Readers ask, we answer: "Dudes," we’ve been asked, "when the heck is the Skinny going to reopen?" (Okay, that’s a compilation of many questions, and not a direct quote. We admit it.) "Sibilance" staff to the rescue. Bill Umbel, owner of the former Whit’s End building wherein the Skinny will eventually reside once extensive renovations are completed, says, "we have started to slave away a little bit at it . . . it hasn’t gone as quickly we wanted it to." Finally, however, they’ve "got to the end of jumping, so the [administrative] hurdles are mostly done with," and now it’s all about "how fast can we get the work done." Still, you readers are thinking, that doesn’t answer the question. All right, all right. Umbel says, "I think we’re shooting for into October, early November — we’re about six months behind where I’d like to be." The Blue Mango, formerly of Middle Street, will occupy the ground floor, while the Skinny will ensconce itself upstairs.

"Sibilance" asks, you answer: We asked for details on the first Lost on Liftoff show, you delivered, and more. Brian checked in to say, "I was at the first show in Manchester and it was great. You couldn’t even tell it was their first gig. They had Jeff Kral on bass (from Goud's Thumb) filling in as their other bass player could not attend.

"I was also at Weave’s band, "Rulers of the Raging Main," first show last night at the Alehouse in Portland. The show was with Stars Look Down and "very special guests." It was great! Very Queens of the Stone Age/Kyuss like."

Then we got this from Kate: "I would have had no idea it was [Lost on Liftoff’s] first show if I hadn’t known. (if that makes any sense) . . . They really seemed to mesh well . . . Walt [Craven]’s voice sounded great, but the guitar is different from 6gig. He got rid of the pedal board, and uses only a couple, so it was really cool to see what other things he can do with the guitar, and he does some pretty snazzy riffs! Shane [Kinney] was great on drums. He doesn’t overpower the sound, really enhances it. And Nick [Lambert] really sounded great on backup vocals and guitar. The thing that stood out for me was how comfortable they seemed on stage (even though they probably weren’t)."

As for Rulers of the Raging Main, Kate says, "for it being a ‘hush hush’ show there was a great turnout . . . I had never heard Weave sing or play guitar before. I have to say I was surprised as to how good he was! It was really weird for me to see him doing that, though, since I’ve only seen him play bass. He still has that "bass player" look if you know what I mean. A couple of their songs really reminded me a lot of Jim Morrison, the vocals especially. It’s a nice clean sound with good riffs and good vocals — straight up rock n roll! Their set is a little foggy — it was my birthday and I had a bit too much to drink, so I don’t remember in great detail but those are the things that stood out."

That’s okay, Kate, the "Sibilance" staff are usually so pissed they just make stuff up anyway.