Minus the Bear For All!

Last week I saw Minus the Bear and Portugal. The Man at the Fillmore at the TLA in Philly.

Moose kicked things off.

No, that’s not right, I’m sorry. It was Caribou.

Or Reindeer?

I knew I should have taken notes at the show. It was Camel. My fault.

Check that. Elk (stupid band without a website).

See, to me, that’s funny. If I wasn’t bound by a journalistic code of ethics, I’d probably post a zoo’s worth of animal links and call it a blog.

But alas, to the business at hand: Portugal.The Man commandeered the TLA for a 45 minute brain-punch.

I can’t write much about Portugal without inducing nuclear fission on my keyboard.

I can’t write much about Portugal without feeling an overwhelming compulsion to make up words like “explositivity”, “rockamungus”, and “resickulous".

See? My fingers are already starting to melt a little bit. I need to stop while the stopping’s still good. Download "Waiter: You Vultures!" and Church Mouth and leave my sense of touch alone.

As for MTB, the boys by way of Seattle opened with "Knights" and kept the good vibes rolling. Focused and tight live, MTB busted out slow burners like "Dr. L'Ling" and "This Ain't A Surfin' Movie", backed by party musts "Pachuca Sunrise" and "The Fix".

MTB ran deep early and often, pulling gems from 2004's They Make Beer Commercials Like This and 2002's Highly Refined Pirates.

The real star of the night, however, was Planet of Ice, the band's monster 2007 release that has pushed them in the direction of indie stardom.

"Double Vision Quest", "Burying Luck", "White Monster", and "Throwin' Shapes" all made appearances and all sounded masterful.

Now, I took some videos at the show…

And I admit it! They’re shit!

But quality isn’t everything, right?

Heck, remember Ted Koppel bouncing around on a tank during the invasion of Iraq in 2003? ABC had to staple the wig to his head, wrinkles were flapping in the desert winds and the camera was upside down.

Not exactly aesthetically pleasing, but Koppel was in Iraq, goddamn it, getting the scoop.

It’s journalism, man!

Actually, it’s a couple of kids with big fat heads rocking back and forth in front of my camera.

And I’m not kidding. One of these dudes had an Al Borland-size head. For reals.

Anyway, here's "Devil Song" by Portugal and "White Mystery" by MTB.

Now try not to seizure all over my blog, please.