Mix-taper

I think I've talked before about the concept of being a mix-taper. I was asked about it again on the weekend, so I thought I'd clarify. The concept comes from this quiz:

I am a mix taper!




How indie are you? test by ridethefader

You're really enthusiastic about the music
that you like. You attempt to discover your new
favourite band every week. You continually try
to get your friends into the music you like, which
annoys the fuck out of them, but you don't know it.
At least you're not arrogant about it.


And thinking of the weekend:

Friday

I met The Vegetarian and the Tall Guy in at Rics to see Tylea. She was on with a whole bunch of others. First up was Dane from Charles Foster Kane - he seems less arrogant solo than with the full CFK line-up, but I still think that the keyboardist Andrew is more crush worthy - it's the whole naughty choirboy thing. Anyway, he did a good set, a couple of covers, some of his own songs and some CFK stuff, but I was too busy being annoyed by the very drunk city boys in pinstripe shirts and suits who kept on pushing the table into my back and yelling "Play something we know" at Dane to truly enjoy the set.

Thankfully, they left before Tylea came on. I'm a fan and I don't think she ever does a bad set, but this one was perhaps less brilliant than usual. She has a very folky, intimate style that works best when the place is pretty quiet and the audience is actually listening. The crowd was still really disrespectful and there were two guys sitting right in front of her that chatted through most of her set. She had hecklers and I have to say that I loved the way she handled them. The two guys right in front actually came out right at the end and asked her if her knees were glued together! I couldn't believe it! That's a comment along the "Show us ya tits" lines of unacceptable behaviour! *shakes head*

From there the evening became slightly surreal. The funny thing was that I didn't really think so until I thought about it afterwards. After Tylea had finished her set, she ended up sitting next to us. As I'm never too sure whether someone kind of famous wants to be bothered when they're being part of the audience, I pretty much left her to her own devices, but she was on her own a lot (her hubby was standing a little way away) and so I ended up chatting to her a bit during the next couple of sets. She's really lovely - it was a pleasure to talk to her. I chatted to her about my work a bit and we talked about the crowd - nothing earth shattering, but certainly pleasant. It was just like talking to anyone else in the crowd, with the exception of the fact that when she asked me my name as we were leaving, she didn't have to tell me hers... I've got her CD (and am listening to it now) and most of my male friends have a slight crush on her. As I said, slightly surreal.

Anyway, next up was Tim Steward. He's one of those Brisbane artists who have been around forever (mostly as lead singer and guitarist of Screamfeeder) and I like his stuff without being bowled over by it. Another great set anyway - I think many of the obnoxious crowd were there to see him (which is nothing against him, he seems nice enough) - at least they listened to him more than to the others.

The second last band were Deloris, a Melbourne band who said that this was their first ever Brisbane gig. To be honest, I can't remember much about them. I was starting to really drag and long for my little bed by this stage and think I just spent most of their gig half asleep. I do remember thinking that they had nice harmonies and catchy songs though.

After that, I said goodbye to Tylea and we went on home.

Saturday

Woke late. Bummed around home all day.

That night, I met up with the Tall Guy and a bunch of his mates for a beer or two before we headed into The Zoo for Dave McCormack. We arrived part way through the first support, The Little Lovers. They were alright - nothing to write home about, but entertaining enough. I was a little distracted though by the fact that the lead singer looks like a much younger version of The Ex. I couldn't take my eyes off him all night - he even had the same manner of speaking and gestures. It was uncanny.

Next up was Gentle Ben and his Sensitive Side. I've made my feeling about these guys clear before I'm sure. Like the Sensitive Side and the songs, hate the lead singer. I think they would do far better with someone else on vocals. And of course, Dylan is a bit of a cutie.

And then there was Dave. And the Polaroids. I find it difficult to understand how anyone can stand still during one of their sets. I danced my butt off. I laughed at the onstage antics and between song banter. That Dave is a funny bloke. I do appreciate his sense of humour. He's weird and quirky. Two things I really enjoy. And they did a cover of Wham's Last Christmas. It was just beautiful. Almost as beautiful as the cover they did a while back of Britney's Baby One More Time. I just love these guys.

Sunday

My Sunday morning plans had been cancelled, so I spent the morning doing the housework I should have got done on Saturday. Then I headed off to meet verbs for coffee. My first meeting with a reader of my blog (and whose blog I read). I'm sure he would agree with me that for the first hour or so, it was a little strange. The conversation was very stop and start (probably not helped by my focus on my hot chips and the volume of the muso in the pub next door). But I think we'd settled into it a bit by the end. I have invited him to join my family for Christmas since he was going to be on his own and I did the "Awwwww" thing. My mum knows that I've invited someone that I don't know very well up for Christmas Day, but she doesn't know that it's someone I know from my blog - I think that would freak her out and make her think "Mad stalker!". I'm quite happy to tell her the truth after the event though. I think she'll like verbs and will forgive me my little deception in the end. She thought me meeting people I'd met via music mailing lists was weird too, but now half of my friends are from those lists and she seems to be reconciled with it. I'm still not sure whether verbs will take me up on the invite though - I can see his point of view. Joining someone's family for Christmas could be a little intimidating. It's what I would do though - for me, Christmas is family time and I just couldn't imagine spending it on my own.

Sunday night I was supposed to meet up with some of the crew I'm going to Woodford with, but I bailed and slept instead.

Listening to: Tylea and the Imaginary Music Score