Summertime blues

I was afraid this might happen.

In recent years, I’ve gone to Summerfest wondering whether my run might end -- the kind of feeling I suppose an athlete has when his career is in its twilight. … At Summerfest, it’s the notion that the crowds appear to be getting younger and more immature, the music sounds louder and the array of bands less appealing.

Last year, when I went to the magnificent festival for a record-low two nights, I figured maybe the time had come. I figured my youth may have finally escaped me and my concert days were waning.

I prepared myself to move on … And I have. Literally.

Then Summerfest started rolling out its lineup for this summer …

Colbie Caillat. The Moody Blues ... O.A.R.! ... Sheryl Crow!! ... She & Him!!! (... A good read about She & Him in today's Boston Globe.)

A few weeks ago when Cubs tickets went on sale, I was gritting my teeth and doing all I could to hold back on purchasing a couple seats. The mantra “Wait ’til next year” has taken a whole new meaning now.

And then today, the most painful announcement of all. The New Pornographers are playing the Pabst Theater. The announcement via the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel ...

Indie-pop darlings the New Pornographers - made up of some of the best and busiest in the music scene - will play the Pabst Theater at 8:30 p.m. June 12. The eight-member outfit, including mastermind A.C. Newman and songbird Neko Case, releases its fifth album, "Together," in May.

The New Pornographers. Indie-pop darlings. Songbird Neko Case ...

The New Pornographers. A band that’s hovered around the top of my Concert Bucket List for a couple years now -- along with Matchbox Twenty (so close! ), Belle & Sebastian, The Weepies, Dave Matthews Band, Mates of State (whose “For the Actor” I've heard on multiple Royal Carribean commercials lately!) and The Shins (oh, oh, so close!)

Ugh.

Last night, an old friend of mine tweeted, "don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great."

When I saw her statement, I smiled and thought so true, especially right now ... But it won't keep me from thinking of ways I can still enjoy the great things that came with the good.

The music in my head

So Janell Wheeler got the boot tonight from 'Idol.' … Seriously, America? More of you voted to keep Haeley Vaughn!? And Lacey Brown!? Seriously!?

If Didi Benami had gone, too, America, you would have had some 'splainin' to do.

Um, Ashley Rodriguez, Tyler Grady, Joe Munoz -- it was sort of fun. Best of luck.

* * *

I'm addicted to Neko Case's "Middle Cyclone" lately ... Her vocals on "The Pharaohs" are so angelic and ingrained in my head that I've been hearing them in my sleep. "I'm An Animal" has just as tight of a hold on me.

I also can't seem to get enough of Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson's swell "Break Up" concept album. It's an absolute pleasure to listen to from start to finish -- although "Relator" (I'm totally taken by the video) and "Shampoo" seem to be getting the most plays on my ipod.

Check it out ...

* * *

There's a group making waves on Facebook lately called "When I was younger I would record my favorite songs off the radio onto tape."

The tagline ...

Back before you could get your hands on CD's there were these things called tapes... remember?

Sitting by the radio waiting for your favorite song, then quickly hitting the record button when it came on.

CLASSIC !

Of course I joined it!

As a kid, I'd play Nintendo games with the sound turned off just so I could have a radio going next to me on the floor, a blank cassette tape in the deck, just waiting for my latest and greatest favorite song to be played.

Then, at the moment I heard the first notes, I'd make a dive for the record button (Maybe that's how I got so good at pinpointing songs after hearing just a couple notes ...). If I was successful, I'd dance around the room in a celebration of securing the song to a cassette tape that I could play over and over and over ... If I missed the song, I'd lament the notion that I might never have the opportunity to hear the song again. (Thank you iTunes and YouTube. Because of you, I can play songs like this favorite on demand.)

Or I'd blame the DJ for blabbering too long and preventing me from getting a song's signature opening. I particularly remember -- while making a radio mix tape of favorite "oldies" -- having a fit over missing the beginning of The 5th Dimension's "Aquarius" and asking my mother whether she thought I should keep the recording or dub over it and hope for another chance.

Many, many nights of doing homework at the desk in my bedroom and then tripping over my chair and bed to get to the radio's record button also come to mind.

I recorded songs off the radio into my college days. And to this day, I still have boxes full of those tapes.

Classic.