Those who've been reading the blog for a while know I'm a science fiction fan. Love Doctor Who, Red Dwarf, Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate, X-Files and of course, all things Joss Whedon (the man is a genius.)

Oddly enough, I never watched Buffy, Angel or Firefly during their initial runs on TV. I bought Buffy Season 1 at Best Buy when it came out (it was a whim, I think I was attracted to Sarah Michelle Gellar), then ended up watching the bulk of the season one day when I was sick in bed with the flu. That pretty much did it and after that I bought every season of Buffy and Angel as they came out on DVD.

Now with Firefly, I did watch the "Pilot" (which wasn't really meant to be the Pilot) on Fox when it first aired. I remember being turned off in the first 15 minutes and not watching any subsequent episodes. Of course, by the time I was a few seasons into Buffy and Angel I was worshiping at the alter of Whedon, and decided to pick up all the Firefly episodes. At this point I also knew that Fox had aired the Firefly episodes out of order. On watching the true Pilot I realized that Whedon (once again) had created something new, beautiful and unique. After I watched the whole series (all 14 episodes) I was convinced that Firefly was one of the greatest shows to air, and saddened that it had been canceled without even a full season.

Unbelievably, Joss managed to get funding to film Serenity, a movie based on Firefly, which also ended up being one of my favorite sci-fi films of all time.

If you haven't seen the show I highly recommend picking up the box set, which can be found cheap at most online stores.

So it's safe to say I'm a Firefly/Serenity fan. This afternoon, I had the pleasure of seeing Jewel Staite, who played Kaylee Frye, one of the lead characters on Firefly, at the "Star Wars Fan Days II" convention in Plano Texas. She came to town for a 45 minute Q&A session, and was a total delight. With no pre-set spiel, Jewel just answered question after question for the whole session, and kept the audience in constant laughter.

Here's the first 15 minutes for your pleasure, with Jewel addressing a variety of topics, from her days on "Are You Afraid Of The Dark" to Nathan Fillion's prop stealing antics during the filming of Firefly and Serenity, to her thoughts on her StarGate SG1 character's choice in love interests. Enjoy!

Live MP3 MP3s:
Introduction
Hello
Gummy Strawberry
Are You Afraid Of The Dark
Next Project
Mechanic vs Doctor
Firefly Favorite Line
Kaylee Joss vs Jewel
Kaylee Character Dynamic
Keller Love Intrest Choice
If Jewel Was Keller
Firefly Favorite Episode
White Vines
Firefly Props Kept

Labels: audience mp3s, jewel staite, live mp3s, plano, spoken word, star wars fan days

Made the near hour drive out to Fort Worth last night to see the Cold War Kids at Lolas, and it was worth every minute of it. It was my first time out to Lolas and I think both the band and I were surprised at how small the venue was - guessing the max capacity was under 500.

Still it's a very cool little saloon - and has a seriously impressive sound system (and three bars - which might seem like overkills until you realize how difficult it is to move 8 feet in any direction due to sardine like effect of a sold out show.)

The band was fantastic, primarily focusing on their brand new record Loyalty to Loyalty that came out last month. I was expecting a more soulful rock show, but the live versions of the tracks were substantially louder and dramatically more rawk and roll then I would have guessed from listening to their records, the band brought to mind numerous bands that I really enjoy (Spoon, the Strokes - and oddly enough, hints of Led Zeppelin) while still maintaining their own unique identify.

I was fortunate enough to record the first four songs of the set, including the singles We Used to Vacation and Something Is Not Right With Me - and the tracks sound absolutely awesome. Though you can never compare to seeing a band that's turned up to 10 at a tiny little venue, the recording still gives a solid sense of how great this band is live.

Turn it up and enjoy!! If you didn't see them as they came around on this tour - be sure to catch them the next time they come through, and be sure to head over to their MySpace to check out some of the studio tracks from Loyalty to Loyalty.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Every Valley Is Not A Lake
We Used To Vacation
Mexican Dogs
Something Is Not Right With Me

Labels: fort worth, indie, live mp3s, lolas saloon, soundboard mp3s

Got a chance to see several cool little shows at the SXSW Free Yr Radio Broadcast Corner this year, including She & Him and Dave Monks of Tokyo Police Club playing a spur of the moment (and unexplained) acoustic gig.

Seeing Dave acoustic was a clear contrast to the almost dancey vibe of the full band Tokyo Police Club experience. Though the songs stood strong as acoustic tunes, it was interesting to note how much of texture the band brings to the songs, and at times I found myself singing along with the missing guitar parts.

All in all though that's what I love about SXSW, you never know what you're going to get, but it's going to be special. Check out my favorite track from the session, Tessellate, below.

The good people at the Current were also hanging out broadcasting the whole thing. So if you want more you can listen to the whole show over their site here.

If you'd like some more acoustic Tokyo Police Club check out their recent AOL Spinners session here.

Now as much as I enjoyed the acoustic session, I'm looking forward to seeing the full band opening for Weezer later this month, in support of their new record, Elephant Shell. Check out tracks at their MySpace.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Tessellate

Tour Dates:
Tue-Oct-07, Salt Lake City, UT, E Center
Thu-Oct-09, Portland OR, Memorial Coliseum
Fri-Oct-10, Vancouver, BC, GM Place
Sat-Oct-11, Seattle, WA, Key Arena
Mon-Oct-13, San Jose, CA, Events Center
Tue-Oct-14, Los Angeles, CA, The Forum
Fri-Oct-17, San Diego, CA, Cox Arena
Sat-Oct-18, Phoenix, AZ, Arizona State Fair
Mon-Oct-20, Austin, TX, Frank Erwin Center
Tue-Oct-21, Dallas, TX, Nokia Theater
Thu-Oct-23, Houston, TX, Reliant Arena
Sat-Oct-25, Atlanta, GA, Gwinnett Arena

Labels: austin, fr yr radio corner, indie, live mp3s, soundboard mp3s, sxsw