Great Cover Up - Day 2 (screaming for vengance)
My guilt was not to be denied, so I stuck it out at work. I came home, took a two hour nap, and headed out. I should mention now that Lisa will hate me. Hopped up as I was on DayQuil, I was totally sober for the whole evening. This turned out to be just fine, as I saw plenty of overindulgence from various people (none of whom I knew).

I'm feeling much better this morning, mostly due to the fact that it's no longer morning and I'm just dragging my ass out of bed. I'm going to take it easy all day, plenty of fluids and naps. Hell yes. Maybe a NyQuil and Sprite cocktail to make the day pass a little faster. It's all about symptom suppression.

LJ props: aklikins, babbleon1, badger, bean3, greenery, icebarb, jay, margarita_5, spkorb, zenhack. And that's just off the friends list. Myspace linkable friends props to Adam, Carolyn, Chris, Dawn, and Scott. I'm sure there are people I missed. What did those who weren't there miss?

Weezer Those boys from that band I should really know did it again this year (what did they do last year? I can't remember, and my notes don't tell me, but I know they've done The Cure, and Violent Femmes in the past). They nerded it up with the costuming, and nailed a good 7 songs (!) to the wall, finishing off with "Undone" which sounded so much like "Beverly Hills" that I'd swear it has the exact same chord progression. I'm sure that's no accident.

If you're going to do acoustic guitar at the Great Cover Up, I'm betting they should place you first on a Thursday, and let you tell your friends. All those fuckers last night who wouldn't stop talking loudly didn't deserve Nick Drake. I will be lame and say that I learned about Nick Drake through a Volkswagon commercial (at least I didn't learn about Psychic TV the same way!). I don't think that's bad at all. Hell, I don't think it's bad to learn about bands at the Great Cover Up. Sound and Fury aside, I managed to get a good enough view to see that Drake's stuff is REALLY HARD TO PLAY. Jesus, was that a diminished minor? Did he (the real Nick Drake) have a sixth finger or something? Fucking excellent, saved "Pink Moon" for second to last, and was good enough that I didn't yell "Don't Kill Yourself!" at the end.

If there's one thing that aging punks like, it's other aging punks covering old punk bands. Minor Threat was no exception, quickly garnering a minor mosh pit of the elderly hardcore. If there's one thing they like even better than feebly pogoing, it's SINGING ALONG! The microphone was in this little crowd half the time. At least they knew the words. Once again, I was blown away by Brian Walsby's drumming, because he's just a fucking god and that's it.

Oasis took the stage next. I think this was Jeff Hart and his crew again. I recognized the drummer and the bassist, but the singer and lead had on GIANT PAPER MACHE HEADS. Of course they were made to look like Liam and Noel (down to the unibrow and stubble), with a microphone cleverly (cough) hidden under Noels "head". I only know two Oasis songs, and they didn't play either of them, so I ended up waiting for the onstage squabbling to begin. They did not disappoint. There was pouting, in a giant paper mache head. What, in fact, could be cooler?

It was one of those "Why hasn't this band been done before?" moments when the Steve Miller Band took the stage. Complete with sunglasses on the drummer and a few well-placed wigs, they played everything you expected them to play. I was tipped off early by an accidental firing of an electronic sound (the one at the beginning of "Jungle Love"). They weren't as rock solid as I would have liked them to be, but since I think there's a North Carolina statute saying you have to be high to cover Steve Miller songs it's all ok. Too bad he couldn't actually whistle, because when you make noises through fingers placed as if you were, it looks really crude.

I think it was midnight about then, because everyone lit up. I totally appreciate the "No Smoking Before Midnight" policy at Kings (so far as to EVEN ENFORCE IT MYSELF), but the one this it does do is make every person smoking look like a total fucking addict, which is kind of embarrassing. I mean, think if it was masturbating instead of smoking, and at midnight, everyone got this bizarre look of relief and elation and just whipped it on out and started in?

Actually, that would be a hell of a lot cooler.

Speaking of whipping it out, when badger saw the amount of antique gear amassing on stage for the next band (much of it moog gear), he motioned me to make a distraction while he got it into the car. I can't blame him, it was delicious looking overkill, so it only could have been Gary Numan striding on stage. I don't remember all the songs. I was more marveling at Cy Rawls in a clothed role playing guitar this year. He (like all the band) was in all black, button down shirt, and tie. They did (in fact) play "Cars" (how could you not?) and ended with "Are Friends Electric?" (which is now inextricably linked with "We don't give a damn about our friends" in my mashup mind). I will now risk more ire by saying they were pretty fucking awesome.

Which made Judas Priest all the more depressing. Awful. Awful. Awful. Maybe I'm spoiled (yes, I am), but the Priest cover band of 2002 is the end of the story. Unless you can bring more to the table (and there are serious doubts that that's even possible), don't do Priest at the Great Cover Up. Just don't. This band brought less, much less, to the table; which made the drunken antics of the crowd just depressing. I slipped away to the front room pretty early on, and got to see the flight of more people, and the true looks of betrayal on their faces, for the rest of the set.

I'll be there tonight. Time for some NyQuil and a nap. I really need to Xmas shop, but I don't have it in me this weekend.