Saturday, January 26, 2008

ok so we took a little break....

we're back and vowing to be more loyal to our dear blog. please forgive us. with the holiday retail craziness we never found the time to post. and somehow it's almost february. where the hell did january go? there was a draft saved for a post on 1/3 but that never got published. so that brings us to today. a fresh start. we're also hoping that other 5 points friends will contribute too!

we were going to blog about URBISMUS but EU beat us to it. the urban mouse has it right. We love the urban art movement that's happening right now and want to see more of it! It's so energizing to see people taking control of THEIR city. jacksonville is so malleable right now. we can mold it into anything we want.

philip ramsey took control yesterday. he is the mastermind behind (the 3rd annual? not sure how many he's organized) the tangerine festival. although the weather was dreary, that didn't keep people away. everyone that we heard talking about it said it was a good time! i know that the weather was dreary but everyone we talked to say that the turnout was still decent. anomaly was a sponsor of the alley cat race and that was fun. the racers had to stop at the store and chug a beer or soda before they could leave. the turnout for that was about 35 or so which for a cold, wet day is not too bad! we just thought the whole festival was a really great event to bring to our wonderful area! although hot, it would be fun to see a festival like that in the summer too.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

shangra-what?




when i walked into work this morning i noticed a few places that were apparently shangrala is a local indie band with a new cd coming out! i went to the myspace page but my work computer doesn't have speakers so i'm not sure how the music sounds. if it's good, shangrala should play the next first fridays event for us as a payback for the free advertising. while i applaud their underground marketing campaign, i do wish that someone would have asked if it was cool to spray paint.

good thing their logo is pretty cool and they didn't spray on brick, otherwise i would have been really pissed. and apparently the perpetrators knew who would be cool with having the work on the sidewalk... as far as i know, it's only in front of raglands and anomaly. i like it and it adds more character to our eclectic neighborhood. i know some of the other merchants will probably be less than enthused but oh well.

the other day experiencejax had a similar grassroots approach to getting their website out... but the stencil was put down with chalk instead of spray paint. i would like to see more of the chalk version around 5 points...

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

talleyrand 2008?

i know, i know... MORE talleyrand coverage? this will be short and sweet...

we've had lots of people ask and just wanted to put it out there that, YES, there will be a talleyrand 2008! even though we are roughly 351 days away, the promoters are already getting pumped up about next year's event! anomaly will sponsor again next year and have a super cool lounge/craft tent! so stay tuned throughout the year!

laura capitano wrote a great follow-up article so if you missed it, check it out here.

there are also TONS of pictures up on the Times Union website as well!

thank you again to everyone that came out and supported and made this groundbreaking jacksonville event truly one to remember!

Monday, November 12, 2007

save the date...

this saturday (6-9P) is the annual 5 points fall wine festival! save the date! it's always a really great time and the weather should be perfect! tickets are $30 (available at riverside liquor) and includes live music, tasting 400+ (can you do it?) wines, a riedel wine glass for tasting that is yours to keep and a $5 coupon that is good for a purchase in any store in 5 points that night. and just when you thought you couldn't get anything else, riverside liquor provides FREE 1-way transportation anywhere in the city. that gives you the opportunity to really become a professional taster while being safe and smart!!

Talleyrand Music and Arts Festival!!!




We went to Talleyrand yesterday. We had a booth set up near the main stage. We didn’t pay attention to too many of the bands, but here is our rundown of the day:


The first highlight of our day came early, as we left to take our son to our parents’ house for the day after we set up our merch booth. We were standing in the parking lot, making a call on our cell phone, waiting for our father to answer, as we also waited to speak to the parking attendant to make sure we could get back in. A car drove up and also waited to speak to the parking attendant, who was talking on his walkie-talkie. As we waited for our father to answer, and the guy in the car waited for the attendant, we looked at the guy in the car and said, “Hey, you’re Sage Francis, right?”
To which the guy replied, “Yeah.”
He was in his Honda hybrid, which I realized was his tour bus. I found that to be so refreshing as I saw other, much less talented, much-more hyped bands— ahemBraverycoughcough— in huge tour buses with large trailers. Here was one of America’s best indie/underground rappers, touring across the country from his car.

From there, we had to drive across town to drop off our son and also stop at a friend’s house to pick up a radio so we could all get score updates from the Gator game later that day. Fortunately, we made it back in time to see Sage Francis perform on the main stage, and that is when we realized how he really can tour around in that Honda: he is his whole show, all by himself. No backing band, no DJ, just him and box where he kept his beats, where he’d hit a button, the track would start and he would rap. While that sounds formulaic and boring, somehow he made it work and it was actually one of the better rap shows we have seen. He performed with lots of energy, interacted with the crowd- jumping off the 6 foot high stage to get closer to everyone-, and had good between the song banter, which is a must for live shows. He even did a really cool, un-released (we think) rap over a remix of Nine Inch Nails’ ‘Closer’ beat (and if we can master the tubes of the interwebs, we’ll post a video of this) Our only complaints were that he played no songs from his new record, ‘Human the Death Dance’ (we think— the day was already getting a little blurry at that point), and that he was cut off right in the middle of ‘Makeshift Patriot’, an awesome song, and one he was performing with much energy. But, time ran out on his set and the sound guy pulled his sound right in the middle. LAME.

After that, we pretty much hung out at the merch booth with our friends, walked around a bit, and took in, from far away and without much interest, Pepper and the Bravery. The Polyphonic Spree actually played the main stage before those two, but we didn’t pay too much attention, except for their kick-ass, more Guns n’ Roses than the Beatles, cover of Live and Let Die. But, it seemed like most people agreed Polyphonic Spree was the one of the best live shows of the day. All I noticed from Pepper is that the one dude was wearing just a pair of baggies and no t-shirt, which in our book pretty much speaks for itself as being an indicator of not-very-goodedness, and that they played a not too bad cover of ‘Bro Hymn’.

A few hours later, we ventured out of the merch booth to see Arrested Development, a band with whom we were once obsessed, circa 1992. We saw a few songs from them, and I will say that they performed with a passion and gusto that had everyone near their stage dancing and having a great time. We could feel the energy of the crowd as we approached, and it was fun to watch them and have a good time. Plus, we ran into the drummer from Against Me!, and spoke briefly to him, which was very cool. He was really nice, and even addressed us as ‘sir’.

We were so happy to see our friends at Burrito Gallery there! Their vegetarian bean burrito was exactly what we needed to refuel and keep us going till 11 that night! It was nice to see a healthy option like BG there to offer something other than fried foods galore.

After Arrested Development, we made our way back to the merch booth tent for a beer before we really used our backstage passes for the first time that day, to go see Against Me! Right before they played, we were able to speak with Against Me!’s singer, Tom, an incredibly nice guy, which was another of the highlights of the day for us, because we like this band a lot. As they started to play, we were able to hoist ourselves up to a discreet spot onstage behind the drummer to take in this great performance. They played all the songs we love, mostly from ‘Searching for a Former Clarity’ and their new record, ‘New Wave’. All the pictures of this band are from behind them, where we stood behind the drummer. We were really excited to see these guys, and they didn’t disappoint, ripping through songs without much of a pause, and generally playing a great set.

After Against Me!, we headed back to the merch tent to mix up a strong Crown and water (advantage of being a vendor: you can bring your own booze and not pay $6 for a drink), before we again headed to a sweet spot backstage to see the band we were most excited to see, Spoon. Unfortunately, at that point, we had been at the park since like 10:30 and had been drinking since about 11:00. That isn’t some ‘Ooooh, look how tough we are and how long we drink’ comment, but just to say that by the time Spoon played, we were pretty much exhausted…and extremely drunk. So, while we don’t remember every song Spoon played, we do remember them starting with a face-melting ‘My Mathematical Mind’, a song we love to hear drunk in the first place, let alone live, with extra trippy guitar effects, with the band standing 10 feet away. We also remember them playing ‘The Way We Get By’, ‘The Ghost of You Lingers’, ‘The Underdog’, but the rest were songs we had never heard before and ones we don’t remember. We were just so happy to be watching Spoon, so close, SO LIVE!, in such good weather, in front of such a big crowd, that it was a great way to end a long day, and we were so happy to have been there for the first one, and to have helped our friend Jason Lewis out with some festival details. And the night did pretty much end there for us, as we were not too interested in Keller Williams and the WMD’s, and it appeared none of the rest of the crowd was either, as Spoon’s crowd pretty much dwindled to less than half as KW&WMD’s took the stage.

All in all, it was a great event! While ticket sales were reported to be lagging last week, the turnout looked much better than previously expected (Thank you Jacksonville!) and we hope it was successful for the organizers and promoters as this has the potential to be a huge yearly festival. And, we never remembered how nice Metro Park is, it really is a GREAT outdoor venue that does not get utilized enough.

Monday, November 5, 2007

RADO, Main Ingredients, and Raglands

We had the pleasure of attending Riverside and Avondale Development Organization (RADO)’s Harvest Gala, which was held in the 5 Points Theater building Saturday night. It was a silent auction with drinks and food, followed by a main event (see below). The building was filled with incredible art from Ali Isabelle (nee Fuder), a RADO participant (or client? We don’t know what the right word is here). But, several large pieces were for sale, and someone got a great deal on another big piece in the silent auction. The silent auction also had gifts donated by Violet, Anomaly, Peterbrooke, Moon River, The Resident newspaper, a spa, and a bunch of others we unfortunately cannot remember.

However, the highlight of the night came when the event portion of the night began. DJ Triclops (who we think is an owner of Shantytown?) got on stage and the Main Ingredients break dancing crew took the floor. Some of you may be hesitant about a break dancing group, but if you saw these guys, you would be won over in about one second, as was the entire building (including one drunk lady near us who kept yelling “Whooo! Eminem! Whoo! Eminem! Yeah!” every few seconds, for some reason). These guys were doing things that Olympic gymnasts would have trouble pulling off. We’re talking full-on head spinning, horizontal full body spins on just their hands, and all kinds of other stuff we cannot even describe. If you have ever seen the Beastie Boys’ ’Root Down’ video, these guys could easily keep up with anything in that. Tony Allegretti told us that they travel all over the country and are highly respected, and he himself seemed pretty excited to see them. We may have been able to talk them into performing at the next First Friday-- we're keeping our fingers crossed.

After that we headed over to Raglands with some friends for some beers on the back deck. We haven’t really been going to Raglands enough, especially given that it has the a great patio on the back deck, which was even better with the great weather. After several drinks at RADO and then a beer at Raglands, we needed a snack and ordered up a huge order of some dank onion rings and fries. Before too long, we had to head home, where one of us vomited, a sure sign of a good night.

Airport Factory Rocks 5 Points!

If airplane factories are where airplanes are made, then Airport Factory is where completely awesome piano-and-drums songs are made. Airport Factory, complete with large piano— NOT a keyboard; a real, like-you-have-in-your-house-piano—, rocked the sidewalk of Five Point’s First Friday last Friday night. Literally: they set up the piano and drums in front of Anomaly/Nicotine, and proceeded to blow away everyone who was watching. The guy on the drums was definitely a good drummer, and not to take away from him, but the singer/piano player/guitar player, Chris, was really amazing. This kid was playing and singing like he was at a sold out show, and not on the sidewalk in front of 20 or so people. We think that is always a sign of a good band: they give it their all no matter how many people are there. Chris sang with no microphone and did some awesome handclap breakdowns for the chorus of one song. The two guys also got up from their instruments so the drummer could slap out a beat with his hands and feet, while Chris also did some clapping and stomping and singing, which made for a pretty cool sight: two guys making music with nothing but their bodies and a voice, all on the sidewalk of 5 Points. Based on their live show, we went to Pallidvirgin.com, Airport Factory’s website, and downloaded all the songs we could. These guys are good, and we hope to have them back again for another great First Fridays performance.

Violet Fall Preview

Join Texie @ Violet for an opening of Tonya Lee's work. Also that night, view handmade jewelry from April Aultman and new products by Jill Bliss! Friday, October 5th, 6-9P.

Molly Riefler "Fashion isn't Dead"

On Friday October 5th, check out an Molly Riefler's opening at Anomaly! 6-9PM.