Sleepy Eyed and Newly Named

by Carrie Brownstein

Over on Monitor Mix, people helped me come up with a name to write on my (sadly) blank NPR badge.

Considering how tired I am on this Thursday morning, I had to go with C.B. Grumbleton.

To be honest, my favorite was Blogstein, and after I've had a bit more coffee, I'll probably regret not going with that one.

Right now I am listening to The Shout Out Louds playing live at The Parish on 6th Street in Austin. I am so relieved to be talking on-air about bands I am actually excited to see. During last night's broadcast (REM, Dead Confederate), I felt like an announcer at the Olympics. I turned some embarrassing phrases that all sounded like they would fit in at a Speed Skating event, or that follow one of those human interest stories they play during Olympic broadcasts to make you care about the difficult life of, say, a gymnast. "Anna slept in a paper bag for the for the five years of her life in order to get her used to the rigor and discomfort of the high beam. The first time she felt cotton was when a trainer cleaned her bleeding knee with a Q-Tip. Today, Anna--4'4"--is a happy and healthy girl. This is her first time at the Olympics".

Anyhow, the crowd is still filtering into the room. It seems like a lot of industry types. I hope for the sake of the bands that we get some regular folks in here. Fans whose faces light up when they hear the first note of their favorite song, who notice that the singer is wearing a different shirt than he was last night, who care when the band spontaneously changes a lyric, and whose bodies naturally sway and twitch and delight at the sounds and sights before them.

(Update: Shout Out Louds were fantastic. A still tired audience came alive during the set. Now Jens Lekman is on stage.)

You can listen to the concert right now and it will be up later on the NPR website.

Pictured below. Me, sleepy-eyed and newly named.

2:19 PM ET | 03-13-2008 | permalink

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