Ra Ra Riot in Anchorage

While I do have some major issues with the base setup of First Tap events at Bear Tooth in Anchorage, Alaska (the bulk of which came out in a discussion with my friend Stephanie), I'd be lying if I didn't say that they sometimes give us some pretty damn kickin' shows. This past Thursday was a particularly good example of that, as indie favorites Ra Ra Riot came into town and assailed Alaskan eyes and ears with the fun tunes and energetic live shows that have long been well known to those from the contiguous United States.

While the less said about the two opening acts, the better (a DJ who acts like he's god's gift to music named Alex the Lion that just knows how to press enter on a MacBook Pro, and The Smile Ease, a band who has no idea who they are), Ra Ra Riot had an air about them. They seemed like seasoned veterans who haven't lost their love for what they do yet. Sometimes a band can sound tight and good, but they clearly are going through the motions and not having a good time.

Definitely not the case for Ra Ra Riot.

They were smart in their setlist design, sticking to tracks that are more crowd pleasing and keeping the audience eating from their hands the whole time. The only real downer from the set was when the vocals went out at the beginning of "Can You Tell?" and I missed my favorite part of my favorite song. Besides that, it was all dancing and singalongs from yours truly, with a side of winking at their gorgeous string section. Hot!

If you get the opportunity, definitely check out Ra Ra Riot. They're a heck of a good time live, and they make some damn fine music too.

The Final: Bear Tooth vs. Hula Hands

This is it folks! The showdown between the two finalists in my March Madness tourney of Anchorage restaurants. All that is left is Bear Tooth and Hula Hands, and given my affinity for these two places it isn't surprising. It's been a long road and I appreciate everyone reading, and I'm looking forward to getting back to my regular programming. This was a hell of a thing to do.

No less, on with the show. Who will take the crown as the best restaurant in Anchorage (according to me)? Find out below.

Bear Tooth: Let's get back to the facts about Bear Tooth. It's a restaurant that serves inventive and delicious meals that come in at reasonable prices (between $11 and $15 for the most part). It features two actual restaurants really, with the grill side serving things like Halibut Tacos and Moroccan Chicke, while the other side serves a Moose's Tooth like collection of pizzas along with burritos, nachos and other things. The service is very good, with the wait staff being friendly and mostly young hipster types. They serve beer, wine and liquor, and high class versions of all three no less. Nearly all of these previously stated facts can be combined with a movie (in which you can eat/drink during) or the occasional concert (in which you can drink but you have to eat before).

I mean come on, that's ridiculous.

Yet it has a fairly prevalent negative, and perhaps the only real negative of this final in my mind: wait times. Just like Moose's Tooth, you can expect the occasionally ridiculous wait. While that doesn't kill the experience, it does bring it down a notch or two.

Hula Hands: This place is so locked in it's unreal. Their food always tastes exactly as good as it did the previous time (incredibly good, in case you were wondering). The food is served unbelievably fast (3 to 5 minutes) and with a smile. The prices are extremely reasonable, getting down to around $7.50 for a plate with a huge serving of Kahlua Pig and mac salad/rice. They have two locations, one in Mountain View and one off Fireweed. They served a surprisingly robust selection of beer (La Fin Du Monde!) at good prices, as well as a nice wine list.

This place is perpetually surprising. It has no negatives in my mind and the worst experience I've had is better than most of the ones I've had at other restaurants on this list. In short, this place kicks ass.

The Showdown: Oh man, this is it. This is the ultimate matchup. Do you take Bear Tooth, the joint that is so versatile its absurd and can give you peak Anchorage dining experiences but also can make you wait for it at great lengths? Or do you take the metronome like consistency of Hula Hands, providing tasty food at crazy fast speeds and extremely reasonable prices?

I'll leave the decision to situational greatness. If it was someone's birthday and I was going to offer to take them to dinner where would I go? If I wanted to celebrate something in general, where would I go? Assuming no wait at both spots, where would I go? If it was my last meal, who would I want food from?

While slow and steady wins races with tortoises and hares, that doesn't work here. In the Anchorage restaurant scene, the hare wins, and the hare is Bear Tooth. In my mind, Bear Tooth is the best Anchorage dining has to offer.

The Winner: Bear Tooth

Final Four Matchup #1: Bear Tooth vs. Club Paris

The first matchup in the Final Four of Anchorage restaurants features two of my absolute favorites: Bear Tooth and Club Paris. These two couldn't be any different, as one is old school classy and all about the meat while the other features a diversified lineup and something for anyone. It's going to be an epic showdown, but there can be only one winner. Who will it be?

Bear Tooth: This has quickly become one of the most universally loved restaurants in town. With good reason...Bear Tooth does everything you want a good restaurant to do. A delicious and diverse menu (thai noodles in peanut sauce? Sure. Moroccan Chicken? Hell yes. Halibut Tacos? Don't mind if I do. Tasty burgers? YES!), quality service, good atmosphere, and a primo location. That they throw in a nice bar with a quality selection and the vaunted beer selection they and Moose's Tooth share, a movie theater to eat and drink in, and two restaurants in one (really?!) really adds to the equation, making it an exceptional blend of all the best you want from your restaurant experiences.

Yet it also has a major negatives that it shares with its sister restaurant Moose's Tooth: the occasional ferocious wait. Worth it? Sure. Annoying? Oh yeah.

Club Paris: Let's say this: if the Rat Pack existed in 2010 Anchorage, Alaska, they'd probably eat at Club Paris. Well, realistically they'd probably eat wherever they could smoke at and whichever place Dean Martin hadn't been 86'd from for boozing and hitting on every waitress. But still, the connection is there: Club Paris is a throwback. It's all about small groups that enjoy a stiff drink or a tasty beer with their thick as hell but oh so delicious steaks. It may be a very specific niche, but it's a classic one and one that I fully subscribe to.

Sure, red meat may have grown less popular over the years with some crowds, but not this guy. I choose to have my filet served with a side of petite filet thank you very much. And their burgers...lord their burgers! Filet mignon served on tasty buns with you name it for toppings (blue cheese AND bacon? What did I do to deserve this?!)...so delectable it should be illegal.

Still, the atmosphere is suffocating for some (I understand why) and due to its pervasive hardiness it may not be the best idea to eat here all of the time. I've never been good at making good decisions though.

The Showdown: This is a pretty much impossible choice for me. Club Paris is as ingrained into me as my skin, being my go-to birthday dinner joint for the past 6 years as well as a real piece of Anchorage history (sit down at the bar sometime and talk to the bartender. The guy is a gem and can tell you a lot about life, such as the power of a line like "it's a good life...if you don't weaken"). Bear Tooth is a place I've only really been eating at consistently for two years (non movie experiences rather), but a place that is so damn good it is almost required eating weekly.

While I think if I had to choose at one of these places before I die, I'd almost certainly go with Club Paris. I'm not about to be executed so this is not one of those situations. Because of its Swiss Army Knife like nature and its ability to suck me in no matter the day or the meal, there is only one choice here.

Bear Tooth...see you in the championship.

Hippie Bracket Final: (8) Bear Tooth vs. (3) Middle Way Cafe

The Hippie Bracket features perhaps my most frequented restaurants of all. These two contenders may be the top two most visited restaurants, as Bear Tooth and Middle Way Cafe do a ton of things I like and they do them well. But who is better overall? Who earns my choice when it's on the line.

Bear Tooth: The key to this restaurant is its versatility. Nearly everything it does, it does VERY well. Lunch? Awesome. Dinner? Superb. Bar? Love it. Diverse menu? Hell yes. Two different restaurants with entirely different menus? Why not. Great beer? Of course. Liquor? Let's get drunk. Movies that are inexpensive? You're kidding me?! Occasional awesome concerts? Now this is unfair.

This is a restaurant with more faces than the Dodecahedron from The Phantom Tollbooth. It's like that old "anything you can do I can do better" song, but in song form. I feel like at times this restaurant taunts others with its versatility, menu, and reasonable prices for the meals. It's pretty crazy really.

Middle Way Cafe: This place houses my favorite breakfast item as well as my favorite sandwich in town. That's pretty much all I'd need to say usually, but with such stern competition more has to be said. They also have a diverse breakfast and lunch menu, along with coffee to order and delicious pastries and desserts made in house.

It also has a lot of appeal in that they nearly always have cool (or at the very least interesting) art on display, as well as cool and friendly wait staff. It's incredibly popular, so you can expect occasionally long wait times and sometimes them forgetting about your food entirely (which is a big problem).

The Showdown: What did I say yesterday? Versatility vs. selective dominance...dominance always wins? Oops. I'm already breaking my own rules, but I guess Bear Tooth just dominates pretty much everything. They have no real negatives and a ton of major positives, to the point when I'm not eating there I'm thinking of eating there. While I may frequent Middle Way more often, I prefer the dining experience at Bear Tooth.

Hippie Bracket Winner: Bear Tooth

Hippie Bracket (Round 2): (8) Bear Tooth vs. (4) Tap Root Cafe PLUS (2) Middle Way Cafe vs. (3) Snow City Cafe

My laziness knows no bounds, and I'm going to wrap this up a bit speedier than I intended. Thus, you'll now get two matchups a day for the rest of the campaign until the final!

Up first, we have giant slayer Bear Tooth versus the sneaky good Tap Root Cafe, along with the battle of the esteemed midtown/downtown hippie cafes as Middle Way Cafe squares off against Snow City Cafe. Who will win in these epic showdowns? There is only one real answer...our stomachs and taste buds.

Matchup #1
Bear Tooth: This restaurant is the number one giant slayer in the tournament, playing the Northern Iowa to Moose's Tooth's Kansas. While Bear Tooth doesn't have anything as hysterical as a six foot tall guard from Iowa with brass balls named Ali Farokhmanesh, it does have a lot of things that make it every bit as awesome. A diverse and delicious menu, great beer and liquor, fantastic service, the option to watch a movie while eating anything on their menu (in the words of Marv Albert...YES!!!), and just a great set up all together.

This place is the bees knees, and from this industry analyst to you, I think them taking out the Tooth was just the tip of the iceberg.
Tap Root Cafe: This is a great first round team, bringing excellent breakfast and lunch options to the table, plus an aweome selection of beer. It's a sneaky delicious combination, sort of like UDub's squad this year - you don't know it's great until they beat you by 18 like they did New Mexico. I've discovered recently that they have some of the best biscuits and gravy in the city, which to me is the equivalent of UDub's coach realizing they had a 6'10" point forward who had great handle with both hands and had automatic range out to 23 feet. That's a pretty big deal.

Yet, their negatives are big enough to make dispatching them fairly easy if a very talented faces them in the tournament. You know, like next round when West Virginia is going to murder them or this round when Bear Tooth salivates as they look at Tap Root's slow service, luke warm water, and oddly cold set up.

The Showdown: This is a blow out, as Bear Tooth is just a mega powerful contender at this point. As much as I love Tap Root, Bear Tooth brings its A game in almost every facet of the equation. Which, you know, is very unfortunate for Tap Root. Bear Tooth is movin' on!

Matchup #2
Middle Way Cafe: This joint is bringing it like the Baylor squad of this year's tourney. They everything well, but they throw in one thing that they do excellently and that acts as the tipping point. Middle Way Cafe's tipping point is my go to breakfast order for the entirety of the city - breakfast burrito with avocado. That thing should be illegal for how delicious it is. I crave it in nearly every situation, breakfast...lunch...dinner...3 am, randomly at my desk during the day. You name it. It's the great x-factor of this bracket.

Besides that, they have incredible baked goods, a varied lineup of tasty sandwiches, good service (although occasionally horrific times in terms of receiving your food), and a full array of coffee for those that like their breakfast or lunch to be super charged.

Snow City Cafe: In many ways, Snow City is a sister shop to Middle Way. They do a lot of the same things. Focus on breakfast and lunch, trendy and friendly waitstaff, primo location, art friendly...you name it. Their menu may be even more balanced, as their lunch isn't just sandwiches but a variety of tasty treats (like the pesto chicken).

However, here's one thing that they're missing out on that is necessary to move out of this round - a go-to meal. You need something to rely on and something to always bring you back. Snow City doesn't have that for me, which is no good indeed.

The Showdown: In an epic matchup and one of the closest ones so far, Middle Way wins simply because it has two go to meals (the aforementioned breakfast burrito and the delectable avocado melt) while Snow City has none. To use a little of Bill Simmons NBA Trade Value column logic, when I took the two head to head, who would I take? Middle Way every time.

Prepare for an epic showdown next round...Bear Tooth vs. Middle Way for a spot in the Final Four! It's going to be a barn burner baby!

Hippie Bracket: (1) Moose's Tooth vs. (8) Bear Tooth

What did we do to deserve this my fair readers? This is a showdown for the ages, and in the first round even! You have the number one seed of the entire tournament, the universally beloved Moose's Tooth, versus it's upstart little brother Bear Tooth. The only guarantee about these two places besides fantastic food and quality service is that you'll likely have to wait to eat at either place. But which is more worth the wait?

Moose's Tooth: This is perhaps the crown jewel of Alaskan dining experiences from the point-of-view of most Anchorage denizens, and with good reason. I've been to Chicago for their deep dish pizza, I've been to New York City and tried their slices...hell, I've been to Italy and tried what they had to offer, and I find them all lacking in comparison to a fat slice of Chicken Ranch or Greek Gyro from the Tooth. These guys are like the Fab Five from Michigan in 1991: immensely likeable, supremely talented, and they capture the imagination of anyone who experiences them.

You have even have the specific analogues for each player: Chris Webber was the de facto Alpha Dog (like the Chicken Ranch is the go-to pizza for many); Juwan Howard as the guy who was out-shadowed by Webber but in many ways was as good (the White Pizza for its sneaky awesomeness, and let's face it, Howard played like a white power forward from the 80's); Jalen Rose as the versatile point forward (the Avalanche because that brings a little bit of everything); Jimmy King as the guy who could kill you without you paying attention to him (the mozzarella sticks and their ability to destroy your appetite before your meal got there); and Ray Jackson as the guy who never reached the same heights as everyone else but was part of the team (the beer because if you drink too much of it you may not reach your dreams either).

I feel bad for anyone who faces up against Moose's Tooth because they are ridiculously delicious and a towering favorite.

Bear Tooth: We're going old school on this analogy, but Bear Tooth is like Oscar Robertson's Cincinnati Bearcats squads. In reality, they're just like Oscar Robertson. Every night could be a triple double experience at BT: go there for a dinner at the Grill and have some remarkably tasty halibut tacos; realize you feel like getting a bit of a drink on so you stay for their awesome beer (same as Moose's Tooth's beer) or perhaps a tequila flight; then not wanting to leave yet so you go check out an awesome arthouse movie at the theater. Ten out of ten experiences across the board in all three experiences.

Throw in the fact that youcan get the same pizza at this Tooth as you can at the other, plus all of their other advantages, and you have perhaps the perfect competitor to face off against Moose's Tooth.

The Showdown: While it's hard to argue that the Michigan Wolverines from 1991 were not one of the most talented squads of all time, the ultimate point of their story is that even with all of that talent, they ended up losing. Moose's Tooth is a remarkably exceptional restaurant, but the equivalent of Chris Webber's timeout in the championship game is the fact that they serve the same pizza at Bear Tooth. When you add a ton of other food and drink that you can't get if you dine at MT, it unbalances this showdown. Bear Tooth's versatility is unparalleled in the tournament, and with that in mind, I say sayanora to Moose's Tooth. You have been dethroned by your little brother.

I also want to note that this is one of the fiercest debates between my friends and I: which of the Tooth's is better? I'm the only one that sides with BT.

Portugal The Man To Play Bear Tooth

Alaska's prodigal musical sons are (finally) returning for a show, as Portugal The Man set to play Bear Tooth's 10th Anniversary show on April 22nd. I'm obviously excited because they are one of my favorite bands, but this will be especially cool having just seen them the weekend before at Coachella and for another special reason: this will be the 10th time I've seen them live. 10 times, four states. That's pretty rad.

Don't miss this show, as they are one of the more consistently fantastic live bands around. Obviously I'm excited as I was the first person to buy a ticket to the show (which is a first for me).

Cold War Kids at First Tap

This past Thursday, Bear Tooth actually had another band up in Alaska I liked for First Tap! Not to say there is something wrong with Rusted Root or Clinton Fearon or any of the others that followed Ghostland Observatory's performance at November's edition, but those bands are well past their prime. To be fair, as I noted with my friend Kerstin before the show, even the performers of the evening are not exactly on their way to the top.

Cold War Kids are their name, and they shot onto the scene with 2006's Robbers & Cowards. While it wasn't their first release, it was their first to gain them widespread attention. Highlighted by three particularly transcendant tracks in "Hospital Beds", "Hang Me Up to Dry" and "We Used to Vacation", they toured vigorously and gained them a lot of fans.

Including yours truly.

Of course, their follow up release Loyalty to Loyalty in 2008 was received by reviews of the negative nature from all kinds of critics.

Including yours truly.

Now they visited Alaska, supporting their recent EP release Behave Yourself (which is solid, in case you're wondering), and they were...mostly good. I saw them at Sasquatch 2008 before the release of Loyalty, and they were excellent. They brought a lot of energy and vitality, like you'd expect a band who'd just recently hit it big would do.

However, when they came into town on Thursday preceded by Wasilla's Lavoy (a decent local opener for what they are, but as Kerstin and I said it's like they don't know who they are so they switch genres constantly and have no real identity) instead of on the same day as The Cure, Death Cab for Cutie, and Tegan and Sara. Not sure if how much it affected it, but the timing and situation couldn't have helped as the band prepared.

Overall, they sounded very solid. They had a good mix between all of their releases, spreading all of my personal favorite tracks out over the length of the performance to keep me having something to look forward to. Everyone in the band performed their duties admirably, but there is one simple problem with the performance: they have a few great songs, and a lot of mediocre ones.

To me, this led their performance to drag on. They aren't particularly engaging performers, they don't draw us in with their stage presence, and they didn't have an insane stage show like Ghostland Observatory (or The Who at the Super Bowl today, mother of god!). While they sounded just fine, nothing about the evening excelled short of the excellent company with me and the fine brews Bear Tooth provided. Still a good time, but ultimately nothing fantastic.

Cold War Kids are coming to Alaska

To help continue our recent influx of musical talent to Alaska (which have included shows in the past two months from Iron & Wine, The Hold Steady, and Ghostland Observatory), now the illustrious indie rock group known as Cold War Kids will be visiting the Great White North on February 4th for one of Bear Tooth's classic First Tap events.

While I highly doubt I will enjoy them as much as Ghostland (saw them at Sasquatch 2008, they're good but they don't really blow minds like Ghostland does), I can say that there may have never been a better band to pair with a First Tap event. I've frequently described their style of music as "dangerous" and "boozy," and really, you aren't going to get a more boozy locale than the Bear Tooth on a First Tap night. Even bars look at them and say "wow...that's a lot of drinking." I think they'll be a major hit here, and I really can't wait.

Also, bravo to Bear Tooth for bringing another high quality band that actually has legit buzz about them. While you did manage to fit Clinton Fearon (back for the millionth time), Lyrics Born (back again as well), and Rusted Root (another return visit) in between the Kids and Ghostland, in a paraphrasing of Jack Nicholson's character in Mars Attacks, that's still two out of five and that ain't bad. Keep it up Alaska. Maybe you'll keep me around a little longer if you keep me entertained.

Tickets go on sale Monday, November 23rd. Don't miss your opportunity to support good music in Alaska.

Ghostland Observatory at Bear Tooth

Ghostland Observatory

Recently, Alaska has had a rash of good concerts. That this statement means we've had three in two months that were good is sad, but in comparison to what we normally get it's an embarassment of riches (what do I have to look forward to the rest of the year, concert wise? Lyrics Born, Three 6 Mafia, and Clinton Fearon - shoot me in the face) as The Hold Steady, Iron and Wine, and now Ghostland Observatory have come up to Alaska. Somewhat predictably, Ghostland also ended up being far and away the most fun of the three, as it was not only one of the best dance parties I've ever been to (perhaps even better than when I saw Girl Talk), but the best First Tap I've ever been to at Bear Tooth.

Given that it was a Bear Tooth show, we were subjected to bad openers. This time, they started up with a pair of DJ sets, the first of whom I missed entirely (evidently he basically played Justice's album Cross) and the second I just wish I missed, as he was effectively playing Bass Nectar and Daft Punk from what I understand (as in the exact mixes). Whatever it was, he was a simply terrible DJ.

If I went to these shows for the openers, well...I wouldn't go. Thankfully, Ghostland came out and blew the roof off the building. Starting up with five straight tracks off Paparazzi Lighting ("Piano Man", "Ghetto Magnet", "All You Rock and Rollers", "Vibrate", and "Sad Sad City") was a great idea, as everyone was clearly more familiar with the superior earlier album than their follow up Robotique Majestique. At this point, I was up front dancing my feet off, not really dancing with anyone in particular but always dancing with someone. Regardless of what was playing, it sounded perfect and was a massively entertaining romp for all to dance to. That they threw in a stellar laser light show and enough smoke machine action to give a fire marshall hives was just icing on the cake.

This show was the perfect example of how First Taps should be: great bands, great sound, great show. You give us those three things and I guarantee you every First Tap will sell out that fast. That we get retreads like Born and Fearon for the rest of the year is disappointing and just assures that I will not attend, but I hope someday they realize what they could accomplish by bringing up incredible bands like Ghostland up.

Plus, without bands like Ghostland, how will the guy that had a Tron suit on at the show display it in a public setting? You just don't get a lot of chances to wear that.

Lasers!

Dance party plus!

Thomas Ross Turner dropping some wizard beats

Glorious lasers!

Frontman Aaron Behrens resting his weary voice

You Gotta Stay Positive

Craig Finn pouring his heart out with Franz Nicolay behind him

This past Thursday I went to see The Hold Steady perform at Bear Tooth. I expected it to rock pretty hard. I mean, The Hold Steady are a ridiculously cool band who makes rocking tunes about drinking, women and life in general. In many ways, frontman Craig Finn is simply a storyteller and that comes out even better live. They pretty much rocked the house, as every song sounded just as good as the recorded material does and the intense guitar solos melted my face maybe even moreso than usual (that may have something to do with the fact I was right next to one of the two primary speakers though).

The best thing I can say about them though is that this is a band that obviously loves to play music. Whether you like their recorded material or not, the way they are obviously loving performing is infectious and makes the whole experience that much better. As Finn said during the show (and I paraphrase), "I was 30 and working in an office when I realized that I was really bored. So I decided to form a rock and roll band and by the time I was 32 we had played our first show." To someone who is looking for proper direction in life, Finn's words rang very true to me. What's the point of life if you aren't doing something you love? Finn clearly loves what he does, as he would encourage singalongs perpetually and drink Budweiser between moments he would need to sing (my friend pointed out how funny it was that the band was drinking Budweiser while Bear Tooth was loaded with tasty craft beers).

Due to laziness, my aspirations are not being met on this post as I originally intended to write it up in a significantly longer form. But the heart of what I wanted to say is still there. If you like live music and energetic performances from tight rock bands, see The Hold Steady if they are near you. This is a band who is at the peak of the live rock world and I wholeheartedly recommend seeing them, if only to see their keyboardist Franz Nicolay, whose dance moves, dapper suits and amazing mustache needs to be seen to be believed.

Craig Finn rocking it

The one, the only, the Franz Nicolay

FRANZ HARMONICA SOLO! And Craig jumping

Guitar meet up - faces were melted

These people were insanely drunk and dancing like very entertaining idiots - loved them

Ghostland Observatory: Dance Party Plus in AK

Alaska is kind of on fire with concerts right now, at least relative to our normal amount of fire. First we had the Hold Steady coming to visit Bear Tooth this past Thursday (more on that later), then next week we have Iron and Wine visiting, and now comes word of Ghostland Observatory coming up to visit on November 5th. While I may like the Hold Steady a bit more recorded than Ghostland, I have no doubt in my mind that Ghostland is going to put on one of the best shows around as everyone I know that has seen them raves about their live performances.

In fact, when we went to Sasquatch 2008 and saw the Flaming Lips UFO show to close out the festival, Ghostland was playing at the same time on another stage. Could not skip the Lips (obviously), but when we were getting onto the bus after the show was over to go back to our campsite, a woman told us that she saw Ghostland instead (she'd seen the Lips many a time before) and that Ghostland completely blew them away. This was immediately following a Lips show that blew my mind and immediately escalated into my "favorite live shows" discussion. Evidently there was an amazing laser light show and strippers involved, plus Ghostland's keyboardist wears a cape. A CAPE! How could that not be amazing?

Needless to say, I'm pumped about the show and really cannot wait to see them. It's going to be a dance party plus for sure (or a booty shaker as that woman at Sasquatch said it), and I can't wait to dust off my ol' dancin' shoes.

Yes Month: Day 3

Keller Williams

Yes Month continues as a rousing success, as I've said yes to a number of things I wouldn't typically say yes to and they've all been fun. Today is the first big event, as I'm going to Bear Tooth's First Tap tonight with Keller Williams performing. I've never heard anything by Keller Williams, I generally am not a fan of First Tap events (is it possible to make that place hotter or more crowded, plus, I wanted to save my high school reunion for 2012), and it's $25...but who cares! It's Yes Month! I'm going with Cate, Joanne, Eric and Darren, and I feel like it's going to be an awesome time. Who knows what other opportunities will arise where I'll get to say yes? I excitedly await that answer tonight...

Sequestered in Anchorage

Once again, we actually get a very good band coming up to Alaska thanks to the Moose's Tooth/Bear Tooth connection. This time we have the Hold Steady coming up to play at Bear Tooth on September 17th, which is sure to be a great show as they are considered one of the best live rock bands these days, and they are pretty freaking spectacular recorded as well. Sadly, this comes in at the same time as Portland's Musicfest NW (featuring Girl Talk, Explosions in the Sky, Portugal. the Man, Sunny Day Real Estate, and more), which means I'll have a decision to make.

It'll probably be staying here to see the Hold Steady, assuming they don't cancel.

Please don't cancel!