Yesterday. Made A Friend.

This is not a dream, it's simply up the street from my house. Old Hooper's Chocolates became a skate shop. Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA.

"I never had the chance to write about the rooftop in Brooklyn. It was perfect in that after a whole day of sufficiently getting wasted, John's rooftop seemed like the best place to be of all time. This was the New York I'd been imagining for eons; with the M train's hum echoing along its elevated tracks and the Manhattan skyline hanging brightly in the western sky. I called my sister and left a drunkenly laughable, yet sincere voicemail. I had fallen in love, I said - with these people, with this place. With my youth. 

I hung up and stood quietly - the moment was wholly mine. I'm nostalgic for that night more than any other in my entire life." 

http://player.vimeo.com/video/41088220

This shit has popped since May and I get a Sneaker Pimps "Six Underground" vibe. So get on this, MSMR very well may blow up by the end of this year. And if I'm wrong, we will still get to enjoy this song forever. Win-win.

Kill For Love - Chromatics

Janet Jackson's 25th Anniversary of Rhythm Nation 1814

When I was young, my Mom would take my older sister and I in her modest Toyota Tercel on roads to anywhere and nowhere. Day trips to the Mendocino Coast, or down to Santa Cruz, through vineyards or artichoke fields. There was always a soundtrack for the road, for my mother was still young and big on cassette tapes. INXS, Madonna, and Fine Young Cannibals were heavy in rotation. Lest not forget Pat Benatar. My mom would kill me if I didn't mention her.

Alas, another band was often filling my impressionable ears, whether on the tape deck or ol' KRQR, and that band of course was U2.

Now, you could imagine the shit I've gotten over the years for my penchant for the band's music. Especially from music lovers my age, of whom I've endured so many "Bono sucks" rants I've lost count. 

In part, I understand, Bono's persona is incredibly self-righteous, and he's always had awful hair. It's too bad, because it detracts those who may be so inclined from their music. And their music my friends, has generally been outstanding. In their prime (1980 -1991), the band's catalog is unparalleled. They became the greatest rock and roll band for their passion, their sincerity and their sound, which now has been ape'd like a bad rash (Coldplay would be served well if Chris Martin stuck to his piano).

I have no qualms stating that tonight I'm seeing my all-time favorite band for the first time. I'm not going out on a limb saying I am who I am in part to the music I've grown up listening to, and U2 is a such a significant part of that. 

They're gonna play one of my favorite songs, which you can stream above.

And when they play, I'll sing and holler and put my arm around my brother-in-law(who in fact first saw U2 in '87 for The Joshua Tree tour) and stand in awe of it all. 

The Irish band plays the Oakland Coliseum tonight with Lenny Kravitz.