JJ BANKS’ Blog

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks

The Fillmore at the TLA

March 29, 2008

     “A fillet mignon, that’s the kind of steak Philadelphia is” said Stephen Malkmus. And just like a dinner at a fancy restaurant the former Pavement frontman delivered another amazing performance Saturday night on South Street. Playing mostly songs off thier new album “Real Emotional Trash”, Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks showcased why they are among the elite in the indie-rock world. Opening with “Elmo Delmo” was an interesting choice but followed up by “Hopscotch Willy” and “Cold Son” I realized it was a great way to set the tone of their new album for the audience. The only songs off “R.E.T.” that SM & The Jicks didn’t play were “Wicked Wanda” and “Out of Reaches”(which I was kind of bummed about because “Out of Reaches” is one of my faves of their new songs). I really dug “Gardenia”, but the stongest songs of the night had to be the renditions of “Real Emotiona Trash”, all 10 minutes of it, and Malkmus’ incredible guitar ripping on “Baltimore”.

     Joining me for the show were Charftong, Garlic and Graber. We met up on South Street around 7pm, grabbed something to eat at an Irish Pub called O’Neal’s, got beers at Mackos where a homeless man drunk on Bud Ice was rambling to himself while Death Metal played in the background, and then proceeded to the TLA about 10 minutes before Malkmus came on. The crowd was pretty cool and laid back as is with most indie-rock shows. The only real annoyance were the dudes who kept taking pictures during the show like they were freelance Rolling Stone photographers. Hey, I took pictures too, but I took 10 pictures in total, while these guys had to be in the 50 - 100 range. Dude, we get it. You really like the band. But putting your camera up every 2 minutes so we can see your LCD screen gets really distracting after the first 25 times. This really is just a minor complaint for an otherwise incredible show. BTW - Graber, thanks for the lift to McFadden’s after the show.

                                                                                                              JJ Banks & Charftong

So I’ve started collecting South Park Figurines by MEZCO toys. What better way to start then to begin with the Fab Four; introducing Kenny, Kyle, Stan and my fave Cartman.