Anyway, here are the pictures. I’m going to continue trying to get my life together after that onslaught of music, partying, chow, music, fun, music and more music and MORE MUSIC!!
Em and I are sitting in the bus, waiting to head down Canal to the CBD, where we are staying. Em prefers to call it the BFD, not for ‘business and financial district’ but more out of deference to Joe Biden.
Now we take a quick rest before boarding the ferry to gig with Hirsh on the West Bank.
It was an amazing day with monstrous performances. And the rain held off. More reports will be coming shortly.
Transatlantic on Saturday night was amazing. The crappy cameraphone pictures are posted in my previous entry. Now Em has returned from Moab and we’re heading down to JazzFest. The music is everywhere. Even now, I’m tying up some loose ends so I can be out of the office for three days while I listen to the new Grateful Dead release of J.F.K. Stadium 7/7/89, a show I attended. It sounds almost as good as it did on that beautiful Summer day 21 years ago.
And then there are these two songs I have obsessing over. For no reason in particular.
Rollings Stones – Under My Thumb from the Expanded ‘Get Yer Ya-Yas Out’ [audio:http://mpomy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/2-03-Under-My-Thumb.mp3|titles=2-03 Under My Thumb]
Jerry Garcia – Gommorah from a solo acoustic bootleg [audio:http://mpomy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/04-Gommorah.mp3|titles=04 Gommorah]
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As I prepare to enjoy JoeZ’s hospitality for a mid-week basement jam, I hope that “no songs” is the order of the day. There’s a good chance this will be the case, as I know very few songs to begin with, and even fewer that JZT knows in common. If we make a more regular thing out of this, then some composing will certainly be in order, even if just for drum-guitar or drum- bass duets.
I think there’s a lot of trepidation in jumping into an open-ended jam. Now, I have played with Joe a handful of times, so I have some idea, some preconception about what musical approaches will work better than others. Similarly, he already knows about how much space to give me. But, even with that (vague) foreknowledge, I still do no know what to expect. I think a “basement jam” should embrace the unknown. Players should seek to destabilize each other, at least a little, in order to avoid monotony. At the same time, there ought to be moments when the player can forget himself or herself and get lost in the emotion of VERY basic music. The balance of these two concrete approaches/directives should make for a very enjoyable evening, and perhaps music worth revisiting, outside the ecstasies and confusion of ‘the moment.’
Roine Stolt
Ready for a total PROG-stravaganza with cousin Steve, Dr. Dave and new friend Dara. We’re going to ge there early and get right up front. We’re getting a bit old for the standing-all-show deal, but, thankfully, there is no opening act and this is a special show in that it represents the mightiest prog-rock super-group in the land. Roine is a legend, the godfather of swedish prog. Neal Morse is the happy warrior, a missionary of prog and evangelical Christianity! Michael Portnoy is, as of this date, the greatest rock drummer out there. When he plays with his band (Dream Theater), the kit is the size of a small school bus. Who knows what he’s bringing to the TLA next week? And finally, Pete Trewavas, he is the glue that brings order to the ferocity of the others’ passion.
Transatlantic will, presumably., be performing their entire new album The Whirlwind as well as some of their back catalog and a couple covers.
It’s gonna be a great night. Here’s a sample of the new record:
p.s. I’m pleased to say, after the chaos of my recent relocation, I have finally found our tickets, so we are ready to go!
Simone Rosetti
Cover bands. Tribute bands. “Experiences.” Do not get me started! Have you never wanted to do something creative? Something that was truly yours? Do you see your job as, essentially, one of impersonation? The only passion that really comes across to the audience is the passion for perfection. At best, the performers disappear, or, as is often the case, wear costumes. But part of it is still an exercise in impersonation.
But I am a good one to talk. Let us not even, for the moment, mention the dozens of shows by a certain Genesis tribute band that I have witnessed. As an audience member I delight in the opportunity to see something I never had the opportunity to witness the first time around. And, taken on its merits, the performance is inspiring – sound, vision, composition. But here’s the sick part: I also have audio-only recordings of tribute bands! Why not just listen to the original? That’s the thing I’ve been listening to for twenty-five years!
But that’s just it. After all this time, I’m looking for something different, another level of genius. And when that raw material is in another’s hands, the possibility for “interpretation” or variation is dangerously prominent.
Well, The Watch is your cure for the common tribute band. Part of what motivated Genesis (a BIG part) was the desire/need to write music. That push to be creative, to do something new, was, no doubt, a big part of what moved the real Genesis on stage. The Musical Box has never had that. New music has always been explicitly excluded from their mandate. The Watch, on the other hand, has four studio albums of original material and a live album of that material. They are established original artists. They have also created two Genesis programs that perfectly imitate the dominating force of Foxtrot and Nursery Cryme. Those records have had a profound, though often overlooked, influence on music throughout Europe, North America and South America.
Will The Watch have that kind of impact? I don’t think so, but one never knows. The point is that they are making the music that they want to make, and while it is overwhelmingly influenced by Gabriel-era Genesis, it is also their own. Or is this what Genesis would have sounded like if that remarkable quintet had never disbanded? That’s a fanboy question for the ages.
For now, I count myself very lucky to have come across this band from Milan. Thirty-eight years ago, Genesis was looking for a break with a live show that they new was good, but it wasn’t getting through outside England. Italy was a home for Genesis when they were on the road. Now, it seems, Genesis has become a musical home for a few gifted musicians from Italy.
I have ordered The Watch’s two most recent titles from Amazon – Primitive and Planet Earth. I also want to thank Sommutante for having an amazing music blog. It’s in Portuguese, but it’s pretty easy to see he’s pretty hip. And I don’t recommend Google Translate. Just listen to the music.
Shining Bald Heads (5:55) – from Vacuum (2004):
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Someone made a bit of a rude comment about my shitty, cheap, off-brand, in-authentic resonator. AND I cleaned up all the pedals and cords and power supplies for my electric guitar set-up. So, this is what I came up with:
It doesn’t matter who the author really is, just as long as you like the books.
Eloquent recommendations for your media consumption.
The issue of privacy has been much on my mind, especially after finishing Ken Auletta‘s fine new book about the monster from Mountain View. Matthew Ingram gets you up to date on the Google convection in Italy and the fact that Google IS a media company. And Danah Boyd reports from Harvard about evolving privacy norms in the context of teens using Facebook. Let me put it this way: fifteen years ago, if you knew someone was opening, reading, and analyzing all your mail, would that have been OK with you? But now you don’t mind? The world is changing and so are you.
(SPOILER ALERT for links only) Finally, Tamara from Caprica looks like a total bad-ass with her sub-machine gun because she IS a total bad-ass. Annalee Newitz knows how good the show is. Are you watching the best show on television?
Just downloaded this sucker from iTunes, which is interesting because it came out today. Why is that interesting? Because, in the United States, music comes out on a Tuesday. Amazon.co.uk had this release al ready for download and old-style delivery, but not Amazon.com. I have had issues with European release dates not being honored by my iTunes account (surely iTunes knows I’m in the US), but today, no problem. So, if you are ready for over-the-top keyboard madness from Storloekken et al, go have at it. So far, sounds like another monstrous effort.
