Maybe the Decemberists had an off night. They've been quite engaging and friendly when I've seen them.

It might have been. They seemed remote and a bit stiff.

Most shows don't start until about 10 unless it's a pretty big name playing an all-ages show. Then it might start at 9.

Same in D.C. Differences: a) Most of our venues are all-ages; b)It used to be that most shows ended by 12 or slightly after because Metro closed then. Now Metro is open until 2 on weekends, so clubs ignore that.

And I would have bought Lollapalooza tix, except both of their D.C. dates are weekdays and the bands I wanted to see were split between Thursday and Friday. I think they wuld have done better with a one-day concert on the Friday only.

The problem with Lolla was that most of the bands playing appealed to a slightly older crowd who were less likely to want to spend all day (or two days) at an outdoor festival mixing it up with those pesky kids.

That could be -- I mean, it was a mix of bands that I was interested in therefore -- yes.

James Brown opening for the RHCPs is wronger than a wrong thing.

Well at least the Chili Peps are trying to honor their inspiration. Sort of like The Clash taking Bo Diddley on tour, or when The Pretenders had Iggy Pop open (and Chrissie would go out and kiss the stage after Iggy had performed).

Hayden, pirate bands are an actual sub-genre these days (search for pirates on CDBaby and you'll see). Dave Eggers' pirate supply store is but one manifestation of a generalized west coast pirate/punk frenzy which has been building over the last five years.

Yeah, but the Fiery Furnaces are NYC-based. And not using the melodian-mandolin sounds of The Tain (which, now that I look into it, isn't so much about pirates as it is based on an old Irish song-cycle about war). My thesis has gone pfffffffffft.

The problem with Lolla was that most of the bands playing appealed to a slightly older crowd

Yeah, that's part of it too. If you're touring with bands teenagers and college students like, (i.e., The Warped Tour) the weekday thing doesn't matter so much during the summer. But it seemed like the Lolla lineup was more made up of Serious Music Fan bands, and Serious Music Fans might be more likely to have jobs.

</reckless generalizations >

Has anyone suggested "Summer in the City" by the Lovin' Spoonful for Lilty's summer mix? That's a fun song.

I gotta say that the sold-out crowd at the Decemberists show last night mostly consisted of college kids. The few of us who'd cracked 30 stood out.

I gots it P-C. I'm quibbling on it because its on the summer tape at the store, so I'm afraid of overkill. But its still in serious contention because, hey, good song.