Musicals are escapes from real life

Wow it's been a bit for my music blog to make an appearance. I've been writing it up so much for sports that I kind of pushed this to the side, and didn't have much inspiration for writing.  But I did find something over the weekend that has inspired me to blog, Rock Of Ages the movie.

You're probably wondering how does that work?  Well, I have an admission I need to make right here that I hardly ever tell people.  I love and enjoy musicals. I remember growing up and watching Singin' in the Rain. I love that movie so much I had to buy it for myself.  I mean who wouldn't want to dance like Gene Kelly in this scene?


And I probably know more about the movie Grease than I would care to admit. But it's the idea of those movies presenting your life to song that's so good. I know I've imagined at certain points what it would be like if a song suddenly burst out. I'd compare it to this moment in (500) Days of Summer.

 Musicals play a good part of pop culture that even Larry David did a small bit about West Side Story.

 Musicals are just a good way to escape your day for a couple of years, and Rock of Ages did do that. I saw the musical live, which was great, and the movie while cheesy at times was enjoyable. I feel so much better I got to profess to the blogging world that I do in fact enjoy musicals. I haven't seen all them out there, so maybe that's a to do list I need to make. What musicals do you suggest?

Getting to Know: Vanity Theft

Getting to know the lovely band, Vanity Theft. 

The band consists of:

Alicia Grodecki: keys/vocals

Brittany hill: guitar/vocals

Elyse Driskill: percussion

We tour with a rotational bassist.

Tell me the history of your band.

We formed in high school about 8 years ago. Took 4 years off for college then actually got serious 3-4 years ago. But yeah, we kinda grew up together. 

What influences do you have musically?

We all have our individual influences that vary a lot but some of the bands we all love, and bonded over when forming the band are: metric, the sounds, taking back Sunday, cursive, the faint, arctic monkeys, we are scientists, and radiohead just to name a few. We are constantly streaming new music on pandora and spotify in the van as well.

Best show you've played?

It would be a toss up between a sold out LA roxy show last fall or earlier this year in Austin Tx for SXSW when we played a packed out showcase at Darwin's Pub. We all felt on top of the world for both those shows.

Worst show you've played?

We've had a couple shows in the middle of nowhere on tour stops (Spartanburg SC for example) where we drove 7 hours to literally only play for the venue employees and other bands on the bill. That comes with the territory of touring as an indie band though so it didn't keep us down.

What bands would you tour with if you could pick?

The Sounds, Yeahyeahyeahs, Mother Mother, The Wombats, lady gaga

What festival would you play if you could play a big festival?

Lollapalooza

What are you doing musically right now?

We just put out an EP called "The right amount of distance" so we are tourin for that and just shot a music video that should be out June 14th. Otherwise still writing and experimenting with new sounds.

Plug your site right here.

www.vanitytheft.com

Facebook.com/vanitytheft

Don't Judge a Band by their Name

Beware!

Going out Friday night to Melody Inn, I went to support the lovely people of Sugar Moon Rabbit. These guys play their own brand of rock that takes you back to the old days of classic rock.  But it's still modern enough to  enjoy in the now.  They were set to go on third before a band by the name of Beware the Dangers of a Ghost Scorpion.

With a name like that, what in the world do you expect the music to be?  Which is going to be the whole idea behind this post.  It's always interesting when you've never heard a band, but hear the name and you wonder what will this sound like.

I remember playing a show and there was a band called Devil to Pay, which of course leads you to think some metal type band.  And those guys were like that, just heavy grungy dirty low down rock.  All with long hair and beards and all that.   Just playing with their heads down and rocking out.

So hearing the name Beware the Dangers of a Ghost Scorpion, I still have no idea what to expect.  The bass player did come up to me, and introduce himself and ask if I would stay to watch the band.  He said they were like surf rock instrumental.  Okay, that's a good enough description, still unsure what to expect.

Soon enough, it was time for the band to take the stage as they were warming up and getting their instruments ready to go.  But then they step out and disappear for a minute or two. Only to come out with t-shirts that featured a white scorpion and bandanna masks on as they started to rock the night away.

They played a style of surf rock that made me picture western scenes in my mind.  That would have been something cool to add, some film style western movie playing.  But then again, that can take away from the music.  These guys definitely know how to play their instruments as instrumental music can be tough to get into if it's not intriguing enough.  These guys kept me interested in the music the whole time.

Don't take my word for the music, give it a listen.