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: Neil Young inspires the Everett faithful

Neil Young is a GOD. It's that simple.

I don't think I've ever seen a performer more passionate about his music than Neil Young...and from all accounts, he bestows to his fans the same guts as a man approaching his mid-60s that he did 40 years ago.

This was my second Neil Young concert. I was four rows back from the stage last night at Comcast Arena in Everett, Washington....about 20 miles north of Seattle, the newer venue serves as a nice alternative for acts that come through town. I'd say it's a much better option than Key Arena in Seattle, which is traffic nightmare central.

Opening the night was a band called Everest, which I wasn't familiar with, and Death Cab for Cutie, an interesting alternative band from Seattle with a mosaic that echoes bands like U2 and The Stone Roses...however the singer has a unique style that I'm still getting used to...I'm not saying I don't like him, I'm just getting used to him.

Since my favorite band has a falsetto singer with a high-pitched shrill, I figure I'm the last one on the planet to be intolerant of other singers I might need to adapt to.

So back to Neil.

Unlike last year, when he split the show between acoustic and electric sets (see post on that show here), all songs were part of one set. Electric Neil sandwiched Acoustic Neil in the middle portion of the set.

I love how this guy mixes things up.

There was an indication that electric Neil was going to open up the show when his guitar tech Larry Cragg brought Old Black onstage...that's his prized guitar that he's used since the 1960s.

When the show began, he launched into "Love and Only Love," one of the classics from Ragged Glory, his grungy 1990 project and perhaps the best project to date with Crazy Horse.

He soon brought up one of my personal favorites, "Powderfinger," which originally appeared on 1979's Rust Never Sleeps. He was emotionally involves with his music as he sweat and sneered through many of the vocal passages.

One of the amazing qualities of a live Neil Young performance is how he seamlessly transitions from the beautiful electric sludge of tunes like "Hey Hey, My My," where his extended solos careen through the auditorium with sounds like a dinosaur moaning in pain from a leg amputation...to the acoustic grace and sentiments of a song like "Old Man."

He seemed to have a bit more energy onstage tonight than a year ago at WAMU Theater in Seattle...where at times he even seemed a bit disoriented onstage.

Not tonight.

The only ones who were disoriented were the audience, left fending for their lives as they took blows to the head from the dungeon of Neil's grungy extended jams.

How can I explain it...Neil Young's sludgy electric brand of rock & roll is the equivalent of a musical axe being swung at your head...and, elated, you can't wait for that blade to chop into your skull...only the blade hasn't been sharpened in awhile, and it has pits and gouges in it...so it just manages to knock off a chunk of your skull...get it? Sure you do.

Okay, we're getting carried away here...what did he play last night?

The set list:

1. Love and Only Love
2. Hey Hey, My My
3. Everybody Knows this is Nowhere
   
4. Powderfinger
   
5. Spirit Road
   
6. Cinnamon Girl (they goofed the opening and started it over...too funny.)
7. Oh, Lonesome Me
8. Mother Earth
9. The Needle and the Damage Done
10. Unknown Legend
11. Heart of Gold
12. Old Man
    
13. Get Back to the Country
14. Just Singing a Song
    
15. Sea Change (or is it "See" change?)
    
16. When Worlds Collide
    
17. Cowgirl in the Sand
18. Rockin' in the Free World
19. [encore 1] A Day in the Life (In his effort to make as much racket as possible at the end, he ends up ripping off the guitar strings from Old Black)
    
20. [encore 2] The Sultan (instrumental with a big gong being hit by a guy dressed in swami gear...very odd)

You can follow all the set lists from Neil Young's tour at SugarMountain.org.

So that's it...I'm hoping that Neil's next project involves Crazy Horse again...now THAT'S the show I'm waiting to see!

Neil Peart performing at Buddy Rich Memorial Concert

Neil will be the final drummer performing at the Buddy Rich Memorial Concert in New York City Sunday night...information on the event can be found HERE.

The event will be caught on digital stream via the drum channel...I'll look for the link and come back to post it.

My Amazon list of best rock albums

, Since I put out the jazz list, here's a rock list that I also have.

Here's the rock list: Amazon.com: "Start an eclectic rock collection - 35 recommendations!".

The list:

1. Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon
2. Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
3. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
4. Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced?
   
5. Rush - Moving Pictures
6. Dire Straits - Communique
7. Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
8. Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
9. The Doors (eponymous)
   
10. Led Zeppelin - IV
    
11. The Who - Who's Next
    
12. Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
    
13. Santana - Abraxas
14. Carole King - Tapestry
15. U2 - The Joshua Tree
16. Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection
17. Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
18. Lou Reed - Transformer
19. Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head
    
20. Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive!
    
21. Grateful Dead - Without a Net
    
22. Van Halen (eponymous)
    
23. Nirvana - Nevermind
    
24. Eagles - Hotel California
    
25. Ritchie Valens
26. R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant
    
27. Joni Mitchell - Blue
    
28. Elvis - Elvis Presley
    
29. Elvis Costello - Trust
    
30. The Police - Zenyatta Mandatta
    
31. Neil Young - Harvest
    
32. Radiohead - OK Computer
    
33. The Cars (eponymous)
    
34. 10,000 Maniacs - In My Tribe
    
35. Queensryche - Empire

That's it for the Amazon lists.

The Kaoss Pad...again!

I posted last month about this device, and showcased Radiohead's use of it in a live setting.

However now I found a video of what appears to be an older model in use, and it should be a bit more informative of the various mechanics and how it's used. It's essentially a demonstration you'd get in a music store if someone was trying to sell it to you.

Sorry if I'm killing this subject, but I find this gadget to be totally fascinating. This seems to reveal and give context to what we've heard on the radio at times from artists over the last 5-10 years.

Neil Peart honoured

It's always satisfying to see one of your favorite musicians HONOURED (in the true English spelling sense)...especially when they're essentially part of a nonmainstream band that doesn't get much recognition outside of their home country.

A team of St. Catherine, Ontario artists recently unveiled a project where they created a series of double-sided banners featuring famous St. Cathariners and hung them up at various locations downtown.

One of these banners is our favorite St. Catheriner, Neil Peart. You can check out a picture of Neil's banner, which is hanging outside police headquarters, at this link.

For those who don't know, St. Catharines, Ontario is about five minutes down the highway, west of the Canadian side of Niagra Falls.

Thanks to rushisaband.com for the heads up.

Congratulations, Neil! Cool stuff!

Johnny Cash as...the Elvis impersonator

Hey-bebe.

Here's something you don't see every day...Johnny Cash doing an Elvis impersonation. It's worth a chuckle.

For those of you who don't know, Cash and Elvis knew one another through Sun Records, who I believe was the first record label they signed to (at least it was for Cash, and I'm assuming Elvis as well).

The two of them toured together in the 1950s...so anything in this video I can only interpret as friendly ribbing. I believe Elvis returned the favor and did Cash impersonations on stage as well, although I haven't found footage of that yet...have fun with this and share it.

Thankya-vera-much.

The guts and magic of Andrew Hill

Every October in Seattle, the Earshot Jazz Festival rears its head. It's the largest festival of its kind in the Pacific Northwest.

I usually catch two or three acts every year, depending on who's coming through. There have been some magical moments (in the case of acts like Jason Moran, Matthew Shipp and Bobby Hutcherson), and one questionable one too (if you look through posts from last fall, you can read about the John Zorn fiasco).

The most memorable event came during the 2006 festival, when pianist Andrew Hill came through town. The album covers shown throughout this post are his most recommended works.

At the Showbox in Seattle, we arrived early and grabbed a seat at the front of the stage...I wasn't going to sit in the back to watch my favorite jazz artist. On stage right (performer's perspective) sat a large Steinway piano, and a drumset adorned the middle of the stage.

A face soon peaked out from the behind the stage left curtain. Andrew Hill emerged, walking very, very slowly. It was obvious that something was off, but it was hard to place what was happening with him.

The drummer and bass player came out after Hill found his seat at the piano. For nearly 45 minutes, the band went through a set of new and old material, the latest of which came from an album released earlier that same year, Time Lines. Between every song, he would announce the titles, although he was very difficult to hear since he was speaking in a low whisper. The thanked the audience for being there.

Hill was in top form throughout the set...the ethereal sounds emerging from his fingers emitted a sort of magic...sounds audible on his records, which I'd collected over the last few years to my CD collection, but not quite the same as in the flesh.

While the set seemed a bit short, it was definitely not short on quality. One of the things I love about Hill's music is the way he can fly into a protracted off-the-wall jam session, but then bring things down into a light groove that bounces across the stage like a feather. His style is full of complexity and mystery.

After Andrew Hill left the stage and the performance ended, little did I know that at approximately 70 years young he was dying of lung cancer and playing through shortness of breath and unimaginable suffering.

He died in 2007, less than six months after the performance I attended. Once again, I had been blessed with the opportunity to see a legend live right before their passing. I'd had the same opportunity in 1994 when I saw the Grateful Dead right before Jerry Garcia passed away the following year...except Garcia wasn't suffering from a terminal illness.

What Hill pulled off was nothing short of miraculous. That guy had indescribable determination, along with tons and tons of guts...forget that the performance was as close to perfection as one could have it...anyone listening that night who didn't know about Hill's cancer or couldn't see how he was struggling to get across the stage would have thought that he was perfectly fine. What a stud.

That's the stuff of legend...and that's exactly what Andrew Hill is.

Here's a biographical overview from Amazon.com:

Andrew Hill was a great and even groundbreaking composer and pianist, yet the relatively circumscribed scale of his innovations might have originally caused him to get lost in the shuffle of the '60s free jazz revolution.

While many of his contemporaries were totally jettisoning the rhythmic and harmonic techniques of bop and hard bop, Hill worked to extend their possibilities; his was a revolution from within. Much of the most compelling '60s jazz was nearly aleatoric; Hill, on the other hand, exhibited a determined command of his materials, however abstract they might sometimes be.

His composed melodies were labyrinthine, and rhythmically and harmonically complex tunes like "New Monastery" from his Point of Departure album exhibit a sophistication born of mastery, not chance or contingency. As a pianist, Hill had a flowing melodicism and an elastic sense of time. Like his composing, Hill's playing had an ever-present air of spontaneity and was almost completely devoid of cliché.

He began playing the piano at about the age of 13. As a youngster in Chicago, Hill was encouraged by pianist Earl Hines. Jazz composer Bill Russo also took an interest, and introduced Hill to the renowned classical composer Paul Hindemith, with whom Hill studied from 1950-1952.

While in his teens, he gigged with prominent jazz musicians passing through the Midwest, Miles Davis and Charlie Parker among them. In 1955, he recorded So in Love with the Sound of Andrew Hill for the Warwick label. He moved to New York in 1961 to work with singer Dinah Washington. After a brief foray to Los Angeles with Rahsaan Roland Kirk's band in 1962, Hill moved back to New York, where he began his recording career in earnest.

He made several records for Blue Note from 1963-1969, both as leader and sideman. Hill's Blue Note work featured some of the best and brightest post-bop musicians of the day, including Eric Dolphy, Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Tony Williams, and Freddie Hubbard.

Like many jazz musicians, Hill eventually turned to academia to make a living. He received his doctorate from Colgate University and served as the school's composer in residence from 1970-1972. Hill relocated to the West Coast, teaching in public schools and prisons in California. He eventually landed a teaching position at Portland State University, where he established the school's Summer Jazz Intensive.

In addition to his teaching, Hill continued to perform and record in the '70s and '80s, making records for the Arista-Freedom and Black Saint/Soul Note labels. In 1989 and 1990, Hill recorded twice more for Blue Note, Eternal Spirit and But Not Farewell.

Hill moved back to the New York area in the '90s; a series of performances and new recordings helped place him back in the jazz spotlight. Hill formed a new Point of Departure Sextet for the Knitting Factory's 1998 Texaco Jazz Festival. The band included saxophonists Marty Ehrlich and Greg Tardy, trumpeter Ron Horton, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Billy Drummond. The band went on to play New York club engagements to much acclaim.

In 2000, Palmetto Records released Dusk, which was named the best album of 2001 by Down Beat and Jazz Times magazines. It was followed by A Beautiful Day in 2002, Passing Ships in 2003, and Black Fire in 2004, as well as a solid series of Blue Note reissues of his '60s work that included bonus tracks and new liner notes. His 2006 album, Time Lines, reunited him with both trumpeter Charles Tolliver and the Blue Note label. Hill also participated in a 17-piece big band, and a January 2002 engagement at New York's Birdland was filmed and recorded by Palmetto for future broadcast.

After battling lung cancer for many years, Hill succumbed to the disease on April 20, 2007, leaving behind a stunning legacy of work.

~ Chris Kelsey, All Music Guide

Link to Phish Tucson concert from 1999

Gordon flashin' (and fishin') his stuff on the bass

There seems to be lots of stuff stirring in the land of Phish...

The sites been a-jumpin' like Phish outta water (ahem, bad joke, I know) since I posted earlier this week on the Tucson show I experienced nine years ago, oblivious to knowing anything about the band (see story here).

That said, someone named Joe was thoughtful enough to leave a comment with a link for the Tucson concert: Phish at Pima County Fairgrounds, Tucson. I'm not sure about the sound quality, as I haven't heard it yet...I was going to try to download it this weekend.

From what I can tell, there are no other known recordings out there of this show...and judging from what I've seen on several of their other live recordings, it looks like an unusual set list.

Does anyone out there have any photos from this show?

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.

FROM THE VAULT -- Unreleased Rush tunes caught live

Some in the diehard Rush camp have probably heard of the song "Garden Road," which was never released on any of their albums.

It was part of their live set from the early 70s, before they released their eponymous debut album. Such curios from a band that doesn't release B-sides and outtake tracks --- bent on presenting their work polished and rehearsed --- tends to become more myth than reality. Nevertheless, I decided to see what was out there recently.

Interestingly enough, this wasn't very hard to find. Here's a live recording of the tune (don't mind the bizarre graphic), and for Rush at the time it's not too shabby. Listening carefully to it reveals some killer wah-wah pedal work from Alex. I love it when he puts that thing to effective use.

When the song finishes, hunt on the scroll bar for another unreleased Rush rarity, "Fancy Dancer," also containing the same cheeseball graphic.

FROM THE VAULT -- Tom Petty's amusing side

To play the song, pause the music in the left column and press play on the music gadget below.

As I was putting together an online playlist sometime back, I bumped into this song by Tome Petty called "Girl on LSD." I'd never heard of it before, and I've been a fan of this guy for decades.

Some brief research reveals that this song appeared as a B-side to his single for "You Don't Know How it Feels." Long out of print for over 10 years, this rare CD single (shown above) appears on 1994's Wildflowers...however "Girl on LSD" can't be found anywhere else...here's more on it.

"Far Cry" from upcoming live Rush package

Everybody's heroes

Here's yet another reason why Rush are my boys who NEVER disappoint. The cool factor with this band only lengthens over time. Here is a story by this cancer patient, who was approached by the Make a Wish Foundation:

Samantha is a 16-year-old Rush fan from Summerville, Georgia who was diagnosed with cancer back in August of 2007. 3 months into her treatment she was approached by the Make-A-Wish Foundation and asked how they could help to make her wish come true. The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a nonprofit organization that grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions. They've granted wishes to 1000s of children since their inception in 1980 and are run entirely on donations. Samantha's wish was to meet her favorite band - Rush. This marked the first time Rush had ever been approached for a Make-A-Wish request. Here is Samantha's amazing story in her own words.

Wish Granted

I looked out to where, soon, 10,000 people would be standing to hear the band that I was about to meet. It was surreal. Ever since I was four, I had dreamed of meeting them. I had wanted to meet them for most of my life. As I grew, they became some of my heroes. Then when I was diagnosed with cancer in August of 2007, my world changed. The one thing that remained consistent was my family and their music. Three months into treatment, Make-a-Wish, a nonprofit organization, came to me and told me that I had a wish. I could do anything but get a car or a swimming pool. The things that I could do were numerous. I thought about it until the day they came to get my wish. Finally making my decision, I told them that I wanted to meet Rush.

The morning of July 20th, we went to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Charlotte, North Carolina. We met with the head of security the band liaison, Kevin Ripa, who gave my family and I a tour of the stage, backstage and the dressing rooms. I got to meet the techs for the band: Bucky, the guitar tech, Gump, the drum tech, and Russ, the bass and keyboard tech. I even got to sit at Neil Peart's drum kit and hold Alex Lifeson's 1976 Gibson es355. After that we went to the back to wait for the bands arrival. I sat in on a security meeting and then I went back onto the stage to meet them. I first saw Geddy Lee. I was in awe. He smiled and gave me a hug. We started to talk a little when I saw a man in a white shirt and baseball cap come up. I did not notice who it was at first, thought he was just some guy, then I looked again. It was Neil Peart, one of my heroes. My emotions overcame me and I started to cry. At that point Neil gave me a hug. The last to arrive on stage was Alex Lifeson. He was a good natured person and a fun person to talk to. I told him that I listened to the song "Hope" over and over during my chemo treatments and the song meant a lot to me. That made him smile. After a little talking, the band went to their respective parts of the stage for the sound check. I went off the stage and to the rail at the front row. They played a few songs including Subdivisions, The Trees, and Ghost of a Chance. I then took a moment to take in where I was and what I was doing. I engraved everything on my mind, forgetting all else. It was like being in a perfect world filled with music. I went back on stage and Alex played the song Hope for me, which made me cry because of what it meant to me during my treatment. When the sound check was over, the band signed a few things including my copy of "Roadshow". Neil signed it "To Samantha, You can get back on! Neil Peart" I told him that my illness was like the lyrics in Farcry that go "some days I feel I'm ahead of the wheel and the next it's rolling over me". Neil also gave me the sticks he used for the sound check. Alex and Geddy gave me a bunch of picks. Geddy also gave me a "Henhouse" t-shirt. All generous gifts. I was also able to tell the band what their music has meant to me and my family, and also thank them for it. Then, the meet was over. It was an amazing 2 hours for me and my family. But the night was just beginning.

We went to the concert we had 5th row seats. During the first couple of songs, Kevin Ripa called me up on stage. After the song Ghost Of A Chance, Geddy walked up to the mic to talk to the crowd for the first time of the night. After saying hello, he mentioned that they had "a ton of material" for the crowd. He then said "but first, we would like to dedicate this next song to my friend Sam, this is from Hold Your Fire it's called Mission". Mission is one of my very favorite songs and Geddy told me while we were talking that it was his favorite song to play. For the third time that day, I cried. Watching the band play that song from on stage was overwhelming especially since they were playing it for me. The rest concert was phenomenal, and the day was one that I will never forget. My Dad and I also attended the Atlanta show 2 days later (THANKS PHILLIP!). I met many people there that were also at the Charlotte show that asked me about the song dedication. I was nice meeting everyone. I just told them that Make-A-Wish and Rush made it all possible. It was an unreal couple of days! Thank you Rush and thank you Make-A-Wish!

Make-a-Wish is an organization that grants once an a lifetime "wishes" to children with diseases like Cancer, Spina Abifida, Sickle Cell Animea, and other illnesses. It is an amazing organization. They made this such a special day for me and did everything in their power to make an awesome experience. The organization runs entirely on donations. If you would like to donate, see inspiring stories, or volunteer go to www.wish.org.

At last I would like to give a list of my favorite Rush songs

* Resist
* Mission
* Test for Echo
* Summertime Blues
* Working Them Angels
* Totem
* Hope
* Far Cry
* Malignant Narcissism
* Second Nature
* Marathon
* Force Ten
* Everyday Glory

My favorite albums are Test for Echo and Snakes and Arrows.

Thank you for letting me tell my story.

Samantha Dyar

I'm happy to say that Sam celebrated her 6th month of remission on August 16th and is doing great! Her father John also supplied some more details about the meeting which lasted for about 2 hours including sound check. They toured the dressing rooms and all around the stage and their family were the only people there during the sound check. Sam had an all access pass for the show and Rush's tour photographer John Arrowsmith followed her and her family around, taking several pictures many of which you can check out here. They also got to spend some time with Rush's lighting director Howard Ungerleider. Except for the few songs she was on stage, Sam watched the entire show from the rail (she liked the sound better out front). Sam's first Rush concert was during the Test for Echo tour when she was only 5 and she has seen Rush live a total of 10 times. Her very first concert was the Grateful Dead at age 4. Be sure to check out all the pictures from the meeting at this location. The expressions on Sam's face really speak for how magical of an experience this was for her. Many thanks to her, her family, Rush and the Make-A-Wish Foundation for allowing me to share this with everyone.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation is run entirely on donations. For information on how you can help, please visit this link.

The Kaoss Pad

Remembering Rick Wright, Floyd's soulful dove

Rick Wright: the mortar that held the bricks together in Floyd's sound

The soulful dove of Pink Floyd has left us and gone to "The Great Gig in the Sky."

If Roger Waters gave Floyd it's edge, and David Gilmour gave the band it's grace, then Wright gave the band it's soul and feel.

In my opinion, his wizardry on the keys is the main component to Pink Floyd's sound.

Sonically, he set the mood for the band's music. To lay the mortar between Gilmour's guitar work and Waters' outside-the-box lyrics to perfect form in the way that he did -- while keeping mellow in light of hardcore band politics and infighting -- is really nothing short of amazing.

Anyone who's a fan of the band and knows their catalog would understand his contribution and what it means.

So long, Rick...give Syd our best. We love and miss you both. S

Rick Wright of Pink Floyd passes

The sky was the limit: Pink Floyd in the heady Syd Barrett days

This has been a bizarre day, to say the least.

Richard Wright (the guy leaning over the railing, far right), the keyboardist and a founding member of Pink Floyd, apparently died of cancer today.

This comes just two years after the death of Syd Barrett, the co-founder of the band who gave Pink Floyd its name (standing next to Wright).

First, my condolences to Wright's family and friends, and those who love this band.

This is VERY HARSH news for Floyd fans, not only due to the loss of Wright in and of itself, but also to the fact that his death represents no chance anymore that there could be any reunion tour.

That being said, here's what makes the news of Wright's death today even more bizarre...this article that ALSO CAME OUT TODAY with David Gilmour, who was talking about the prospect (or no prospect, depending on how you read into it) of a Floyd reunion tour. The article must have been release hours before the news of Wright's passing.

Since the Live 8 reunion over three years ago, rumors had been swirling around about a reunion tour with this band...it wasn't likely, but it was always possible. I can now say that it's theoretically impossible that Floyd will ever form to tour without Wright. I simply can't see that happening.

Unfortunately, I guess it was never to be. Crap.

I guess we'll just have to live with what we had, and the final curtain call they gave us with the Live 8 show. If Live 8 is the perfect ending, I can accept that. I guess we'll have to.

That was a very happy day...but for right now this is a sad one. S


(AGI) - London, 15 Sept. - Richard Wright is dead, the co founder and keyboard player for legendary Pink Floyd: he was 65 years old and had cancer for a long time.

His death, which occurred today, was made public by his family, a spokesperson, who did not give particular details, asked for a respect of the family's privacy.

His full name was Richard William 'Rick' Wright, born in London, the only member of the original band to be from the city. As an adolescent, he briefly attended the "London College of Music" obtaining his jazz like style.

He left early, and signed up for Architecture before meeting his future band mates, Roger Waters and Nick Mason, with whom Pink Floyd was born along with Syd Barrett, later substituted by David Gilmour.

Wright played on all of the discs with the exception of 'The Final Cut' in 1983, when he was distanced from the band again by Waters, which also occurred in 1979 during recording of 'The Wall'. He returned in 1987 to complete "A Momentary Lapse of Reason', and was taken in completely a year after for 'The Delicate Sound of Thunder'.

Together with Mason, he participated in every concert for the group. Besides his instrumental contributions, Wright also composed many of the songs, alone or with the other band members: most importantly 'Sysyphus'. 'Summer '68', 'The Great Gig in the Sky', Us and Them' as well as in more recent times, 'Keep Talking' and 'Wearing the Inside Out'. In some cases he was lead vocalist, where he displayed his melodic talent.

He also released two solo albums, 'Wet Dream' in 1978, and 'Broken China' in 1996: he also participated in many collaborations, remakes of older songs, and his experience with the group Zee together with Dave Harris, with whom in 1984 he came out with 'Identity'.

THE STAGE HECKLER: Radiohead live = WOW!!!

I'm still trying to absorb what I saw five nights ago, when I took it upon myself to check out this arty, cutting edge rock band at the White River Amphitheater near Seattle (actually on a rez near the suburb of Auburn).

In uncharacteristic August fashion, the day presented a slew of torrential downpours, making the adventure to get there a little precarious...so, taking advantage of my local knowledge, I avoided the mess by taking a series of backroads to get to the show.

Then the rain stopped just before I arrived...Radiohead's magic had come to town. Birds started to chirp...cat's meowed...uh, yeah.

For starters, the band is pushing new frontiers as an eco-friendly touring act, tabulating their carbon footprint and utilizing new lighting techniques onstage. Instead of presenting what we know as a typical onstage light show, the band is hauling a series of "draped lights" that hang down from the rafters and illuminate the stage through what I guess was some sort of static electricity that probably didn't require much in the way of power...I counted six rows of about a dozen hanging lights.

Working together the lights illuminated the stage and synchronized patterns in a variety of colors...the stage would be washed in pinks, reds, blues and greens. It was artistically impressive and unlike anything anyone in the audience had ever seen before, I would guess.

Oh yeah, of course there was music too...let me start with the set list for the night...apparently they culled this differently night to night from a rehearsed number of 50 songs. Many selections were from their latest release, In Rainbows, which came out at first last December (online, through a unique pay-what-you-want offer, which cut out the record company middleman) and in January in stores on the standard compact disc:

• 15 Step
• Reckoner
• Optimistic
• There There
• All I Need
  
• Pyramid Song
• Talk Show Host (holy crap!! 90s era b-side…)
• The National Anthem
• The Gloaming
• Videotape
• Lucky
  
• Faust Arp [Thom messes up lyrics several times, starts singing Neil Young's "Tell Me Why"; Jonny tries to follow along but can't quite get the chords. Phil comes out and drops an American dollar bill out in front of Thom and Jonny and runs away laughing. Thom and Jonny crack up completely to loud cheers. Thom tries again, says "Fuck it!", but then continues and finishes the song.]
• Jigsaw Falling Into Place
• Climbing Up The Walls
  
• Dollars and Cents
• Nude
• Bodysnatchers
• Encore 1: How to Disappear Completely
• Arpeggi/Weird Fishes
• Idioteque
• In Limbo [Tambourine accompaniment by Nigel Godrich. Thom, 'This is Nigel', Ed, 'He makes our records.']
• Street Spirit
  
• Encore 2: You And Whose Army? [Thom dedicates to the people who demonstrated against the WTO in Seattle in 1999]
• No Surprises
  
• Everything In Its Right Place

You might notice by looking at the set list that missing in action was quite a bit of material from their two most popular albums of the 1990s, The Bends (1995) and OK Computer (1997). I don't think we had anything from the former, although three offbeat tracks were offered from the latter. That being said, fans of old Radiohead might have felt a bit disappointed.

They can't satisfy everyone, unfortunately...especially if they're fond of presenting their new material. All things considered, with the exception of those two albums the song list was interesting and balanced...and they were at liberty to dive deeper into other material.

It seems that Radiohead is also shooting for some kind of a world record for number of instruments used during a live performance. These guys just seem to get off on noodling around with everything they can get their hands on.

Despite what could be interpreted as a display of showmanship as multi-instrumentalists, as the night went on it became obvious that this band is not concerned with showing off talents of musical prowess, but collectively wants to serve their music by using all the electronic goodies available to them in their effort to bring their visions to life.

Needless to say, it was fun to watch them recreate their studio wizardry onstage in the live setting.

Opening the set with "15 Step," from In Rainbows, halfway through the tune guitarist Ed O'Brien could be seen walking around onstage with what I can only describe as a transistor radio, but it was probably a gadget along the lines of an analog synthesizer...as he triggered these spacey sound effects, his electric guitar dangling around his neck unused for the moment.

Then more drums appeared onstage during "There There" (from 2003's Hail to the Thief) as the two guitarists became a second and third drummer to enhance the effect of the beat...lead singer Thom Yorke then kept the song moving with guitar...but no, wait! Partway through the song I literally saw Jonny Greenwood, the other guitarist, play guitar and drums simultaneously...not kidding.

These instrumental theatrics were typical throughout the night. Even the bass player, the other Greenwood brother, took up synthesizers at one point.

Many of you might know Radiohead through their lead singer, Thom Yorke. As impressive as he is in his abilities, which range from his beautiful voice to his wonderful guitar work and piano playing, it's the shy lead guitarist Jonny Greenwood who stole the show.

Greenwood must have performed off at least 10 different instruments throughout the night...let's count them.

1. guitar
2. drums
3. keyboard instrument #1 (will find out more about his equipment)
   
4. keyboard instrument #2
5. keyboard instrument #3
   
6. transistor radio (obviously modified to bring radio sounds into the performance)
   
7. some sort of analog synthesizer
   
8. violin bow (for the guitar)
9. glockenspeil
   
10. Kaos Pad (makes those trippy effects, samples and loops during "Everything in its Right Place"... no, that's not Yorke tripping on acid and making funny effects with his voice)
    
11. Something resembling a lemon (which I guess makes a percussive sound when it's shaken?)
    
12. a wrench (for repairs to a car engine, live onstage...just kidding, but I wouldn't have been shocked)
    

Maybe I missed something...but that's most of it.

Greenwood gives off a presence that's nothing short of the mad scientist noodling around with gadgets, strings, sticks and knobs all over the room...a multi-tasker who's simply not satisfied with the fact that he's on Rolling Stone's top 100 guitarists of all time list.

He and Radiohead perform what they want in their own way...and they don't care how they look doing it. Rest assured, it was all good.

For any fan of live shows out there, this band is an ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENT to your live stock. Whatever you do, don't miss them...they aren't on tour that often to begin with. S

Pink Floyd as a "trekker's heirloom"

Hey trekkers with the Floyd book! Read this post and tell us your story in the comments section below...we'd love to hear from you!

It pretty much started by pure accident, and with a little luck.

But how does that old saying by the Canadian wise man go?

"Luck is when preparation meets opportunity."

So it is. I've always brought music with me whenever I'm traveling abroad, as it helps me to pass the time, and I have something familiar at my side in my travels...so when I left for Peru last month, I decided to go a step further and pack along some extra musical companions.

In perusing through a Barnes & Noble in Seattle's U-District to pick up some new music by The New Pornographers and Mudcrutch's debut album (a Tom Petty project), I bumped into a new kind of rough guide.

For those who are world trekkers, rough guides are mostly known for their travel books and city guides...and hands down, they make the best street maps of anyone out there.

However, this is a different kind of Rough Guide...they've crossed over into music now (who's the genius at that company who thought of that?) and they're starting to do rock bands...so I picked up two; one for an artist I want to learn more about (Bob Dylan), and another for one of my favorite bands (Pink Floyd).

The Dylan book got left, in my typical Swiss cheese brain fashion, on a 6-hour bus ride to Puno...but I didn't do it! It was the high altitude, I swear.

However after reading the Floyd book, I decided to pass it along to my buddy I was meeting up with during my travels down there...which brought up a thought: why not try to turn the book into a "trekker's heirloom," if you like?

I figured some lonely traveler might appreciate challenging their Floyd trivia while battling the cha-chas on a long bus ride in Ecuador or something. Music seems like the true international language, and I can't think of a more intriguing topic for passing the time while on the road...and in South America, there can be LOTS of time to pass with travel delays, broken down busses, etc.

So it seems like a cool idea, assuming it works...at least we think so...I'll keeping my fingers crossed. That being said, my buddy has written in the book directing trekkers to this site. He should be passing the book along to someone he meets in either Bolivia or Chile, depending on where he's at.

We'll see what happens, I really hope it works. S

ISSUES FOR IDIOTS -- Absorbing the concept of the toy instrument cover tune

It was bound to happen eventually...and now it's here. It's musicians on toy instruments covering some of the most complex passages in the rock catalog.

Interestingly enough, it actually works in the case of the band PLASTICA.

Here's a worthy cover of Rush's "YYZ." You can find others they cover, such as Metallica's "Master of Puppets," in which they have conveniently modified the title to "Master of Pop-tarts." Enjoy, if you dare!