corey a+

the irrepressible corey b rocked the upstairs at the blue shamrock, otherwise known as gemstones, last night. he goofed the gig dates so the majority of his bandmates from speakermute were in the audience instead of beside him on the stage, (though we did get the pleasure of brian mac singing to back him up later in the set), but he got the mood and the action just right and rocked through a great mixed set of originals, covers, and the ultimate in closers, which would be warren zevon's lawyers guns and money, complete with kickin' amp jumps and requisite werewolf howls. YEAH. all this from one guy and his guitar. kickin'.

those familiar with my friday night itinerary will recall that i began things by heading down to the tsongas arena for the first home game of the riverhawks' young hockey season, (which i celebrated by, and i'm not making this up, sitting in section a, row 1, seat 1, and how often does a guy get to do that, and, if you don't believe me, i've got the ticket stub right here to prove it), and i'm pleased to report that the 'hawks pinned a 5-3 defeat on the colgate raiders in a come-from-behind non-conference tilt with all the lead changes and momentum swings that you'll want to have before your guys win it skating away. (3 unanswered 3rd period goals, and the game-winner was as gutsy a net-crashing will-to-win goal you're ever going to see). hockey east is going to be rockin' for sure this year.

those unfamiliar with how things ended up will be intrigued to know that "serial thrillers" are definitely worth making the time to see at whatever next opportunity might be offered. it's a two-piece, (drums and guitar), playing with the benefit of full bass, keys and backing vocals streamed via the multi-media show that accompanies the (pretty awesome) original tunes. (complete with multiple video monitors and full light show among many other visual treats). paul ortolano can PLAY, and his original tunes are the real deal. "so beautiful" was the one for me, but that's ignoring a whole collection of other gems. great find--go to the site and listen--you'll like more than one, i promise. and, i mean, GREAT find. as in, radio play worthy, and built from the ground up for going somewhere. i'm gonna keep my eye on these guys and tell the story about seeing 'em when, for sure.

which brings it all back to corey b, who was the keystone to the entire evening, and the hook that makes the story. his self-pressed disc, self-packaged self-effacingly in industrial paperboard with a self-cut stamp ("why pay for what you can get for free") and hand-personalized with a sharp-point sharpie on the inside, was the "get" of the night. no, you can't have mine, containing as it does the rare and soon-to-be collectible all over Ebay lyric sheet with the lyrics to tracks 6-10 on both sides, complete with chord progressions beneath, and, tell me, name another artist that does THAT for his audience. (and the best part--the sides, though they contain the same tracks, aren't identical, which is pretty cool, even if it does leave you having to figure out tracks 1-5 for yourself). and the tracks are as clean and spare as can be--just the man and his guitar, self-reportedly doing it all via one take on two tracks, and there's a magic to a song written and delivered just like that. "sadie hawkins dance" continues to stand out, especially all by itself just like this, and i though i sadly searched the entire disc for the one about new england and looking for a new girl, which will need to remain on the gotta-have-it list, i was very pleased that "i won't take back saying that i love you" got the essence of the show opening right there on the disc for me, and that's pretty cool... but the fave so far remains the "demo derby hero", and i'm looking forward to running through it all again in the car tonight on the way into town. and you know, if it wasn't for all this, there's no way i would have ventured back into gemstones after that opening night that almost served to put a dent in a jen kearney carl johnson (don't forget corey b on "alternate keys"!!!) show for the ages, (though nothing can take the shine off of something like that), and no way i would have thought to put "serial thrillers" on my go-see list. but it's all good, because i did, and this rainy saturday isn't so much after all.

i talk about it alot, but where else in the world can you live across the street from all this?