Bete l'orange a Place Longueuil

Richard Reed Parry rocks it Old Style in a smart white jumpsuit and curly guitar cord!! This was my first guitar with black sharpie sides as a stock option! Arcade Fire's new LP (out early August) is entitled The Suburbs and I'll presume this free show in a shopping mall parking lot is in reference to the album's title.

No results when I entered "Longueuil" into a French-English online dictionary so I'll guess that it is a surname. Place Longueuil, a much more elegant name for a mall than most American shopping centers. I have a theory that housing developments and shopping malls are usually named for the former landscape features that were 'tamed' to make way for a Hot Topic, an Ann Taylor Loft, or clusters of duplexes on cul de sacs. Some American faves: Millcreek Mall, Sawgrass Mall, Woodfield Mall, Green Acres Mall, Oak Park Mall, Oakbrook Shopping Center, and Jordan Creek Town Center.

Looking forward to the new disc! It's gonna be Mall of America big!

The National Live! at Old Style

from farmer9999's flickr photostream

Sandwiched between two sold-out shows at The Wiltern, The National gave a special in-store performance at Old Style on Saturday, May 22 at noon. Some video here. A YouTube vid from Coreypet's iPhone here. More to follow. The performance took place in the alley next to Old Style which has a loading dock at the far end and made for a perfect approximation of a venue. The performance was announced several times on KCRW by Jason Bentley and Anne Litt and I went to bed the night before with thoughts of fatalities and lawsuits running through my mind. I think most either took it for a hoax or the Old Style blip has yet to appear on the municipal radar. Perhaps the latter. In the end, my wishes were granted and my ideal sized audience of about 40-50 National friends and fans showed up.

Matt, Bryce, Aaron, and Scott (Scott invoked his brother with the occasional tambourine or maracas accent) played a set of about six or seven songs to a slackjawed audience that couldn't believe they were seeing The National in such an intimate setting. -Just moments after releasing a top 5 record no less. The only thing missing was your surly uncle grilling burgers and putting out a grease fire with a spatula while he smokes a Pall Mall. Like an early Slint show, and as time passes, many will claim to have been there that actually weren't. It was a magical experience.