Two Recent Shows I Attended but Did Not Take Photos Of

Sunday: The Mars Volta @ Ram's Head Live: Imagine a combination of Prince, James Brown and the worst prog rock you have ever heard. That's The Mars Volta. One guy was playing the flute! Visually compelling, but basically unlistenable. Not my thing at all, but I took a friend and he absolutely loved them. Can you believe they sold out Ram's Head Live at $41 a pop? Yes, forty one American dollars to see The Mars Volta. Heckuva country we live in.

Last Night: Built To Spill and The Meat Puppets @ 9:30 Club: Quite possibly one of the worst shows I have seen all year. I might be going out on a limb here, but I would imagine Doug Martsch has made enough money over the course of his career to buy more than one guitar. Perhaps if he employed these extra instruments in the live arena the audience wouldn't have to wait five minutes in between songs while he tuned up. Not that it mattered much, when the band was playing they were sleepy and boring, which is saying something when you have as good a drummer as Scott Plouf (ex-Spinanes!) behind the kit. The Meat Puppets, who I was intrigued about seeing, should have hung it up a while ago. Total dreck.