Crib Notes

I rolled up to Lenny’s Bar at 7:30 p.m. yesterday, excited for what promised to be a great show. The bar was closed.

“Shit,” I murmured and turned to my boyfriend/chauffeur. “Are you sure it was Lenny’s?”

“I thought so,” he replied. So had I.

As luck or fate (or their combined power, fuck) would have it, neither of us had our cell phones. We decided, since we had no idea what to do or where to go, to head to Java Monkey for some beer and poetry.

At Java Monkey, standing behind some friends while the bard on stage shouted rhythmically about No Child Left Behind, it dawned on me. Eddie’s Attic. I knew it was one of those two-syllable-apostrophe-S-name thingies.

BF and I walked the minute-and-a-half to Eddie’s Attic, climbed inside and grabbed some barstools. It was 8:30, one hour after the show had started, and Claire & Bain’s Maple Yum-Yum — the entire reason for the journey — had not started their set yet.

Claire & Bain’s Maple Yum-Yum disbanded six years ago (”back when gas was 96 cents a gallon,” Bain says) and returned to Eddie’s Attic last night for an onstage reunion. They hinted that it would not be the last.

(Read more below the break…)

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UNDER THE WEATHER: The Decemberists

(photo by Autumn de Wilde)

It’s time for some speculation.

Portland, Ore., indie-pop band the Decemberists, favorite among hipsters the world over (and me), have canceled their “Long and Short of It” Tour after just two nights.

This is the message they sent to their devoted mailing-list subscribers. It is also posted to their website.

With much regret The Decemberists have cancelled the remainder of “The Long and Short of It” tour.

One of our band members has been ill for a while but we thought all would be well in time for these tour dates. After a couple shows, though, it has become clear that the illness is much worse than we had initially realized. We need to return home so our friend can mend.

It saddens us to disappoint our fans. We hope everybody understands it is only because of an extreme situation that we had to cancel a tour we’ve all been excited about doing since the idea was originally hatched.

Our deepest apologies but at this time no plans are being made to reschedule the dates. Ticket holders should seek refunds at point of purchase.

Last month they canceled the end of their European tour for the same vague reason. Something big is going on.

Here, I think, are the most likely causes:

— Carpal tunnel syndrome (playing the pedal steel is torture on your joints)
— Seasonal affective disorder (worsened by the quick approach of their namesake month)
— Legionnaires’ disease (or polio, whichever is more romantic)
— Black lung (from sweeping too many “chimbleys”)
— Consumption (when MRSA just isn’t enough)
— Overconsumption
— Bowler hat too tight

We must find the problem and treat it. Until then, Decemberists fans will be stuck at home, reading the dictionary and weeping because the word “fecundity” is not as beautiful without the frame of frontman Colin Meloy’s lips.

I wish ______ a speedy recovery from ______. Three Atlanta shows in one year were just not enough for me.

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This past Saturday, when presented with the choice either to “Pump It Up” at Gwinnett or be felt up at the Girl Talk show at MJQ Concourse, the decision was easy: I went to the show I had tickets to. That the former required less physical movement and featured Elvis The-Love-of-My-Life Costello along with Bob Oh-My-God-That’s-Bob-Dylan Dylan also played a major factor.

Gwinnett Center has great sound, and the performances were stellar. If I were blind, it would have been, for me, a fabulous show. But this is what my $49.50 (not including service charge) bought me:

(Photo by Michael Ruther)

This is Bob Dylan and his band during the encore. Bob’s the one in the hat.

And just imagine Elvis Costello (solo, for the first time in 12 years) in the same space. One tiny British man serenaded 13,000 with an acoustic guitar that, from my seat a quarter-mile away, was smaller than the beer in my hand.

As for Dylan, do I think he’s over-the-hill? Do I think he’s past his prime? Musically, no. I couldn’t determine anything else without binoculars ($10 by the merch table).

I know large venues such as the Arena at Gwinnett Center are necessary, especially for such big acts. But sometimes, when I pay to see a band, I want to see a band.

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