The becky site has been updated with several tracks (thanks Keanuette!) of songs that still credit Keanu on bass, so definitely go check them out.

I picked up a Korg rack tuner today, so my mind was already on Keanu's bass how much I love to watch him play. I try not to think about the fact that I don't know when I'll ever get to again. I know that I've been luckier than many to have had the chance to see him rock. These tracks are a real gift to all the fans.

By the way, he still has a bit of a presence at the official becky site, even though they've added the new members. It gives me hope that maybe, possibly once his schedule allows he'll be thumping the rock stage again.

The Roxy website has becky on their calendar for shows on Jan. 13 and 20th. Also the 27th according to the becky site.

Thanks to Wanda for these pictures from last night!

Update: More pictures from Wanda can be seen HERE, Thanks!

Thanks to Janice for this news from the official site...

"becky" is pleased to officially announce an upcoming show in the Los Angeles area. Next Thursday (the 9th of December) "becky" will play The Roxy (once again) at 9:45pm. Once again we are asking for all of your support and are hopeful that those who were not able to attend last time will make it next week.

Hope to see you there!

- becky

A few video clip links...

Here's a 30-second demo of Vanishing at ScottSill.com.

Club Keanu has a clip made by a fan of the Ridgefest show

At your request, Wanda sends a peek at the autograph she got at last week's Roxy gig...

From last night's becky show at The Roxy...

Thanks Wanda!

It's no secret that Keanu was a considerable influence when I decided to start playing bass. And so far it's been one of the best decisions of my life.

Just last night, my band played a show at a great venue. This place has a real stage, lights, a sound guy (The Guy! We LOVE having a Guy) and it's just very real when we play there as opposed to some of the other rinky-dink places, which sometimes seem like glorified rehearsals. Anyway, last night, on the last song of our set I came forward a little bit while I played and found myself in light. I saw the halo glow around the edges of my bangs changing colors and the sparkle of my machines and frets.

For the very first time since we started playing out, I felt like a fucking rockstar and it was awesome. I'll remember it for the rest of my life and I pretty much have Keanu Reeves to thank for it.

When people ask me who my favorite bassist is, I say his name without hesitation and if they ask, I tell them why. Bottom line? He loves to play and that's what matters.

When it was announced that the Spaceland and Roxy becky shows would have a guest bassist, I admit it made the choice easy whether to go or not. It would have meant taking time off from work and missing sleep the day before a gig of my own. And even though it's now been reported that he was in the audience and a few lucky and faithful fans and becky supporters had a chance at a little of his time and attention, I don't regret skipping the show at all. While I have always loved watching HIM play bass, the last few times I've gone to shows, it has been to see him PLAY BASS. And I feel that his bass playing is an integral part of the becky music that I love.

Which makes the current buzz that he's possibly going to be permanently replaced as becky's bassplayer pretty disheartening.

Like many others, I've assumed that the substitute bassist was a temporary thing, that maybe Keanu's been busy or had other commitments of some sort. Of course, him just hanging out at Spaceland on Wednesday night makes it a little unclear. There's also a message from Rob (thanks CK and Mee) at the official becky board that uses the phrase "new line up" which makes what's going on even harder to nail down.

For now, it's all just speculation. It does seem that becky is agressively trying to land a record deal, the importance of crowd turnout at the upcoming Roxy show has been stressed at the official site so we may assume that they want to gauge the interest in the band without the famous bassist. My opinion is that a contract should be given based on the music, not on how well you pack a bar on the Sunset Strip, but that's just me. The music industry probably begs to differ, which is why my band isn't rich and famous yet, either.

Whatever the situation is (and I don't expect we'll ever know exactly what the story is), I can't imagine that Keanu will give up playing bass.

It's in him, he's a fucking rockstar and it shows. He'll always be able to get a gig.

Hell, I'd be happy to take a night off so he can sit in with The Vibemerchants. I'll even take a night or two to teach him my parts.

According to the Spaceland website, becky is scheduled to play next Wednesday, November 10.

I'm still waiting for confirmation from the becky site before I try and find a way to rationalize trying to make this mid-week show.

Oh, and I will.

Thanks to Club-Keanu for the tip.

UPDATE: This show and one on the 18th at The Roxy have been confirmed by Paulie. Unfortunately, due to Keanu's schedule right now there will be a "special guest" bassist for these shows.

Thanks Janice

It's no longer Monday, so even though real news is scarce I feel compelled to put something here (of course, like an idiot I put "Tuesday" in today's title so I won't be able to slide tomorrow, either. Gah).

Let's see.....the official becky site has a message board up. It's different from the previous incarnation but already hopping with activity.

Hopefully there will be some new shows soon!

One thing the new site doesn't have is audio, something I know a lot of fans miss, especially new ones that weren't around when Paulie was doling out mp3's like candy on the very first becky site. Fortunately, you can still listen to Oblivious, Vanishing and Evangeline over at becky's MySpace profile page.

(also, you can add The Vibemerchants to your MySpace friends as well!)

The official becky website has a shiny new URL: www.beckymusic.com and a great new look as well. I LURVE the background image of Keanu's bass head on the front page.

Along with some newsy stuff (demo is done, hopefully a new disc by year-end and the whiff of some possible upcoming LA shows) there's a merch page (t-shirts and tanks) and a hip new photo section too.

And don't miss the "10 things becky wants you to know about Keanu" page.

Hee!

Check the other band member's lists by clicking their polaroids on the main page.

So update your bookmarks and um.....rawk!

The Chicago Ridge community website has pictures from Ridgefest up, including some great shots of becky onstage and of Keanu with fans. The pictures are HUGE, so any of you (like me) on dialup can plan on spending some time, but believe me, they are WORTH IT. Especially those BIG brown eyes in this one. Thanks to Jane for the link!

While you're waiting for the pictures to download, you can go read Renie's story of her adventure at Ridgefest. I just think it's awesome that he took the time to give so many people a special memory and experience.

I'll say it again.

Keanu Reeves is a great guy.

The rest of Jena's Ridgefest pics are now up, check them out.

Thanks to Jena for letting keanuvision host her pics from Ridgefest. She has so many photos to share that I'm going to do two album pages. You can see the first one, including some very special ones of her and Keanu (eeeee!) HERE.

Another Angel is back from Chicago and has her Ridgefest story and some magnificent photos up at KeanuFan.com

Thank you to Jena and Melissa for letting keanuvision host their pictures from Saturday night's becky show at Ridgefest.

Melissa's photos are here, and Jena's will be up later today (hopefully).

While you're waiting for those, Some more shots at the beckyboard, via Keanuholic and also some more over at Keanu Soul's blog.

oh good lord

Pictures from Ridgefest to be seen at Keanufan.com & Club-Keanu.

Also, you can go read Keanu_Soul's report at her blog. Lots of memorable encounters!

I talked to Jena a little while ago and I could hear becky sound-checking in the background. She said Keanu took time out a little while ago for pictures and autographs with some lucky fans. It sounds like everyone at the Ridgefest show is having a great time and it just keeps on getting better.

Club-Keanu already has some pictures thanks to Another Angel :)

No word on the petting zoo, but I hope no one throws any goats there.

\m/

*Thank you* to Audy for sending me these pictures from last night to share here at keanuvision. See more over at Club-Keanu.

I can't think straight at ALL. I'm not hung over, just exhausted. Still, I will attempt to summarize my adventures even though some of them are a bit fuzzy, seeing as how I was drunk.

Actually, "I was drunk" is a pretty good summary in itself and will also be my defense for any number of things that may or may not have happened. The day started out being stuck for over an hour just 60 miles out of Vegas on I-15 and by the time I was gypped out of the pad thai that I so wanted for dinner, I was fucking ready for that martini with Marcie and Alan before the show. I only had the one with them, but as soon as we got to 1650 (where I was flatteringly carded) I ordered another.

This made meeting new people and trying to remember names ever so challenging. It was great seeing some familiar faces from other shows and meeting some new faces to put with the names I knew from online. I also almost made a new friend of some strange guy who looks nothing like Roi, yet I mistoook for him anyway just because he was wearing black. So, forgive me. I'm not going to rattle off who I saw/met for fear of forgetting someone.

OK, fast forward. krix drinks, smokes and quite possibly embarasses herself but has a good time. Good bands play (check out thepaige.com) and the crowd fills the first few rows in front of the stage waiting for becky to come on.

Which they did, at a little after 10:30. I have no idea of the set list, but I know they played Disco, Shut It Off and One Thing. They didn't do Oblivious or Evangeline (which Roi really wanted to hear). Even though the set seemed to be short, everything sounded great. Keanu kicked ass, even Roi remarked at how good his playing was. I know there were several points when I was just awestruck.

I also know that I should have put my camera away after taking just a few shots and just enjoyed the show. I'm really annoyed at myself for doing this instead of just watching him play and won't even be bringing my camera next time.

Aside from that (which is all my own fault and yes, I'll still be uploading the pics I wasted my focus with later tonight), I have to say that it was worth the complete crap I feel like today.

Oh, what the hell. How bad can closing my office in the middle of the week be, really?

Roi and I are leaving at the asscrack of dawn tomorrow for LA to see becky at Club Sixteen Fifty.

It's kind of last minute, but we're burning CDs and taking some stickers and calling it a business trip.

Heh.

Wednesday, July 21st - becky Live at Club Sixteen-Fifty!

Club Sixteen-Fifty
1650 Schrader Blvd.
Hollywood, California 90028

Corner of Hollywood Blvd and Schrader Blvd.

Doors open at 6pm.

Tickets - $10 -

Ooooh, tempting....

I'll be trying to force my band to learn Higher Ground in your honor tonight!

I couldn't help myself.

Spotted over at KeanuA-Z, I had to buy this print of a Scrojo poster for last September's becky show at the Belly Up Tavern. Especially since I was at that one.

Even though in principle, we hate the "featuring keanu reeves" part (what about promoting the whole band?), the image rawks. It looks like it was based on a DeChristo photo.

Looks like Scrojo is the official Belly Up flyer arteest, and I really like his work. I'm in love with the Elliott Smith and Frank Black prints, and the one for the Bacon Brothers is hilarious.

Damn, now I want The Vibemerchants to play there just so we can get a Scrojo poster.

Thanks to Angel of KeanuFan.com for finding more details on the event that becky is scheduled to perform at in July...

Ridgefest '04!

It's a good thing I wasn't planning on going as I see there's a petting zoo.

I still have issues from a childhood llama trauma.

It's been posted at the beckyboard that becky will be playing Freedom Park in Chicago Ridge on July 24. More details as they come.

-Thanks to Keanuette for the tip.

Thanks to KeanuA-Z for the tip that photographer Aaron Settipane has updated MyracleWorks.com with more yummy becky goodness.

Photographer Aaron Settipane has updated his becky gallery with images from The Viper Room, Spaceland and Green Valley shows. Check it out.

-via a Keanuholic

• KeanuWeb reports that Lou Taylor Pucci's site reports that:

  Lou [..] was reshooting scenes For "Thumbsucker" with Director Mike Mills, Keanu Reeves, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Tilda Swinton, in fact he said he felt like he was in "The Matrix" as he was shooting scenes in the daytime with Keanu and at night with Carrie-Anne Moss [who just joined the cast of Lou's newest project, titled "The Chumscrubber"]...

• USA Today (and a bunch of other sources) reports that Keanu will be honored for his work in action movies at the upcoming Taurus World Stunt Awards, which are scheduled to air on May 26 on SpikeTV.

  The awards, which recognize the men and women who put their lives at risk to make fights, explosions and tall-building falls on TV shows and movies look more realistic, will be presented May 16.

  The 39-year-old Reeves will receive an honorary trophy for best action movie star. His films include The Matrix trilogy, Speed and Chain Reaction.

  "Keanu's work with The Matrix trilogy was some of the best from an actor of his generation," said Gernot Friedhuber, executive producer of the show. "He has consistently shown an ability to learn from the stunt teams on his many films and has expressed a genuine interest in the field of stunt work."

  
  
• becky's Paulie will be tending goal at two charity hockey games this weekend in Calgary and Vancouver. See HollywoodCelebrityHockey.com for details.
  
• Keanu co-star Diane Keaton makes People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful list. The man himself is overlooked once again, which is fine as it allows me to keep up the tradition of NEVER, EVER buying People Magazine.
  
• Vibemerchants officially have a new drummer, and she has a rad haircut (which allows me to usurp her old one, glee!) and completely rocks. Expect gigs as soon as July.
  
• Red Bull comes in handy to carry 4-packs now. Be still my heart......no, really.
  

Keanuette tells all about last night's Roxy gig!

Augh! He shaved! And I missed his baby face!!!!!!

Unless a couple hundred bucks, a case of red bull and the ability to manipulate time fall into my lap sometime between now and 6pm (when I get off work) I'll be missing tonight's becky show at The Roxy in Hollywood.

Keanuette will be there. So to her and everyone else going, have a great time :)

By the way, go check out her blog for some special becky goodness from Green Valley.

Want to know how to rock like Reeves?

Well, here's Keanu's bass rig config. It's a start.....

Up top, with the red glowy thing, is a rack mounted tuner. After a lucky google image search, I figured out that it's a KORG DTR1.

Beneath that is the heart of the rig, the amp.
Keanu plays through a Gallien-Krueger 800RB head.

"Designed twenty years ago, the 800RB has become a standard of the industry. In an era where most bass amps came in bulky wooden cases, had three knob passive EQ, and weighed a ton, the 800RB stood alone. A 400W Bi-Amp head in a rack mountable metal case, with four bands of active EQ, three voicing filters, and weighing only 23lbs. It was an instant hit! Today it is still the choice of countless players, touring bands, and back line companies, and is the foundation upon which all GK bass amplifiers are built." - Gallien-Krueger.com

If you'll look closely at Keanu's GK 800RB, you'll see that there's a piece of tape below the controls. I'm pretty sure it has his settings written on it.

The Musician's Friend website says: "You can't go wrong with the 800RB, as long as you have some speakers. "

So what speakers does Keanu use?

SWR Workingman's Series 4x10T speakers.

These puppies weigh 97 pounds each and Keanu uses two of them.

They get good reviews at Music123.com and Harmony Central, reliable with great sound and affordable. Even his rumble is humble. You've got to love him.

The GK 800RB has footswitchable boost and that requires....a footswitch!

Reeves uses a Boss FS-5U non-latching footswitch. It's a "momentary"-type switch that only engages the effect when those pigeon-toes are actually standing on it. I'm really going to pay attention at the next show I go to as to when he hits the boost.

If the amp is the heart of the setup, then the bass is its soul.

Keanu's played quite a few basses over the years, including a Fender Precision. These days, his basses are custom made by Dan Ransom of Ransom Guitars in San Fransisco.

He seems to favor this one recently. I can't blame him. It's gorgeous and has great sound as well. I'd love to hold it almost as much as I'd like to hold him. I've actually dreamt about this bass. Someday, hopefully I'll have my own Ransom.

Now, I'm not ready to go out and invest in this kind of rig for myself yet, but when I do you can be sure I'll be trying some of these components out, especially the GK 800RB. I don't know about those 97 pound speakers, though. I'll need someone strong to carry those for me.

I'm having some technical difficulties but want to get this posted before I take a bat to my intarweb....

The becky show at The Roxy has been confirmed at the becky board. Tickets are ten bucks and are available at the club box office or through ticketbastard.

For more info, check the The Roxy site.

It's been mentioned that this may be the last gig for a a bit since the bass player is going to be heading to Austin, Texas to begin filming A Scanner Darkly.

The venue on Friday night was gorgeous. A great setting for a rock show. The crowd was huge, the sound was good. Palm trees and movie stars and beautiful redheads, what more could you ask for ? Well for one thing, I wished I was triplets because there were so many people that I wanted to see and spend time with. I got to the resort early and peeked in at the restaurant where I knew some beckyfans were supposed to be meeting up. I only meant to pop in and say hi, but ended up hanging out and meeting some very cool girls. Aretha, Fortunado, Sharon and Nancy [*due to some emails I've received I want to point out that this is not the Nancy that is known on some of the boards, this was a friend of one of the other girls] it was nice to meet you :) and Tyler! So great to finally meet you. I hope you had a good time. The food was lovely, but I still think we should have thrown a tenspot on the table and hit the bar. I probably came off as really cheap and apologize for that, but they totally should have told us how much that appetizer platter was going to be.

Anyway, afterward I ended up running into Tess (who is my frequent roadtrip buddy and was going to be coming home and staying with me) and her friend Renee in the bathroom so I broke off from the first group. We headed for the Whisky Bar, where I thought we were going to be able to hang out and wait for Brittany but it didn't work out like that because you needed your ticket to get to the bar and I had Brit's. While we were waiting we got to say Hi to Rebecca in the hallway. She was as sweet and friendly as ever. She was carrying a bag of coughdrops and a bottle of throat spray which makes me appreciate her performance that night even more. I finally hooked up with Brittany and we headed for Whiskey Beach.

The good news is we didn't have to wait in line, the bad news is that the people who waited in line were 4 people deep in front of the stage. But it really didn't matter, I was drinking and mingling and schmoozing with Brit. I did fianlly get to see Keanuette who was looking gorgeous (and had a b-day pressie for me, yummy Valentino parfume...Thank you!) and Keana. Roi and Dave showed up and it was very cool to have them there.

The band finally hit the stage around 8:20 or so. Rob walked out with big strides and a bottle of (mostly consumed) wine in his hand. Paulie bounced across the stage in his shocking red mohawk and Keanu....erm....keanu-ed out and strapped on his bass to the squeals screams and hoots of the crowd. Last onstage was Rebecca, with her hands full of assorted liquids to soothe her "Vegas voice".

I didn't see a set list and my memory is redbull-addled but I know that they played some of my favorites including One Thing and Oblivious. I was impressed with the sound because aside from some muddy drums at the start (which was corrected), the sound was great for an outdoor venue.

Keanu's bass playing was strong and steady, not as flashy as I remember from the Spaceland show (could have been my perspective, I was much farther away this tiime). He loosened up as the night went on (once the crowd got more into the music instead of gawking at the movie star there was less chance of his every move upstaging Rebecca). He played with a pick most of the night but did use his fingers on at least one song. I actually noticed that he tends to use just his index finger at times rather than alternating, which is really bad form but when I think about how strong that finger must be....um....the muscles in my thighs twitch. Which has nothing to do with bass playing.

Once again, Keanu sang along (not mic'ed) with a song called Grace. He riffed a little Joy Division in between songs, and in another break he went off on his own little riff. Sweet. Rebecca even commented on it. At the end of another song he stood feet apart, head down and still wagging for a half a minute or more, lost in something I recognized. No sound was coming out and his hands were still, but I nudged Brit and said "look...he's still playing."

Bass and drums took a break and Paulie picked up the accoustic and Rebecca sang I Adore You. Because of her tired throat, she sang the chorus in a whisper. I could hear some of the crowd that knew the song singing along and I suddenly really wished that there were enough of us that could sing it with her, back to her. A whole crowd of becky fans singing "I adore you" to support her angelic whisper would have been a perfect moment.

The set was nice and long (there was no opening act) and they even did a cover of INXS' Don't Change which is much better without those cheesy 80's keyboards.

They ended with the song called Debaser, which is growing on me in spite of the Pixie-blaspheming aspect of it. It's bittersweet though, because like Dogstar's Denial, when I hear it I know it's the end of the show.

When Brit (who really liked the show)
and I finally found Dave and Roi, Roi was all, "Let's go jam."

So we did.

And next time becky comes to town hopefully they'll have a kickass opening act.

...because I've still got company and no time to blog.

This will have to tide you over.

I just got home. Really fun night. And I'm exhausted. I got a few pictures with the regular camera, most of then aren't so good but I will post the best of what I have sometime tomorrow. I really like this one though.

good night....

I'm insanely excited about tonight.

Not only do I get to see becky in my own backyard, but I'm going to get to hook up with some great friends and fans - some I haven't seen in ages and some I'll be pressing the flesh with for the first time.

AIEEEEE!

The cherry on top of it all is that Roi and Dave and (hopefully) Brittney* will be there as well so it has all the potential of a historic "becky meets the vibemerchants" moment. (See, the short term vibemerchant goal is to open for becky. Long term is them opening for us.) I've tried to subtley suggest that Roi seek Keanu out and thank him for inspiring me to play bass, but I'm pretty sure he's going to be too distracted by Rebecca. I can't wait to see what 6-string virtuoso-Dave thinks of Paulie's shredding, and I'm hoping to get Brittney to absorb some of Rob's greatness by osmisis.

By the way, big bold print on the tickets says NO CAMERAS so don't hold your breath for shots from the show, but I will have the camfone just in case.

Of course there will be drunken audblogging.

*OK, Brittney is the girl drummer that we audtioned the night I came back from the last becky show and she isn't actually a Vibemerchant, yet. But I'm going to work on it. It seems to me that even though she's a beginnner (drum-wise anyway. She's a freaking jazz guitarist so I KNOW she's got musical talent), if we had spent the month of waiting for drummers to SHOW UP working with her and teaching her the songs we'd be done with drummerquest. And frankly, I like her a lot and want to work with her in some capacity. Maybe an all-girl Dogstar cover band?

I could bring some order to this mess
live a life less hideous
in my palace of distress
I won't be so oblivious

don't leave me here today so fragile and so frayed
I don't wanna play if you're not here to stay
you're changing what you say please don't go away

I don't care what they yell at me
I don't hear
it's what you do that's compelling me
oh...you're always selling me

in the valley we kiss goodnight
sitting there you're sitting tight
if I lie down where you lie
what would it take to steal another try

don't leave me here today so fragile and so frayed
I don't wanna play if you're not here to stay
you're changing what you say please don't go away

I don't care what they yell at me
I dont' hear
it's what you do that's compelling me
oh....you're always selling me

I don't care what they yell at me
I don't hear
it's what you do that's compelling me
oh...you're always selling me out
you're always selling me out

becky - Oblivious

I've decided that I'm completely envious of Keanu and the fact that he gets to play with such a kickass drummer.

Is it Friday yet?

OK, I've had a lot of people email or ask about information on the April 16th becky show at Green Valley Ranch. I will tell you what I know and what I hope to find out.

First, don't let the term "Ranch" fool you, this is a posh resort. It is a hotel and if you're spending the money to come out for this show, I recommend going ahead and springing for a room. It makes sense, if you factor in cab fare if you stayed elsewhere and who knows, maybe you'll bump into someone in the elevator. I don't even know if there's any less expensive hotels close by.

I would like to recommend that maybe someone should start a thread over at the beckyboard for room and ride sharing. I know a few people are going to LA for the HOB show and then coming here the next day. Maybe people can get together and rent a car or something. I really don't recommend taking the bus. Seriously. If there isn't anyone skeevy actually on the bus, there will be plenty of scary people at the station when you arrive. Plus, it's not close to Green Valley and what you'll end up paying in cabfare might make up the difference between a bus and a plane ticket. If you are planning on staying at Green Valley Ranch, when you make the reservation don't tell them your coming in for the becky show, make a separate call for any questions you have for that. Tell them your coming in for a "girls weekend" or something. Make them think you're going to gamble, it will grease the wheels and you can ask them about airport shuttle service and such.

OK, the venue - Whiskey Beach. How very Vegas, no? I've never been there and I really can't tell anything from the website. In fact this is the only picture they have, so I'm assuming we're all going hang out in a big bed in a box with becky band (hee!). Pillow Fight!

Seriously, I have no idea what this venue is like. I may try and go there in the next week or so just to check it out, but even so I think there will be a special setup for performances.

By the way, according to the announcement on the beckyband main page, both this and the HOB show are all ages. I would call and confirm to be sure.

Lastly, I will actually be working until 6pm on that Friday and will just be coming straight to the show so I can't play hostess or driver for anyone but I will be available to have drinks bought for me during and afterward.

[Read part 1 here]
[Read part 2 here]
[Read part 3 here]

Until about halfway through Once's set, I was one of the few people at the edge of the stage. The singer had called to the crowd to come forward rather than sitting at the edges of the dance floor. By the time the set was over, the floor was pretty full and the spaces next to me filled in with other bassplayer fans. I think Rob was the first becky bandmember to come out on stage and work on setting up. I did notice when Keanu's bass case came out. It had a blue "becky" bumpersticker on it. I think I was turned around and futzing with my phone or my camera when someone called my attention to turn around. There was Keanu, setting up his amp.

Something in my chest twitched and I felt a little bit of a rush. Again, I hoped I wasn't succumbing to the predictions of the 7-11 clerk.

There's just something about him being right there. You don't want to take your eyes off of him, but you don't want to gawk either. So you end up taking him in in glances.

He's wearing the boots. He's scruffy. He's moving his stack forward, grabbing it by one corner and tugging, and then moving to the other. It's the sexiest thing I've ever seen and I may die. Right here. Right now. Watching him shove his amp around onstage.

Keanu put his set list on stage toward the front. As others have reported he did indeed say something to the effect of don't take this, looking at us like the bad little girls that we are. Not that we would...at least not before the show. They're nice to have when writing a report like this though, so I took a picture of it , for journalistic purposes.

Songs played by becky, March 20, 2004
Spaceland Gig

Vanishing
Sally
Higher Ground
Evangeline
Sr. Prom
Disco
Shut it Off
Broken Track
Miles
Stv
Grace
Interloper
Make Some Room
Oblivious
Debaser

There.

Then he continued to set up, tune up.
God, that burgundy Ransom is gorgeous.

I can't remember exactly when Keanu doffed the Panama hat but as peculiar as it is, I have to say I didn't really mind it. Added a little character and also an interesting contrast to Paulie's dapper suit and matching mohawk. Of course, the man can pretty much wear anything and make it work for him.

Finally, the whole band hit the stage and launched into Vanishing.

Rebecca started out the night in a long black jacket, which came off pretty quickly. Then a couple songs into the set (I think, my timeline may be skewed), she suprised everyone by removing the black top she had on and did the rest of the show in a sheer white lacey top over a fancy bra. Not revealing at all, but very cute and sexy. Rob's a lucky man.

I think I spent about half of Evangeline cursing the fates and trying to make my camera take pictures with no power, and then deleting some of the pictures on my phone to make room to try and get some better shots. Eventually I just gave up and decided to pay attention to what was going on in front of me than worrying about it.

As you can tell from the set list, most of the songs are new, or at least ones that can only be heard at the shows as opposed to ones available at the beckyband site. So it was kind of hard for me to follow which song was what once we got to the middle of the set. There were certainly none that were bad, and there were a couple that really stood out as great, including one that Keanu mouthed the words along with.

Of course watching Keanu play that close up is amazing. His hands are so fast. He played both with a pick and without, mostly with. He stomped and jumped around. He has so much energy and so much fun, he's just mesmerizing. He played "at" me once or twice which was as good as a wave or a wink to me.

I should probably apologize to everyone behind me because I am tall, and I know that I'm not the easiest person to see around. I promise I won't plant myself at his feet at every show I make it to. I just really wanted to watch him play closely this time. This show really was like one extended bass solo in my mind in some ways. I hoped I would learn something and I did. It wasn't a song though, he's too fast to follow for that, especially when most of the songs are unfamiliar. But I did learn something about playing what you love, the way you want to do it. And that's something I hope to carry into my own playing as I go along.

I knew the night was nearly over when they started Oblivious (which along with Higher Ground is one of my favorite songs. They both sounded great live).

I half expected for the band to come out for one more song when they left the stage after the last song but that was it. Once that fact was clear, people started thinning out. I talked and said goodbye to some people and listened to my ears ring. Eventually, across the bar the band members could be seen in the crowd. The Panama hat was like a beacon and Keanu was pretty much surrounded for a while. When I saw Rebecca out in the crowd, I decided to go over to her. Roi had asked for an autograph so I dug out the only paper I could find, a dollar bill, and asked her to sign it for him. We talked for a minute and Rebecca is very sweet, and very smart. When we were done, I told her that I'd see them in Vegas and went to walk away and she grabbed me and hugged me and kissed me on the cheek. It was so cute and so now I have a little het-girlcrush on her.

And lastly, once the crowd had thinned out and Keanu no longer had someone draped around his neck having a picture taken I decided to see if I could have a moment of his time. I did, and all I will say is what most of you already know.

He's a really great guy.

And that was it. I said more goodbyes, thanked Lomara for meeting me and planned on doing it again sometime. Then I went outside so my phone would work and I uploaded the buzznet pictures.

I walked on air to the car and wondered if I would find my way back to Santa Monica.

I took the 101 to the 110 to the 10.

I went to sleep with my ears ringing, and my heart solidly thumping and my fingers playing along with the beat.

[Read part 1 here]
[Read part 2 here]

Finally the first band came on. I found out later, talking to the bass player that they weren't "Exist" as touted on the Spaceland website. They were called in at the last minute and were The Drama, which is as good a name as any, although "The Dispair", "The Angst" or "The I Am So Very Dark and Broody, See? Look at my Hair, It's so Black Because of The Darkness of My Pain" would have also worked. They did five songs, or it could have been one long song with some breaks for sulking in between. I'm not sure. They ended their short set with the singer throwing down his mic and storming/skulking offstage. When they become famous, I expect that fans will throw Prozac intstead of panties at the stage. They did have a girl drummer and she kicked major ass. I told her so as she walked around, and then again in the bathroom afterward. In retrospect that was probably a little creepy of me.

The next band - Once - began setting up their gear. And when I say gear....check out the pedals. Luckily I snapped a picture of Once's bassplayer for my collection (did I mention I'm collecting bassplayers? I am.) while he was setting up because pedal boy blocked him from my view for the entire set, which sucked because I really wanted to watch him play.

Once was good, very good. The lead singer was energetic and alluring, he actually sang to me a couple times, (which was quite a thrill, that sort of thing doesn't happen to me) and the music was lovely. Strong, beautiful and moving yet still rocking as well.
At the end of the set, I scribbled a note to send me their site info on the back of a blogcard and handed it to him. Later on, a girl came up to me and gave me an advance copy of their CD (which I listened to on the drive home and love). It's good to be a webmistress.

...to be continued

[Read part 1 here]

Recovering from a blinding series of rapid flashbacks of being taunted for my glasses by blondes such as these in my school days, I steadied myself on the newsrack. I looked closely at the smallest of the three pretties, the one I had singled out to be overpowered easily and used as a human shield against the others should it get ugly. Then a funny warmth came over me. I hoped it wasn't the impending stroke that I had been warned about earlier that day.

"Suzy?" I said with a raised eyebrow, drawing the "y" sound out a little longer than I needed to. She looked at me as if I'd just made dolphin noises.

I took a step forward and said my name.

There were many squeals.

We hugged, I breathed relief. The only time I see Suzy is at shows and she gets more beautiful each time. I was so happy to have someone to talk to since it was at least another hour and a half before the doors opened. She introduced me to S. and L. (I'm not sure if they want their names blogged or not - let me know if you read this, girls) and we began to talk and dish and reminisce and everything. There would be no catfight on Silver Lake Boulevard on this night.

Slowly people started showing up, mostly females. We waited. We chatted. There were pictures to look at and share (Suzy! Don't forget to send me the one with the hand). Lomara got there and intros were made again. Time passed, pee-pee dances were done and eventually we got in. We got drinks and hung out at the first table in front of the left side.

Wow, The silver and blue backdrop was glorious and tacky all at the same time.

After one Vodka Bull I was getting anxious, I hoped the bands would come on soon.

....to be continued

I had no idea how long it would take me to get there from Santa Monica, so I snarfed my crabroll, told my crashpad host not to wait up for me and set off for Silverlake. I called Lomara from the freeway once I saw the sea of red brakelights ahead of me. As it turned out, she was running late as well. After a few minutes of panic and thinking "My god, am I nuts? I'm out here on an LA freeway alone at night, all hopped up on red bull, only half sure of where I'm going. Maybe if I turn up the music that honking noise will go away," the flow returned to the road.

The 10 to the 110 to the 101. How very binary.

"OK then, there's my turn off. Please let me over, Mr. BMW. I'm from out of town."

It only took three trips around the block and one illegal U-turn to find a good spot on the street to park on. I was early, very early and solo. I crinkled my forehead in the rearview mirror and saw the word "dork" appear in the creases.

To pass the time, I made a couple calls and then wandered across the street to 7-11 for another red bull.

I watched people go in and out of the club door, most of them turned out to be in the other bands and assorted staff. Finally, a threesome of blondes arrived signaling the official start of "the line". I figured I might as well wander over, because if one is going to dork out and get there early, one might as well get a good spot for the festivities, right?

As I took a phonecam picture (that I had to delete before uploading to make space later in the night,) of a becky bumpersticker on a newspaper stand in front of the club, I felt the "sizing-up" glances of the blondes. I looked up at them. Individually, I might be able to take them, but all at once?? I was dead meat.

.....to be continued

If anyone at the club last night found my little blue plastic cardwallet with my blogcards in it please email me (it's on the card) because the only thing of value in it was a dollar that Rebecca had signed to Roi. I swear it was in my pocket. I feel really badly because I told him I had it and now I can't find it anywhere.

Suck.

Anyway, I'm home, I made good time because I have to get to the studio because we're trying out the new drummer tonight and I wanted to be there.

I will catch up on emails and everything later tonight or tomorrow. For now, here's one of the two pictures I managed to get, Keanu setting up his gear, before my camera died.

Rock on.

Oi, good morning.
I just woke up.
Last night rocked in eight different ways.
I had some technical difficulties, not the least of which was the fact that my fucking camera batteries weren't charged and I only got a couple pictures.
Oh well, I enjoyed the show a lot more not looking through a lens the whole time, and luckily Lomara knows how to keep a charge.

Damn, can that boy play.

Anyway, more later.
I'm off for pancakes.

Well, I'm off in a couple hours...but first, there's THIS (thanks to Janice for the heads up):

Two new becky shows sheduled for April-

Yeah, baby.

So, yes...I'm pretty excited to be going to see becky tomorrow, especially to watch the bass player with a whole new perspective. My teacher suggested that I go up to Keanu and talk bass with him, and I'm all, "um....no."
Two months of lessons does not qualify me to do anything other than make a complete fool of myself. I suppose it's better than asking him to sign my boobs*, but still....

Anyway, I'll be posting from the road with the camphone to buzznet. I'm also going to take my regular camera, so I hope I can get some fun shots at the show as well.

*I never ever did that, but one time I was loaded enough to be considering it. Damned red bull and vodka.

Club Keanu has some more pictures from Spaceland.

Oh. Thump. Me.......

I have an extra ticket waiting at will-call for Saturday night's becky show.

Yay, Lomara's going!

Who wants to hook up?

Japanese fansite - Love Becky has some photos from last week's Spaceland show

Check 'em out

-via Club Keanu

Paulie sez:

Hello Boys and Girls -
Here's your chance to catch becky up close and personal!

becky - LIVE and IN-COLOR
Club Spaceland - Los Angeles
Saturday
March 20th
11pm

Come on down and pack out the house!

Yay, this works with my schedule.
I just hope I'm better by then.

I thought the Sharon show came on at 5:30, but it came on at four!

The shovel lady scares me.

The band sounded good in spite of the iffy TV mix.

Rob's funny.

I think my fever is returning.

Or could just be that the bass player is teh HOTNESS.

Don't forget becky rocks at Spaceland tonight.

Between gas prices, time constraints and the fact that whatever it was I thought I was over this weekend is back full force *cough*, I've decided not to make the trip.

To anyone going, have fun!

Word is that becky is taping an ep of the Sharon Osbourne Show tonight at 7pm.

Never mind. The show taped yesterday. (thanks Joz)

The show will air on the 10th. Check your listings.

"becky will be rocking in their own neighborhood in Silverlake at Club Spaceland Tuesday March 9th!

becky hits the stage at 11:15pm!

becky hopes everyone is sure to make what will be one killer sell out event!

(Club Spaceland is located at 1717 Silver Lake Blvd. Los Angeles)"

Man, I'd really like to go to this one. I know that according to this interview that the band's debut at Spaceland is kinda special to Rebecca.

Augh! a tuesday. How am I going to get out of work?

Thanks Toriane :)
Speaking of Viper Room becky shows, becky will be playing this Friday.
From Paulie at the beckyboard:

"hi everyone!
becky is back at the viper room friday night feb. 27th at 10pm!
c'mon down and check it out!
it's sure to be a great time!
get there early!
paulie : ) "

Oh snap, that's like three days from now.

I'm going to have to miss it, I can't get off work early enough to make it in time.

Plus, Catz is coming to town this weekend and...well, I've seen becky.

Catz has posted her Viper report from last night's becky concert, go check it out....

Check out Club-Keanu for the first reports of last night's becky at the Viper Room show.

And keep an eye on the Official becky message board as well.

Sounds like it rocked!

I can't wait to hear from Catz.

Update: The set list has been posted at the beckyboard :) thanks Rob!

Don't forget that tomorrow night you can see becky (featuring our favorite bass player) at The Viper Room, a club so intimate that if you stand in the right spot there's a good chance of getting sweat flung into your ten dollar Vanilla Stoli n'Coke.

The show starts at 10 pm. Get there early, trust me.

I've done the math and there's no way I'm making this one......dammit.

Oh well, I have a lesson tomorrow night anyway and I didn't learn Paperback Writer this week for nothing.

But if you go, tell him I said "Hi"......