of class (she referred to a girl on video as being a "public school bitch," uses the N-word and that other word that got Isaiah Washington in hot water with ABC and GLAAD), is that people actually pay to invade her privacy. The fact is, the girl's not that interesting. I can think of nothing profound, charitable, or worthwhile about her as a human being. Okay, scratch the "charitable" part, but while we're on that note:

Here are a couple of worthwhile websites that'll help you be almost as giving as Paris Hilton, just hopefully not in the same vein--and for free:














*By Jess, who is in the mood to bake because it'll keep her warm through the twelve degree temperatures of late.

I smell an Emmy!

There is no way General Hospital is not going to sweep every category this year. The whole hotel hostage situation is showcasing the excellent writing team and giving the actors a chance to shine with their dramatic art. Everything is keeping me on the edge of my seat. I don't even want to read the soap magazines to find out what's going to happen because that just spoils the fun!

Tune in weekdays on ABC. I even got my boyfriend hooked. haha Don't forget some of the best actors in movies today came from soaps!

*Joelle, who grew up on soaps and ditched NBC for ABC.

The day has come

Silverchair are FINALLY touring America!!! With two sold out dates in New York City (Webster Hall and Bowery), there's proof that Silverchair is the best and biggest band that seems to have fallen off the face of the earth but never did. See, while most of you i'm sure forgot about them after their grunge days, a beautiful thing happened: Diorama. I can't even explain the beauty of this album. It was shocking how they transformed as a band. And it was a mystery as to what they could possibly do after that and how they could top it. Well, it's here: "Straight Lines" is the new single. Go watch the video at www.myspace.com/silverchair.

The last time I saw them, Silverchair OPENED for an immature, undeserving- of-sharing- the- stage- with- them band called Blink 182. There was Daniel Johns singing with a hot pink feature boa and all the fans, little bratty punks awaiting fart jokes from Tom, Mark and Travis, didn't appreciate it.

Well hot damn, I'll be at Webster Hall on Feb. 13 if my Craigslist purchased tickets come through (thank you Adam). So keep your fingers crossed. Silverchair are the most UNDERRATED BAND EVER!!!!!

*Joelle, who has a Silverchair song picked out for her wedding