Severed Inn Premiere Weekend

My story on the Sunday screening of "The Severed Inn" was in the paper yesterday. Here's the link (which will work for 90 days until it goes to the archives): "Severed' movie connected to local hot spots"

I wrote about the filming of this movie last summer, so I had to go to the premiere. It was everything I had hoped for and more. Producer and President of Legion Films Aaron Vnuk assured the audience that it was OK to laugh because this movie was as much a dark comedy as it was a horror film, and there were parts that were pretty funny. For more on Legion Films visit their website: http://www.legionfilms.com/

Celebrating Queen - the review

If you closed your eyes or looked away, you could almost pretend that Freddie Mercury was on the Warner Theater stage in Torrington Saturday night.

Joe Archambeault, who also goes by J.J. Midnight, lead singer of Celebrating Queen, a Queen tribute band, sounded like Mercury trying to do an impression of himself. His voice shrilled as he hit the higher notes, he carried around the half microphone, painted his nails and wore leather pants. He didn't look like Mercury, but he did a good impression, and when he wasn't trying too hard to sing, he really pulled it off. Celebrating Queen played all the hits, starting with "Princes of the Universe" and fake-ended with "Bohemian Rhapsody" featuring students from the Warner performing arts center. They came back for an encore with "We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions."

Some highlights: This was the home crowd. Archambeault, his brother who was on keyboards and another guitarist are all from Bristol, which isn't too far away from Torrington. The lead guitarist was from Naugatuck, and he definitely had friends and family there. Also, there was a pair of little kids from St. Louis with a band called "Pickletank." They sang "We Will Rock You" earlier in the show, before the big encore version. The red-headed kid was adorable and really into it. The best highlight of all, though, was that I got to sit next to the biggest Queen/Celebrating Queen fan in the world. He sang every lyric to every song and even harmonized with Archambeault. I was going to tell him that he should form his own Queen cover band, but as soon as the show ended, he left before I could.

Tonight: Celebrating Queen

I'm going to see Celebrating Queen, a Queen cover band, tonight at the Warner in Torrington. It should be a good show. Fellow Bristol Press staff writer James Drzewiecki interviewed the lead singer from Celebrating Queen for our entertainment page this weekend because the singer's from Bristol. James told me earlier this week that real Queen members have told this band they're doing a good job. It's all in his article here: Celebrating Queen is a killer tribute to Freddie.

The show's tonight at 8 at the Warner Theater, 68 Main St., Torrington.

Vampire Weekend plays in a house in Barcelona? That is the coolest thing ever!

Maybe I'm on a Spain kick, but I just saw @pitchforkmedia tweet this, and I just had to blog about it/embed the video here so when I look back on my posts, it'll make me watch it again.

According to the video description, this person's friend ran into Vampire Weekend at a bar after a concert on Feb. 27, and invited them back to this birthday party. Apparently Vampire Weekend went back and performed a little concert there. The video is awesome. It's obviously intimate since the band's squished into a tiny corner, and you can see that the mirror in back has "Fiesta" written on it, and everyone there is so excited and having a great time. I also like the guy smoking in front. If this were my birthday party, it would be the highlight of my life. Actually, I wish I could have been there because it would have meant I was in Barcelona, and I really miss Spain and need to go back, stat. Coolest thing ever.

Quick thought: I wish this were a real song.

I've been really feeling a lot of songs in commercials lately. They've been quirky and fun, and often they're by indie artists getting awesome exposure this way. One of my new favorite songs isn't a song at all. I don't even know what Kayak is (and no, I didn't look it up even though I'm including this commercial here), but I love the song at the end: Estas listas? Estoy listo! Vamanos! (Are you ready? I'm ready! Let's go!) I did a quick google search and found that it's not a full song - it was recorded for the commercial. It really should be a song. I'd buy the album. It reminds me of fun summers in Spanish-speaking countries, and I love it. Maybe I miss Spain. Or maybe I need a vacation..

Anyway, if you've watched any TV lately, you've definitely seen this commercial. But if not, or if you need to refresh your memory, I've embedded it here. (You can go to the :18 mark and skip most of the kissing scenes.)

Matinee shows are awesome!

Just a few updates all rolled into one blog post.

Went to the Mates of State and M.T. Bearington matinee show at The Space on Saturday afternoon, and it was tons of fun. (I was really close and could have gotten a photo, but my phone died because I forgot to charge it the night before!) Anyway, because it was a home show for Mates of State husband-and-wife duo Jason Hammel and Kori Gardner, they were able to bring their kids, and lots of friends and family made it out. We got there around 3 and noticed there were a lot more kids than usual. We also couldn't help but gush over an adorable kid in a Mates of State shirt enjoying his root beer. Then we realized the home show/matinee atmosphere was perfect for friends and family, both young and old, to come. Aha! The show was awesome. M.T. Bearington rocked it. I bought one of their CDs at a Toad's Place show, but I only thought of this on Saturday: They kind of sound like Modest Mouse, except not as wacky. I like it. Then the Mates of State definitely had fun, playing lots of familiar stuff and some new songs that as danceable as ever. For a new dance song, they even brought up their daughter Maggie on stage and some of her classmates, including the one who enjoyed his root beer. Another bonus? It wasn't even 7 by the time we left! It felt much later because we had already done so much that day and went to a concert, but we still had so much time left in the day. Sweet deal.

And I never reviewed the Girl Talk show. We didn't end up in the general admission pit, but the balcony wasn't that bad. Sure, we were dancing in our seats and really far away, but there were some good parts. I never heard of Black Violin before, but they were the perfect openers for Girl Talk. They played violins over some hip hop and pop songs, and it was pretty cool. They also showed off their classical violin skills. Then Girl Talk came out with a lot of variations of his old mixes and some new stuff. Interesting point: Girl Talk is limited by the music that's out already. He doesn't call himself a DJ, but he "composes" music by mashing up songs. I saw him over a year ago, and I have two of his albums on my iPod, but those are kind of older. Seeing him live last week was pretty cool because he could play some Lady Gaga songs and mix Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA" with Snoop Dogg. We weren't dancing in the pit, but it ended up being for the better. We didn't get hot or faint, and we could get drinks without trudging through a thick crowd. (A lot of people snuck in/pushed through to the downstairs after the opener.)

Next stop: Bela Fleck - The Africa Project at Jorgensen this Thursday.

Mark your calendars - We're going to The Severed Inn premiere!

The Severed Inn, from the independent filmmakers at Legion Films, is premiering next month in Hartford at Real Art Ways.

I wrote about some of the filming this past summer in New Britain and Plainville for the New Britain Herald and Bristol Press, and even though I haven't seen the movie, the filmmakers are really cool guys. They're all friends, and they have full-time jobs at a school in Simsbury, but they wanted to make movies. I'm definitely going on Sunday of Premiere Weekend and covering it. Above is a trailer for the film from Legion Films. (The first one was much more epic and we watched it a lot at work, but it got taken down.)

The Severed Inn, a horror movie about some shady happenings at a bed and breakfast, features some YouTube stars and actors from other Legion Films projects.

According to a newsletter from Legion Films, "The Severed Inn is Legion's most anticipated feature film release. The movie follows the tale of Uncle Bob (Paul Braccioforte) and his two sons Louie and Archie (Shawn C. Phillips & MJ Kelley) as they struggle to find the balance between their gracious hospitality toward the guests staying at their Inn and the gruesome deeds hidden in the basement.

The Severed Inn is a high-impact, entertaining blend of horror that is full of lovely ladies and the superb comedy of rising stars Shawn C. Phllips and MJ Kelley."

The movie is 90 minutes, has a rating of MA for some nudity, violence and language. Premiere weekend is March 6 and 7 with both showings at 11:30 a.m. at Real Art Ways on 56 Arbor St. in Hartford. The showings include an introduction from Legion President, Aaron Vnuk, meeting with Legion producers who are actively casting for their third feature, an autograph session with many stars of The Severed Inn and a merchandise table. Tickets are $8.50 and can be bought at www.legionfilms.com.

You can purchase tickets at the door, but the crew recommends ordering in advance because they expect the shows to sell out.