It’s time for the third and final Nate vs. Nate: The essay contest!

Round 3

In 500 words or less, please describe why you should be considered the Primary Nate of the Best Intentions at the show at the Lizard Lounge on June 19. Please cite your sources. Pencils up and BEGIN!

Nate Rogers’ essay:

Primary? Well, now let me see. You know, I don’t have any idea what that means.

I know what *you* think it means, sonny. To me it’s just a made up word. A politician’s word, so young fellas like yourself can wear a suit and a tie, and have a job. What do you really want to know? Am I sorry for what I did?  There’s not a day goes by I don’t feel regret. Not because I’m in here, or because you think I should. I look back on the way I was then: a young, stupid kid who committed that terrible crime. I want to talk to him. I want to try and talk some sense to him, tell him the way things are. But I can’t. That kid’s long gone and this old man is all that’s left. I got to live with that.

Primary? It’s just a bullshit word. So you go on and stamp your form, sonny, and stop wasting my time. Because to tell you the truth, I don’t give a shit.

WORKS CITED

Freeman, Morgan perf.  The Shawshank Redemption.  Dir. Frank Darabont.  Based on the short story “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” by Stephen King.  Columbia, 1994.

Nate Leavitt’s essay:

I’ve never been good at writing essay’s plus they always remind me of the time my father made my sister write one about why underage drinking and lying is dangerous. So, I want to take this opportunity to write a Haiku.

Nate, in a word, great
One must be modest in life
With humility

Wow. Two truly terrible essays. I can’t decide which one I hate more. On the one hand, Rogers quoted one of my least favorite movies of all time, almost guaranteeing a loss. Then again, Leavitt knows that I am a haiku purist and that in order for a poem to truly be a haiku, it must involve nature in some way. Just 5-7-5 is NOT a haiku. Leavitt knows how I feel about misappropriating the ancient Japanese poetry forms. We’ve had many discussions about this over beers.

I’m going to have to go ahead and declare this one a draw and call for an sudden death overtime. This Saturday night at the Lizard Lounge – the final showdown between Nate Leavitt and Nate Rogers.

Let’s settle this the old fashioned way – by rocking.

Since yesterday’s Nate vs. Nate contest didn’t go so well due to my error, I decided to put a little more thought into this one. In order to determine who really is the Nate-o Supreme-o, I figured they should be tested on what they know about me, their proud leader. So I present:

NATE VS. NATE CONTEST #2: Brendan Trivia

Round 2

I know – it seems like an unfair contest. Since Nate Rogers and I were in bands together for over 5 years, you would think he would know me much better and have an advantage. This is not the case because a) Nate Leavitt and I have been in several projects together in the last year or so, including several Cover-Ups and our BalletRox performance and b) Nate Rogers doesn’t pay attention to anybody but himself and possibly Steve Gutenberg. So this is a much more evenly matched contest than you may imagine.

So I present to you, Nate vs. Nate Round 2. The question will be followed by each Nate’s answer and then the correct answer.

Question: How many toes does Brendan Boogie have?
Leavitt: 10.5
Rogers: Two. Brendan has hooves. It was our exasperation with re-shoeing him before every gig that led us to dissolve Scamper.
Correct answer: 37.

Question: In what city was Brendan Boogie born?
Leavitt: New York
Rogers: Brendan “Boogie” was born in Watertown MA.
Correct answer: Brendan wasn’t technically “born.” He was created by an inter-office memo during the dot com boom of the 90′s.

Question: Who was Brendan Boogie’s favorite Thundercat?
Leavitt: Cheetara… what a MILF! HOOOOO!
Rogers: John Blout
Correct answer: Voltron.

Question: What is Brendan Boogie’s proudest moment?
Leavitt: Declaring his love for a cartoon character
Rogers: Discovering that if you hold down the B button, Mario moves faster.
Correct answer: Assassinating Jared from Subway (August 2015)

Question: What secret would Brendan Boogie kill you if you let out?
Leavitt: His real last name.
Rogers: Bruce Willis’ character was dead the whole time.
Correct answer: He was Owen Wilson’s voice double for the movie Marmaduke.

Question: If you throw a beer at Brendan Boogie on stage, what is he most likely to do?
Leavitt: I wouldn’t waste a perfectly good beer on BB like that!
Rogers: Make a dick joke
Correct answer: Weep for 57 straight minutes.

Question: If Brendan Boogie were alone in a room with Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, how many seconds would it take for Brendan Boogie to punch him in the scrote?
Leavitt: .00001 seconds
Rogers: How many seconds can a punch possibly take? I say one, max — otherwise it’s more of a cradling. So, yeah, 45 seconds.
Correct answer: Trick question – MacFarlane actually lost his scrote during the war.

Question: What is Brendan Boogie’s middle name?
Leavitt: Fuckin’
Rogers: Marc Roderick
Correct answer: Elizabeth

Question: If Brendan Boogie were to throw a Japanese tea ceremony, which celebrities (living or dead) would he invite?
Leavitt: Rodney Dangerfield, Marilyn Monroe and Father Guido Sarducci
Rogers: John Blout, Marc Roderick, Seth MacFarlane, and Shelley Long
Correct answer: Well, it WAS going to be Nate Leavitt and Nate Rogers, but they obviously don’t know shit about me so I guess it’s just me and Justin Tibbetts.

Question: Why are you staring at Brendan Boogie like that?
Leavitt: Because he has BBQ sauce on his shirt and I’m hungry!
Rogers: I’m kind of perplexed by his inclusion of Shelley Long, that’s all.
Correct answer: The smoke show behind his steely green eyes.

Wow! What an exciting zero-zero tie! I can see why you all have soccer fever these days! After yesterday’s spelling bee debacle and today’s oh-fer, we’ve got to settle this thing once and for all with the final tiebreaker contest of Nate vs. Nate… tomorrow! Right here on the Boogiespacethingy!

This kind of thing gets you really excited for this Saturday’s show, doesn’t it? Be sure to get your advance tickets – the Lizard is a small room.

As I mentioned, this Saturday the Best Intentions will be rocking the Lizard Lounge (You can get your advance tix here) with This Blue Heaven, The Doctors Fox, and Glenn Yoder & His Merry Band (Glenn is in Cassavettes). I also mentioned that Nate Rogers (of Scamper and The Future Everybody) and Nate Leavitt (of The Blizzard of ’78) will be joining me on guitar.

What I DIDN’T tell you was that I am a small, small man. I feel that the best way to elicit good performances by my guys is to create a sense of competition. As we have been rehearsing for the show, I’ve been asking myself one question: who is the superior Nate?

In order to determine Nate supremacy, I have decided to make it official. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you:

NATE VS. NATE

Round 1

As we lead up to the show, I will be presenting a series of contests that will determine who will be Nate Numero Uno at the Lizard on Saturday night. Without further ado, I present the first contest…

NATE VS. NATE CONTEST #1: The Spelling Bee

I emailed Nate and Nate a series of National Spelling Bee-winning words with the following instructions:

Please correctly spell the following words that I am now emailing you. Do NOT look them up on the internet. Honor system, fellas. (The word is followed by each Nate’s answer).

Word #1: gladiolus
Rogers: gladiolus
Leavitt: gladiolus

Word#2: cerise
Rogers: cerise
Leavitt: cerise

Word #3: luxuriance
Rogers: luxuriance
Leavitt: luxuriance

Word #4: albumen
Rogers: albumen
Leavitt: albumen

Word #5: asceticism
Rogers: asceticism
Leavitt: asceticism

Word #6: fracas
Rogers: fracas
Leavitt: fracas

Word #7: foulard
Rogers: foulard
Leavitt: foulard

Word #8: chlorophyll
Rogers: chlorophyll
Leavitt: chlorophyll

Word #9: insouciant
Rogers: insouciant
Leavitt: insouciant

Word #10: soubrette
Rogers: soubrette
Leavitt: soubrette

Final score: Nate Rogers 10 for 10, Nate Leavitt 10 for 10. Result: tie.

Okay, so perhaps email wasn’t the best venue for a spelling bee. My bad. I’ll tweak this thing a little bit and come back with a more conclusive contest tomorrow, I swear.

Brendan Boogie & The Best Intentions
With This Blue Heaven, The Doctors Fox, and Glenn Yoder & His Merry Band
The Lizard Lounge, Mass Ave, Cambridge
Saturday June 19
8:30 doors 21+, $8 adv/$10 door

It just seems to continue on and on, doesn’t it? And there’s no end in sight, my rock-loving friends.

Although it seems like I’ve been playing a lot lately (what with the Songwriter Residency and the Gay Pride Cover-Up and whatnot and so forth), it’s actually been a few months since I’ve gotten together with an actual rock and roll band behind me. That all ended last week when I re-assembled my band for rehearsal for the next big rock and roll show at the Lizard Lounge on June 19. (Get your tickets now!)

I should clarify – by “my band” I meant “3 guys who have never played together in their lives.” Unfortunately, neither Ken nor Tim can make the show in June (it’s “Twink Week” down in P-Town), so I had to enlist the back-up duties of my two favorite Nates (sorry, Hawthorne): Nate Rogers of The Future Everybody and Nate Leavitt of The Blizzard of ’78. It’s an all-Nate guitar battery! How delightfully kitschy!

If you’ve followed my band at all, you know that lineup changes are always part of the deal. I briefly considered changing the name of the band to “Brendan Boogie & Whoever Shows Up,” except I would lose that delightful alliteration. Part of the fun of making music for me is experiencing what different musicians bring to the table. “Cigarette” sounds completely different with Tim Delaney on lead than it does with Jason Dunn on lead than it does with Nate Leavitt, etc. etc. It’s always very exciting for me to see what different people do with my music.

If the first rehearsal was any indication, this Nate-heavy lineup should be bringing a very cool musical energy to the show on June 19. I wouldn’t miss it if I were you.

I know, I know – you’re all still recovering from the pageantry that was the last night of the Songwriter Residency. Is it time for more revelry already? When do we get to rest?

No rest for the fabulous, my pretties. Another edition of The Cover-Up is happening this Saturday at the Lizard Lounge. The theme of this month’s show is gay pride – gay and gay-friendly artists and icons galore. Here’s the lineup:

Gene Dante & The Future Starlets
Larry Banilow
John Powhida International Airport
Coehlo Bravo
Nate Rogers of the Future Everybody
with guest David Santos of Eddie Japan

With that lineup and the gay pride theme, you know there will be some serious shenanigans. I know I probably don’t need to say this anymore, but I will anyway – this puppy WILL sell out, so be sure to get your advance tickets.

Time for a recap of this past weekend’s show at the Somerville Armory:

-  Despite driving by several times, I had actually never been inside the Armory.  It turned out to be a really cool venue.  We played in the Cafe room which was absolutely perfect for an acoustic show.  Great sound system, a nice front section with tables for the people who wanted to pay attention, room in the back for the chatters to drink beer and wine – overall a really great set-up.  Not nearly as many bazookas as I was hoping for, but I suppose that’s ultimately a good thing.

-  Upon arrival at the venue, Nate Rogers was finishing his soundcheck.  We quickly ran through an early Brendan Boogie Band tune that I hadn’t played in years, setting the tone for an evening of musical adventure and collaboration.  Then, we made out, setting the tone for an evening of regret and self-loathing.

-  When my drummer Justin arrived at the venue, he apparently had some trouble negotiating the Armory’s walls, as I got a text “Can someone come out and lower the drawbridge?”

-  As the venue started to fill up, one of my guest artists Jillian Santella was getting a wee bit nervous.  See, this was her return to music after several years off and she was getting a little, what’s the word, edgy.  Jillian and I have been writing some music together recently and this seemed like a good time to debut a few of the songs.  After a few minutes of taking the full brunt of Jillian’s anxiety, I pointed her to the wine bar and got ready for the show.  Thank you, wine bar.  You have my eternal gratitude.

-  The show began with Nate  regaling the crowd with some of his finest sad songs.  Here’s a sample video, courtesy of Mike “Big Flapi” Mirabella.  Check out the sexy mood lighting:

-  After Nate brought the house down, it was my turn to play my little songs with a few special guests.  Jillian had no reason to be nervous, as she knocked everyones socks on their asses.  If she’s going to be that good, she should take another several years off.  We were also joined by the always delightful Beth Holub on viola for “February” and a cover of Dire Straits’ “So Far Away,” one of my favorite songs of all time.  Here’s a video of Ken, Justin, and I doing “Primary Love Object” from the first record:

-  Most inappropriate thing I said from stage:  “We have CDs and t-shirts available.  I have the ability to take credit cards now.  I just bend over and you run your card right up my ass.  Somehow, it charges your card.”  I spent the next song and a half giggling while the audience looked on in unamused silence.

-  Golden Bloom took the stage, featuring the multi-talented Shawn Fogel.  If you haven’t had the chance, I strongly recommend checking out a live show if you can.  Definitely buy his record.  The Golden Bloom set featured Armando the drum machine and a pineapple shaker.  Also, a bunch of killer songs.

-  After the first round of sets, Nate and I joined Mike Mirabella and a triumphantly returning Keith Michel for an impromptu Scamper reunion.  It’s always a magical moment to lure Keith out of retirement to sing a few harmonies.  Sadly, there is no video of our version of “Wait Wait,” but just close your eyes and imagine it being really awesomely sexy.

-  To close out the night, Nate led Shawn and I in a version of the Gin Blossoms’ “Hey Jealousy.”  Nate is always looking for an excuse to play that song, so he didn’t need much prompting.  Before we played, Shawn asked “Do you want to play drums or should I?” to which I responded “Drums?  I could barely handle keeping time with the pineapple shaker.”

-  After the show, we spent the evening closing out the Highland Kitchen with friends old and new.  I learned that you shouldn’t say to Nate, Mike, and Justin, “Hey, hold my beer while I go to the bathroom, will you?”  Those guys are a bunch of assholes.

All in all, a tremendous night.  The Somerville Armory is a great space and I can’t wait to get back there again soon.  Hooray for rock and roll awesomeness!

It’s time for another BrendanBoogie.com interview with a former band member!  This time, I speak with my former Scamper and Brendan Boogie Bandmate Nate Rogers.  Here’s the handsome devil that currently fronts The Future Everybody:

The vest of the vest

In preparation for his big acoustic show with yours truly and Golden Bloom at the Somerville Armory, I gchatted with Nate while watching pro wrestling on television…

Brendan Boogie:  So, your thoughts on tonight’s return of Bret “The Hitman” Hart to the WWE?

Nate Rogers: You misspelled “Bret Michaels.” And “The Tonys.”  Also, that was like 6 months ago.

BB: So a lot of interviews ask what your favorite local bands are right now. I’m going to go the other way – what current local bands do you not care for so much?

NR: Well, The Rationales definitely get worse the more ex-Scampers they recruit.  I’m also tired of the Fatal Flaw never booking shows with me. Good music, but come on already.

BB:  Well, in all fairness, if you were them, would YOU want to spend the night with you?

NR: Spending the night with me is no longer a pre-requisite for a gig.
 
BB: Speaking of ex-Scampers, what do you miss most about our old outfit?

NR: It’s something I hadn’t even thought of, going into TFE:  in Scamper, I only sang lead on a couple tunes, giving me ample opportunity to dance around, visit other people on stage, do foxy synchronized routines, lean over backwards til my knees snapped, and so on. Now I’m locked at the mic for pretty much the whole show. I need to get more creative with my hip shimmying, and/or write longer guitar solo sections for Morgan.
 
BB: I miss the backrubs.

NR: I made you do that at O’Brien’s, is that right?

BB: Yes, for our 5 year Scamperversary, I gave out coupons. Mike got one hug, you got one backrub, and Keith gets to punch me in the stomach once as hard as he wants.  As long as he warns me. That’s how Houdini died.

NR: Did Keith ever cash in, by the way?
 
BB:  No, he’s the only one that hasn’t cashed in. It’s good until 2013, though.

NR: I’ll be sure to remind him. He should have done it at your recent Paradise show.

BB: Knowing him, he’s waiting for an even more opportune moment. Like me speaking at my kids’ career day at school.

NR: Heaven knows he hasn’t forgotten. He must be getting Google Calendar reminders.
 
BB: So other than the shimmying, what’s different about being in charge of a band for the first time ever?

NR: I think I’m most struck by having the final say in things. The day-to-day stuff isn’t so different from any of my former projects. We divvy up duties — Matt is spearheading our upcoming recording project, for instance — and I strive to be pretty laid back as “leader.” But when we do reach an impasse, it’s nice to be able to say “hey, it’s my band, we’re doing it this way.” Or, even better, when someone will just say “Nate should make this decision.”

BB: Speaking of recording, what’s the story with that? Want to let us in on the plans?

NR: We’re hitting New Alliance at the end of the month to lay down basics on hopefully 4 tunes, time and money permitting. We’re launching into pre-production mode in earnest this week. Mike’s excited to use a metronome again. But before we get to that, I foresee a nice knock-down drag-out about which songs we’re doing.

BB: You’ll find those are the moments when its good to be the king.

NR: After New Alliance, we’ll be doing the rest with Matt. Too early to predict an estimated release, alas.

BB: I’m definitely interested to hear what you guys come up with in the studio. You have some pretty diverse players in your band. What does everyone bring to the table?

NR: Oh man, it’s a whole new world for me. The only person whose bag of tricks I’m kind of familiar with is Mike, of course, having played with him since 2001. But with the new guys and girl, he and I are both getting pushed out of our comfort zones, which is awesome. I love the fresh blood and new ideas and new dynamics. In Matt and Morgan, I feel like we found this two-headed monster of awesome searing rock and roll, writing parts that don’t remotely resemble anything that, say, Scamper would have done. And they do it like magic, disappearing into a mystical mind-meld musical moment and emerging with some Holy Shit part. And then V-Rock… having keys/piano has been a long-elusive band dream of mine, and it has more than lived up to that dream. Considering Veronica has never done this “local rock band” thing before, she’s come into her own real fast. Her parts, particularly the piano ones, often elevate songs from merely “grand” to outright “epic.” Once we get the 3-part harmonies going in earnest, we’ll be unstoppable.  (I just broke my self-proclaimed 2010 moratorium on “epic.”)

BB: Are you talking about using the word or the length of your answer?  Seriously, I grew a beard waiting for that one.

NR: The problem with doing an interview with someone like me over a chat program is the interminable waits while I find just the perfect words, phrasings, and punctuatings.
 
BB: Well, it actually gave us time for a write-in question, believe it or not.
 
NR: Ha, we’re taking callers.
 
BB: This one comes from Mike M. in Revere:  “Who is your favorite bandmate and why?”

NR: Mike Nastri. Look it up.

BB: So we’ve got an acoustic show coming up on Friday at the Somerville Armory. Have you even been inside this place yet? I hear its a great venue.

NR: I drove by it 700 times when we rehearsed at the Somerville Rock House, but I’ve never been inside.  I saw a parking lot, though. That’s nice.

BB: The best part is that we’ll be safe if the Redcoats try to attack.  Which, let’s face it, they might.

NR: We will lob acoustic guitars at them, and shield ourselves with our beards*. (* = contingent on you having a beard.)

BB: The beard issue is still undecided. So besides facial hair, what have you got in store for the people on Friday?

NR: I’m looking to nicely represent all of my songwriting eras. TFE stuff, Scamper stuff, solo whiny whiskey stuff. Maybe a new one. Maybe Veronica’s vocal debut on a heartbreaky favorite. And if you could see my Firefox history for the past couple hours, you’d see the ridiculous things under consideration for a cover.
 
BB: Huey Lewis, I assume?

NR: That’s eerie. “If This is It” seriously just came up on iTunes.

BB: As it should be. All is right in the universe. So the final question, as you would predict, is about me.
 
NR: And the answer, as ever, is no.

See Nate as well as me and the great Golden Bloom at the Somerville Armory this Friday night.  8pm start!  Early show!

Great show coming up right after the new year:

Pop Goes The Armory!

Really cool name, huh?  Here’s the deal:  it’s a night of acoustic power pop featuring me with a few Best Intentions and other various guests, Nate Rogers (formerly of Scamper and now helming The Future Everybody) and New York’s Golden Bloom.  I saw Golden Bloom at the Middle East a few months back and they blew me away.  Tremendous pop songwriting and charismatic performing.  Just one of my favorite bands right now.

Anywhoozle, you can get tickets for the event here.   It’s taking place at the Somerville Armory which is a really cool new space in which a lot of great shows are being played.  Plus, as you can tell by the look of it, we’ll be safe if the British get all uppity and decide to attack during my set:

Bring it on, limey bastards!

Friday January 8 at 8pm!  Come on down.