The Super Eights are from Madison, but they sing songs about every city and state in North America. You’re probably thinking they took the Sufjan Stevens thing a little too far. I’m not sure if they got into their act before or after Sufjan made his proclamation that he would make an album for each state. Regardless, The Super Eights opened for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah last night, and having never heard their music before, I would say they were quite impressive. Enjoy some MP3′s taken from their site:

Texas (live)
Ohio
Illinois
Virginia

Check out this site:

The (s)wheat Spot

11/05 – Jeff Tweedy (solo) – Orpheum Theatre, Madison
Pre-Sale begins Wednesday, September 28 via Music Today
Public on sale begins Friday, September 30 via Ticketmaster at noon Central.

Instead of just getting back from the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah show at the Annex tonight, I should be writing about my attendance at Austin City Limits. All of my bags were packed, I even called the Airline ahead of time, and got confirmation that myself and two friends would indeed be flying right into the eye of hurricane Rita, destination Houston Bush airport. However, the not so fun reality set in once we parked our car, and made our way to the terminal that our flight was cancelled. Of course we explored every option the airport offered us, and even contemplated making the 20+ hour drive, but we took into consideration, that at that time (Thursday) we were’t even sure there would be an Austin City Limits Festival. Austin was expected to get soaked by the after effects of hurricane Rita. The earliest we could have made it to Texas (San Antonio) was Saturday, and at that point we faced the facts and realized we wouldn’t be spending our vacation in Texas.

We ate some horrible airport food, and decided I had better get to the UPS store to overnight my 4 tickets to The Black Keys and Arcade Fire at Stubb’s to my friend Jake, who I was planning on meeting in ACL. I figured he might as well see the show, and hopefully be able to find others to use the tickets. $25 later, for overnight delivery, the tickets never got to Jake. Head over to his site to read how the madness unfolded on his end. In addition to not meeting up with Jake, I was super upset to not see England’s finest, Charlotte and her friend who were traveling from LA. On top of that I was planning on meeting up with some of my favorite music bloggers as well. Chris, from Gorilla vs. Bear, Kevin at So Much Silence, and Dodge holding down the Old Kentucky Blog. I hope all of you had a great time, and please be sure to swing by the comments section or e-mail me your pictures/stories.

I’m not sure how/if I will be able to get a refund for my ACL tickets, a person I spoke with at Front Gate Tickets informed me that there were more than a few who were shut out due to planes not being able to make their destinations. Fortunately, the damage of Rita was nowhere near the destruction that Katrina brought, so there is some light at the end of this tunnel.

I tried to make the best of a bad situation by taking in a few concerts. I saw the Great Lake Swimmers along with the Akron Family at Cafe Montmartre on Friday night. The Great Lake Swimmers are simply amazing. They did beautiful covers of Tom Waits, “Innocent When You Dream,” and Springsteen’s, “I’m Going Down.” I know that I have posted MP3′s of them before, but in case you never checked them out then, please do so now:

Great Lake Swimmers – Various Stages – MP3 from Small Flightless Bird
Great Lake Swimmers – Moving Pictures Silent Films
Great Lake Swimmers – I Will Never See The Sun

Akron Family was horrible, I don’t remember their new album being so terrible, but their live show is enough to wish oneself deaf. My friend and I split about 3 songs in, and that is if you count the first thing they did as a song. Really dissapointing.

On Saturday, I saw, “The Aristocrats,” which is the documentary about the most disgusting joke ever told featuring hundreds of famous comedians. I don’t want to recommend it, but I think guys would definitely enjoy this one.

The Clap Your Hands Say Yeah show tonight was sold out, and because I was going to be in Texas, I didn’t have a ticket. A kid behind me in line had an extra that he sold to me for face value. Show was good, played only about 45 minutes, but they don’t have much material. They started off with two brand new songs. I bought a shirt but I asked for an XL, and got a 2XL, so I don’t know what I will do with that. I took a few pictures, I will see if I can get them uploaded for you to check out.

I’d like to make a plea to anyone who has an extra ticket for either the Minneapolis or Chicago Arcade Fire shows. I would prefer Chicago, but I think I would make the drive to Minneapolis, because I really want to see this band on this tour. So, if you can hook me up with that, I would love you eternally.

Finally, my friend Jen has a blog. Read it daily.

10/26 – Griffin House – High Noon Saloon, Madison
11/13 – Bob Mould – High Noon Saloon, Madison

One of the nice things about being in Chicago on business this week is that there are tons of amazing shows going on. I really wanted to see The Rosebuds last night, but went out with some clients and collegues instead. Anyway, tonight in Chicago U2, Franz Ferdinand (w/Pretty Girls Make Graves), and Beck were all performing in the city. I decided to see Beck, who played at the Riviera. Played about two hours, drawing a good mix from all his albums except Sea Change, which he barely touched. He has a full time dancer onstage which was funny at some points, but distracting at others. Well, I have tons of work to catch up on now that I treated myself to a little pre-ACL concert. I took some photos but I think they will probably be crap. I’ll post them if they are decent.