Archive for November 2009

Paul and Storm live in Dublin

As I wrote earlier, I attended the Jonathan Coulton-concert in Dublin on 6th November. He brought along Paul and Storm as opening band. I had grown a bit tired of their podcast rambling. But their performance in Dublin reminded me of their awesomeness. More than that: it convinced me that they’re actually incredibly talented entertainers. Add to this their amazing singing voices and you get 50 minutes of pure musical humour. Although they relied mostly on their battle-tested material – it was their first gig in Ireland, after all – everything sounded fresh, including the three (!) Song Fu entries they played.

Much to my liking they started with their Theme Song, before launching into their signature song Opening Band. They had won over the audience by the time the first panties were thrown half-way through the song. Still, Paul kept being intimidated by the audience. Unlike most of their gigs, this was a standing audience and whenever possible everybody sang along loudly. Each song was a highlight, so just look at the setlist below to figure out which songs to check out in case you’re not familiar with the duo.

The true fascination comes from the combination of flawless vocals and witty (if not dirty) lyrics. This combination also showed in between songs, when Paul and Storm have their own way to communicate with the audience and each other. In short, they were genuinely enjoying themselves (despite jet-lag and work-permit trouble) and you just had to smile at their stories and antics.

Paul and Storm live in Dublin - Setlist

  1. Paul and Storm – Theme Song
  2. Opening Band
  3. Mother’s Day Song
  4. Nugget Man
  5. Frogger! The Frogger Musical
  6. Nun Fight
  7. Live
  8. If James Taylor Were on Fire
  9. If Bob Dylan Were Hiding at the Bottom of a Well
  10. The Captain’s Wife’s Lament

Manitcess – 423. Red (Song Fu #5, Round 1)

Russ Rogers (of Gödz Pöödlz) said it much better than I ever could. Please read on:

The first challenge for Masters of Song Fu #5 was posted last week. The challenge was to write a song based on one Mole-man from a list of 700 Mole-men created by John Hodgman. (Hodgman is the “I’m a PC”-guy from the Mac ads. You’ve seen him on the Daily Show. He’s got two books out. The Mole-men are from his second book, “More Information Than You Require”.)

The first round songs are now posted and ready for your votes. The songs are phenomenally creative and diverse. Seriously, a good crop.

http://www.quickstopentertainment.com/2009/11/17/song-fu-5-round-1-voting/

You can vote ONLY once, but you can vote for up to FIVE different songs.

So take some time to listen to at least part of every song. There are 33, so it will take a little time. Listen closely to ALL of the songs you like. Then, choose your TOP FIVE SONGS and vote for them.

You can even download ALL the songs for FREE!

You will receive Special Silver Bonus Points in Heaven if you comment at the bottom of the Song Fu page. This can be as brief or as in depth as you like. But speaking from experience, one person taking the time to comment on my song with either praise or constructive criticism was worth more than 50 votes to me! You’re comment could be as simple as listing the five songs you voted for. If you want to be more complex, give your reasons and mention the songs that almost got your vote (the ones you wish you had more votes to give). Try to stay positive or constructive.

Extra Special Heavenly GOLDEN Points are awarded to folks who encourage other folks to check out the songs and vote. Post it to your facebook status. Twitter about it. Blog about it. Make sure you link to the Song Fu site. Talk about Song Fu. This is a concept that deserves viral attention from the Hive-Mind.

Masters of Song Fu is a special contest. There is NO prize money involved. The songwriters are doing this out of love for their craft and in the hopes that SOMEONE will notice, enjoy and appreciate their efforts.

So take some time, VOTE, COMMENT and POST about the contest.

This is the first of 3 preliminary rounds of voting. The Challenger with the most cumulative votes after 3 rounds will meet a Super-secret Champion, “The Master of Song Fu” in a final head-to-head challenge for the title and trophy of Master of Song Fu!

Voting will end this Saturday, November 21 at 11:59 PM EST.

The website’s system is designed to lock out IP Addresses that have already voted. So, when I say you can only vote once, technically it means that each computer only gets one chance to vote. Sometimes the voting system gets locked up, allowing NOBODY to vote for a while. Don’t let this frustrate you. Just come back another time and vote. You can always leave a comment, even when the voting system is SNAFU.

Thanks for Supporting Song Fu. Now, got Vote, Comment and Post.

This being quoted, and yes, I second every word Russ wrote, here’s a list of my six favourite entries, followed by the video Susanne and I shot last Sunday to go with our own entry, “423. Red” by Manticess.

  • Caleb Hines
  • Joe “Covenant” Lamb
  • Lex Vader
  • Gorbzilla
  • Spencer Sokol
  • Sara Parsons

Jonathan Coulton live in Dublin

Jonathan Coulton returned to Europe. Last Saturday he played a fantastic concert at the Academy 2 in Dublin, Ireland. I had a splendid time along with 200 Irish people. The audience sang along like there was no tomorrow. We even got an unplanned encore. There just wasn’t a weak moment in the whole show. I wish I could indulge in all the little details and communicate better the awesomeness of JoCo. But I really don’t know where to begin and where to end and how to describe the simple fact that I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Here’s the setlist:

  1. Betty and Me
  2. Ikea
  3. Shop Vac
  4. Code Monkey
  5. Better
  6. Tom Cruise Crazy
  7. Blue Sunny Day
  8. Big Bad World One
  9. Birdhouse in your Soul
  10. Creepy Doll
  11. Mr. Fancy Pants
  12. I’m Your Moon
  13. The Future Soon
  14. Skullcrusher Mountain
  15. Still Alive
  16. Re: Your Brains
  17. I Feel Fantastic
  18. First of May
  19. Sweet Caroline
  20. A Talk with George

Jonathan Coulton (left) with Paul (right) live in Dublin (2009-11-06)