Bands

We went to the Shins last night at The Orpheum (Boston has one too). It was sorta OK. I hate it when bands play live and change every song to the point where it's barely recognizable as the version on the album. The Counting Crows were the worst example of this I've ever heard. But on the flipside, I like to know I'm hearing a live performance. You could have gotten last night's Orpheum Shins experience by sitting in a hot, musty smelling room, closing your eyes, and putting the Shins section of your ipod on random on an average to slightly above average sound system. You would also need an girl/woman with a huge pony tail to squeeze into the row in front of you where she didn't have an assigned seat and swing her head back and forth as she simultaneously danced and talked to her friend, making your field of vision oscillate between stage and ponytail in an annoying hair strobe effect. Oh wait, I said your eyes would have to be be shut so actually you wouldn't need that girl. Nobody needs that girl. Hearing the whole crowd Ooooooh ooh Ooooooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh Oooooh along with the opening to New Slang was pretty cool.

Speaking of bands, I saw Stryper on TV for some reason the other day. I was thinking how Stryper is a perfect name for the first (only?) Christian hair metal band. I can picture their first band meeting...

First order of business, we need a name for the first ever Christian hair metal band. Something forceful. Something that invokes action while remaining totally innocuous and inoffensive.

How about Striper spelled with a "y"?

Perfect! It'll make people think of candy stripers, and volunteering to help the sick is totally in line with the band's message. And the "y" gives the whole thing a meaningless edginess. Side benefit: it gives us a built in theme for our spandex jumpsuits. Meeting adjourned. Brad, get to work on those jumpsuits. Kenny, break out the fruit punch and lemon bars. Gentlemen, we are gonna be so famous.

To learn more about Stryper, including the real story of how the band got its name, go to Wikipedia.