chase the light

Music to sway by. Calexico are sooo good! I’ve been having the hardest time seeing them as they’ve come through town a couple times while I’ve been away or I just couldn’t make it, etc. So finally! The name is taken from a small border town in California, and it’s Mexican side counterpart is called Mexicali. I also get to sneak in a Neko Case reference right here because Calexico was her backing band for the Blacklisted album and they toured together in support of that album. It’s a little known fact that I love Neko. Ok it’s really a widely known fact actually. I lurve her. If you like Calexico you’ll love the Blacklisted album by Neko. Ok, done with Neko. Neko, Neko, Neko. Neko’s also on David Letterman tonight. Neko, Neko, Neko.

Anyway, great to hear the stuff off of “Feast of Wire”. Sunken Waltz, Quattro and Black Heart were stellar. There was time when “Feast of Wire” played on my iPod for probably a month straight. I was so into that album. I thought the opening band Black Heart Procession were going to be really good as I liked the first couple sings but then it got really rather boring. One too many songs with a saw in it. Yeah, you know with the bow and a saw where it sounds like a cheesy UFO from a B-Movie. I liked their vibe I just didn’t think their songs were up to snuff.

Ready for my complaints… ($5 bucks says Ticketmaster is involved with my complaint somehow) Since the show wasn’t sold out I went to The Music Box a little before 8:00 to get a ticket from the box office. (Insert your own Ticketmaster story rant here). Here’s the scam, the price is $18 dollars, but on the day of show it’s $20. So you can never actually get a ticket for $18. Through Ticketmaster it’s $18 + $2 Building Facility Charge? + $7.60 Convenience charge – $27.60!!! Argh! So what’s with jacking up the price of the show at the box office? Lame-O Music Box. Then there’s the security. Not rough at all, but the front of the stage is maybe 25 feet wide and there were 5 security guards! That’s one for every 5 feet! Calexico’s a completely mellow band and having 5 huge security guards facing you and scanning the crowd is reeeeeally distracting and a bit of a buzz kill. They’re also really strict with cameras but I palmed my little point and shoot with my wallet and keys as security patted me down. Ha ha… too easy.

A little bit of the vibe with the mp3 above. It’s a lot more traditional sounding than their material so it’s not really representative of their actual work. Also, if you like free music a really great live Calexico concert is available courtesy of the band and archive.org. [Calexico Live in Sweden] Ok, I’m done. Calexico cool. Love ’em. The Music Box… kinda annoying.