i went a' walkin'

bored at home, i went for a walk last night, around the neighborhood:down benton, down sunset to silverlake, then up to effie. probably saw 2 people on the sidewalk, other than those hanging out infront of rock and roll clubs. i didn't plan to rock, though, it just happened: about halfway through my 'evening constitutional' i realized i needed some rock and roll. this will happen. i popped into the silverlake lounge first: $5, acoustic, ugh, peace out dudes. on to spaceland. $8, black keys headlining. i'd heard the name before, in some distant but positive context. why not? lets rock. opening band was boring, australian retro/southern rock -- they had apparently just opened for the stones in aussie-land. it felt like the lords of altamont without the acid, and the acid is what makes the lords great. selah. during this set everyone was pretty short, shorter than me, which is rare. i'm not too tall.
then black keys. the crowd gets taller. i stay the same size.

an aside: if you are 6'3", and have a white-fro 2 feet in diameter, in the majority of rock-club situations you don't need to be in the front few rows of folks. i don't care how much you love the band, you're 6'3". and look at your hair. thInk about it dude.

so although i was at most 10 feet from the stage i couldn't see that much, which thankfully was alright. black keys still did it up, playing some of the most honest and rocking blues i've heard from 2 white guys, jon spencer without the new york city, blues with a different kind of explosion, dirty and dusty. his voice was a bit breathy for my taste, too 'fake-authentic,' but when the vocal and guitar lines moved together, or when the jangle of guitar notes on the downstroke resolved breifly to a brief two-note melody on the up, i didn't mind so much.

oh and beck was there, which i guess makes sense, because apparently they'll be touring together.

more of this later, i will finish it, but it might take a week. i have it all in my head though. it's not going anywhere.