My friend is in town to play a couple shows at R-Bar on Bowery. We were there the night before last and it was great. The sound in that venue was surprisingly good. They have a whole backend already set so musicians really just need to bring their instruments and cables and plug right in.

Last night I was back there helping them set up again. A bunch of country boys from NH, first time playing in NYC. Quite a sight, and quite a feeling. They really executed well and people were into their sound.

The opening band was a woman, definitely a Lady Gaga wannabe-type. She got up and crooned to an electric backing track. Here’s what that was like:

After doing some wiggling and some boobing she ended up on the bar:

It was OK. I mean, she’s a very talented singer, and her sound overall was nice. People there were really into it. I just couldn’t get the image out of my head of her sitting watching Lady Gaga early videos and studying carefully, wanting to do that. Because that’s how it came across. “I’m trying to be like that thing I saw and really liked.”

Obviously all art is shared in one way or another, so it’s a weak argument that every musician needs to be completely original. In fact, it’s an impossibility. I’m just saying that for some reason, with this performance in particular, the Gaga-esqueness was very apparent.

We had a shot of Tequila before my friend’s band went on, and they did another great set. They have a nice sound and it gets very interesting at times when the guitarist starts playing with tone. That’s the kind of stuff I like and a couple of their songs do into that.

They ended around 11:30 and me, my buddy and his wife cabbed home for $30 because I have work today, which is where I am now. We did, however, drink a bit more at home.

It was great to catch up with him and it was so excellent to watch him play in NYC.

I’m two days hungover from being out drinking two nights in a row. One heavy, heavy drinking night on Weds, maybe 12 drinks total, and last night just about 5 drinks total across about 5 hours.

Tonight a friend and her boyfriend are flying in from LA for a wedding here and will crash at my place, Chez Duck. I need to clean the place up after work in preparation for that. When they get in, I’ll probably head out to my friend’s place in Chelsea. He’s out of town and I can hide out at his huge pad as long as I want to. Will be a good weekend for a staycation and to figure some stuff out, especially about the girl situation… which is now officially, definitely, hugely, a situation.

Have a great weekend monkeys, hope you’re all doing well, being healthy, and doing that thing you wanted to do but didn’t because the timing wasn’t right but now is perfect.