If you haven't heard of Me First & The Gimme Gimmes, they are a punk rock side project for members of NOFX, Lagwagon, and Foo Fighters, to name a few. They don't write their own songs, they strictly play cover songs - everything from Cat Stevens to Boyz II Men. They're a really fun band, and I like them because I enjoy the punk bands (and Foo Fighters) that the members are from.

Anyway (yes, this is about baseball!), they were hired to play Skyblast - a three-day festival after the Pirates' ballgames over the weekend. I don't know whether this had to do with A) The Gimmes' lead singer, Spike Slawson, being from Pittsburgh, B) Someone in the PR/Marketing department of the Pirates being a fan, or C) Like I mentioned earlier, the Gimmes play fun music and *can* appeal to a wide audience because they blend songs that an older generation knows with the style that a younger generation generally prefers.

However, things didn't go so well. The Gimmes were actually booed off the stage on Friday and were asked to not even bother returning for Saturday and Sunday. Slawson told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "It was an obscene amount of money for the amount of work we did, so I can't complain. We're a punk band. Getting booed by a sports crowd makes us viable."

I would have loved to have been there, as I've always wanted to see the Gimmes play, but I'm surprised they even got the opportunity in the first place. It's too bad the crowd wasn't a little more receptive, but who cares? It's just another reason to hate Pittsburgh - you know, after stealing the Super Bowl and all...

But, I love it when two of my favorite things (punk rock and baseball) collide. Reminds me of the time when I was in 9th grade and I went to the Kingdome and got Scott Radinsky to sign his band's CD cover...during the game! Remember, the Kingdome didn't have bullpens, so I just walked down to the railing during the game, tapped Radinsky on the shoulder and asked if he would sign my CD cover. He freaked out. He thought it was so awesome that I brought that to the game and he was passing it around to the other relievers, saying things like, "See! I told you I have a band!" Good times...