Off the strength of the great record Paravista Social Club, I went out to see the band Scott and Charlene’s Wedding at Cake Shop Wednesday night.
Scott and Charlene’s Wedding is the project of Craig Dermody, a young Australian living in Brooklyn. Dermody gets a hand from others but he’s the main force. Social Club is his lone full length.
The thirty-minute Wedding set was a bit sloppy as Dermody relied on a brand new guitar player to supplement his sound. Many of the great hooks lacing the recorded versions of the songs Epping Line and Footscray Station failed to emerge as Dermody and his helper struggled to find chemistry.
The first band of the evening was a pleasant surprise. Lame Drivers from Brooklyn played an energetic handful of catchy songs in the twenty minutes allotted them.
Drivers bassist Joe Posner had the line of the night when he sarcastically thanked the packed house for “sticking around.” Most of those assembled had come early to gain entry for the buzzed-about headliner Royal Headache.
It was announced last month by Cake Shop’s operators that a sudden, larger-than-expected tax obligation sought by the property owner and an unanticipated state-issued fine for noise and underage drinking violations have put the club’s future in peril. Rather than raise the white flag as so many other independently-run venues are forced to do around here, Cake Shop has initiated an internet campaign to raise quick cash to erase a debt that’s at least $78-thousand according to a Times story printed late last month.
I didn’t stick around for Royal Headache. I rushed home to catch the end of the baseball games and was able to see MLB Network’s bonus coverage of the Giants telecast as Matt Cain finished his perfecto.
Working the final innings solo in the KNBR radio booth, 36-year-old Giants broadcaster Dave Flemming was solid and unusually calm as he described history. Here’s his call of the game’s final out:
And check out the immediate reaction to Cain’s gem by blogger El Lefty Malo who has been publishing baseball thoughts on his website for a decade.
-Eleven months after his demotion from the big leagues, Aaron Heilman is plugging away and playing baseball at the triple-A level. Wearing uniform #35 for the Round Rock Express, Heilman pitched a scoreless ninth in Albuquerque Wednesday night to notch a save and bring his season ERA down to 4.40. The former Met, Cub, Mariner and Diamondback toiled for the triple-A clubs of the Phils and Pirates last summer. Heilman was cut loose after spending 2012’s spring training in Mariners camp. He was promptly picked up by the Rangers and assigned to Round Rock as the regular season started. Round Rock plays in the Pacific Coast League at a ballpark north of Austin, TX. At 33 years old, Heilman is the oldest pitcher on the Round Rock roster. I’d guess he’ll be asked to plug a hole in the Rangers bullpen at some point this long, hot Texas summer.
-Mike Francesa says he and his wife sat at the bride and groom’s table for the reception celebrating the wedding of his broadcasting pal Jim Nantz last Saturday in Pebble Beach, CA. Francesa says he engaged reception tablemate Phil Mickelson in lengthy conversation. He also admitted to following the progress of Saturday’s Mets/Yanks game while sitting in the church. Francesa says he snuck peaks at his I-Phone while waiting for Nantz’s new bride to walk down the aisle.
-While I remain proud and supportive of how Mets fans reacted to the franchise’s first ever no-hitter, I am embarrassed by the team’s decision to sell duplicate tickets for that game after the fact. The Mets are selling authentic-looking reproductions of ducats (with actual section, row and seat numbers) dated the night of Santana’s no-no for $50 per. The Mets say they’re doing so “to ensure (fans) have a memento that can be passed on for generations.” Yeah, but they’re fake! And what about the people who were actually there that night? Their stubs are devalued or potentially confused as phonies because the Mets are advancing an unethical, misguided effort to cash in on the achievement. Sell a t-shirt or a poster but please don’t manipulate what is considered a form of currency for the baseball fan.