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The KLF - The White Room - Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012
The Orb Saved My Life - Monday, Sept. 10, 2012
Fire On Babylon - Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012
N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton - Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012
the flaming lips and heady fwends or, the freaks are slowly taking over - Thursday, Jul. 19, 2012

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Wednesday, Apr. 11, 2006 | 09:53

eagles of death metal at eagles ballroom

eagles of death metal at eagles ballroom

the sound at eagles ballroom is atrocious, though earplugs help. somehow they filter out the mud and you can hear the vocals again. eodm, despite the crappy sound, rocked like nobody's business. we didn't stick around for the strokes because i wanted to get home, but i can't imagine they were nearly as good. dude, they don't have any songs about kissing the devil's tongue. how can you rock without one of those?

well, i suppose plenty of bands do, but not the strokes.

we got to the rave a good hour before doors, with on idea what to do. my partner wanted gum, so we drove up what i think was 27th until we found a gas station that didn't look dangerous (that side of the rave is definitely unsafe-looking). then we drove back toward the rave. we noticed these domes across the valley, and i said what the hell, let's check them out. eventually, after passing several depressed-looking shops and a drug deal, we crossed that bridge and reached mitchell park and their resident 'the domes'. my partner wanted to find a bathroom, so we got out and walked around the park--which is nice, really, very enjoyable--but the park had no public bathrooms. thus we went back to the rave and waited for the doors to open.

now, i've parked in some iffy neighborhoods before, and i've walked to the train from the hideout, but she was nervous about this neighborhood, and it was making me jumpy. i decided to fight that and park behind the rave, where my friend said, and we went in. however, they wouldn't let me take in a camera, so when i went to put it back in the car i moved around to the side, just outside the door they were having people come in. i'm sure the car would have been ok, but the new spot was almost guaranteed safe.

i like the oval ballroom, it's pretty cool looking. cutting a triangle stage into one wall looks silly, and i could tell right away it would mess up the sound. the angles are all wrong, and the space behind the band can't help. we stood in the gathering crowd not far from the stage for an hour and a half before eagles came on. at least they started on time.

the crowd was mostly strokes fans, with some who also knew who eagles are and a few who came wearing fake mustaches in emulation of the singer's grand stache. i could tell the strokes fans who didn't care because they weren't rocking, but eventually even they caught the bug. it's tough to avoid this band's enthusiasm. however, some of the songs felt tired, though that could be because of the venue's sound. especially when he sang in his falsetto, the songs sounded hollow and forced. despite this, it was a good show.

getting home was a bit of an adventure, though. construction to i-94 made getting back on the interstate going east difficult and confusing. we followed the detour, but, and maybe i read the signs wrong, it turned us around and we ended up going west anyway. so i went west past the construction and got back on going east. then, where 94 turns south, we essentially had to exit, follow local streets, then get back on later. after that things were ok, but getting there was a bit of a challenge.

even if the roads and traffic improve, i don't think we'll be back to the rave any time soon.

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