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September 26, 2005
Quick Review: Adrian Belew at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta
Adrian's show in Atlanta featured almost the exact setlist as the Chattanooga show except for the additions of Op Zop Too Wah's "I Remember How to Forget" (a great, great tune) and a few bars of King Crimson's "One Time," which the band had admittedly only practiced a couple of times. I took a bunch of pictures of Adrian and the boys. Some came out OK. I'll post a few here in the next day or so.
The venue was filled to about 75% capacity with the typical Adrian fanatics and prog rock fans. I met a few.
A typical conversation:
Prog rock fan: "I saw Yes at (insert venue here) back in 1974..."
Me: "Oh, really. That must've been awesome."
Prog rock fan: "Yeah...and then I saw Pink Floyd at (insert venue here) on their (insert album name here) tour back in (insert year here)..."
Me: "Oh, really. That must've been awesome."
(This usually goes on for several minutes...)
Not much more to mention. Adrian is top notch and has been dependably terrific every single time I've seen him. This might be the perfect band for him.
Before the show, we ate at Spice. Although we were a tad underdressed, we didn't feel uncomfortable. (We just kind of picked the place without knowing anything about it. We were also kind of early for the dinner rush.) The service and food was tremendous. I had the double chicken breast. Melissa had the shrimp and scallops. I'd definitely go back.
Posted by colrus at 04:52 PM | TrackBack
This would be a great magazine.
Seriously. I like brutal honesty.
(Click for even bigger laughs)
Posted by colrus at 03:00 PM | TrackBack
September 24, 2005
Stupid Curfew: Adrian Belew at Nightfall review
"See you next year!"
That was all Adrian Belew could say Friday night as his monstrously wonderful power trio launched into their last tune, a crowd thumping version of King Crimson's "Thela Hun Ginjeet" just before being forced off the Nightfall stage at 9:30 p.m. The band played for 90 minutes, garnering passionate audience response throughout, and increasingly rapturous audience response towards the end of the show, sparked by funky, danceable(?!?) versions "Thela" and two other Crimson tunes, "Frame By Frame" and "Three Of A Perfect Pair," after the latter of which Belew congratulated the crowd: "You just danced in 7/8!"
Upon leaving the stage, Belew and the rest of the trio -- the funny, biker-styled bassist, Mike Gallaher, and the Tony Levin lookalike (with pecs) drummer, Mike Hodges -- stepped out onto a balcony above the still-begging-for-more crowd and waved down to them with a happy-yet-frustrated "sorry, but they just won't let us play anymore" look on their faces.
Stupid Curfew.
The set featured mostly new material, including a version of "Walk Around The World" that should have made all guitarists in attendance want to go home and practice. Belew's voice was crystal throughout, too, proving the perfect counterpoint to the band's heavy, busy bag of musical tricks.
Due to Belew's lengthy tenure in King Crimson, most of the older tunes performed Friday were seeing, sadly, one of their first solo Belew tours or, in the case of Op Zop Too Wah's "All Her Love Is Mine" and "Of Bow And Drum," their very first Belew tour. The band took advantage of this new opportunity to tweak many of the songs' arrangements, most notably on Here's "Color Futurevision," which was only further enhanced from its original brilliance with the addition of some tag team-tight instrumental breaks reminiscent of the tune, "Success," by Belew's other other band, The Bears.
Seeing an artist like Adrian Belew at a venue like Miller Plaza as part of a free concert series like Nightfall is one of the few ways remaining for people to stumble upon musicians whom they would not otherwise either venture out to see or ever know that they might like. It's a shame, but if this show wasn't free -- or part of some package deal -- the crowd would likely have been much smaller in our adventure-challenged city. (See the California Guitar Trio's appearance at Riverbend vs. their appearance at Rhythm and Brews, for example.)
This viewpoint was confirmed as I watched both a rather tall African-American gentleman (let's face it, black folks aren't the biggest prog rock fans) and a group of adorable little white girls dance to music they both had no idea that some in the crowd would say they really weren't supposed to be dancing to -- at a show that none of them were likely to attend othwerwise.
It's simple: good music transcends everything but the moment. You just gotta get to the good music...
Thank you for the good music, Mr. Belew. See you in Atlanta.
(Thanks to Melissa, Brian, Rebecca, Amber and Joe for joining a very gleeful me for the festivities.)
Setlist:
Writing on the Wall (from Side One)
Dinosaur (from Thrak)
Ampersand (from Side One)
Young Lions (from Young Lions)
Beat Box Guitar (from Side One)
Matchless Man (from Side One)
Madness (from Side One)
Walk Around The World (from Side One)
All Her Love Is Mine (from Op Zop Too Wah)
Of Bow And Drum (from Op Zop Too Wah)
Big Electric Cat (from Lone Rhino)
Frame By Frame (from Discipline)
Color Futurevision (from Here)
Three Of A Perfect Pair (from Three Of A Perfect Pair)
Thela Hun Ginjeet (from Discipline)
Posted by colrus at 01:41 AM | TrackBack
September 23, 2005
California Guitar Trio at Rhythm and Brews: Hideyo Moriya's photo journal
Here are pictures of the California Guitar Trio's visit to Chattanooga. Hideyo's entries always crack me up.
(Note the cool tour bus shot.)
Posted by colrus at 04:48 PM | TrackBack
Belewn Away...
...that's what you'll be if you go to Nightfall tonight. (Yes, I'm battling Joe for the bad pun award.)
Seriously, it's been a good year for music in Chattanooga, and tonight's Adrian Belew show is no exception. While I think people that play (or have attempted to play during their lives) an instrument might appreciate this show a tad more, rest assured you non-musical folks that you will be in the presence of a true virtuoso. And, oh yeah, he can sing, too.
(Warning: There will be no folky, bluesy, country, Americana strumming action going on like at most Nightfall shows. That'll return next week with King Wilkie and the Lovell Sisters Band. This is straight-up off-the-chain rock music you are about to hear.)
Posted by colrus at 03:55 PM | TrackBack
September 22, 2005
A Blog from the Battlefield
Here is the blog of an American soldier in Iraq. He is in the same company as another soldier who is dating a friend of Melissa and I. Great stuff.
Posted by colrus at 02:42 PM | TrackBack
CGT at Rhythm and Brews
Last night's California Guitar Trio show at Rhythm and Brews was -- like all the other times I've seen them -- simply amazing. What was equally amazing (or maybe not) was the fact that there were more than a few empty seats.
Are Chattanooga concertgoers spoiled, what with all the free concerts they can attend each year? I am CONSTANTLY hearing how "we never have any good shows come to town" and that "our music scene stinks," but when a group like the CGT -- as entertaining as they are virtuosic -- comes to town, local so-called "music lovers" can always find a reason not to show up. It's funny, though. A lot of people will line up around the block to spend money to see subpar act after subpar act slog their way through crappy pop tunes. Oh well. Their loss, I guess. After the show, I apologized to the group on behalf of the city for the poor attendance. They chuckled and said it was OK. They are still going to try to come back.
The crowd (including Jeff Styles, my longtime buddy Jesse Pyron and a bunch of folks I recognized from the Riverbend shows) that WAS there (about 100 folks) was great and got way more than their $12 dollars worth.
A Few Highlights:
-Another vicious version of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody."
-The classic surf tune, "Pipeline." (You might recognize this tune from the Pulp Fiction soundtrack.)
-"Ghost Riders on the Storm" -- a pairing of the classic tunes "Ghost Riders in the Sky" and "Riders on the Storm," which can be found on their latest album, Whitewater.
-An encore featuring (sorry, I don't know the actual name of it) a new tune they've been working on: the fast acoustic piece that appears towards the end of Napoleon Dynamite.
-A tour bus company had sent a representative (and a VERY pimped-out tour bus) down to the venue to show to the CGT in case they ever wanted to use their services. Paul Richards told them they'd love to take a look at it if he'd let them use the bus to sell CDs and sign autographs after the show. He did. We all stood in line and eventually got to hang with the band inside the bus.
Seriously, no matter what kind of music you like, you owe it to yourself to check these guys out next time they come anywhere close to here.
Posted by colrus at 09:39 AM | TrackBack
September 21, 2005
Bizzee, yo...
Yes. I have a busy schedule this week:
Today: Financial Peace Class followed by California Guitar Trio show.
Thursday: Softball doubleheader.
Friday: Adrian Belew at Nightfall.
Saturday: Birthday party for some friends.
Sunday: Adrian Belew show in Atlanta.
...If you happen to go to the CGT or Belew shows, don't forget to say "hi."
Posted by colrus at 04:09 PM | TrackBack
September 20, 2005
Fantastic Concerts Reminder
This week:
The California Guitar Trio at Rhythm and Brews on Wednesday night.
Adrian Belew at Nightfall on Friday night.
Adrian Belew at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta on Sunday night.
I'll be at the Wednesday and Friday shows. Sunday night might be a stretch.
Posted by colrus at 09:39 AM | TrackBack
September 19, 2005
Road Paving Question
Could somebody please tell me how the "W" Road can get completely paved and striped in, like, 2 days, but the southbound onramp from Signal Mountain Boulevard to Highway 27 is still not finished after, it seems like, 85 years of construction?
Posted by colrus at 09:38 AM | TrackBack
September 16, 2005
Video and Transcript: Oops! They Don't Hate Bush? What Do We Do, Bob?
I knew I'd find it somewhere (Instapundit, to be exact). Below is a clip illustrating the audacity of some -- get this -- black evacuees not to blame the President for their predicament.
Click here to watch the video.
(ABC should've taken NPR's lead on this one: ALWAYS edit your interviews. Live interviews are just way too dangerous.)
So...
Are the black people in the video dumb enough to believe Bush or dumb enough to believe the Bush bashers. Which one is it?
(In case you're wondering, I did finally see Bush's speech. I thought it was decent. He was too slow to give such a speech, however. Even if it was technically the local authorities' job to act first.)
I've included a transcript of the rest of the interview with lady in the video and others around her. Click the link below to read it.
Continue reading "Video and Transcript: Oops! They Don't Hate Bush? What Do We Do, Bob?"
Posted by colrus at 08:05 PM | TrackBack
Did anybody TAPE June Griffin's appearance on the Daily Show?
...like on a VHS tape? And, if so, could I borrow it for a day or so?
Thanks.
Posted by colrus at 03:54 PM | TrackBack
ABC's Post-Bush Speech interviews...
I missed the Bush speech. He probably spoke badly. That's what he does. So do most people.
But...
Did any of you catch the post-Bush speech interviews on ABC with 7 or so black folks who, when asked who was at fault for their current predicament, repeatedly offered names like Nagin and words like Governor and State Government and Decades of Corruption?
I could be wrong, but I think I even heard a couple of them say nice things about our President. That can't be right. What's going on here? Weren't they black?
Get down there, people! Tell these people what they should be thinking!!!
How DARE these people think independently during a time of crisis! How dare they sway from the party line! How dare they say anything nice about the President! How DARE they have integrity and think they could EVER tap into their pride and intelligence and pick themselves up by their own bootstraps!
Think of all the things they'll do if left to their own devices...with nary a politician (or strategically accompanying photographer) nearby! Don't they know they can't accomplish anything without pushy, self-righteous white people meddling in their business? Where's my rifle? Someone needs to put a stop to this. They're ruining everything!
Makes me sick. Damn self-determination...
Posted by colrus at 12:33 AM | TrackBack
September 15, 2005
Quick Quiz: Help Me Out Here...
Folks, what's the first thing that pops into your mind when you see the word "Faith"?
(I don't want a definition or explanation, just the first word/thing you think of. Doing some research...)
Thanks.
Posted by colrus at 01:15 PM | TrackBack
OK. So who put "Since You Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson on my iTunes?
Huh? HUH?
Posted by colrus at 12:31 PM | TrackBack
September 14, 2005
Adrian Belew interview, California Guitar Trio profile now online
My interview with Adrian Belew and the profile I wrote on the California Guitar Trio are now both online.
Both Belew and the CGT are coming to Chattanooga next week, and both shows are HIGHLY recommended.
Posted by colrus at 09:17 AM | TrackBack
September 13, 2005
Design my blog header, win a CD!
I hate my blog header. I need something new. I've had good ones in the past (see: Ron), but I like to change them every six months or so.
So...
I'm having a contest:
Design my blog header.
If I like your work, I'll give you the Belle and Sebastian "Push Bar Man to Open Old Wounds" 2-CD collection of their previously import-only EPs.
Let me know if you're interested, and we'll work out the details.
Thanks!
Posted by colrus at 01:43 PM | TrackBack
Thoughts on June Griffin on The Daily Show
Alice mentioned June Griffin's appearance last night on The Daily Show in a segment they shot up in Dayton concerning evolution. You can watch the video here.
Thoughts on the piece:
While the piece had its moments, I think it was indicative of a certain phenomenon in our society where the most outrageous/embarrassing/colorful/ridiculous example of an "opposing viewpoint" is used to discredit the actual viewpoint and glaze over, with cheap laughter, the actual debate.
What happens as a result is that, while folks who hold the "opposing viewpoint" may be viewed as ignorant/backwards/simple-minded/dumb, the people who agree with the viewpoint being championed are off the hook as to REALLY having to decide for themselves why they believe what they believe. They eagerly substitute soul searching, research, and honest and respectful discussion of the topic with the emotion and laughter of those around them. We must be right. We're all laughing, aren't we? That viewpoint can have any merit, can it? Look how he slammed her! That was soooo funny!
I would submit that The Daily Show is full of smart people, with a talent for entertaining us. They don't profess to be actual news. But as their style of entertainingly persuasive innuendo is trusted more and more by the young people in our society, the lines of discussion are blurred, what makes us FEEL the best is regarded as truth, and actual truth gets blurred (or shunned) somewhere in the middle.
Posted by colrus at 10:28 AM | TrackBack
September 12, 2005
This, friends, just might be the album of the year...
When I managed a record store ten years ago, I got a promo copy of the Sugarplastic's fantastic-though-ill-fated Bang, The Earth Is Round. That XTC-inflected beauty is STILL in regular rotation at my house. Though now out of print, you can still get a copy used at Amazon for $1.50.
Today, I received their latest album, Will, in the mail. It is tremendous. That's all I can say. After hearing/reading about supposedly wonderful and "important" albums every week and being repeatedly disappointed, this is a nice change of pace.
I'll be reviewing it soon.
Posted by colrus at 01:52 PM | TrackBack
Please Help Me Needlessly Download Shows
It has come to my attention that I need to know about Bittorrent and FLAC (?) files (?) in order to download some pretty amazing stuff from the web.
Can anybody give me/lead me to a quick intro on this world, how it differs from the world of MP3, and how I can start downloading things?
Thanks.
Posted by colrus at 12:08 PM | TrackBack
A Time to Pause
As the nation is currently obsessed with an increasingly tired and obnoxious game of fingerpointing in the wake of our most recent natural disaster, I'd like to take a moment to remember this day, September 11, as a day when, four years ago, selfless individuals gave their lives to protect the rest of us from the selfish acts of evil.
Words, when spoken earnestly, reflect the heart. And tonight, in case you--the lost and precious souls who gave your lives for us--haven't heard it enough from us, I say thank you.
Posted by colrus at 05:48 AM | TrackBack
September 11, 2005
Two days.
I don't how much you're supposed to publicly talk about losing a baby, but I just wanted to again say thanks for all the kind words offered up here and elsewhere over the last couple days. While at first I said it'd be awhile before I was posting here again, I suppose this is as good a place as any to organize and drop my thoughts about what's happened.
Today/tonight, while out with some friends who recently brought home their newly adopted son, I almost cried in front of them. It is not in my nature to do such a thing (I'm a guy...and it was in public), but I guess everybody reaches their breaking point somewhere along the line. You try to be strong and say that you are going to get through it. And, yes, we will. But it's still extremely hard.
I guess I could take a scientific approach, change the definition to make me feel better. It wasn't baby, just a mass of cells. Yeah, that's it.
But that won't fly. From the box that the prenancy test came in, to the first doctor's visit, to the showers that were to be planned, to the ultrasound that brought us to to our knees, the only word that was ever used was "baby."
And to think, some women fight tooth and nail for the right to kid themselves and feel this miserable.
But what do I know? I'm just the stupid man.
Posted by colrus at 01:25 AM | TrackBack
September 10, 2005
Cindy Sheehan is so great...
...at bringing attention to Cindy Sheehan.
This fact just hit me as I perused the news again. Anybody want a TV?
Ugh.
Posted by colrus at 11:49 PM | TrackBack
A Little Bit of Sanity in The Wake of Katrina
I haven't felt much like blogging the last couple of days, but Thomas Sowell's most recent column cut straight through the screams of the morons that I've been reading, hearing and watching since the levees broke in New Orleans, former home of the nutty, late John Kennedy Toole and future home of, well, who knows...
Sowell's full column, "Rebuilding New Orleans -- and America" can be read here.
Highlights:
"When all is said and done, government is ultimately just human beings -- politicians, judges, bureaucrats. Maybe the reason we are so often disappointed with them is that they have over-promised and we have been gullible enough to believe them.
Government cannot solve all our problems, even in normal times, much less during a catastrophe of nature that reminds man how little he is, despite all his big talk."
and
"That is where the great moral traditions of a society come in -- those moral traditions that it are so hip to sneer at, so cute to violate, and that our very schools undermine among the young, telling them that they have to evolve their own standards, rather than following what old fuddy duddies like their parents tell them.
Now we see what those do-it-yourself standards amount to in the ugliness and anarchy of New Orleans.
In a world where people flaunt their 'independence,' their 'right' to disregard moral authority, and sometimes legal authority as well, the tragedy of New Orleans reminds us how utterly dependent each one of us is for our very lives on millions of other people we don't even see.
Thousands of people in New Orleans will be saved because millions of other people they don't even know are moved by moral obligations to come to their rescue from all corners of this country. The things our clever sophisticates sneer at are ultimately all that stand between any of us and utter devastation."
Posted by colrus at 10:57 PM | TrackBack
September 07, 2005
Our Time As Parents Will Have to Wait
This morning, Melissa and I found out that we have lost our baby. The doctor couldn't find a heartbeat after two separate visits over two days.
We are obviously distraught, but, after a short while, we will try again. To the few that we've been able to tell so far, I sincerely thank you for your thoughts and prayers. They mean a lot.
Perhaps this was a test. Any questioning about my willingess to be a father was eliminated when I found out that, at least for now, I wasn't going to be one. This is not an uncommon occurrence, and if I learn anything from it to help others in the future that go through this same situation, it will have been a blessing.
It doesn't feel like one right now, though.
My blogging will be light for awhile.
Posted by colrus at 10:00 PM | TrackBack
September 06, 2005
One of the Worst Things I Have Ever Seen
On our way home today, Melissa and I were passing the Pruett's shopping center on Signal Mountain as a Ford Ranger pickup truck cut in front of us. Hanging out the back of the truck was a little dog, attached by a leash just barely long enough to reach the ground. I think it might have jumped out.
As the truck pulled out in front of me, I tried to avert my eyes but I couldn't help but notice the dog run as fast as it could for its life, still tied to a box or something in the back of the truck. Though the driver travelled MAYBE 100 yards before noticing my infuriated beeping, light flashing, waving, etc., it seemed like an eternity. The truck was going very slow -- probably less than 15 miles per hour -- but the dog had immense trouble keeping up, occasionally bouncing before it briefly wound up on its side as it was being dragged the last 20 or so feet.
As I said, the truck finally did stop. An elderly couple got out to check on the dog. I'm convinced it was an accident. And though the dog was still moving as we left, I will never forget the sight of that dog's struggles or the sounds of my wife's corresponding shrieks.
It was absolutely horrible.
I really hope the dog made it.
And I really hope the incident leaves my memory as quick as possible.
Posted by colrus at 10:30 PM | TrackBack
September 05, 2005
Elvis Impostonator Sighting
(Click for larger pic)
At Coolidge Park tonight, this guy (let's call him "Elvis A") was performing as an Elvis impersonator...
(click for larger pic)
Meanwhile, this more authentic version (let's call him "Elvis B") was seated peacefully in the crowd, enjoying the show.
I think it's quite obvious that "Elvis B" should have been up there performing instead of "Elvis A."
(Not that "Elvis A" did a bad job, mind you...)
"Elvis A" was nothing but an Elvis impostonator. "Elvis B" was the real fake thing.
Did you ever notice that the word "Elvis" gets weirder and weirder the longer you look at it?
Posted by colrus at 11:01 PM | TrackBack
Mean-Spirited Paraphrase of A Previous Blog Post: Blaming Bush = Faster Relief for Hurricane Victims!!!
After perusing the web over the last day or so -- and watching multiple news channels almost constantly -- it's become obvious that the more people we blame (most notably, George W. Bush), the quicker things will be resolved in Mississippi and Louisiana.
I tried it today. As Melissa and I drove down to the St. Elmo Rec Center with 5 bags of clothes and shoes for the survivors/victims/refugees (pick whichever term most closely matches your cause), I kept telling Melissa how Bush has screwed everything up, how he is a moron, how he has no business being President, and how he should have known every minute detail of this disaster in advance, etc. She ignored me.
But...
...just as we were pulling up to the center, a magical goblin flew out of my butt and told me that all the people that have been suffocating in their attics without food or water for the better part of a week were suddenly safe! He said that as long as we keep blaming everybody we can think of, people will be rescued like hotcakes!
Well, I'm not going to take his advice lightly. I will stay up all night blaming everybody I can think of until every last person is rescued and/or Bush is impeached. Then, and only then, will I be happy.
Damn racism...
See? Another person pulled to safety!
Posted by colrus at 10:17 PM | TrackBack
September 04, 2005
Bigger than Bush
It's become quite evident over the past few days that the problems that Katrina victims currently face -- and the reasons they are facing them -- are much bigger than (as many would so easily love to blame) a single man named George W. Bush.
Factors like chance, New Orleans' history of corruption, citizens' perennial reliance on government to take care of them, sincere disbelief at the possibility of extreme natural horror, state government's and Federal personnel's lack of communication, schoolbuses left unused instead of used to evacuate people before the storm, brainless and lawless thugs taking advantage of people and situations, refusal to build proper levees, and plain old shaking of fists at God, it seems, have left cities and people ruined.
There are so many interchangeably guilty parts at this point -- and so much blame to go around -- that it is pointless to do any specific blaming at all. Reagan, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Clinton, Gore or Kerry would have been just as slow to respond. So what? Steps to fix New Orleans' levee system were begun under Johnson in 1965, and even it was never completed. All subsequent Presidents -- from the "evil party" ones to the "caring for the common man" ones -- failed to act to prevent what we are now seeing. It should be said, however, that it was not their job alone.
Government, in its current form, is big. It is slow. It is expensive. And it is inefficient. It exists solely to preserve itself -- in spite of the people it represents -- and as more time goes by and as more of the resources for the basic duties of government (security, relief, roads, etc.) are traded and thrown away by candidates (and their supporters) looking for votes each year, we are left with but a shell of what we once were.
What America was, what America is and what America should be are so clouded these days that it's no wonder that, even in the worst of circumstances (where party lines should not exist), all we know how to do anymore is blame.
Do we help? Oh yeah, we help. But for many of us we only help so that we can point out the difference between us (the helpers) and them (the non-helpers) so that we can tout our compassion at election time. Or at a cocktail party. Or on a blog.
But that's not compassion at all, is it?
The most compassionate of us are people we never meet, whose names we will never know. People who are right now standing in filth. And who might be standing on a ballot box somewhere to help someone down from a roof.
Posted by colrus at 02:32 AM | TrackBack