This will be the third time this week I am up past 2AM. Oddly, I haven’t really felt the lack of sleep – to the contrary, I almost feel like I have more energy. Odd.

So “Operation: Harass Dan Burke” is over before it began. He actually returned the first message I left last night, and immediately went into how bad, financially, Monday night was. Blah blah blah. Quite obviously, we’re not getting paid, and that’s actually okay – the lessons learned from that one evening are far more valuable. He offered us another show next week with a couple acts I’ve never heard of, he said it’d be more profitable, but since we have Wavelength that weekend and really would rather not deal with Danny boy unless it’s necessary or really beneficial, I passed. My biggest regret is that I don’t get to keep calling and leaving happy fun messages for him, and that he didn’t offer me a pair of shoes.

On a related note, I have seem to have been appointed/acclaimed ‘manager’ of Lake Holiday, which basically means I get to deal with the fun bullshit like the above. Why? Because no one else wants to but someone has to. I had been taking care of a lot of (read: all) the financial and logistic stuff anyway, but now I guess I have to start paying attention to shows, bookings, etc etc. Despite the personality requirements for this position running totally contrary to my own personal nature, I’ll give it a go. But first I need to get a cricket bat.

You know you’ve been to too many shows in too short a period of time when you’re more concerned with getting good pictures instead of the music. So was the case at Rainer Maria tonight. Between scurrying from one side of the stage to the other trying to catch them in action and the fact that I was wearing earplugs (my ears still haven’t recovered from Tuesday), the show almost turned into background music. It’s tough to snap a three-piece on stage when they’re set up pretty far apart and frequently pogo-ing all over the place. I got some good ones, though.

It was a good show – high energy and fast paced. Kyle Fischer has got more rock guitar moves than anyone I’ve ever seen and sweats like a fiend. I’d always thought that Caithlin de Marrais’ voice was a little thin and reticent on the older records, and was pleased with the vocal strength displayed on Long Knives Drawn. Her improved delivery really helped out the older material, which had considerably more fire and energy. Their between-song political commentary, however well intentioned, came off kinda vague and unnecessary, though. The crowd was smallish, but very enthusiastic and the band seemed really pleased with the response. I enjoyed the show but am at the point where I’m more concerned with getting all the concerts on my schedule over with. I’m glad August is wide open – Radiohead is it for the month right now. I need to take a breather.

More shows that I’m not going to but you might: Mogwai come to the Phoenix on September 2 to perform happy songs to happy people. My ears haven’t recovered from the last time the Scottish troubadours came through town, so I will instead cower at home. I’m sure braver souls and eardrums than mine will enjoy it. I don’t even have the new album yet. And New York uber-hipsters The Yeah Yeah Yeahs crash the Opera House August 29th. Start tearing the sleeves off your t-shirts now, kids. Tickets for the shows are $15 and $16 respectively at the usual outlets.

np – Rainer Maria / Long Knives Drawn

That Batman short film that had me all a-flutter earlier this week? Download it here. It’s pretty damned impressive, though the dialogue leaves something to be desired. And the plot twists are… unexpected. There is an interview with director, Sandy Collora here.

After several very late nights, I am enjoying this one night of doing absolutely nothing. I’ll probably be asleep by 11. And then tomorrow, late night again. Rainer Maria, dontcha know. I think I am bailing on Metric on Friday, though. I will be too damned beat to hoof it over to the Lula Lounge on my own.

There is a grassroots movement spawning off of the Secret Arcade message boards to try and start up an artist-run performance space somewhere downtown. The notion is pretty exciting and while I have no idea what it would really entail, I am getting involved in the process. I think it’s a worthwhile goal to pursue.

np – Portastatic / The Summer Of The Shark

Last night’s Pernice Brothers/Tyde show was just the thing to remedy what had been a pretty frustrating day. The Tyde, which consists of members from Beachwood Sparks and drummer extraordinaire Ric Menck (Matthew Sweet, Velvet Crush), played a good if overloud set of California-fied pop, much more upbeat and less spacey and countrified than the Sparks, but still in the same general zip code. A shame about the volume though, it robbed them of a lot of the dynamics that would have benefitted their set. Either way, they still got a good enough response from the crowd to come back for a one-song encore.

There was a much fuller house for Pernice Brothers than their last time through – I was able to watch that show from a table off to the side of Lee’s. This time, I needed to get right up front to get a good view. Besides allowing me to get some good photos, I was also able to stare in awe at Peyton Pinkerton (best name ever!) on lead guitar. The man has crazy chops and is such a tasteful player in the context of Joe’s songs, it’s just silly. And he actually has more pedals than me! The set was well-balanced with material from the three Pernice Brothers albums, with some Big Tobacco and Chappaquiddick Skyline material added in the encores. Highlights included the blazing cover of The Pretenders’ “Talk Of The Town” and the New Order-channeling “Sometimes I Remember”. Though usually stacked with Canadian content, the band was missing locals Mike Belitsky and future Mrs Pernice Laura Stein. But since Joe will soon be Canadian by marraige, we’ll forgive that. The absence of a merch table was disappointing (I will have to wait to get that “I Hate My Life” t-shirt, I guess), but that was a very minor complaint on a great and inspiring show.

Belle & Sebastian’s new long-player, their first proper album since Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant, is entitled Step Into My Office, Baby and comes out September 9. The title is thought to come from conversations overheard while Stuart Murdoch was interviewing cellists to replace Isobel Campbell.

The legendary Muscle Shoals recording studio is up for grabs on ebay.

The official word on the Television reissues.

Some photos from Lake Holiday’s show this past Monday.

np – Pernice Brothers / Yours, Mine & Ours

Want to conduct an educated boycott? Find out what records have been released through members of the RIAA and which haven’t. Of course, I fully expect those who download albums with the rationalization that they’re boycotting the RIAA to come up with a new excuse to download albums that aren’t released by member labels. From Traveler’s Diagram.

Top floor of Eiffel Tower on fire. French surrender.

Everytime I see a banner ad for Classmates.com at the top of my screen, I swear to God the picture they’re showing is a guy I used to go to high school with. No shitting. But ironically, I’m not interested in getting in touch with him…

np – Tobin Sprout / Let’s Welcome The Circus People