Last Band Standing: Semi-Finals Game 5, Wilsons Feeing Just Beachy

Posted on May 14, 2012 by g-mo

The first of our Royal Rumble participants has been decided, as the Beach Boys complete their four game sweep of Atmosphere. “In My Room” defeats “Sunshine,” 51.5-41.4 (yes, we recognize that these are some grim totals. Almost to the rumble…) Unfortunately the Minneapolis hip-hop train stops here. I’m happy to report that I overheard a recent Prairie Home Companion mention Atmosphere along with the likes of Prince and The Replacements as an innovative group that had come out of the area. Thumbs up Continue reading →

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Hurricane Camp Stories: Part 2 (2 of 2)

Posted on May 12, 2012 by g-mo

San Francisco

January 19th: We pull out of Salt Lake City on a quarter-tank of gas, and I convince Lyds it’ll be alright. It’s not alright, as we fly through the desolate swamp of sadness

Last trip to Dartmouth for a long time. Hey Babij.

that is winter salt marsh Western Utah. We red light 50 miles from anywhere, pull over to call Jane who suggests we turn back toward Salt Lake. We coast silently, desolately at exactly 52 miles per hour in fifth gear for miles and miles without radio or windows or A/C. We saw two or three broken down cars on the side of the road, waving furiously at us to stop; we couldn’t stop, we barely had enough ourselves. It’s every car for itself running out of gas in the salt flats. The engine started to putter as we coasted down the off-ramp of the blessed gas station. I run into the owner of a truck we saw on the side of the road ten miles back, clutching a red gas can and asking if anyone was heading east. Wendover, Utah. Jesus. We drive on through Nevada, talking about lost romance and our fleeting emotions, my short-lived and best college relationship with Blair, the inaccessibility of Rohde, Hurricane Camp, etcetera, etcetera, on through the small lights of Reno and past the seasoned rim of Tahoe and on past the fleeting thought of Sacramento into the descent through the hills of California and the Frisco Basin. We’re staying with Nina Barrett that night, and pull into her Mission area apartment, I set my alarm clock and sleep on the couch.

January 20th: Friday, but she has the day off. Continue reading →

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Last Band Standing: Semi-Finals, Game 4

Posted on May 11, 2012 by g-mo

Driving toward a sweep.

Two bands are against the wall, one band fought back for a win. Details below. Continue reading →

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Hurricane Camp Stories: Part II (1 of 2)

Posted on May 9, 2012 by g-mo

Part II

January 8, 2006 — February 23, 2006

“Besides, he thought, everything kills everything else in some way. Fishing kills me exactly as it keeps me alive.”

-Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man And The Sea

Austin

January 8th: Morning. Lydia and I pack up the Subaru before work even begins, guitars, bags, clothes, music, laptops, lanterns. Dingo stops me on the way out, I’m on my way to go start the real world, he wishes me the best. We turn onto I-10 and drive west through Mississippi into Louisiana, through Baton Rouge and Whiskey Bay where I make a CD mix named after Whiskey Bay that includes 55 patient seconds of static during The Dream Of Evan And Chan by The Postal Service, and we drive on through billboard panoply of Lake Charles throughways, past the oil havens of Port Arthur and into the access road flatlands of eastern Texas. Continue reading →

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Last Band Standing: Game 3 (Order Switch)

Posted on May 8, 2012 by g-mo

Ponyboy discusses this nailbiting loss with fellow Outsiders

Three out of three of our Royal Rumble potential finalists are undefeated, which means Game 3 strategies are out and about. Let’s review.

Coach Dan seems to be comfortable sticking with the deep cuts, and seems to be winning the gambit. Allman Brothers’ “Pony Boy” (which I can only assume is an ode to “The Outsiders”- the only thing cooler than being named Ponyboy is being named Ponyboy with a brother named Soda Pop, a friend named Dallas, and a best friend that’s also the Karate Kid) falls to “In God’s Country,” 67.8-66.5. U2 pulls ahead to 2-0. Dan stays strategic with another deep cut, and Coach George+Wife throw out a classic trying to avoid falling down 3 games. Continue reading →

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Last Band Standing: Game 2

Posted on May 6, 2012 by g-mo

Atmosphere heads to the lemonade laboratory for Game 2

No one wants to fall down 0-2 in a 7 game series. Especially not AC/DC, Allman Brothers Band, or Atmosphere (tough luck with the A acts, huh?) Listen to this next round of match-ups and submit your votes by Tuesday evening at 8 pm as we drive toward the three bands that will be sticking around for our Royal Rumble.

Cotton Fields (Beach Boys) vs. Shhhh (Atmosphere)

Pony Boy (Allman Brothers Band) vs. In God’s Country (U2)

Girls Got Rhythm (AC/DC) vs. Dancing Days (Led Zeppelin)

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Last Band Standing: Game 1 Results

Posted on May 6, 2012 by g-mo

They can hear it, alright.

Alright weekenders- not a great turn out, but we’ve got our first round results. No huge surprises here, although a few of these came down to the wire.

Led Zeppelin continues its dominance and AC/DC takes its third loss from the tournament. “Bring It On Home” defeats “The Jack,” 58.5-52.5. The Beach Boys’ “I Can Hear Music” defeats Atmosphere’s “The Last To Say,” 58-54.1. And in the closest match, U2’s “Vertigo” comes out on top of the Allman Brothers’ “Just Ain’t Easy,” 57.2-55.2.

Zeppelin, The Beach Boys, and U2 all claim a 1-0 lead. Game 2 will kick off shortly. Have a great post Cinco de Derby Gatorade fest!

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Tribute To MCA

Posted on May 4, 2012 by g-mo

Friends, as the time goes by, our older and inspiring artists and idols pass along at times. Earlier on this site we spoke about Clarence Clemmons. Last week we would have done one on Levon Helm, but held back based on The Band’s participation in Last Band Standing. However, today one of the most seminal bands in history lost its producer and bass player- Adam Yauch, aka “MCA.” I went ahead and asked some of our regulars to provide their thoughts on MCA and what this loss means to them. Continue reading →

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Last Band Standing: Penultimate Round, Game 1

Posted on May 3, 2012 by g-mo

Two men enter. One man leaves.

All future nominations are closed, so we are down to 6 very unique acts still alive in our Last Band Standing match. This will be the last one-on-one battle of this tournament, as our Final will be a Three-way Royal Rumble among the three survivors (more on that later.) For now, votes are due by Saturday, May 5th at Midnight EST. Get your friends to vote, as this 6 song set shouldn’t be too taxing for anyone’s schedule and there are some great tunes below. Let’s do this.

Penultimate Round- Game 1

The Jack (AC/DC) vs. Bring It On Home (Led Zeppelin)
I Can Hear Music (The Beach Boys) vs. The Last To Say (Atmosphere)
Just Ain’t Easy (Allman Brothers Band) vs. Vertigo (U2)

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Last Band Standing: And then there were 6

Posted on May 3, 2012 by g-mo

Alright- buckle up guys, because these last matches in Game 7 were CRAZYTOWN. Three out of four matches were decided by less than 3 points. That’s a big deal. Let’s review.

We’ll start with the Zeppelin-Wonder showdown. Zeppelin has been in the Last Band Standing tournament for months now and fought 22 independent match-ups… Continue reading →

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