Say Goodbye

I dare say, I am weak.

Whilst a young lad, Fleetwood Mac was probably my favourite band (well, until I discovered Blondie a year or two later).

Nine years ago, I posted / swore I would never go back to see them.

It seems I've lied.........to myself................and more importantly.........to you.  {sob}

But since the band fired Lindsey Buckingham a month ago, and then announced they're replacing him with two folks, I was intrigued.  ....well, at least by one of the folks.

While I'm sure Mike Campbell, who was about to start collecting unemployment after losing his job in the Heartbreakers, will do a fine job as the band's lead guitarist, it is the addition of Neil Finn as the third vocalist, that actually got me to purchase tickets to their show this upcoming autumn.

Don't ask for any rationale for this - there is none. I've searched high and low for a true reason I bought what are just overpriced tickets.   I'm curious about song selection and harmonies. I'm not sure curiosity is going to be enough, but we will see.

This isn't the first time Buckingham has left the band, but no doubt the last. Technically, I don't think it was his decision this time.

I can guarantee you this will be the last time.  I mean, at 60 Finn is the youngest by a decade - so some part of me thinks part of the band won't even make it to the start of the tour, let alone the end of it.



Song by: Fleetwood Mac

This Life

I haven't done the math, but I am guessing, on average we go to a concert maybe once per year.

I do love live music, but it's the other things I loathe - like other people. It took us a full year after the Dixie Chicks to face another group of people.

When it comes to larger venues, I think I'm done done.  I don't care who the act is.....I wouldn't think of going to anything with greater than 2,000 seats.

So I was very excited by the announcement that John Paul White was coming. Assuming (incorrectly) that 710 might say 'no', I purchased the tickets before axing him if he wanted to attend. Even better, it was at a new place in Cleveburgh - which at full capacity might reach 1,000....but probably less.

As it is the Music Box Supper Club, they actually have table food service during the concert. We opted to eat elsewhere before hand and just enjoy the show.  Thank g-d!  While we had to share our assigned table with 4-6 others, I saw no one else in the place eating dinner. That would have been awk-ward!  {yes, say that last word in a gay sing-songy voice.}

White did a great job. The set started off with just him - which I thought the entire things was going to be anyway - but on song three, the additional four musicians showed up for most of the rest of the concert.  I will say, the first band song, the mix was wayyyy off, and the singing was nearly unintelligible. The sound guys eventually cleared that all up.

White only has two albums, plus his Civil Wars stuff.  It is no surprise he doesn't touch the latter - as however that band ended, it didn't sound good, though no one talks about it, though he did allude to his solitude over the last few years since.  He also played nothing from his first solo disk - which left very little.

He did most of his last disk (still stellar material!) and a few covers, including a Dan Seals (not from Seals and Croft, but related to) song, and oddly or not, a version of ELO's "Can't Get it Out of My Head".  The latter song started off extremely well, then got a little weighed down. But by the end of the song, I noticed I was broadly smiling......at the interpretation of the tune.

I'll have to check out more events at places like this. The crowd was manageable and well behaved. Traffic was a breeze.  And it was $18 per ticket!

Score!


....but if Mr. White ever comes to your town, shell out the dough. Totally worth it.




Song by: John Paul White

I Like It

We do not go to many concerts. I think the last big one was Arcade Fire.

 But on Friday night we went to go see the Dixie Chicks. They haven't done a real tour of the U.S. in over a decade and Cleveland was their second stop on this leg of the tour (they started in Europe two months ago).

So when they announced last Autumn they'd be touring this summer, I wanted to go. Tickets were outrageous, so we kind of held off.  Within the last few weeks, good seats opened up (I'm too old to sit on the lawn) at a fairly "reasonable" price.....and they were aisle seats, so no crawling over anyone. Score!

It had been a good 12 or so years since we actually hiked out to Blossom Music Center - and that was for Diana Krall and Tony Bennett.

These two are not how I normally attended a Blossom event. Those usually involved lots and lots of alcohol - and where you didn't mind if got muddy, bug bites or the likes.

So, I want to tell you about the music - but there's a little more too, so I'll break it down into three categories

The Venue

Blossom has been a part of my life - most of my life. And I have some ties to it, not just for music. An uncle was instrumental in getting it built - and as it is the summer home of the Cleveland Orchestra, which he was actively involved with - there was a nice garden dedicated to him. The garden has changed / lessened, but it is still name for him.  And a friend and neighbor was the architect who designed the venue.

The grounds are lovely. The food choices are questionable (I got a hamburger, but I'm not sure what 'donkey sauce' is. Nor do I think I want to know - and yes, I've run through all of your potential jokes in my head.) The parking and traffic patterns are atrocious. The bathroom situation??  UGH.

Well, like many large concert places, women stand in line forever. Blossom has always had women sneaking off into the woods to squat, or barging (yes, barging) into the men's room. I was happy to let a woman pushing another woman in a wheelchair in - and ahead of me. But the other dozen women in line  - in the men's bathroom - were drunk......and fucking rude.

Yes, they were yelling at men in or own bathroom. And in the stall next to me? Two girls (not women) taking video and selfies of themselves, while loudly talking about - and I kid you not - their 'buttholes'.

Ah yes. The fairer sex.

I'd bet one-hundred billion dollars that the majority of these women - and men not saying anything about them being in the restroom - staunchly oppose any transgender bathroom laws. And I'll double that bet by getting that they don't see the irony in that stance versus their actions.

The Concert

Having never seen DCX, I figured this might be the only time to do it. The show was a little over two hours long and packed with two dozen songs (or so). There was little talking, and mostly filled with song after song. And when there was talking, it was Natalie Maines doing it. Neither of the other Chicks uttered a word - not even a 'thank you' or 'nice to be here'.  Maybe the lack of communication ties into something bigger as the band is doing zero press for this tour.

"The Long Way Around" was the perfect selection to start the show, but it's a tough song....it starts low and builds. Vocally, it's probably a better song mid-show.  By no means was it bad (and it's one of my favourites), but compared to the rest of the show, it was on the weaker side. Maines' voice soared to record quality after the first song.

Sonically, the band was solid, the vocals were good, the selections were mostly predictable - not that I'm complaining. They only had four albums and no new material in a decade, so their selection were somewhat limited. They had a few covers and a few deeper cuts, but for the most part they stuck with the hits - of which there were many.

The crowd in the pavilion reacted as expected for most of the songs. You could tell when it was a deeper cut or a cover song they didn't know, as the crowd would mostly sit down.

And there was an acoustic portion as well - and that went over well......for me. Sure they did a few hits there too, but they took on a Beyonce (I know, right?) song from her new album. I had nothing to compare it to, having never heard the original. Had they not said beforehand who they were covering, I might have liked it more. It's awful, but I prejudge on anything Beyonce.

I was much more into their cover of Patty Griffin's "Don't Let Me Die in Florida". DCX have done a number of Griffin songs on their albums over the years - and Maines did one on her solo disk. Her music fits their style perfectly.

There was one instrumental where it was just the women - no band - and they incorporated "Single Ladies" and the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" into the mix. It's doubtful most picked up on the latter.

And since I like twangy - I thought they did an excellent job on "Truth No. 2", "White Trash Wedding" and "Sin Wagon" (possibly the best song of the night). Though "Top of the World" came in a close second....for me.

For the crowd - no song got more reaction than "Goodbye Earl". And the video montage behind that song was interesting - it included a lot of people who committed violence against women - including OJ...and our local (now dead) weirdo, Ariel Castro. But it's the image of Trump that is getting all the media attention (srsly - Gooooogle 'Trump Dixie Chicks", you'll see it).  What you don't hear about it is that it shows up on the screen for all of 4.6 seconds. 710 never even saw it.

They did "Landslide" too. I'm no longer a fan of that song, but I did turn to 710 and go, "well, Stevie Nicks just pocked another $1.17."

They closed the show (or the encore) with "Not Ready to Make Nice". A mixing error muddle the first line or two, but it got cleaned up quickly - and it was done well. I still love that song.

Visually, the entire show was well done. Elaborate but understated....at times. The over all theme was black and white. Outfits and even all instruments were either black or white. The stage was sparse, which for some reason I loved. The other band members pushed off to the side, facing inward, so the three women were at times seemingly alone on stage.

And clearly for months they must have filmed snippets of themselves to be incorporated in weird ways in the background video.

Cars seemed to be a big theme for the video - I'm sure artistically there is a reason, but it was lost on me. So was the accompanying music of Motorhead during one of them, while the Chicks took a few minutes to change.

Some videos were so well timed, that I thought - "oh, there's no spontaneity" because there really couldn't be. Everything was worked to the minute, it seemed. Still the girls seemed to be having fun - though it wasn't lost on me that besides two not speaking - there was zero on stage interaction, save for the instrumental when it was just the three.

The one thing I did notice was that with a large venue, and really turning up the volume, the band lost something they're known for on records - harmonies. It's not that they weren't there, but much harder to hear.

For the music - it was a nice evening and 710 loved it, which is important when I drag him to things like these.

The Crowd

For the crowd - well, it made the evening questionable.

First you have the traffic. Going in, it was s-l-o-w, but controlled. Leaving, it was s---l---o---w and total anarchy. The suckiest summer job has to be the guy with the flashlight trying to direct traffic in the middle of a field to drunk hicks in their 4 x 4s.........at 23:30 to 01:00.  It could not possibly pay enough.

I'm older now, so those fun drunken times I had at Blossom in my youth are gone. And I'm glad for that. But on the walk out, seeing every drunk chick trying to hold up every other drunk chick - and all of them being obnoxious - I turned to 710 and go, "g-d, I hope I wasn't like this.....", but on some level I probably was.

As expected, the crowd was estrogen heavy.....though some of those "women" could stand some high doses of hormone replacement therapy......or and extensive courses in Charm School.

A crash course in fashion would not hurt either. And yes, I'm shaming - sue me.

Sooooooo many females with cowboy hats you know they got at some poorly themed hoe-down for Diabetes or some tragic bachelorette party. And tons and tons of cowboy boots.....many with fringe. And as predicted by me (to 710) on the way in, most of those girls would be carrying them on their way out. ...and they were.

There was no beer under 22oz for sale. And at least at baseball games they don't sell after the 7th inning. Here, it was right up until the end - because what could go wrong with being drunk out in a field parking lot in the middle of the night with 19,000 cars vying for the same two roads?

I had to laugh - and I'm sure it is now the norm. No one was watching the concert. They weren't even filming the stage....because you know, it's still far away. They're filming the video monitors or taking stills of the video monitors.

Somehow I seem to be one of the few who go to these events primarily for the music. Sure I like the ancillary stuff too, but if I had to guess, it was for most - the booze, the friends, the overall experience and maybe then the music.

I bitched about the inching out of the parking lot. Well, I bitched about the assholes who'd try to cut me off. Against logic, I went the opposite direction of home and the freeways. There were a few of us to do this - but seriously, only a few. The other 18,835 cars went left. I turned right and went in a big circle - and was only in the car for one hour and twenty minutes. 40 of that was in the parking lot. This was better than predicted.

I hate to say it, but my youth is gone - on every level. Save maybe seeing a Cleveland Orchestra show out there - I cannot envision ever going back out to Blossom. The external experience brings me nothing and a lesser quality show wouldn't balance that.

As it is, DCX made the trip worthwhile.




Song by: the Dixie Chicks

Ceremony

Two days ago, I got a text from my friend Tony.

You might remember him as my meth friend. Hopefully former meth / current friend, but to be honest, I don't know and I didn't ask.

Tony has made some life changes; left a shitty shitty job, sold his house in Los Angeles and relocated to his home town of Las Vegas. I'm not sure that does much for potential drug usage, but he's closer to his immediate family, so maybe that is an impetus to quit.....or at least cut back.

Anyhoo - I actually had not heard from him in months, so I reached out, just to ask him if he was going to see New Order, as they were playing in Vegas this last week.  I got crickets. At least for a few days. Maybe he was on a bender.

Tony shares my love of '80s music.

No.  That's not true. His surpasses mine by far, which is a little amazing as he is almost 10 years my junior. I'm not even sure the '80s was his time. I wasn't surprised to hear that he got tickets and was going to the show. I was jealous.

I so wanted to see New Order. I never have, and let's face it, I'm up there in years. They're up there too. Perhaps this would be the last chance. But a quick look at their tour 'schedule' showed them playing six one-night stands in six cities.

I mean - why bother? It had to cost more to lug over their gear than they'd ever make at the box office. The tickets were pricey but not astronomical - and the venues weren't mega-huge either. Still, I wanted to see them.

My friend Doug tried to get me to come to Chicago to see them, but you know - work. I'm only three months in and it wasn't a weekend show, or I'd have done it in a heart beat.

But Tony texted me out of the blue on Monday, saying his concert buddy cancelled on him and did I want to hop a flight to Vegas. The ticket and lodging would be on him. I just had to be in Vegas by 19:00......that same day (Vegas time).  It was 13:00 my time.

I think I considered it for about 7 minutes. Could I get a flight? It would have to be on time and direct, but I could make it.

But my logical side took over and just said that I appreciated the offer and even the thought, but I could not do it. Though I got him to promise me he'd tell me about it and get some video.

Yesterday, I got about six clips from the concert.

The band sounded good.....more instrumentally than vocally, but I suppose that's to be expected. Visually, it looked like a good show too.

Tony said they played "Your Silent Face" which is a deep cut from their second album, Power, Corruption & Lies.  It sounds like they did a song or two from Joy Division - including the expected, "Love Will Tear Us Apart".

While I knew the band was going to be on Colbert, I missed them and forgot to "tape" it.  Ruckiry (not Jon's boss), the clip is on-line. Again, a strong musical performance and an ok vocal one.





Maybe they'll come back...........maybe I'll get to go.




Song by: New Order

Don't Let Me Down Again

You know, some days I just write to write. This might be one of them.

I'm not too too ashamed to say I was a fan of Fleetwood Mac.

Their Rumours tour was what I consider my first official concert. I chose the show, I paid for the tickets. I got a contact high way up on the rafters.

Five and one-half years ago, I wrote that in the past, I had seen Fleetwood Mac perform live eight times. Four of those times were great. One was awful. One was pretty decent. Two were fair, at best.....and I'm speaking of the last two times, after Christine McVie had left the band.

Even in that last concert in which I saw the full five members (1997), which was only pretty decent, I anticipated never seeing them again. That show, was so.....calculated, it was a little depressing.

Maybe the others back in the '70s were too and I was too young to notice....or care. But I think they had more than a hint of spontaneity. Of course back then, all the members were raving drug addicts, so....you could add that to the mix.

I successfully avoided their tour last year. I had no interest. Their Ep that they put out was horrific and I decided to try to retain memories when they weren't all Medicare D eligible.

Still, with Christine McVie coming back to the group after 16 years (their first show of this tour opened two nights ago) I had a pang of 'should I?' when they announced another tour this year. But I held back - and for a few reasons.

The band members range from age 66 to 71. While Lindsey Buckingham's guitar work and vocals are seemingly intact from earlier days, Stevie Nicks was not so lucky. Oh her fan base thinks she's still the tits, but she has a range of three note. No. I'm not kidding.

Oddly enough, in the right setting (which is super rare), Buckingham can arrange her recorded music to still sound good. Live performances are a different story.

I can't sit through that again. Let alone pay out the nose for it.

Fleetwood Mac has the highest average ticket price of the 2014 touring year - at a whopping $388 per ticket.

Average.

So yes, you can get some tickets for $75 (plus handling fee, plus venue fee). So you know how high the ticket prices have to go to make that $388 average.

I've seen enough shows in the nose-bleed section to know that $75 isn't worth that kind of effort. I also know I'm not paying $500+ for a decent ticket. Full band or not.

And it is a full band. Plus.

Back in the day (oh yes, I'm using that phrase again), it was just the five of them that could deliver a stellar show. But now they have an additional guitarist, percussionist and three backing vocalists (to hit the notes that the three main singers no longer can).  During Christine McVie's absence, they also had a keyboardist. So, for all I know they'll retain that person for additional support. If so, the ancillary musicians will outnumber the actual band.

That just seems sad.

And true to Fleetwood Mac style, they're hitting the road with no new music to promote, nor will the play any new songs they allegedly have in the works. So it's the same old show they've been performing since 2009 (or 1998, actually) though the 2003 tour had some new music, which they've since discarded playing at all.

Even Buckingham said at the time of the tour announcement that 90% of the setlist is already settled. I can almost hear the running order in my head. Most of that has been in place since the Tusk tour.....in 1979!!!!!

(Actually, I found their first concert set-list, which they will never deviate from in the run of the shows....and it has maybe one song they've never done live in this iteration.)

They talk about future albums and tours, but c'mon guys....tick...tick...tick.  Your almost all in your '70s.

I'll give them this though - the entire tour is mostly sold out. While I briefly waffled on going, since they're not playing in Cleveland, what tickets that are available in other cities are either behind the stage (as if!) or pushing the four-digit price point (as if !!!!).

Chances are I'll have better seats watching the semi-crappy fan-made concert videos on YouTube which will no doubt, confirm all the reasons I opted not to go to the show.



Song by: Buckingham Nicks

There's a Story in Your Voice

I like to think of my title image as 'arty', not 'poorly shot'. But listen folks, there is only so much one can do with an iPhone from 200 feet back.

What you see is actually Elvis Costello.

Through the grace and generosity of my cousin and his wife, my nephew and I saw Mr. MacManus live on Monday night.

It was all very weird in a way. David and Matt had never met. I was listening to Costello when I was younger than Matt is now. Matt's parents went on one of their first dates to an Elvis Costello concert and the Cleveland Agora, a show in which Costello himself referenced later in the evening.  I guess it is the circle of life thing.

I was not sure what the night would hold. Costello, who has roughly 35 albums - all varying in styles - so, in theory, had a minimum of 350 songs from which to choose, and it was to be just him and a guitar. I wasn't sure how it would all play out.  Pun not intended. Or was it?

Overall, the two and one-half hour show was cohesive. He did some of his newer songs (with the Roots), but dove back in time to do quite a few from his early works. And when I say "early works", I would go up until 1989.

I would say, I would have liked 'deep tracks', but many of them were. I can't say "Shipbuilding", "My Three Sons" or "the Slow Drag of Josephine" ever burned up the chart. But I was always a fan of "the Element Within Her", "Just a Memory", "Stranger in the House" "Sleep of the Just", "Monkey to Man", "Our Little Angel" and stuff like that. But since he only played like 30 songs (which is a fuck of a lot, I might add), he could not even cover one-tenth of what he has put to tape.

He did get around to a few of the biggies, "Alison", "Everyday I Write the Book", "Lipstick Vogue" and of course, "Watching the Detectives".  The latter was done with a bit of distortion that it was almost as if Neil Young and Crazy Horse circa 1980 were backing him up. He also incorporated one or two covers (including the Beatles, "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away") into two of his other songs. It was nicely done.

I'm sure everyone did get everything they wanted. Who ever does? Yet it did get me thinking about how big of a Costello fan I am, or at least used to be.

Actually, the mix at the beginning of the show was....I guess loud. It wasn't really muddied, but I had trouble hearing his words. You can say I'm an old man, but I think I was the mean age. Poor Matt, at 21, was possibly the youngest person there. But Matt is just getting into Elvis' first few disks, so it was good.

The problem was sonic and not my hearing. They did seem to clear up the sound problem early on. And while Costello wouldn't ever be categorized at the best vocalist, his aim was true (see what I did there?). He sounds pretty much like what he did back in '77. And that is kind of a feat in its own right.

The man was the king of "just one more?".  I stopped counting the encores and each one had multiple songs. At that point just give up the ghost and extend the show to include some of those.

I think he was five or six songs in before he spoke and I was wondering if he ever would. Some performers are not adept to actually speaking to their audiences. But he did and he was very engaging.

It was my first time seeing Mr. Costello (do you think in Middle Earth his name is "Elvish?) and it was so worth it.

I owe David and his wife big time. A great time was had by all.



Song by: Elvis Costello

Here Comes the Night Time

I opted to post on FB that we were waiting for Arcade Fire to start their performance.

That got a snarky comment by CB (is there any other kind?) "asking" if I wasn't too old to for a rock concert. He also used the word 'gramps' in there too.

Normally, I'd call him a prick - and I probably did (in my head) - but there were times leading up to the concert the same thoughts had crossed my mind.  ....except for the 'gramps' part.  I had spent part of the day wondering,  'ugh, should we go?  It's so cold out (still)....wouldn't it be easier to stay at home?... and ....it's a school night.....'   Those old man thoughts.

I'm really really glad we went.

First, there was a big to-do, when tickets were sold months ago. The band requested that people 'dress up' to attend. Some folks took that as mandatory and got their panties in a wad.

But 'dress up' can mean many things. Many took it as suit/tie or formal dress.  Many took it as to don a costume. There was both groups there.  Me?  Neither. I dressed for warmth as it was 11 degrees out. I might be a gramps, but fuck if I'm not going to be a practical, warm gramps.

Yes, 710 and I skewed a bit older than the mostly upper-20 something crowd. But then there was a guy who sat in front of us who looked like current-day Jerry Van Dyke, so I felt ok. Actually, there were a number of 40 and 50 somethings....and I'm pretty sure (though not overly confident) they just weren't transporting their kids there.

Arcade Fire put on a hell of a show. A great show, in fact.  One of the best I've seen. For some of their marginal material, they really made most of that sound great in a live setting.

In the studio the band are pretty much a sextet. On stage, they double that, with most of the band being multi-instrumentalists....so all bets are off on who plays what on stage. It's kind of cool.

Another great thing about them is their set-list. It changes nightly - the song choices and the order. There are so many acts that have the same song and order, but the exact same stage patter, movements, etc that you feel like you should be watching a fund raiser on PBS.

I had never seen Arcade Fire. Since I've lived in Cleveland, they played here once and it was for an Obama fundraiser - for like a total of 6 songs. I wasn't sure how this would go down:  it could be packed because they don't play here, but their last disk Reflektor seemed to have dropped from the charts immediately.

The place was pretty well sold out though. And the floor was SRO. General Admission.  Those were almost exclusively the 20-somethings (though I saw a few dinosaurs roaming there).

It was a long set - almost two hours and 21 songs, with the first five or six songs having no break and just great segues between each one. That is impressive anyways, but considering the set is different every night, I was more impressed.

The group relied heavily on Reflektor and the Suburbs. Even Funeral had a decent showing of tunes. Neon Bible was barely touched upon with only two songs. And one cover of Devo's "Uncontrollable Urge".

And in a nod to Devo, the Papier Mâché Reflektors "played" a cover of Devo's cover of the Stones' "Satisfaction", before Arcade Fire broke into "Reflektor" on the main stage.

There were a few missteps, if you axe me. Having Régine Chassagne sing lead vocals on three songs in a row was a bit much. She's a decent backing or harmony vocalist, but lead? No.

And for "Sprawl II" , she was finally halfway through the song when a concert-goer decided to pass out at the stage. The band stopped to assist (nice touch Win Butler!), but then he said they'd take the song 'from the top', so we had to hear that screeching again.

And while I'm ok with the song, "Here Comes the Night Time", it's not a closing number. (technically, I guess it wasn't with the encore of "Wake Up" from Funeral.)

But these are trivial things.  Butler did a great job engaging the audience and his vocals were strong. The band itself was phenomenal and if you have a chance to see them live, I suggest doing it.

If I have one regret it was not being able to take my nephew. He'd have loved it, but he's studying abroad (not 'a broad').  Maybe next go-around.



Song by: Arcade Fire

Chance of a Lifetime

One of my holiday gifts from 710 were tickets to see husband and wife recording artists Don Dixon and Marti Jones in concert. I'm 100% sure I've mentioned them previously.

The duo reside in Canton, OH. They tour here and there, but not frequently. While Dixon regularly releases albums  - solo or in some kind of group - Jones hasn't put out a solo disk for a dozen years.

Jones' Match Game (1986) would rank in the top 3 of any Desert Island Disk list I concocted (though it desperately needs remastering).

When I first saw them live, I was with my friend Jon, in Columbus, on a frigid January evening in 1991. It seems to be a pattern: it was a cold and blustery January night when 710 and I saw them in 1996 and this last Saturday. We've seen them other times, but not in the dead of winter.

We walked in a few minutes after the scheduled start time - as the drive was horrendous with the snow. The usher told us just to enter and go up onto the stage.

Huh?

As it turns out, though the concert was at the Akron Civic Theater, which holds about 2500 folks, there were only about 50 seats, all up on stage. Only 38 people were actually in attendance (yes, I counted!).  How cool was that?

Since this was Marti's hometown, more than 50% of the folks were relatives, friends and neighbors. She actually stopped after the first song to ask 710 and myself if she knew us. "No - just a big fan" was my reply.

When Jon and I saw the duo, there were a few more folks than at this gig, but not many.

It was only the two of them, no other musicians. For the most part Dixon and Jones traded off some songs and did a few from their duet disk from three years ago. Those songs presented better live than on record. But the set list didn't change up much from the last time I saw them a few years ago.

Marti's voice is still great and her guitar work is pretty good. She did at least one song from each one of her albums (she only has six) and then some from the duet disk with Dixon. Don's songs centered on his last few solo releases - nothing from earlier works except "I Can Hear the River", which he's been closing his sets for decades now.

Best of all, Marti did a new song from a forthcoming album!

A new disk?  That was a welcome surprise. No release date was mentioned, but the song she did was good. Honestly, I am never sure if she's ever going to record again, so I'm always delighted when she does.

She said all the songs were written and music recorded, she just had to put her vocals on them, and the disk would have a Bossa Nova style, which probably would suit her voice. I even liked the tentative title of the disk: You're Not the Bossa Me.

No encores or anything. Dixon came up and talked to us for a few and thanked us for making the trek. I'd met him a few times before (not that I think he'd remember), but insisted we go say hi to Marti. I would have - and even tried. During the concert there was an off the cuff remark on how her great grandfather killed someone and now some lady was cornering her and talking about anything ancestory.com could have provided. There was no end in sight to that conversation, so we just left.

...and took the horrid, snow covered drive back home. I told 710, no matter who the artist might be, no more concerts in Akron in January. Ever.

Just for fun - and I know it's not My Music Monday - I'll leave you with one Marti song and one Dixon song. It should be noted that Marti Jones was my first My Music Monday selection when I started doing that thread.

I was torn on which Marti Jones song to select, but I'm picking one of my favourites, "Lifeboat", because it's a very simple arrangement that shows off her voice. It's from her last disk, My Tidy Doily Dream.  Dixon's production is clear and, again, simple, but with some great nuance.




I had a similar quandary about a Dixon song. He has a lot of really good music, but I'm looking to appeal to the masses here. My readers might know him, unknowingly, as Big Fun - that group in the movie Heathers, who had the song "Teenage Suicide (Don't Do It)", which was really just himself and Marti. Or as the producer of R.E.M. and the Smithereen's first two disks.

Anyway, I am taking a stab and doing "One Lonely Question" from his 1989 release EEE. All the harmonies are his, but it's a nice textured and layered performance.




Yes, it was a fun night - almost ruined by Mother Nature.


Song by: Marti Jones

Slow Show

Because I didn't have a long enough of week of work travel, what did I do over the weekend?

...that's right, travel some more.

My plane touched down in Cleveland at 13:00 on Saturday and by 14:30 I was back in my car (after picking up Denton) to go get my 17 year old nephew and drive to Pittsburgh.

He wanted to see the National and Pittsburgh was about the closest place they were coming, and to be honest, I was curious to see them too. So we trekked to the Carnegie Library Music Hall to check them out.

The venue has slightly over 1000 seats and the crowd wasn't exactly what I was expecting. As my nephew aptly pointed out, 'they're not all hipsters here!'. And they weren't. Mind you, they were there, but the NPR crowd who found them during some of their reporting on the band earlier in the year were there too. Denton and I were not the oldest people in attendance. It was a white white white crowd to be sure. A few asian chicks and one african-american woman, but mostly white folk.

I guess five white guys (and three additional musicians) from Cinci transplanted to Brooklyn translates only so far.

That all being said, it was a good show. The playing was tight and Matt Beringer's singing was spot-on. The between song patter was muddied and I barely understood what they were trying to say. After the first half of the show, no more talking or even pausing between songs. The band did a great job of segueing from song to song.

For as mostly low key as they are on record, they had some moments of a good rock band, but not so loud that they hurt this old man's hearing. The crowd treated Beringer like a g-d, which was weird to watch from such band not in the public eye for that long. On the last song, "Terrible Love", Beringer finished it by walking out in the crowd and singing the last half out there. It was quite a sight to see. He never came back to the stage and exited somewhere out of sight from us.

They played all but a few songs from their new disk, High Violet and then a good sampling from Boxer and Alligator.

It was a good show and the nephew really liked it.

Me? While I liked the show, I was happy to get back to the hotel. I had been up since 04:30 and it was now 23:30 and like I said earlier, I am an old man. ....an old old man.


Song by: the National

Talk Normal

Friday night we went to go see Laurie Anderson. Clearly this is not a timely post, but as you may have seen, I got sidetracked the last few days.

I've lost count at exactly how many times I've seen one of her performances. I know it is probably at 7 or 8, but not sure which. If it is the latter, I do believe that pushes her to the front of the artist I have ever seen the most live.

On her Homeland tour (this one), it was the first time I have seen her with additional musicians. I did not see her Home of the Brave tour, where she had a full band, and all other times it has been her and her alone.

It was also my least favourite time seeing her. She wasn't bad by any means, but the venue was ok and the mix was muddy. I almost have to assume that they did no soundcheck. There were a few times where she was clear, but more often than not much was garbled. Frustrating.

And it is frustrating because she is SO good. Not just at performance, but at what she has to say. Sometimes dead serious. Sometimes with a slightly humourous bent. If you don't know her, Anderson does not sing as much as talk. She has perfect diction - which is just great (and when the sound guy d0esn't fuck it up). She has one album which I would consider singing (Strange Angels), and with this performance she sang mostly everything.

The odd thing with Anderson is, even when she's out promoting something (which she isn't), I've never seen her do material that I have heard before. And conversely, I've never seen material she's performed show up on a future disk. Personally, I love that.

This material was darker than her previous shows. Topical for sure. If you have eight minutes to spare, this is one of the best things she did the other night. It is possibly the best protest song ever....and it's got her kind of whimsy.



After the performance, she came out to the lobby to mingle with the paying customers. I would have loved to talk with her, but I wasn't fighting that crowd.....and what a crowd. More Cosby-sweater wearing men than you can shake a stick at. No one I expected to see.

Laurie emerged in a red sweatshirt. Not black? I have never seen her out of black or white. I snapped some pics, but they were all horrid, so why embarrass myself or her by posting them?



Song by: Laurie Anderson

CALL ME 'MRS. BIRDSEYE' - THE SHOW IS FROZEN!

So, our last night in NYC we went to see Madonna and her Confessions on a Dance Floor Tour.

Yes, Morty and Dith are right now going, "noooooo!!! my eyes! MY EYES!" ....which is exactly why they were never ever considered in the first place to see her with us. They can thank me later.

We had the chance to go - and we took it. I've never seen her live* before so really didn't know how it would all go down. I had heard that she had been starting almost an hour late and insisted that the AC in the arenas be turned off as to not hurt her voice. Considering that NYC had been experiencing 100 degree days and we had the absolute top row, it presented no problem whatsoever.

NOT!

 It twas a tad warm.

That being said - what a frickin' spectacle!!

That is not to say it wasn't entertaining - it was. There was a lot to take in. You could easily be watching something else on stage and miss where she went and how she got there. Having never seen Cher (nor ever wanting to), this is what I consider the gayest thing I've ever done (shut up!). I assume it was something like Cher mixed w/Cirque du Soleil. The entire production was about two steps away from being a semi-permanent Vegas show (exhibited mostly in that horrible song 'La Isla Bonita' from two decades ago!). Maybe the songs would have meant more had I really ever listened to her last disk - which comprised of most of the concert. I will say - the songs 'Jump' and 'Get Together' seemed to stand out for me.

Her little mirrored crucifix was smirky - but hasn't she run that catholic thing into the ground eons ago? Does she even identify as catholic anymore? And let me tell you right now, Jesus didn't have an elevator to get off his cross - and he didn't do it in Prada footwear (I'm guessing!). But it was the first time I've heard anyone clap along w/a cantor! Sorry - but she can't (shouldn't be allowed to) co-op every religion.

David and Duck went with us - and poor poor Duck. He was a trooper and said he enjoyed the concert, but personally, I think he was morty-fied. The entire things was scripted out to the last comma - save maybe one comment on playing New York and it lasted 2hrs to the minute (yes, Duck and I both checked our watches).

I wondered aloud to Denton at the concert - 'what do they do w/all this shit when the tour is over?'.

Part of the video montages are oh-so political, but Madge is hardly one to rally against Shrub (though everyone should). If we all think that the GOP et al are elitist snobs, you might want to check out 'Madonna By the Numbers' below. Finding this on-line wasn't all the hard - and trust me, it is only a fraction of what they break down. Excessive doesn't' even begin to cover it (i.e. mink & diamond eyelashes?). And is there anyone who believes the part about her not wearing 'foundation'? Yeah - I didn't think so.

• 1 ½ Tons weight of Madonna's disco ball rocket ship at start of show
• 400,000 Watts of power used for run of show nightly
• 2 Million dollars worth of Swarovski crystals embellishes above disco ball
• 5000 Square Feet Size of Madonna's four stages (standard is 2600 square feet)
• 1000 Hours rehearsal over 12 weeks
• 27 Number of Performers including Madonna, Band, and 22 Dancers
• 253 Massages provided to dancers
• 0 foundation used on Madonna's skin
• 1 bottle of balancing cleansing oil (Shu Uemura Green Tea) every week
• 1 bottle of Yonka moisturizer used up every three weeks
• 106 Crew members in Madonna touring party
• 40 Foot turntable in center of main stage
• 16 Miles per hour when turntable revolves
• 1 "Discofied"Crucifix
• 70 Tons of equipment on top of main stage
• 24 Semi Trucks used to move equipment from city to city
• 2 Private Planes to transport
• 18 Vans and Cars to transport
• 200 Tons in weight of entire show (equivalent to a battle ship)
• 600 Outfits in total for the entire show
• 4000 Swarovski crystals embedded in said belt
• 2 Changes of eyelashes (one mink, one mink with diamonds for disco section)

All that being said - I admit I had a good time. I'll never see something like this again.

I will also say - getting out of Madison Square Garden from the the upper deck is horrid. Egress in MSG sucks. Unlike many arenas, MSG doesn't run their escalators downward - not that it would have mattered. We ended up taking the stairs. Oy. A sea of people and all going nowhere. David said something about 'what if there was a fire....' which was just a nice way of saying what we were all thinking (I confirmed later): 'this is what I'm guessing the North Tower' probably looked like'.

*Live is a term meant to convey living/breathing, not necessarily actual singing - as at least some background vocals were pre-recorded.