merge 15 year anniversary shows / compilation?

I really enjoyed the comp. I only have a handful of albums from the label, so many of the songs were new to me. Disc 3 contains rarities, special performances, and I kind of expected it to be a bit of a throwaway, but it's just as good as the first 2 discs.

holla

gygax! - quit messing around with me.

im glad they're not playing. they bored me to tears at M10K.

Double Dynamite, who only play on July 30, and who perform mostly new wave covers

i want more info. who is in this band? why do they play only on 7.30?

im psyched about mergefest as a whole. okay, maybe not for the clientele. but everything else, yes.

The third night opened with a little kookiness. Double Dynamite featuring Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo, Bob Lawton of Twin Towers booking agency, and video director Phil Morrison ("I See You" Juliana Hatfield, "First Part" Superchunk, 1-800-COLLECT commercials) played all covers of mostly late '70s and early '80s new wave/ punk tunes. They even paid homage to their hosts by covering "Slack Motherfucker." The story behind Double Dynamite is that Morrison mentioned to Lawton that they had the same birthday (July 30) and Lawton responded by saying "That's like double dynamite." Also, they only play on July 30 and this was only their second performance, I was told.

First band on Saturday July 30th was called Double Dynamite, and they were made up of Ira on guitar, Yo La's booking agent on vocals, and a couple other friends of the band on drums and bass. As James said, "They've got this guy who 'plays drums' for them, altho' that's kind of exaggerating, and a guy who 'sings' for them, although *that's* kind of exaggerating..." Apparently two of the bandmembers' birthdays fall on July 30th, and so they only ever play on that date. This meant that they hadn't played or rehearsed in three years. (I asked Ira if they only rehearse on July 30th as well, and he said "No, once we did on the 29th.") Anyway, Ira promised that "words would not be able to describe the set," and he was right. The lead singer, decked out in skintight glam fare, had all the lyrics to all the songs in front of him and crumpled them up and tossed them into the crowd as he went. The set was all covers, starting with Sonic Youth ("Winner's Blues") and then including a bunch of early '80s cheese ("Walking On Sunshine," "I Do the Rock," "What's So Funny About Peace Love & Understanding," "Once in a Lifetime," "Brass in Pocket," etc.). At one point they brought out Laura from Superchunk to play Moog, causing
the lead singer to exclaim "Last night, Double Dynamite ugly-- tonight, Double Dynamite BEAUTIFUL!!" And they also managed to squeeze in a cover of "Slack Motherfucker" which was a stroke of genius since Superchunk had neglected to play the tune during their set the night before. Crowd loved 'em, they were hilarious, Ira was *still* great as ever on the guitar.

http://www.mergerecords.com/special.php

(best band on Merge)

double dynamite had me in tears at the end of their set. their singer fell down and when he got back up his shorts were messed up. if you were standing close enough, you noticed that his balls were sticking out of one side. hilarious. absolutely hilarious.

all in all, a fantastic weekend. not a single bad show and wonderful crowds.

was it a faithful rendition?

at least that's what I keep telling myself...

here is my rundown of the festivities. im not quite done yet but thats because im a slack motherfucker.

I was right at the front of the stage at that time. "Why are people laughing?" I wondered...and then I glanced at his purple velvet hot pants. Yikes!!! We certainly had a ball. (hyuk hyuk hyuk)

Double Dynamite stole that evening, possibly the entire weekend. Three costume changes! (that means four outfits, total!). For the first costume change, he stood onstage with his arms spread apart, his back to the audience. The stagehand (who knelt by the music stand for the entire set, crumpled lyric sheets after each song and threw them into the audience (I have three!)) pulled off the singer's clothes, leaving him completely naked, and then pulled a new outfit over him. I couldn't bear to take a photo of him until he had at least his pants on.

Song highlights: Sandy Denny's "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" (the set opener), a blistering version of Husker Du's "Turn on the News," Queen/Bowie's "Under Pressure" (!) complete with stage rampage, and then the finale, "Ooh Child" ("...things are gonna get easier" - that song).

David Kilgour (backed by Ira/Georgia and others) was amazing - so much momentum...there were several of those "GOD, I wish this song didn't have to end" moments. "Getting Older" was one standout out of many. Now, if I'll ever get to see the Clean play...

Other highlights: Versus (yup, still have it), Destroyer (ended their set in an incredible way, with "Modern Painters" and "The Sublimation Hour"), and Lambchop (fourteen people on stage! FOURTEEN!).

What went through my head during Camera Obscura's set: "Hey...this sounds like 'My Wandering Days Are Over." "Hey...this sounds like 'The Boy with the Arab Strap." etc. When they took the stage wearing paper animals masks, I asked my friend if he had brought any insulin. That said, their set wasn't bad, but then again my twee-tolerance is really really high.

..they're a wonderful live band, and all top notch blokes too, but bob scotts' getting the new bats album (titled 'herbert', and what ive heard of it sounds great, reaaal punchy) together at the moment, so i guess you'll have to wait a wee while..

the only good thing camera obscura have going for them is their cover of "sugar town" with the brief foray into "blue moon". i am generally a diehard merge fan but i cant deal with this band.

i did love portastatic's cover of "beautiful things" by the 3D's with extra guitar work by kilgour.

did you make it to the kickball tournament on sunday? i am still sore from it.

Here are a few photos of Double Dynamite. This one was taken right after the nakedness. Here, he looks kinda like a cross between Iggy and Jim Morrison. In this one, he's channeling Frank-N-Furter, Captain Stubing, and Hayseed the Clown.

dan bejar on watching the game: "i bet they were the most popular and athletic kids in their high school."

thanks for the pictures of double dynamite. his outfits made me think of sparks [the band] the entire time.

http://public.fotki.com/theoreticalgirl/m15k/

enjoy!