hotel 17, Elvie's turo-turo , and BJM

So, I stayed @ Hotel 17 (225 E. 17th St.) this weekend to catch Brian Jonestown Massacre, the Quarter After (boring), and Hopewell (amazing!) at the Bowery Ballroom on Saturday night. . .went to see Princess Bibbi @ the Strand and then proceeded to walk to Delancey from 12th and B'way. . .long ass walk to say the least!!!

The show was pretty cool and everything that I figured a BJM show to be--amazing, frustrating, mesmerizing, and trying. . .The first forty minutes or so was powerful--this incarnation of BJM has a great chemistry and impact. They played a mix of older and newer material. . .

and then. . .this guy standing nearby begins to shout nonsense @ Anton. Of course, Anton stops the show and begins to tear the guy a new one. "I don't come to Walgreens when you're working and hassle you." Outstanding stuff. This jackass in the audience was the typical, ball-less chump and shut the f$%k up right promptly. Unfortunately, the dammage was already done--other people were getting frustrated with the lack of music, and Anton just went off about how the performance as time to be shared by the audience and the band as a whole and that he was not "your object" and "Toronto got two and a half hours" and we were not getting much of anything. The band played a fifteen-plus minute psyche-drone-jam and then they split.

Eventually, the band was coaxed back onto the stage for two more songs and then, near the end of the last song, band members began to just unplug and walk off. . .I wonder how their Sunday night show went. . .

Hotel 17 was pretty cool and reletively inexpensive. The room was small, but definately had a charm to it--the building itself was just amazing with all the great wood-work and had a style to it. I think I could get some major writing done there--very quiet. Although each floor shared a bathroom, there was a sink in the room and the bathroom was extremely clean. It was also very inexpensive to stay for the night--under 60 bucks I think.

On Sunday, I ate at Elvie's Turo-Turo--a Filipino place on 1st Ave. and it was amazing!! My friend and I ate for very cheap. I had Adobong Manok O Baboy (Chicken in a garlic/ansie sauce--kinda creamish) and this great dessert called halo-halo (kinda parfait-ish dessert with ice cream, frozen flan, and various fruits including sweet beans). Everyone there was very cool and helped end the trip on a good note, well that and Norman's Sound and Vision which had a kick-ass selection of soul music (found a Garnet Mims import as well as a hard-to-find Otis disc). The basement was full of great wax and my friend bought some Richard Pryor LP's.

and that's how i spent my summer vacation. . .

today's soundtrack

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club-s/t; Stone Roses-s/t; johnie taylor-who's makin' love; garnet mimms-warmth and soulful; otis redding-tell the truth; bjm-give it back; hopewell-& and the birds of appetite; elton john-madman across the water