FROM THE VAULT -- A Li'l Screamin' Ted Nugent for You Adrenaline Junkies

You gotta dig Ted Nugent live in 1977.

Oh the sweaty long hair. Oh those red spandex pants. Oh the blood-curling screams at the end of every other line. Oh the "look at me, I'm a crazy rock star who's lost his mind" faces. Jumping off speakers and landing on your ass, but never missing a beat...and while Nugent claims he was never "on" anything, he still leaves some of us wondering.

Most of it, if not all of it, is more or less acting the rock 'n' roll part and a silly, campy fo' show...but it's also still jammin' rock 'n' roll for its time.

See a clip of Nugent here...it wouldn't let me embed it but at this link you can check out the Live rendition of Motor City Madhouse from 1977. DON'T MISS HIS DISPLAY OF INSANITY AND BLOOD-CURLING SCREAM AT THE 6 MINUTE MARK!

'Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage' premiers in less than two weeks

The much anticipated documentary movie on the Canadian rock band Rush will premier at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.

Cool movie poster!

I can't help but noticing on the poster the mention that the film's slated for a release in theaters in the summer...it should be interesting to see what the response to it is and how widespread the release ends up being.

Now that I think about it, there's a remote possibility that I may have a cameo in it...being that when I was at RushCon7 three years ago, Sam Dunn was there filming the event.

At any rate, the Rush machine is revving up again...this new documentary, new material being recorded, and the Time Machine Tour this coming summer.

Jacob Moon steals Rush's "Subdivisions" and makes it all his own

I'm not typically a fan of the cover tune.  At first glance, it's always seemed like a cheap cop-out or a shortcut to getting your foot in the door as a musician...like you're not being authentic or something...I don't know, I'm sure I'm being way to critical of the idea.

There are exceptions to the rule, however...and from a cursory all-encompassing arc in my head (with eyes squinted shut), I can think of three sets of circumstances. 

1. The first circumstance would be when an artist is really able to outshine the original version if it because it was subpar...or, dare we say, it completely sucked.  Examples (arguable, as many might disagree) might include Van Halen covering "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks.  All respect for Ray Davies & Co., but VH simply blows their version into the 4th Dimension.
2. The second circumstance would involve the cover of a song, from an original version that's simply unknown...to the effect that the cover becomes the famous version.  The perfect example here is Jimi Hendrix covering Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower."  Even for some of you reading this for the first time, that may be news to you...if you're wondering: "You mean Dylan originally sang that?  Really?"  I've even known Hendrix fans to be unaware of that little factoid...so sorry everyone, Jimi didn't write that.  He just did a killer version of it.
3. Then there's the third instance, which to me is the most special...it's where the original version is a classic ingrained in the pantheon of music...YET an artist, perhaps many years later, is able to come along and morph it into something new and engaging.  This post is about that instance.

Canadian artist Jacob Moon, out of Hamilton, Ontario, accomplished that in 2008 when he shot this video covering "Subdivisions" by Rush -- a very, very difficult act to follow -- and he pulled it off all by himself.  

Moon reinvigorates the song in a way that I could have never imagined.  Through his tinkering with it and use of acoustic guitars, he makes "Subdivisions" even more engaging, tender, and emotional.  For those who understand the significance of the lyrics, it's as if he's "us" -- an audience of Rush fans going back decades with the band -- and representing a real perspective and emotional interpretation of it.  It's like he was the guy you knew in the neighborhood who went through all those things with you.

Not to mention this video of him, a performance taking place on the rooftop of a house in a subdivision...that's a suburb of Toronto...in Canada. It adds even more to the effect and aesthetic of the song.  Whoever thought of that is an absolute genius.

So watch Jacob Moon pull off what I never thought I'd witness in my lifetime: someone taking a classic from the Rush cannon and reworking it into something all their own.  This is great, great stuff.  Thank you Jacob Moon!

Dive into Britain's underground with the 'Mixtaped' DVD by No-Man

The following is a preview to No-Man, the Steven Wilson /Steven Bowness collaboration.  Last fall they released Mixtaped, their first live video DVD, available on Amazon as a 2-disc set (includes an 84 minute documentary about the band).  If you want some insight into the progressive pop underground of Britain over the last 20 years, this band is an excellent example and Mixtaped is the prime place to start with No-Man.


No-Man - Mixtaped 2DVD trailer from Kscope on Vimeo.

No-Man live -- after 20 years as a band

I've mentioned before in this blog that the best-kept secret in the rock format today is Steven Wilson out of Britain, and all the incarnations of his artistry in the form of various bands such as Blackfield, Bass Communion, IEM, and as a solo artist...all very different from one another.

Frankly, it's very puzzling how Wilson isn't better known; almost to the effect that the scenario drums up large label conspiracy theories. This argument could be validated by the way Wilson works out of his home studio dubbed "No Man's Land" and purposefully avoids the big labels by conducting as an independent songwriter, arranger, musician, recording engineer, and through many of the other album production roles typically segmented and spread out among various individuals under the guise of a large label.

It appears that about the only thing Wilson doesn't handle is distribution. He's as much of a one-man show in music as you'll ever find. If one considers the variety of talent Wilson brings to the table, there could even be an argument for Rock Hall accolades...but unfortunately he just isn't that well known.

Most who are familiar with Wilson's work know him as the brains behind Porcupine Tree...but few realize that he was in a band called No-Man back when PT was merely an idea. No-Man has evolved over the years as a progressive pop/electronica/rock act, and is a living breathing entity to this day.

The band just released their first live DVD Mixtaped, which can be ordered through the band's independent distributor Burning Shed. The DVD features a second disc with an interesting documentary on the band, and some videos you might recall from late night MTV or VH1 in the mid-90s.

Here's a cut from it. If after some time it gets pulled off the web or something, check out the personal videos from the Savoy Theater by You Tube poster 'lahemi.' It appears this individual personally recorded the whole gig.

Of course Steven Wilson is the lead guitarist fella (wearing glasses) to the left. The singer Tim Bowness, who comes across as a breathy cross between Brian Ferry and Rick Astley, might take a little getting used to -- but he grows on you...as long as you don't get Rickroll'd (or even better, Barackroll'd!!!)

FROM THE VAULT -- Neil Young & Pearl Jam Rockin' the Free World

With Neil Young just celebrating his 64th birthday, here's a little ditty of him with Pearl Jam. I'd guess this took place in the mid-90s, around the time of Young's Mirror Ball collaboration with Vedder & Co.

Remember to put the music machine at the top of the page on pause...and as a prize for doing so, you get to witness some instrument destruction at the end of the video.

Pissed...no, ENRAGED. Another favorite band flies under the radar.

Good morning, bitch central here.

Porcupine Tree passed through Seattle on 9/15. It's more than a month later, AND I'M JUST HEARING ABOUT IT NOW...and that's only happening because I happened to walk by a record store last week, where I saw this promo poster in the window saying: "PORCUPINE TREE ~ THE INCIDENT."

...so I thought: "Oh. P.T. must have a new one out. Strange that I was on the Burning Shed website two months ago and didn't hear anything about a new album."

I have a question for all of you...the world, whatever. How is it that two bands, that I've never seen before, simply fly under the radar when they come through town, and I HEAR ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT IT?

Hey, don't mind me and my angst over this...P.T.'s only in my Top 5 of favorite rock bands, along names in the likes of Neil Young, Pink Floyd, and Rush...so yes. In my mind, this was like missing Pink Floyd on tour and not hearing about it.

It's not like I'm a casual fan either...I RUN A FRIGGIN MUSIC BLOG, for Christ's sake. I also make it a point to pick up a copy of the Seattle Weekly at least once a month, but can't always peter through their detailed music pages. It's information overload, and I don't like getting the newsprint on my fingers.

If it's not a major band, they're probably really limited on having a P.R. budget...so how does a person who's running their own business and being a caretaker to aging parents keep on top of it without driving themselves nuts? Even if you go to a band's website, something can change two months later and suddenly "poof" they've come and gone. Steven Wilson in particular is hard to keep up with, as the guy seems like he has literally a dozen projects going on at once. I can sit here on the P.T. website and stare at the "alerts" list, but what good is the goddam thing going to do me now, besides alerting me to stops on a tour that I've already missed? No thanks.

This is the second time this has happened to me this year...this happened before with The Church last spring.

Did anyone out there catch Porcupine Tree on their latest U.S. leg? How did you hear about it? Did anyone actually show up and attend the shows? I'm dying to know how you found out about it.

Paying attention when you're busy

I've been completely and utterly out of the loop on the live acts coming to town this year. Life's priorities have taken over...like, for example, starting a new business.

I'm starting to feel the effects of what the demands of time and treasure have brought to bear on other parts of my life, especially music...especially LIVE music.

Just the other day, I found out that Phish will be playing the Gorge for two straight days this coming August 7 & 8...and the shows have been sold out...uh, since March. That's right. It took approximately THREE MONTHS after tickets went on sale for my finding out that the band has plans to come through town...and I thought I was keeping up on them. Crap.

It's amazing how sidetracked one can get with other things.

I'm missing the smaller acts coming through town too...earlier today, I opened up the weekly freebee, the Seattle Weekly, which I usually pickup over lunch at Taco del Mar...only to find out that an Australian band I like called The Church, who seldom ever pass though Seattle (let alone tour), played last night at a small venue in downtown Seattle called the Triple Door.

My first reaction was: You're kidding me, right?

Ouch...that one hurt. I would have LOVED to see that band...and it probably wasn't very expensive, either.

This is a sign that I need to stop what I'm doing every now and then, and pay more attention to stay in tune with one of the things I still love to do: see my favorite bands play live.

Rush is back: an interview with Alex Lifeson

Well, for me, they never really went anywhere, with the exception of the hiatus in the late 90s, and that was due to exceptional circumstances out of the band's control.

This is more for the general public and how the band has been received in that light. It's one of the better interviews about the band of recent history...it gives some interesting insights into their future.

The Rosetta Stone on how they've kept it going for so long? It's simpler than you might think.

Friendship.

In addition to touring ceaselessly, that's the essential ingredient that's kept the band alive for so long...but it's more fun to hear about it straight from them than to hear me go on and on, so I'll shut up now.

Rush is Back: Pop culture proclaims the formerly dorky band cool
By KIRK BAIRD
BLADE STAFF WRITER

Rush has spent nearly 35 years being uncool; the antidote to hip.

Its songs have been derided by critics as musically out of fashion, and lyrically obtuse. (Drummer Neil Peart, who writes the songs, was chosen by Blender magazine as second only to Sting as worst rock lyricist.)

But it’s not just critics who’ve slagged the band.

In the 1999 movie SLC Punk! a flashback to future Salt Lake City punkers Stevo and Bob shows the pair as junior high school nerds playing Dungeons and Dragons in a basement while listening to Rush’s “Trees,” an allegorical tale set in a forest. Then Bob offers something “new” — “Kiss Me Deadly” by Generation X — and their lives change.

The indie film’s message is less than subtle: Rush is a fossil; even worse, it’s the group of choice for teenage dorks, geeks, and nerds alike.

But the winds of fortune have changed in Rush’s favor, beginning with a Rolling Stone profile of the band in its July 10 issue, a first for the magazine.

Suddenly, Rush is everywhere: performing its biggest hit, “Tom Sawyer,” on The Colbert Report; appearing on VH-1 Classic in a 24-hour marathon of the band’s concerts and videos titled “Rush Hashanah” during the Jewish New Year, and having its bestselling album, “Moving Pictures,” available as a complete download in the game Rock Band (one of only a handful of records available so far).

And next year, just in time for the band’s 35th birthday, look for a Rush documentary and a cameo by the band members in the comedy I Love You, Man, starring Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, and Jon Favreau, punctuated by an induction into the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Given all the love that’s coming the band’s way, dare we now proclaim Rush cool? Perhaps. And how does all this attention make band members feel? Surprised, said guitarist Alex Lifeson, after an early morning spent on the phone talking to reporters to promote the band’s just-released Snakes and Arrows Live DVD.

“We’ve always sort of been outside — well, maybe not a little bit — we’ve always been kind of outside the mainstream, we’ve done things our own way,” Lifeson said. “We have a very strong core following that’s been very loyal and stuck with us for all these years and allowed us to function that way without having a broader appeal. To suddenly be asked to be in films, of course the Rolling Stone thing, and the Stephen Colbert — all these things ... it makes us smile that all of a sudden Rush is a cool thing, when we have not been a very cool thing for a very long time.”
The Canadian power trio — rounded out by Geddy Lee on bass, vocals, and keyboards — are praised by musicians and fans for the members’ prodigious instrumental skills, showcased in early epic prog rock songs about black holes, Greek gods, and totalitarian societies.

As the band members grew older, though, their music matured. They left behind the concept albums to focus on thematic records about the human condition, and social commentary — often with a libertarian point of view.

The band’s sound also grew tighter, smarter, and more straightforward.
In more than three decades of recording, Rush has released 24 records, 17 of which are studio recordings. All 24 of those records have gone Gold, 14 of them have been certified Platinum, and three have gone multiple Platinum. In fact, Rush ranks behind the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith for the most consecutive gold or platinum records by a rock group, for total sales of 25 million records in the United States alone.
Rush released its first, eponymous LP in 1974 in Canada on its own label, with little interest in exporting the record to U.S. listeners. Then Donna Halper, then program director at WMMS-FM in Cleveland, played the import on her late-night radio show and everything changed. The album “got really great phone response,” Lifeson recalled, and Halper reached out to a friend at Mercury Records in Chicago. Within a week the band was signed and began a tour with Peart now manning the skins. (Rutsey left the band for health reasons — he was diabetic — which made it difficult for him to tour.)

“Neil was in the band for two weeks before we did our first gig, so it didn’t allow a lot of time to go over a lot of material,” Lifeson said. “Granted, for the most part we were just opening, so we were only playing for 20-30 minutes. At that time that was only two songs, ‘Finding My Way’ and ‘Working Man,’ but we were also doing some headline club gigs, so we needed to have some decent amount of material. We used to rehearse in the van and in hotel rooms, as much as we could, and then we’d go into these clubs.”

More from Alex Lifeson By KIRK BAIRD BLADE STAFF WRITER Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson had much to say in his recent interview with The Blade. Too much, as it turns out, for the print story. Below are some excerpts from the interview that didn’t make the print cut: Alex on ... HOW IT ALL BEGAN FOR THE BAND IN THE LATE 1960s “Like any group of high school kids — we were 15 years old — Geddy and I had been playing together for a year. John Rutsey and I had been playing for a couple of years together. We had basement bands that we’d play at parties and we’d play the same six songs over and over and you were paid in potato chips and Coke. It was such an exciting time, it was the mid-’60s, and we were growing up with all this incredible music. We put our little band together, and it was important that we write out own music. Probably within ... the first year we were doing half to two-thirds original material. It was pretty basic and I would cringe to hear those songs now, [but] at least we were writing our own stuff and that set the template. We were playing drop in centres and high school dances on a Friday night, that sort of thing. In 1971 the drinking age was lowered from 21 to 18 in Ontario, in our Province. ... We went from playing three or four gigs a month to playing six days a week with a matinees on Saturdays. That was great because that’s were we learned our chops. We had these three-four years of this constant playing. It was this continuing cycle of playing gigs of playing for three hours a night, and then whatever you could do during the day you’d get together and do some writing or work stuff out. That was really, really important for the band’s development, I think. THE BAND’S STANDARD PRACTICE OF RELEASING FOUR STUDIO ALBUMS FOLLOWED BY A LIVE ALBUM “That’s how it went, but it was a whole different world then, and the music industry has changed so much. We would sort of cap phases and the live album gave us breathing space. But that’s when we were playing 150-250 shows a year and making one or two records a year. It was a whole different time in the band’s development. Much later we didn’t feel the need to cap a particular period, and now we do a lot of these DVDs with every tour because it gives you something to mark that period in your playing, in your development, in your audience, the technology that’s available to you.” THE PROCESS IN CHOOSING SONGS FOR ITS CONCERTS “With this one, ‘Snakes and Arrows,’ this tour we did a number of songs we hadn’t played before or we hadn’t played since the ’70s. We played nine songs from ‘Snakes and Arrows,’ which was a great way to showcase the record for us. Normally, we would do somewhere between three to five songs from an album, because we have such a depth of material in the catalog that people want us to play, but we were so excited and pumped with this record [that] we really wanted to do as much as we could from it. These songs develop in a live arena and they grow, and it’s nice to be able to document them at another time other than the recording.” MEETING FAN EXPECTATIONS IN THE BAND’S CONCERT SONG SELECTION “It’s always a difficult one for us and we always end up disappointing somebody, I think. We kind of go through what the staples are, the songs that we need to play, and then we look at other songs that we’d like to play, and we try out stuff that we think we should play, and then whittle down to that sort of three-hour range. Quite often it starts out at four, four and 1/2 hours and we cut it back. We try some stuff that doesn’t work, we try it in rehearsal and if it doesn’t inspire us or go anywhere, then we sort of set it aside. I always feel like we need to expand a little more and we do a little bit, I think. ‘Entre Nous’ and ‘Circumstances’ were two songs that I’m glad we brought into the set. ‘Entre Nous’ is a song we’ve never played live and I really enjoyed playing that.” WOULD RUSH CONSIDER REVISITING “HEMISPHERES” AND SOME OF ITS LONGER MATERIAL IN CONCERT “It takes up too much time. I’d totally be into doing that. We did that with ‘2112’ a few tours back where we played the whole thing. That was the first tour where we did, in fact, play all of ‘2112.’ Even when we first started doing it back in the ’70s we never played the whole thing. I like the idea of the challenge of doing that. ... If we’re going to play for five hours, let’s do ‘Jacob’s Ladder,’ let’s do all those songs. It’d be fun. And visually we’d have a lot of license to do some very interesting things technically. Wait and see.” FUTURE OPTIONS FOR THE BAND “There are a number of options open to us. I think the most likely is that we’ll record another record and tour off that, Another option is that we might do a specialty tour, or we’ll do another major tour and look at doing more obscure songs. I don’t think we would just do the same sort of tour we did last time. I would be different. I don’t think we would be content to just do another tour ... just milk it. Otherwise, I’d rather stay home, to be honest with you.” (Laughs) WHETHER HE’S EVER CONSIDERED THE LEGACY OF RUSH “No, I don’t think so. We’ve always tried to say in the present as much as we could and make sure we did the best job in whatever it is we’re doing. I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished and what we’ve done. The fact that we’re still together after so many years is an amazing achievement, and the fact that we’re playing the best that we’ve ever played is also quite incredible to me. When it’s all said and done, I think I’ll feel very content and very happy with that we’ve left behind in the world of music. To see at this stage on tours 9-, 10-, 11-year-old kids out in the audience who are air drumming and air guitaring and singing our lyrics and being introduced to the band through Rock Band and [Guitar] Hero and inspiring them to play guitar like I do on drums like Neil does, that’s a wonderful feeling and it’s very warm.” Contact Kirk Baird atkbaird@theblade.comor 419-724-6734.

Independence
The band’s second album, 1975’s “Fly By Night,” was another hit, as the group left its Led Zeppelin-cloned sound behind and pushed into progressive rock territory with songs like “By-Tor and the Snow Dog” and the J.R.R. Tolkien-inspired “Rivendell.” Buoyed by its success, the band delved even further into prog-rock with its third album, “Caress of Steel,” later that year, which featured two cuts that accounted for more than three-quarters of the record’s material. The results were disastrous.

The record tanked with fans, and Rush’s management and record label worried if the band had a future. Under duress and uncertain of the future themselves, Rush responded with the band’s first critical hit, “2112,” an epic Ann Rynd-inspired concept album about an oppressive society from the future. “ ‘2112’ is all about independence and bucking the system,” Lifeson said. The album not only stood as a statement to the record label and other doubters, but also as a lifeline to the band.

“The great thing about it was that we connected somehow with our listening audience and the record did very, very well, and it bought us our independence and freedom,” Lifeson said. “And after that we were never ever questioned by the record company or management. Once you have some success it’s a lot easier to write your own rules.”

Rush capped the “2112” tour and that period with a live album, “All the World’s a Stage,” in 1976. Then the band returned to the studio and started working on an album that was even longer, even more progressive, and its fan base grew. By 1980 Rush hit its stride and released in succession arguably its best work: 1980’s “Permanent Waves,” 1981’s “Moving Pictures,” and 1982’s “Signals,” which, between them, continually account for nearly one-third of the band’s setlist material.

Tragedy

Things continued to look up for the band through the 1980s and into the ’90s — then the good fortune stopped.

In the summer of 1997, Peart’s teenage daughter was killed in a car crash. Less than a year later, his wife succumbed to cancer. Peart was devastated and the band was put on hold, possibly for good. Lee and Lifeson waited to see if their friend and bandmate could heal.

“That was a very, very difficult period. I don’t think I played my guitar or really listened to music much for a year after Selena’s death,” Lifeson said. “And then, of course, complicated with Neil’s wife’s passing, it just knocked everything out of us. As far as we were concerned, the band had very little chance of surviving; I mean, Neil was barely surviving.

“Our goal was to try to get him back on his feet, or help to get him back on his feet as best as we could. It was a very tough thing, it’s a very personal thing that is chronicled in his book Ghost Rider, what he went through. It wasn’t until he finally found some peace and remarried … and his wife, who really knew very little about the band, was the instigator and the catalyst. [She] said to him, ‘This is what you do, this is who you are. You have to really think about getting yourself back into it and not avoiding that sort of thing.’

“And then we got together and he said ‘I think I’m ready to possibly to go back to work.’ It was a slow rebuilding process. It was four years we were off the road, and here’s a guy who played drums every day except Christmas and New Year’s Day who hadn’t played his drums in four years.”

With the band in hiatus, Lee and Lifeson did their own thing, including Lee’s solo disc “My Favorite Headache.” But there was never a moment when the two thought the band could go on without Peart.

“That’s not the kind of band we ever were. Neil would not be a particularly easy guy to replace,” Lifeson said. “The Rush experience for us has been a family experience. Geddy and I live five minutes from each other. This is [after] 40-plus years of knowing each other and we’re still five minutes from each other. I played tennis with him last week, we had dinner the other night, [there’s a] wine tasting next Tuesday — he’s my best friend and we happen to be in a band together. That makes it a little easier to make those decisions about what you would do if they weren’t there anymore. It’s not just a job, it’s a whole life we’ve lived together.”

More greatest hits

Peart returned to Rush in early 2001, and in 2002 the band made its triumphant return with “Vapor Trails,” which debuted at No. 6 on Billboard. This was followed by more successful world tours, and another successful record, “Snakes and Arrows,” which was released in May of last year. Rush supported “Snakes and Arrows” with two lengthy tours, which are documented in a CD as well as DVD.

Rush has a third greatest hits package due early next year. After that release, its contract with longtime record label Mercury/Atlantic is up. And already there’s online fan speculation about what’s next for the Toronto band. Will Rush re-sign with Atlantic and return to the studio? Or will the band instead hit the road next year to celebrate its 35th anniversary? First things first, Lifeson said.

“Right now we just want rest,” Lifeson said. “We’ve been working really hard for the last seven or eight years on numerous records, tours, and DVDs; it’s been pretty constant through that whole period. We really feel like we need to step back and recharge our batteries and just not think about the band and what we’re going to do. You never know, Geddy and I might do some casual writing in the spring, but I’m guessing we probably won’t do anything until the fall of next year. At that time ... we’ll set out what we’re doing.

“There are a number of options open to us. I think the most likely is that we’ll record another record and tour off that. Working with [“Snakes and Arrows” producer] Nick Raskulinecz, he’s pushing us to think about doing another sort of concept record ... instead of just a thematically conceptual album like the most current records are. Wether we’re up for that kind of thing, I’m not so sure. We’ll have to wait and see.”

Toledo tour stop?

Rush hasn’t performed in Toledo since the early ’90s, Lifeson said. When told about the new arena, though, he is enthusiastic about another concert by the band here. Lee even has family in the area who he and Lifeson visit whenever they were in town for a tour.

As the conversation winds down, talk pushes to the end of the band. Given that all the members of the group are in their mid-50s, the end of Rush is certainly closer than its beginning. So how would Lifeson like the band to go out? How would he script Rush’s finale?

“That’s a tough question. I don’t know,” Lifeson said. “I was going to say that we go out on this incredible tour where we were just at the top of our game and we moved on and that was it. But at the same time, and I think maybe it’s because I am Canadian, I think I’d like us to rather just go quietly out. Just kind of fade away quietly and not cause a big deal.”

Contact Kirk Baird at:kbaird@theblade.comor 419-724-6734.

This decade's biggest musical event: the 2005 Pink Floyd reunion

It happened on only one night in 2005...but, in my opinion, it was the single most significant musical event of this decade.

It was Pink Floyd's reunion for Live 8, which occurred in London.

I point to the significance of this event on several levels.

1. It was the first time since 1981's tour of The Wall that Roger Waters appeared onstage with the other 3 members.
2. A cause "worthy" of a reunion brought the band together...and I realize I'm sounding as if a rock band is more important than a cause to help the ailing and sick continent of Africa...IT ISN'T.
   
3. In a passionate call out onstage from Roger Waters, Syd Barrett was recognized through an embrace of brotherly love, and was alive to hear it. Those who know the band understand the significance of Syd and the unimaginable weight of Roger's words (see the video here).
   
4. The event almost never happened to begin with due to constant feuding between Gilmour and Waters over the years...I'm convinced we caught them in a rare moment when the waters were calm (pun intended)...but considering how often they are ridden with disagreements, for one moment the stars and (dark side) of the moon lined up and they came together.
5. They actually appeared happy to be together onstage...they "all were Pink" that night. Roger Waters looked elated to be there, like a kid in a candystore. I think they were all realizing the importance of what they were doing at the time, and that it meant everything to them.
6. The fans were finally served what they'd been so richly deserving for so many years...their band together again, even if it was for only one night.
7. And, for the foursome that hadn't performed together in nearly 25 years, they sounded pretty damn sharp. Amazingly sharp, actually.
   

The significance of the reunion event has since been further elevated with the passing of songwriter /guitarist Syd Barrett (the band's founding member) a year later in July 2006...and then more recently Rick Wright in September 2008 (their man on the keys).

With Wright now gone -- a co-founder of the band who played in every single live performance the band ever put on -- it's safe to say that the band is finished, and that their 2005 reunion was the final curtain call.

Again, the fact that these four men were onstage together for even one night, opposed to a prolonged tour, only adds to the enigma of the band and its legendary status...and it makes the Live 8 event that much bigger of a deal.

This, of course, is being stated with less than 12 months of this decade left to tick off the clock...but I'll take my chances.

Feel free to share any thoughts on this.

Neil Young road testing new material?

...or so I'm guessing. Here's a vid from this year's tour, a tune called "Sea Change." He performed this and another new tune called "When Worlds Collide" in Everett last night. The lyric in that song mentioning "money" and "it ain't funny" conjures up that old Kinks tune "Low Budget."

I'm not going to even try to speculate whether or not this new material is to be expected on an upcoming project, considering Young's history of shelving recorded projects and a handful of songs from as far back as the 70s that he performs live but has never released on any album.

Hey, it's all part of the Neil Young charm...right?

THE STAGE HECKLER: Phish 2009 tour plans conjure up a brainmelter

The majesty, mastery, magic, and confusion of a Phish concert

For those of you who haven't heard, Phish are planning some shows in 2009...YES!!! This is BIG BIG NEWS, since they've been disbanded for most of this decade.

I only see plans for 3 shows in Hampton, Virginia during March so far...hopefully more will pop up!

This news, of course, reminds me of the last and only time I saw this band...about 10 years ago, when I lived in Tucson, I found myself at a Phish concert on the Pima County Fairgrounds.

It might be helpful to understand where I was coming from going into that show.

For those of you who are familiar with Phish and their shtick, you might be very amused by this: before that day in 1999, I had never heard a Phish song before in my entire life...NOT KIDDING.

It's the only concert experience I can think of where I went into the show knowing NOTHING about what the band sounded like.

However here's what I DID know:

1. They were from Vermont.
2. They were a jam band that echoed elements of the Grateful Dead.
3. They had a loyal fan following, which comprised a subculture similar to that of Deadheads.
4. More Deadheads drifted into the Phish camp since Jerry Garcia's passing in 1995.
   
5. They built that following on live performance and toured ceaselessly.
   
6. Some (if not all) of their song titles were bizarre and made absolutely no sense (to me)...so that didn't help to give the slightest clue on what to expect...other than something "outside the box," let's say.
7. They had 4 members and I heard they had traded instruments once onstage.
   

So that was it...needless to say, the experience made my head spin...right off. Literally. Their musicianship, coupled with their silliness, both mystified and left me utterly confused.

It also made me a fan for life.

Since then I've been looking for a live recording of that show, which I've yet to find...here's the set list from that night:

Tuesday, September 21, 1999
Pima County Fairgrounds, Tucson, AZ

• Set I:

• Poor Heart
• Sample in a Jar
• Split Open and Melt
• Drowned
• I Didn't Know
• Back on the Train
• Birds of a Feather
• Theme From the Bottom
• Golgi Apparatus

• Set II:

• Carini
• Bug
• Strange Design
• Vultures
• Limb by Limb
• Will It Go Round In Circles
• Dirt
• Run Like an Antelope

Encore:

• Reba
• Bold as Love

The set list information is courtesy of the Mockingbird Foundation.

So tickets are on sale right now through the Phish website. Hopefully they'll do a west coast swing next year...stay tuned for more information as it comes out. I'll try to stay on top of this one.

"Far Cry" from upcoming live Rush package

Greatness, thy name is Neil Peart

Here's a review of Rush's concert at the Gorge on May 31, which was two Saturdays ago. I'll be putting together my own review of this concert soon. S


CELESTE CORNISH; Editor
editor@northkitsapherald.com
Published: June 04, 2008 9:00:00 AM
Updated: June 05, 2008 9:45:42 AM

There’s something almost indescribable about being in the presence of greatness. And I have been in that presence.

Greatness, thy name is Neil Peart.

For two hours and 40 incredible minutes, I stood, mouth agape, watching as a 50-something year old man took drumming to an almost extra terrestial level. On May 31, my husband, Bryan, and I celebrated our 12th anniversary a bit early at The Gorge. A few months back, I’d surprised him — more shocked him right out of his skin — with a pair of tickets to see Rush. Rush is his favorite band on the whole wide face of the animal planet. I kind of liked them a whole lot, too. Yeah, I’m the coolest wife in the world ... blah, blah, blah.

It was also our first outing to The Gorge at George, which was a sight to see in itself. It was also our second concert together. The first, Metallica at Qwest Field, was a bit forgettable as neither one of us were very impressed with the whole “St. Anger” thing.

There are a couple other entertainment experiences in my life that came a bit close to Rush. In 2001, saw Atlanta Braves’ Chipper Jones hit a two-run home run over the center fence at Atlanta’s Turner Field. In the mid-90s, I saw a World Cup soccer game in Fresno, Calif., (the Northridge earthquake damaged the stadium in Los Angeles, forcing the game to Fresno). Rush, live at The Gorge, just took the place of both Chipper’s homerun and World Cup soccer. For me, that’s huge.

We got to The Gorge early enough to stand in line for $13 margaritas, which we promptly killed just to watch them die.

As we made our way to our seats (Section B, Row 20, seats 35 and 36), the closer we got to the stage, the more excited we both got. I was excited for Bryan, while he was excited for the show.

The music was great ... practically spiritual in a non-religious way. Most songs were off “Snakes and Arrows,” but there were plenty of classics thrown in for good measure. The only song I wanted to hear live, “Tom Sawyer,” had a great lead-in with Cartman from “South Park” changing the words.

In Cartman’s version, Tom Sawyer rode down the river on a raft.

The concert almost took a second stage for me because I was having such a great time watching the crowd. It was great to see a crowd of about 90 percent men be so caught up in the moment that they forgot they were supposed to play it cool. The mandatory seat-between-men that exists in movie theaters? Nope, not here. No talking, touching or any interpersonal communication whatsoever? Rules suspended.

In particular, there was a group of guys two rows ahead and a few over who introduced themselves to each other before the show, rocked together for the entire show, then swore to remain BFFs — Best Friends Forever. These are the guys who greeted the band at the beginning with a chorus of “we’re not worthies.”

When The Man stole the show with his right-about 15 minute drum solo, I could physically see the admiration in the eyes of every man in the audience for he who is arguably the world’s best drummer. For years, my husband and all his friends have being making the argument that Neil Peart isn’t so much a drummer as he is some sort of diety. Now, I, too, could argue that case.

Through it all, my usually stoic husband sang along with nearly every song and smiled so much I thought his face would break.

Happy anniversary, sweetie. Oh, by the way, I walked out of there with a mean crush on Neil Peart.

But besides that, I’m still the coolest wife in the world.

North Kitsap Herald Editor Celeste Cornish can be reached at editor@northkitsapherald.com.

Rush & The Foo Fighters jam together at Toronto's Air Canada Centre

A video follow-up to the "21 Reasons" post

After all that babble in the last post, I thought I'd follow up with some video.

Think of it as your reward for all your hard work in reading my stuff...

It starts out with Rush performing "Freewill" at the SARS Festival in their hometown of Toronto in 2003, then to the Pink Floyd reunion with Roger Waters at Live 8 in 2005 and "Comfortably Numb," and finally to an acoustic Neil Young performance with "Old Man" in 1971.

After the videos play, you can surf the menu at the bottom of the video box to play other songs by the same artist.

Enjoy! S

The Zeppelin reunion concert... at last!!!

So it finally happened... waaaaay overdue...

Led Zeppelin, one of the greatest rock acts of all time, and arguably the most influential rock band of all time next to the Beatles, finally gave their hungry fans what they'd been waiting for years to see... no, it's more like decades... a bona-fide live concert that showcased material from all their albums.

It took place yesterday in London, at the O2... with Jason Bonham, the son of the late John Bonham, on drums.

The Zep didn't put out a single poor album, and they never had a bad song... not one... so they could seemingly whip out ANYTHING and play it live... well, not just "anything," if we want to avoid some scary visuals of seldom-seen cragginess... now we're getting really icky!

So here's their set list from last night:

1. Good Times Bad Times
2. Ramble On
3. Black Dog
4. In My Time of Dying
5. For Your Life
6. Trampled Underfoot
7. Nobody's Fault but Mine
8. No Quarter
9. Since I've Been Loving You
10. Dazed and Confused
11. Stairway to Heaven
12. The Song Remains the Same
13. Misty Mountain Hop
14. Kashmir

Encore

1. Whole Lotta Love
2. Rock and Roll
   

Very cool... but nothing from In Through the Out Door, huh? I would have liked to have seen them play "Achilles Last Stand" from Presence, or maybe something random from Physical Graffiti, such as "In the Light," "Down by the Seaside," or "The Wanton Song."

If they decide to tour, perhaps they'll consider touring without an opening act, which would free them up to expand the set list and bring in some more obscure numbers... or maybe they'll let the audience call out songs and design the set list themselves... right? Isn't that how it's supposed to work?

Let's hope they follow up on this and tour the States... What a dream that would be! S

Gearing up for the "other Neil"

Now that the Rush chapter has come to a close for the year (and what a ride it was!!!)... well, it never really comes to a close, but I have to move onto other things to keep my mind occupied...

(drum roll please... bshshshshshshshshshshsh...) It's time to gear up for the "other Neil!" Yaayyy!!!

The "other Neil" means Neil Young, who also happens to spawn from Canada like the "primary Neil," (being Neil Peart, drummer /lyricist of Rush). In recent years both have also shared the fact that they migrated to southern California at some point of their lives. What else do they have in common... they're both lyricists, and they both have piercing stares... and they shake around alot (Neil Young's nickname being "Shakey," of course---I'm assuming due to his angular guitar poses when he's soloing and awkward sudden jolts onstage---soon to take out someone's eye, if he hasn't already)... what else... I'm sure I could draw all kinds of bizarre parallels...

So October 23 is the big day, which will be here in less than 4 weeks. It's a big event because not only will I be seeing Neil Young for the first time in concert, but his new album Chrome Dreams II is released on that same day. From what I understand, some members of the Crazy Horse band are accompanying him on this tour, so I'm expecting some electric Neil---but it would be nice to get a little acoustic Neil as well.

I just love this guy's diversity, both between projects and during live sets. How does someone get down and dirty with Crazy Horse in 1977's American Stars & Bars, then record a beautiful and sentimental acoustic album like 1978's Comes a Time, and finally slap down a masterpiece mixing both light and heavy sounds with 1979's Rust Never Sleeps? Then brings it out on stage to pull off both ends of the spectrum flawlessly? Neil Young. There's nobody like him, and the breadth of his catalog is only second to Dylan's---but in my opinion he's way more accessible than Dylan---and all due respect to you Bob, but Neil could rock you out of the house. Plus I couldn't understand a damn thing you were "singin'/sayin'" at Portland State a couple years back, which doesn't help matters either.

Neil Young is one of the hardest working artists out there, and always has been. His career has taken more interesting and unlikely twists and turns than the North Cascades Highway; which, if you dive deep into his catalog, is one of the very appealing things about him; you have absolutely NO idea where he's going to steer the ship next. He could give you something light and polished, or he could drive it "into the ditch," as he once stated, and give you something raw and gravelly.

Neil's one of those artists who, if you venture deep into his catalog past the Decade compilation (which is actually a decent introduction), rewards you with countless lost gems. That's how I discovered Tonight's the Night, which is one from the "ditch trilogy" that I keep coming back to (along with On the Beach and Time Fades Away, the latter of which was never released on CD). I can throw that on, then bump up to 1992's Harvest Moon (a MUST own if your even a marginal N.Y. fan), then get more contemporary with his recent rallying cry Living with War.

Neil's catalog is a potpourri of tasty treats, and you really can't go wrong anywhere---especially in the 60s, 70s and 90s---but especially in the 70s. Of recent, I really like 2000's acoustic Silver and Gold, the creativity of Greendale from '02, the sentiments of his father and upbringing in Canada on Prairie Wind from '04, and the anger and honesty of Living with War from '05.

The only part I might warn you about is his 80s material, which has some weaker albums, but that was overshadowed by extenuating circumstances involving a war between him and Geffen records. David Geffen was basically being mean to Neil (there's really no other way to frame it, the guy's an ass) and not supporting new directions he wanted to go in, so Neil responded with an album titled Trans, which featured "Transformer Man," a rather amusing listen (morphed robotic early 80s voice and all, insanely dated). Despite that unfortunate period, he closed out the 80s with a new record deal and the album Freedom, which boasted the hit "Rockin' in the Free World." He then inspired an entire rock sub-genre, the grunge scene, which in turn inspired him. Whatever he may have lacked in the 80s he certainly made up for in the 90s.

Anyway, I could go on forever about this guy. I look forward to the new CD and to seeing the man in concert. We'll talk about him more in the near future. S