07/23/2004 The Tragically Hip, Idle Sons (Darien, NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center)

By Eric | July 23, 2004 11:59 pm

Tiff and I got there as the Idle Sons were playing, and they weren’t bad for an opener, nothing terribly memorable, but certainly not awful. After a 45 minute intermission (thank God for seats!), The Hip came out to a raucous crowd, and didn’t disappoint all night long. They opened with Vaccination Scar, and played a good chunk of tunes off the new In Between Evolution disc including Heaven is a Better Place Today, Summer is Killing Us, Gus The Polar Bear, It Can’t Be Nashville…, Mean Streak, Are We Family, and Goodnight Josephine, making for 8 of the 13 songs on the album. Then of course, they did crowd favorites like New Orleans is Sinking, Grace Too, Nautical Disaster, At The Hundredth Meridian, Courage, Poets, Music At Work, and Springtime in Vienna. Then for the encores, they did Wheat Kings, Ahead By A Century, and Blow at High Dough. This show was just great from beginning to its end TWO HOURS later. They put on a hell of a show, they sounded great, and the crowd had a great time as well. Can’t really say too much more than that… Nothing like a great show to follow up a good show!

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07/18/2004 Nickelback, 3 Doors Down, Puddle of Mudd (Darien, NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center)

By Eric | July 18, 2004 11:59 pm

I initially wasn’t going to go to this show, didn’t feel like shelling out for tickets at the time, until the day before, when Jeff IM’ed me saying he had an extra ticket. In section 102, Row 9. Eh, close enough! I got the ticket from him, and after coming home from work and changing, headed out to Darien Lake. I missed 12 Stones, and got there halfway through Puddle of Mudd, who were surprising quite entertaining. The half of the set I saw included a fair number of the hits, including Away From Me, Blurry, Bleed (from the Punisher soundtrack) and She Hates Me. They had a hell of a lot of energy, and had the crowd pretty into it. One set change later, 3 Doors was up next, and while they were fun to watch, I thought they were better at Harro East last year when I saw them. Although they did have pyro this time around, and a couple new songs that they played, including one that’s on the live EP called “It’s Not Me”, and another new new one called “Father’s Son” that was actually quite good. The rest of the set was predictably heavy on Away From The Sun tunes, but they played most of the hits off of The Better Life as well. Like I said, they were good, but the show was lacking something, and it made me glad they weren’t closing. This tour had 3 Doors and Nickelback as co-headliners, meaning they switched off every night as to who would close. We drew Nickelback closing, and this was much better. They came out with a lot more energy, but with what seemed to be a shorter set than they usually do. Obviously slanted towards The Long Road, I was kinda miffed that only Leader of Men was played off of The State. No more Breathe?! At least they dug into Silver Side Up a bit more. In any event, they sounded really good, but the number of songs could have been more, Chad did a bit too much talking in between sets, and they attempted to pass out beer to the crowd, so there was one more song they could have done. I sound like sour grapes, but I really did have a good time, but was it a $45 good time? I’m not so sure. I still think I’ll take club shows over the big ones.

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07/01/2004 Sister Hazel, JD Strumm (Pittsburgh, PA @ Hard Rock Cafe)

By Eric | July 1, 2004 11:59 pm

This was a fun road trip adventure of sorts… We made our way down to Pittsburgh, after checking into the hotel we arrived at the Hard Rock at about 5:00… at the same time the guys in Sister Hazel arrived in the taxi! Tiff briefly said hi, and we left them alone to get ready, while we bummed around Station Square. We decided to enter the Hard Rock at about 5:30, and had dinner there while we waited for the show to start, as they don’t kick you out if you’re eating. Which is awesome, because we got a table right in front of the stage, and then got to see the guys soundcheck! They played Effortlessly for the soundcheck, which they didn’t play during the regular set. The hard rock is a wonderful place to see a show, as its not very big at all. So about 8:15 they started clearing the tables out from the front of the stage, and we took up residence right at the front of the stage alongside some members of the bulletin board. JD Strumm was up first, and they were two guys with acoustic guitars just singin and playin… not too bad for an opener, definately kept everyone’s interest. Then it was Sister Hazel time! Since they took the railing down separating the band from the fans, we were practically on top of the guys while they were playing. They ran through an hour and a half set, marked by the fans singing along to just about everything. Tiff snagged a setlist, so you can scope that out down below. One addition to the list however, at the beginning of the encore, Ken came out by himself to play “Out There” acoustically, which was incredible. Tiff also got autographs from all the guys after the show, and pictures with 4 of the 5 guys. We had quite the excellent time in PA!

[flickr-gallery pagination=”0″ mode=”tag” tags=”2004-07-01″ tag_mode=”all”]

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Best Buy Employee Bashing

By Eric | June 29, 2004 10:05 pm

So yeah, about that wonderful help at Best Buy yesterday. Two kids that look like the Abercrombie models from the MadTV spoof come up to me as I’m perusing the “T” section looking for the new Tragically Hip CD, which I kinda had a hunch that they wouldn’t have. Notice how the one kid just assumes that because its new, and I’m shopping on a Monday, that I’m a retard and the CD isn’t released till tomorrow…

Kid 1: “What can I help you find?”
Me: “The new Tragically Hip album”
Kid 1: “It comes out tomorrow.”
Me: “It came out on the 22nd as far as I know, did it get pushed back?”
Kid 1: *checks his little sheet* “Uhhhhhhhh…. yo, do we have the new Tra… what are they called again?”
Me: “The Tragically Hip”
Kid 2: “They’re Canadian.” *way to go dumbass!*
Me: “Yeah, it came out last week, do you have it or no?”
Kid 2: “Um, it doesn’t look like we have any, if we don’t have their older stuff, I doubt we’re gonna start picking them up now.”
Me: “Yep. I’ll go to Record Archive instead.”

Morons. My pet peeve about the whole thing is not that he hadn’t heard of them, I didn’t expect him to… but automatically assuming that I’m in on a Monday, and if I can’t find it, it must come out tomorrow (Tuesday is the traditional day for new music and movie releases). Grr.

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06/27/2004 Lucky Boys Confusion, RX Bandits, Big D and the Kids Table, The Budgets (Rochester, NY @ Water Street Music Hall)

By Eric | June 27, 2004 11:59 pm

This was a date on the Reel Big Fish Coast to Coast tour, whom we ultimately ended up not staying for. Since Tiff is the big Lucky Boys fan, we stood in line only to be crammed into the smaller side of Water Street to watch The Budgets play first. Usual punk fare, they weren’t awful, but they weren’t great. It’s really not my thing, so my opinion doesn’t count for much. Then everyone piled into the other, larger side of Water Street, and after securing a barrier spot, it was LBC time. They ran through a 35 minute set, playing Hey Driver, Saturday Night, Medicine & Gasoline, City Lights, Blame, Sunday Afternoon, 40/80, and then an obscure 80’s cover of a Dramarama song called “Anything, Anything (I’ll Give You)”. I had never heard it before, but they did a pretty rockin version of it. After their set, we made our way back to the merch booth, and Tiff got autographs from the guys in the band, and we wandered over to the other side to check out Big D and the Kids Table, a ska band that had tons of energy, and what seemed like a decent fanbase. Entertaining to say the least! Back on the main stage, we stuck around for the RX Bandits, and while they had a ton of fans, I was less than impressed. They almost seemed like a punky jam band. Very odd, but not very musically redeeming. Eh, whatever. Tiff and I got tired and packed it in early, having already seen who we wanted to see. Tiff managed to score a Lucky Boys setlist, and the scan is below.
[flickr]6936155918[/flickr]

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06/10/2004 Fuel, Seven Day Faith (Buffalo, NY @ Lafeytte Square)

By Eric | June 10, 2004 11:59 pm

The first Thursday in the Square show I’ve been to in awhile. Tiff and I got there about 7, just as Seven Day Faith was finishing up. Stood around until about a quarter to 8, when Fuel finally took to the stage. Thankfully it wasn’t too hot, wasn’t too cold, the weather was just right for an outdoor show 🙂 They opened up with Quarter, then right into Jesus or a Gun. Continuing the harder stuff, Won’t Back Down was next, then Shimmer got the place into a frenzy. Speaking of frenzies, free shows coupled with beer always draw a lot of interesting people to shows, and this was no exception. Lotsa kids, and just-past-kids that wanted to mosh and crowdsurf, and that’s exactly what they did. Next up was Scar, and while Brett sounded great up until this point, the next song, Untitled, he really sounded like he was straining to hit some of the notes. Fortunately, this was the only song that sounded like that, as the rest of the show both before and after were excellent… Million Miles, Down Inside Of You, and Sunburn came next, all with the trademark Carl Bell guitar riffing. Another huge crowd singalong for Falls on Me, and then the crowd went bezerk during Down, all the moshers had a field day. Continuing the hard stuff, Fuel played Empty Spaces and Prove, before closing the main set with Hemorrhage. Back out for the encore, first was Bittersweet, and the closer closer was Last Time. Lotsa energy, lotsa fun, and to cap it all off, there was a hell of a fight at the end of the show in the crowd. Not too bad for free!

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Stolen Music Quiz!

By Eric | May 10, 2004 11:11 pm

Stolen from Amber:
On your current playlist, hit shuffle and pick the first twenty songs on the list (no matter how cheesy or embarrassing), and write down your favorite line of the song. Try to avoid putting the song title in the line. Then, have your friends comment and see if they know the songs. I suppose I’ll post the answers after some people have taken a stab at it 🙂

I know some of you will be good at this 🙂

Update 5/13/04 – Here’s The Answers:

1. Nickelback – Slow Motion “Well how about you now that you’re needing, don’t worry ‘cuz they’re laughing, and you’re bleeding.”
2. Pearl Jam – Alive “What you thought was your daddy, was nothing but a…”
3. Cool For August – Spinning “And I see there’s blood in the sun, pouring through my window when the evening light has come”
4. Sponge – I Am Anastasia “I found your name in a book, and in that book a letter…”
5. Our Lady Peace – Let You Down “there’s a bicycle show, where the bicycle’s float, and I, I wouldn’t have cared”
6. A Perfect Circle – The Outsider “Medicated drama queen, picture perfect numb belligerance…”
7. Edwin – Trippin “Falling down, burnin up shooting through the sky watch the meteor fly…”
8. Sevendust – Xmas Day “Still she hasn’t seen sun, But I promise you now when she wakes there will be none…”
9. Eric Clapton – Five Long Years “Have you ever been mistreated? You know just what I’m talking about.”
10. Systematic – Pitch Black “Taste the colors that run over you, A touch of gray that numbs the mind…”
11. Oleander – Halo “There’s an anchor around my heart, Dragging me down. Beneath the waves in silence I fall.”
12. Guns ‘n’ Roses – Civil War “My hands are tied… The billions shift from side to side…”
13. Tonic – You Wanted More “I dont know when I got bitter, Love is surely better when it’s gone.”
14. Godsmack – Now Or Never “Why don’t you just fly, fly to me? How long will you wait for me? Never?”
15. Nonpoint – Excessive Reaction “Standing, responses. Failing the answers. Screaming so foreign.”
16. Korn – Wicked “I get them skins, and I ain’t talking about pork. You’re sly, you pig, dig, listen from the flow from a soul fro’ed caucasian”
17. Damageplan – Save Me “I’ll create or I’ll destroy, But either way it’s always in my veins”
18. Matthew Good Band – Alabama Motel Room “I have one of them tied up in the bathroom, I am down and out, but he will not get away with it again”
19. Reveille – Plastic “Pretty my pink, I can smell your stink – makes me sick”
20. Black Crowes – She Talks To Angels “She never mentions the word addiction in certain company. She’ll tell you she’s an orphan, after you meet her family”

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Pictures of Precious

By Eric | May 4, 2004 11:14 pm

It’s supposed name is Precious… Yes folks, Dad bought a Vette! A white 1990 beauty, I guess if anything had to succeed the Escort in the garage, this would be it, eh? I have yet to see it in person, but I’m told it’s pretty impressive. Of course, the pictures found a home on the internet here… besides, Dad needs a spot to direct everyone to so they can see the pictures, right? 🙂 (Maybe I oughta start charging for bandwidth hehehe). Check them out on the picture page!

In other news, I picked up the Sevendust Acoustic CD/DVD set today, and it rocks, especially for an acoustic album! I also picked up the new Flaw disc, and judging from the first song, it should be as good as their first disc. Rockin times!

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R.I.P. Woomobile (1988-2004)

By Eric | April 23, 2004 9:19 am


Woo Mobile (nee Mom’s Car) (1988-2004) of North Tonawanda, NY, April 20, 2004, beloved car of Eric J Bonus, dearest transportation for James, Linda, Amanda and Jacob Bonus, also for many friends and relatives. No prior visitation. A memorial service will be held at Crittenden Way Apartments on Saturday, April 24th. Funeral services were arranged by Frontier Auto Wrecking, 493 Young Street, Tonawanda. Mr. Mobile was a 1988 Ford Escort, licensed to drive in the state of New York, and served as a “student’s car” for 6 years, with a short stint in Lockport, NY, followed by a 5 year tour of duty at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Mr. Mobile will be most fondly remembered for his decorative stickers adorning the trunk lid and windows, and for terrible music blaring loudly from his speakers. Memorial donations in Mr. Mobile’s name may be made to the “Pay For The Sonata Fund” or instead deposited directly into the account of Eric Bonus.

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Hardcore Mooching

By Eric | April 15, 2004 2:33 pm

Seen on Fark today:

“of course all punk rockers are lefties [politically], that way they dont have to get jobs and “sell out”, they can mooch off of the rest of society.”

Had to laugh… 🙂

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