Cruelly mocking the peanut allergic.
The 2010 year in musical reviews continue to trickle in, and never let it be said that we don’t share our trickles. Far from it. Take our trickles, we insist.
Today’s recap comes from Christian Rutledge who gives us an interesting look at a year through the eyes of professional sideman. Known for rocking the drums for Throwing Stars, Christian has also wracked up plenty of paradiddles with other bands of note. Check it out yo!
Diary of a Sideman: Monthly Memorable Moments in 2010
January: Docents at Video Saloon. A short-lived, awesome band that I was super excited to be in. One show at The Vid and one at the Buskirk as Das Docents, covering German punk bands. Weird. Wonderful. Jason Groth & Pete Schreiner on guitar, Mike Bridavski on bass (later replaced by Marty M.C. Vicious). Really wish this band would have worked out. Super fun. Lots of laughs. We must have crashed & burned because we let the drummer sing a few songs.
February: Kenny Childers’ classic crowd appreciation moment at the end of an Old Flames song:
(the money shot is at 3:39 in the video).
March: Midwest mini-tour with Bowery Boy Blue. Being on the road with three of my best friends is awesome enough, but when they’re also three of the funniest motherfuckers I know, the rad-o-meter is pretty much pinned. The van-mouth that gets rolling in that band is amazing.
April: Throwing Stars in Cincinnati. Not only did Pete Schreiner sit in on bass, but we played at Mayday, a bar with friendly staff and the greatest menu of hot dogs I have ever seen. The Mayday Dog has to be eaten to be believed.
May: Throwing Stars at The Bishop with Whippoorwill and The Hollows. Sharing a stage with good friends and great bands. Whippoorwill is, quite simply, a rock n’ roll supergroup. The Hollows has one of the great voices of the Midwest singing its beautiful songs.
June: Battle Of The Bands at The Bluebird. I don’t remember this being an especially great show, but we advanced to the next round. I think there was an awful hip-hop group that night that was pretty spectacular too. Really, this is the only show I played in June this year, so it made the cut.
July: Old Flames recording at Echo Park. Started with a drum kit, a bunch of cymbals, and a structured rock-type beat. Ended with a kick drum, snare drum, and three minutes of rack-a-tack-a. A Kupe & Kenny production to be sure. Not that it matters, but this one happened on Canada Day, eh?
August: Throwing Stars at B’ton Battle finals. We took a tied-for-second place, which was pretty cool, but sharing a night with Medusa was super rad. All the bands I play in are too wussy to hang with the mighty Medusa on most nights. I’ll take an ass-whuppin’ to get that close.
September: My September highlight was, without question, getting married to Jamie. Musically, though, Mikey from Bowery Boy Blue also tied the knot, and I got to play in his wedding cover band. Just two songs at the reception, sung by the bride n’ groom. We kicked it off with Wilco’s “I Got You (At The End Of The Century),” which is just a stone cold classic from where I’m sitting. A great drum part by original badass, Ken Coomer.
October: Citizen Dick at The Bishop. Mike A., Alex Mann, Simon Moore, Mike Dixon and yours truly performing the Singles Soundtrack. Tons o’ fun, but that album was a bitch to learn, as it happens to be a collection of super-drummers from the 90’s (Matt Cameron, Jimmy Chamberlin, Barrett Martin). Never thought I’d get to play “Nearly Lost You,” but I did, and it was fucking fun.
November: Bloomington invades Melody Inn show with Panic Strikes A Chord, Secrets Between Sailors and Christian Taylor. A more-bands-than-people night that yielded lots of cheap beer, good laughs and brand new, inter-band inside jokes. “Do you guys like to party? I LOVE to party!”
December: Impromptu rap session at The Bishop with birthday girl, Smoove, on the mic. One potty-mouthed MC and Throwing Stars (minus Una) as the backing band. Good stuff!
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