Ready to Fire!

Hey folks! So about that Faith & the Muse show... Damn it was the business! My friend Casey & I drove up from Columbus to Lakewood Ohio (just outside of Cleveland) to the Phantasy Nightclub. The place is a complete and total dive, but the kind of dive you want to visit. The space looks like it was once a seafood restaurant or something, because it has a halved sailboat inside (called the Bounty), and other weird architecture (like a random streetlight, the kind that overlooks the highway in the middle of the ceiling). It's great though. I had been in this space something like 14 years ago or so and completely forgot it's location, so stumbling upon that space again unexpectedly was a trip!

Anyway, before we got there U.T.O. and Ludwyg had already performed so I can't say much about them. We caught the tail end Queue Up, they seemed pretty cool, I'd like to catch them again.

So on to the main act. Faith & the Muse is made up of William Faith and Monica Richards. Joining them was Paul Mercer on violin, Julia Cooke on taiko and percussion, Marzia Rangel on cello & percussion (Christ vs. Warhol/The Deadfly Ensemble, ex-Scarlet's Remains), Steven James on guitar/viola/percussion (Christ vs. Warhol/The Deadfly Ensemble, ex-All Gone Dead and Scarlet's Remains), and Aradia and Lucretia*Renee of the dance troupe Serpentine also on backing vocals (and featured in the photo on the left, sorry about the quality but that's what you get with a cell phone). The whole performance was extremely theatrical, it's one of those 'you had to be there' type situations. The crazy part, the whole show was six bucks(!?), that's just crazy talk! Anyway Faith & the Muse tour is on a pretty aggressive schedule, they had been performing every night for the past 16 when they got to Cleveland. So yeah if you can check them out live, and if not just check out some of their music. Below is their video promo for their tour. I tried to shoot some with my camera but I haven't figured out how to get it off the chip yet, if I can do that I'll of course post it. If you want more check out this interview by Bryan Reesman.



So yeah! In other news the Pagan Newswire Collective blog is about ready to launch. There are 8 other bloggers including myself, and everything seems to be running on schedule! I'll post an announcement in a few days when the official launch happens, expect something by Sunday at the latest. This is gonna be groovy, I don't think there's anything else like it out there.

Also, in Second Life it looks like I'm going to be having a show in May. Also I'm almost done setting up my own gallery in The Wastelands, and I'll be able to host small performances as well. I'll post the slurl for those locations and dates once I have them.

Plus I'm going to be taking part in the Fires of Aisling Pagan Arts and Music Fest down in Reynoldsburg Ohio on May 16. Myself and a few other folks will have some art up, and it looks like there will be all kinds of festivus going on. It's free so come on down if you're arse'd. I know at the bottom it says it's by invite only... but hell if you're one of the two or three people who read this blog, you are my guest, I invite you (friend me on facebook and ask for an invite if you're inclined). So come, bring drums if you're the drumming type and let us kick this metaphorical pig!

So yeah, it's all good in the neighborhood. See you later!

Bus Driving

Hey folks. I'm a little late than what I'd normally prefer insofar as updating goes. So let me tell you what's going on and what I've been up to. So far there are 2 shows that I'm invovled in the planning of. One is for the Fort Hayes Alumni Art exhibition, which will happen at the Fort Hayes Shot Tower (if you haven't been, it's a beautiful & very large space). It's open to everyone who has graduated, whether it be from the high school or from any of the vocational programs. There is a Facebook page here if you want to join, and soon there will be a blog that will post the call for entries. I'll also post a link to that here as well. We got the judges and the dates set up, and so yeah, everything is moving along with that. Another project that is getting off the ground is I will be co-curating a show with Helma Groot in conjunction with the Creative Arts of Women (CAW, website coming soon). The interesting footnote with that is I'll also be producing a book that features the artists that are taking part in the show, & it will be available for purchase online. We have the space and are decinding on dates, so more info as it comes. There's a few other things, soon this won't be the only place I'm blogging. In May the Pagan Newswire Collective will be launching an arts & culture blog, & I'm going to be covering the arts. There I'll be looking at and promoting art with pagan themes and professional pagan artists. So yeah, should be groovy. I'll post a link when it goes live.

Of course it hasn't been all work and no play. I checked out the new Outland on Liberty (a goth/industrial/whatever bar n' dance club located in the Brewery District in Columbus Ohio), & I had a really good time. It still has that anything goes vibe which I miss in the other clubs around town. You can still wear whatever you want, jeans and a tee to high plastic fashion of rubber & saran wrap are welcome. Goth/Industrial isn't my usual fare of music (I actually love jazz and folk) but the music was jumpin' and good to dance to, plus now they are having bands and performers which is nice. If you like a taste of the weird and the festive I'd suggest you give it a try.

That's it for now! For music I'm going to show you something that will be a part of a suicide mission for me next week. Faith and the Muse is playing in Cleveland on Tues the 27th. A friend and I are driving up after work to see the show, and then driving back so we can work the next day. We figure we should come back at around 4 am or so, heh! This is something I used to do all the time... 15 years ago. But hey you only live once right? Besides, I've heard they put on a great show.