*Picture courtesy of Lee Greenfeld of Dead Flowers Productions
We had a great time seeing the Master in a packed Prospect Park last night. My only complaint is that the level wasn’t loud enough on the lawn, and I believe that’s due to Park Slope noise ordinances. Umm, don’t you think they could make an exception when Bob Dylan’s in town! C’mon!! Lawn tickets weren’t exactly cheap.
Anyway, Bob gave us a great set and here’s the list, also courtesy of Lee Greenfeld. I pretty much just jacked his whole Myspace blog post. Thanks, Lee!
bob dylan, 8/12/08
prospect park bandshell
brooklyn, u.s.a.
set-list:
1. rainy day women 12 & 35
2. lay, lady, lay
3. lonesome day blues
4. girl of the north country
5. the levee’s gonna break
6. spirit on the water
7. honest with me
8. john brown (!!!)
9. highway 61 revisited
10. beyond the horizon
11. it’s alright, ma (i’m only bleeding)
12. nettie moore
13. summer days
14. masters of war
15. like a rolling stone (encore)
16. thunder on the mountain (encore)
17. blowin’ in the wind (encore)
What group was Lemmy with before joining Motorhead?
Baba O’Riley (1971)
This is a cool-looking picture from the Times of Radiohead’s stage show at All Points West, but was it enough to make the Jersey City festival live up to the legacies of the big festies like Bonnaroo and Coachella? It sounds like it was kinda lame from this NY Times article. No camping, an annoying commute and strict alcohol rules are the kind of things that would make this festival experience very different to the Shangri-La atmosphere of the big ‘uns.
So, did anyone go? Was it as lame as it seems from the outside? Was Radiohead awesome enough to pull this one out of the ditch?
It couldn’t have been better than Frances at Union Hall in Park Slope on Saturday night, who opened for the fairly-snoozey Rogue Wave! Frances totally brought it! Keep your eyes on these guys.
Can you believe another great is gone?! The Hot-Buttered Black Moses Soul Man, Isaac Hayes was found dead on Sunday at the age of 65. The Stax soul legend co-wrote the huge Sam & Dave hits “Soul Man” and “Hold On, I’m Coming”, was famous for the classic Shaft soundtrack, was a three-time Grammy winner, played the Chef on South Park, was a great humanitarian, and was a devout Scientologist. I’ll always remember him best from this amazing Wattstax performance…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auZV2myICts&hl=en&fs=1]
AND AN UPDATE: I just saw on Brooklyn Vegan that Isaac and Bernie Mac, who also died over the weekend, just wrapped a film together called Soul Men… also starring Samuel L. Jackson, who must be nervous as hell at this point!
Rest In Peace, Bernie and Isaac, both gone too soon.
This piece was published on Blog Critics Magazine a few weeks ago, and I figured I’d post it here too, so you can take a look into what an ex-Can man is up to these days and so you can scope the trippy-nudey cover art. Go check out the piece on Blog Critics too and leave me some comments.
Mute Records has a 30-year history of releasing the finest in electronic, experimental, post-punk, art rock, avant-garde, and alternative music, and this new album by Irmin Schmidt & Kumo is another prime example of the quality and ever-progressive direction of the label’s offerings. Irmin Schmidt was founder member and keyboardist for the legendary German avant-garde rock group Can and Kumo (aka Jono Podmore) is a breakbeat pioneer and producer. Sound like an interesting combination? Well, it is.
You might gather from the album’s cover art, a powder-white naked man and woman whose red veins are visible through their skin and who have Mexican salamander heads, that this is not going to be a mainstream pop affair. Axolotl Eyes is filled with music that beautifully contrasts synthetic and ‘real’ instrumentation. Kumo’s scintillating beats, shimmering grooves, and sonorous bass perfectly envelope Schmidt’s meandering piano excursions. Several tracks also feature Paul J Fredericks on vocals, Ian Dixon on trumpet and throughout Schmidt and Kumo keep it interesting blending together theremin, slide guitar, keyboards, and violin with the crackling synthetic beats and atmospheres. This is a big departure from Schmidt’s Can days, but I think any Can fan would know that the one thing you can expect from the ex-Can men is experimentation and pushing the boundaries of sound.
The set also comes with a bonus 5.1 surround sound DVD of the sound installation Flies, Guys and Choirs, created by Kumo, Sandra Podmore, and Kate Shipp. The film was first conceived for Londonís Barbican Centre in 2001 and also screened at the Sonar festival, Barcelona and Les Chants Mechaniques festival in Lille. It’s certainly trippy with its psychedelically-effected close-ups of insects, fish, and other natural things, accompanied by quietly forceful environmental music.
The album is out now on Mute Records in the U.S. (Spoon Records in the U.K.) and is another excellent chapter in Irmin Schmidt’s long and adventurous recording career.
You can preview tracks at Irmin Schmidt & Kumo’s MySpace page.
Well, it looks like someone broke down Miss Thing(-Fish) herself, Gail Zappa and received her blessings to create a stage production of Franky’s classic Joe’s Garage. It’s going down in California this fall, so I guess that’s close enough to Gail for her to be dropping in on the cast and crew every day to make them wish that they would’ve chosen to do Styx’s Mr. Roboto instead. I guess that was your one downfall, Dave, New York is just to far out of Gail’s grasp. Will they do the coveted ‘Watermelon in Easter Hay’? Check out the release below from Playbill.com…
Joe’s Garage, Based on Zappa Album, to Make World Premiere in SeptemberBy Andrew Gans
04 Aug 2008
The Open Fist Theatre Company in California will present the world premiere of Joe’s Garage, a new stage production based on the Frank Zappa album of the same name.
Directed by Pat Towne, the production will begin previews at the Open Fist Theatre Sept. 18 with an official opening Sept. 26. The limited engagement will run through Nov. 22.
Joe’s Garage was adapted by Pat Towne and Michael Franco and features musical direction by Ross Wright and choreography by Jennifer Lettelleir. Producers are Michael Franco, Charlie Otte and Pat Towne with permission from the Zappa Family Trust.
The musical event, according to press notes, tells “the story of Joe – a simple guitar player in a garage band – as he is drawn into the dark and nightmarish world of the music business. As Joe deteriorates from betrayal, disease, and madness, our narrator, the Central Scrutinizer asserts that music is responsible for his demise, and is therefore evil. [The production] is a cautionary tale about the oppression of government and its desire to make its citizenry conform and obey. It ponders a world where the government controls the masses by making music a crime. Masked in the simplicity of a high school musical, the play’s attacks on government’s surveillance of its own citizenry, the sexual escapades of the Catholic Church, the ridiculousness of Scientology, the avarice of the music business, self serving journalism, mindless consumerism and bad boy rock and roll behavior in general, makes for a wicked and timely satire – all this wrapped in the brilliant music of legendary rock icon Frank Zappa.”
Show times are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 7 PM.
The New Open Fist Theatre is located at 6209 Santa Monica Blvd. (former home of The Actor’s Gang) in Hollywood, CA. Tickets, priced $15-$30, are available by calling (323) 882-6912 or by visiting www.openfist.org.
Jazz [1978]
St. John was absolutely amazing and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t been! The snorkeling was phenomenal. St. John has yet to be populated with McDonald’s and Wal-Marts, and much of it is still protected National Park. May it remain that way…
True or False – The Nashville Teens recorded “Tobacco Road”.
It is impossible to do a series on bassist/vocalists without including this man: Burke Shelley. The man behind the Welsh Power Trio Budgie, he was a huge personal influence on me becoming a professional bassist/vocalist myself.
I would stand in the cavernous King’s Hall, Derby as a 15 year old, enraptured by the light and shade of their music, Burke’s bass playing on his trusty old sunburst precision and his stratospheric vocals. (It would be several years before I saw Geddy Lee and proclaimed him to be a Budgie clone!)
With Budgie, you get a guitar, a bass, and drums, no frills, just straight ahead musicianship. Within the space that a three-piece naturally gifts you, Burke’s bass was turned way up loud – a complete third of the whole, not a shy retiring underpinning to the song. Seeing him play this way, and sing his heart out, helped me understand the bass, what it was meant to do.
Tracks like Breaking all the House Rules, with its tremendous pumping bassline and great vocal were all I needed to become well and truly hooked. Over the years they’ve been a tremendous influence on countless bands, with Soundgarden, Iron Maiden and Metallica covering their songs.
Three years ago, I attended a Budgie gig in the UK, and spent some time with the band backstage after the show, finally able to tell Burke how he’d influenced me (should that be inFLEWenced?) after 32 years.
I looked at his bass, leaning against the wall.
“Is that the same one?” I asked.
“Yep” he said “wanna play?”
I was a kid again, the battered precison in my hands. It was like the closing of a circle. Burke’s still going strong – currently touring Australia with Dio’s Craig Goldy as guest guitarist.
Long may he reign!
Recommended listening: Who Do You Want for Your Lover? – wonderful funky bass, great vocal
Breaking All the House Rules - rip-roaring rawk ‘n’ roll!
Breadfan – Now a metal classic
Parents – An astonishing vocal from Burke, sometimes sounding like fellow Cardiff-born Shirley Bassey, I kid you not!
