Day 9

I'm going to get the bad stuff out of the way first. I'm mad! Hopping mad. Irate, even. Last night my furniture arrived from New York with all of my boxes. Now, that's good, but on the way, they broke my great aunt's antique desk. It's invaluable and they broke one of the pieces off the top and one of the legs. This sucks. If anyone knows a great furniture restorer in the Los Angeles area, I would be so appreciative to hear about it.

Here's what happened:





Ok. Now on to the better stuff. The show last night was incredible. It was a benefit concert for Food Not Bombs and Axis of Justice held at this tiny place called the Hotel Cafe (about the same size as Pianos in New York). K, Z, and I rolled in a little after 9 just as the MC for the night, Tom Morello (lead guitarist from Audioslave and Rage Against the Machine), was finishing his set. After him followed Alanis Morissette who performed three songs, including a cover of "Guerilla Radio" that got the crowd pumped. She later did a duet of "More Than Words" with Extreme's guitarist Nuno Bettencourt. She's prettier in person.

Speaking of guitarists, I ended up standing next to John 5 and who I'm assuming is his new girlfriend for a little while. The place was packed with music celebrities. For instance, Lars Ulrich from Metallica was just chilling in the back and Tommy Lee was hanging out on the side.

Alexi Murdoch followed Alanis, and if you've never heard his sweet, melodic music, you should remedy that. Many artists followed with short solo sets including Ben Harper, John Sinclair and Wayne TK from the MC5, William TK and Jerry Cantrell from Alice in Chains, and Jill Sobule, but the party really got rockin when the jamming started. Morello got onstage with Motley Crue's Mick Mars and others and rocked "Kickstart My Heart" and Judas Priest's "TK" then Cypress Hill claimed the stage and tore the house down with "Rock Superstar," "Kill A Man," and "Insane in the Membrane," all with Morello backing them on electric guitar. Hot.

Seriously, this was probably one of the most awesome shows I've ever seen and I've been to countless concerts. And we only paid $10 to get in! On the way out I bought two raffle tickets to try and win posters signed by everyone who performed (the donations went to the causes) and ended up talking to some dude who grew up in Royal Oak. After the sadness of the furniture incident, this was a fantastic way to end the night. Then I woke up today and it's all sunny and nice again!