I met up with Cyndemouse and caught the Phantom Planet show after work at The Stony Pony on Wednesday night. Grumbling a bit that I never got to see them when Jason Schwartzman was the drummer, they were a pleasant diversion for what would have been nothing more radical than a Blockbuster night if I had not gone. They were cute, giving props to The Stone Pony. Alexander solemnly said, "this is a VERY famous club" and went on further with "Bruce Springsteen gave us a shout out once and that was fucking awesome, So we're going to do something, I'm sure nobody's ever done-give a shout out to Bruce Springsteen. Can you still say shout out?" He has a breezy personality, easily interacting with the crowd. At one point, he asked one side of the room how strong they were and then turned to the other side to answer the same question. The second side won the right to help him walk across the crowd as they supported his weight. The crowd was given the choice of hearing California (now the theme song for the show O.C.) or a song that didn't make the new album called Stiff. Choosing Stiff, we never did get to hear California. An encore could have changed that. These kids today really believe it when a band announces "This is our last song" and they start to clear out immediately after or during the song actually. Duh. RAZ evidently has a doppelganger. I did a total double take when he walked by. RAZ-2 we'll call him. He had shoulder length hair like RAZ's before the bad girl posse convinced him to cut it all off and a similar build. He moved differently though. More confident, bottle in one hand, cigarette in the other. After the show, the dj threw on the Ambulance LTD cd. I felt that familiar twinge that my favorite under-the-radar band is going to be big news before I know it. I really, really, really like this band and I'm not even sure why. I've read comparisons to The Beatles, The Kinks, Hall and Oates. I'm not sure who to compare them to, I just know they are all I want to listen to right now. JPO, RAZ and I saw them play The Hook in July. For me, it was one of the most special shows I've ever seen. They'll be back in town soon. Go see 'em for yourself. Until then, give them a listen.
Highlight of my day: slice of chocolate cake with marzipan and ganache from Black Hound . Let's not even think about the ramifications on my girlish figure.