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Party in a Box
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Our best pictures are of The Sugarplastic but we left the Great American Smokeout Benefit Show last night most impressed with Space MTN. Dina Waxman's sad songs about loss and past relationships gone bad mixed with her deadpan banter in between songs were oddly appropriate for this night of jokes and music centered around that most hilarious of subjects: Cancer.
The evening began with a short speech by a Doctor from Kaiser Permanente who immediately brought the mood in the house down by talking about his father's death. Then came the comedy. The crowd wasn't really into it until Paul F. Thompkins set but Craig Fairbanks and Michelle Biloon both amused us. Then Space MTN arrived on stage and our whole perspective changed.
The charged lyrics from their debut album, "A Drawing of a Memory of a Photograph of You", got our full attention and the attention of the chatty audience that, until their performance, had been more interested in their private conversations and their beverages than the entertainment of the evening.
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Super Plastic was also enjoyable but we left before Let's Go Sailing and even though The Galaxy (and the Knitting Factory by extension) gave us a minor freakout by closing their parking structure through the renovations, we had a very good time.
While we normally don't shameless plug, this is for a good cause so we'll point out that ACS, Kaiser and Evite are launching this Invite Good Health campaign to encourage you to create smoke-free parties through Evite.
And, finally, Quit Smoking Funny from our favorite web comic strip, Diesel Sweeties.
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