In The Dark is a new short film by Michael Runion (JJAMZ, solo) and Kristen Kassinger.
My thoughts after watching it: 1) Oh yeah, Spin the Bottle as an adult is just the worst; 2) someone always has to be That Guy during potentially mortifying kissing games; 3) they have packed a lot of thoughts about the concept of “intimacy” into under four minutes.
Anyway, it is quite good, and you should watch it:
IN THE DARK from michaelrunion on Vimeo.
Johnny Hallyday, Beacon Theater, Oct. 7, 2012
Blake Mills, Terminal 5, New York, NY, Oct. 16, 2012
Fiona Apple, Terminal 5, New York, NY, 0ct. 16, 2012
Fiona Apple, Terminal 5, Oct. 16, 2012
Beast Patrol, The Studio at Webster Hall, October 19, 2012
Alex Greenwald and Z Berg, JJAMZ, The Studio at Webster Hall, Oct. 19, 2012
Alex Greenwald and Michael Runion, JJAMZ, The Studio at Webster Hall, Oct. 19, 2012
Sweatheart, Terminal 5, New York, NY, Oct. 22, 2012
The Dirty Pearls, Terminal 5, New York, NY, Oct. 22, 2012.
Justin Hawkins / The Darkness, Terminal 5, New York, NY, Oct. 22, 2012
Jeffertitti’s Nile w/ Father John Misty, Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY, Oct. 24, 2012
Katy Goodman, La Sera, Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY, Oct. 24, 2012
Father John Misty, w/ Jeffertitti, Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY, Oct. 24, 2012
Lindi Ortega, Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY, Oct. 26, 2012
Mike Ness, Social Distortion, Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY, Oct. 26, 2012
Apparently I didn’t go to any shows in November, either.
Sheena Ozzella, Lemuria, Webster Hall, New York, NY, Dec. 2, 2012
Ceremony and stage diver going in to the pit, Webster Hall, New York, NY, Dec. 2, 2012
Titus Andronicus, Webster Hall, New York, NY, Dec. 2, 2012
Animal Collective, Terminal 5, Dec. 5, 2012
Casey Neill, 68 Jay Street Bar, Brooklyn, NY, Dec. 8, 2012
A small fraction – there are nine of them! – of Industries of the Blind, Knitting Factory, Brooklyn, NY, Dec. 21, 2012
Alex Greenwald and Z Berg, JJAMZ, Webster Hall, New York, NY, July 10, 2012
Michael Runion, JJAMZ, Webster Hall, New York, NY, July 10, 2012
JJAMZ, Webster Hall, New York, NY, July 10, 2012
Lita Ford, Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, July 13, 2012
Bret Michaels, Poison, Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, July 13, 2012
C.C. DeVille, Poison, Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, July 13, 2012
Bobby Dall, Poison, Nikon at Joes Beach Theater, July 13, 2012
Ricki Rockett, Poison, Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, July 13, 2012
Poison, Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, July 13, 2012
Rick Allen, Def Leppard, Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, July 13, 2012
Rick Savage and Joe Elliot, Def Leppard, Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, July 13, 2012
Phil Collen, Def Leppard, Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, July 13, 2012
Def Leppard, Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, July 13, 2012
Marcy Playground, Bank of America Pavilion, Boston, MA, July 28, 2012
A. Jay Popoff, Lit, Bank of America Pavilion, Boston, MA, July 28, 2012
Mark McGrath, Sugar Ray, Bank of America Pavilion, Boston, MA, July 28, 2012
Art Alexakis, Everclear, Bank of America Pavilion, Boston, MA, July 28, 2012
Art Alexakis (Everclear) and Mark McGrath (Sugar Ray), Bank of America Pavilion, July 28, 2012
David Kuckhermann, Beacon Theater, New York, NY, Aug. 30, 2012
Dead Can Dance, Beacon Theater, New York, NY, Aug. 30, 2012
Larry & his Flask, Webster Hall, Sept. 29, 2012
Frank Turner, Webster Hall, September 29, 2012
Additionally, Jennifer reports:
Jennifer the Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog is so excited about her featured artist today that she’s not even waiting until she has pictures to tell you all about him.
Michael Runion is an artist I discovered entirely due to Twitter. According to his MySpace, his genre is “Visual/Folk/Pop”. (Tangentially, I really do love MySpace genre descriptions; some of them are generic things like “rock/pop” and some of them are more interesting things like “2-step/experimental/country” and finding out who is accurate with their self-labeling is always a good time.) But getting back to the subject at hand: left to my own devices, I think I’d tell you that Runion specializes in beautiful, delicate melodies wrapped around razor-sharp lyrics. The result is songs that are good company for filing as well as long train rides to the beach. (I’ll let you know how they do with the car stereo test after this summer.) I’m particularly fond of Drunk as I’ve Ever Been and Don’t Let Her Hold You Down, the latter of which would be the perfect tune for dancing a barefoot two-step with a cowboy before sending him back out on the rodeo circuit. If that sounds like something you’d be into, you should check him out.
I don’t have any pictures of him (yet; I’m hoping if he tours this summer he’ll swing through New York), so I’m bringing some videos (that are not mine) to share instead. The first one is him singing The Daylight, with Z Berg of The Like (genreless, for now, but: ’60s glamour/fierce ladies/pop, their songs WILL get stuck in your head). There’s a whole story for this song written in her facial expressions and the set of her shoulders:
Next up: another duet/battle, this time doing Don’t Look Back with Dave Rawlings, who sang with Gillian Welch for many years but has recently reconfigured himself as the Dave Rawlings Machine (genre: alternative/acoustic/industrial)(?!) and struck out on his own:
And here he is by himself (kind of; the people lounging on the beanbag chair in the background are his friends) on public access tv, with Soft Hands:
And then my favorite video, Our Time Will Come, which, fair warning, contains shirtlessness and shaving:
Michael Runion Official Website – WARNING: PLAYS MUSIC!
Michael Runion Twitter
