jukeboxgraduate.com

elvis costello - spectacle

I am so out of the loop i only barely heard that this was happening, and saw the opportunities for tickets and dismissed them.

Until the one came through listing as follows:

APRIL 15
Bill Clinton

APRIL 16
Lou Reed

We had a baseball game Tuesday night and in any event, in our house, the latter will always be more important. I sent off an email and to my utter shock we were confirmed.

What I didn't even stop to think about was - what is the format? What is the ethos of this show? It wasn't until I was sitting in Studio 8-H (yes, *that* Studio 8-H) at 30 Rockefeller Plaza that I remembered when David Letterman was out due to his heart surgery and Mr. McManus was one of a list of rotating hosts. And that he was so completely perfect for the role everyone wondered why he hadn't done this before.

Studio 8-H is TINY to begin with, and they were only using about half of it for the taping of Spectacle. The audience was very small, with us peons relegated upstairs and the beautiful and famous downstairs. (Only suspect identified: Jesse Malin, who snuck out with his entourage before the final musical number.)

The show opened with Elvis, backed by Dylan's backing band and Steve Nieve, singing "Beginning To See The Light" - which was enough of a shock, except it was then followed by what can only be described as a Cajun version of "Femme Fatale". I know that sounds really terrible on paper, but it's not like the Seeger Sessions band got ahold of it or anything like that. You either have to play that number all raw and unkempt (see: Michael Stipe) or you have to do something else with it. It worked.

Then, with a dramatic piano-domained melody of "Waiting For The Man" playing in the background, Mr. Reed was introduced. Lou looks awesome. Lou looks even more awesome given that he's 66. Lou looks even more awesome than that if you consider all the abuse his body has gone through. I haven't been this close to Lou in a long, long time and it makes me want to take up tai chi again.

All kidding aside, this is probably the only Lou Reed interview I've seen (and I've seen/read/heard *a lot*) where Lou wasn't acting like a total dick. While I am fully cognizant of the fact that acting like a total dick is to a certain extent synonymous with being Lou Reed, and that most of the people he sneers at deserve it, he was still able to be Lou, but yet open up and answer questions he probably would never tolerate from anyone else.

Elvis took his role as host so sweetly and seriously, down to the index cards (which he never referred to that I saw). He didn't have to - he is a fan, and a musicologist, and a historian, and can riff on anything from Gershwin to Gang of Four effortlessly. That's the kind of person who gets respect from Lou Reed, and that is exactly what happened. The two of them dug into a million things, starting from how they both originally got into music (not dissimilarly, talking about doo wop and Dion) and finally getting to the point where they are sharing thoughts on the creative process and writer's block and where does it come from and how do they approach writing, and in the process, we got Lou on the Brooklyn Dodgers and Doc Pomus and how he's always wanted to write a good New York City detective story (OMG) and how he almost recorded "Soul Man" with Sam Moore and how excited he was that that was going to happen, and how sometimes he hears something on the radio and wonders why I don't remember writing it, but it sounds so much like me [me: "Julian Casablancas called, desperately seeking approval"], and a loving mention of Bono and how U2 fans think that Bono wrote "Satellite of Love" and how New York has changed, but if you walk around at 5 in the morning, well... and you just KNOW that Lou Reed *is* out there walking around New York at 5 in the morning, probably because he can't sleep or the writer's block is getting to him or he's looking for the vestiges of the New York he remembers and that inspired him.

And more.

Then Julian Schnabel came out and tried to talk about how they put the recent performance of Berlin together, but he was probably as overwhelmed as the rest of us were. Then Julian recited the lyrics to "The Rock Minuet" (maybe it was off the prompter a little, but I want to believe that Julian Schnabel really could recite the lyrics to that song at the drop of a hat).

And then Lou and Elvis came back out. On the prompter are the lyrics to "Set The Twilight Reeling". Fine choice from an overlooked album.

Except they came back out with two grand pianos and two pianists and two microphones and from the first piano note I literally go into as much of the fetal position I can sitting in a theater chair in a television studio, because what they have chosen to do instead is "Perfect Day," and when anyone who is worth a damn sings "Perfect Day" you would have to be a robot to not crack open your hardened heart or crusty exterior just a little and take in some of the light projected by the performance of this song. And I think about Transformer and how that record will mean 14th Street until the day I die, except it's the 14th Street I remember in the 80s, full of dollar stores and cheap merchandise on the street and the Palladium hovering over the corner of Union Square, that I can walk into a bar in Chicago or London or Amsterdam or Munich and hear "Vicious" and know that I have found the right place.

And Elvis does that little thing he often does, if you have seen him live enough times, where he drops back from the mic and so if you are close or the room is small you are hearing his voice without amplification, and his voice is strong enough to carry without amplification, and Lou is there alongside him and it is absolutely sublime.

Not much more matters after that.

Spectacle will be on Sundance in September.

--
p.s. To my utter shock, I'm getting a gazillion hits to this thing but no referrers, so I don't know how you got here.. Comments or email letting me know how you found this would be most welcomed.

funniest. interview. ever. no, EVER.

[thanx]

BORING OLD FARTS RULE.

...because getting old means we get shit like THIS on PBS:

[RECOMMENDATION: Watch with volume down so you do not have to hear inane announcer explain Why The Clash Were Important]

The Clash Live: Revolution Rock aka "Don Letts Finally Opens The Vaults". Coming to PBS next month!

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Let's hope this is followed by something called "Bob Gruen Opens The Vaults On All That Kickass New York Dolls Footage We Used To See Him Show At The Rockages Record Conventions In the 80s"]

via

featuring members of america's heavy metal community

Not that I want to suddenly be YouTube girl or anything, but I ran into this recently (courtesy lamestain, via Real Low Vibe) - and right after I watched an anemic and sad Chris Cornell accompanied by Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron wannabes on the Henry Rollins show.

KIM COME HOME, ALL IS FORGIVEN

initial rockhall thoughts

I started liveblogging last night, but I had one of my dearest, oldest friends over, and did not want to divide my concentration. Plus, once Patti walked onstage, there was little room for snark.

This was big and meaningful in a magnitude I did not anticipate or expect. It's also bittersweet because this was my last chance to actually get inside the damn thing, because there's no one left I care about enough that I physically need to see them reach this achievement.

Oh, just to have been in a staircase outside the Grand Ballroom last night during "Be My Baby" or "Gardening At Night". Just to have been in the building to feel those vibrations. It would have been life-changing.

More later.

SLEEP DEPRIVED GMA RAMBLINGS

Bruce Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions Band
Good Morning America
Convention Hall, Asbury Park 4-25-06

It was very, very early.

You can wax rhapsodic about the beauty of the early morning hours, and the tiny slim silver crescent moon that hung over the ocean as I drove south on the Garden State Parkway was beautiful, but it was ridiculously EARLY. I left Brooklyn at 4:00 am.

You don't go to these things for the performance aspect. Not just because of the television factor, of course, but mostly because what true rock and roll icon is a morning person? No, you go for sights like the one we were treated to, Bruce shuffling onto the stage about three seconds after he arrived, that sleepy reluctant foot-dragging walk you may have witnessed your children or young relatives performing, *major* pillow hair, big sunglasses he probably swiped from Bono. Every bit of his body language indicated that when he opened his mouth, it would probably be to yawn into the mic. The audience cheers loudly.

"This is awesome," he says.
We cheer again.
"I salute you early risers."
I cheer again, but I am already starting to get tired. It is just after 7 a.m. I am quite sure he just rolled out of bed, into his car, and drove down the road. I had been awake since 3 a.m.
"I must REALLY wanna sell records," he giggled sleepily. He mumbles something about putting on his stage clothes (which he did... not that I noticed any kind of major difference) and stumbles off the stage.

The off-camera moments were the priceless ones, of course. Bruce joking with the horn section, stage directions: "We need a shorter version, due to the gods of television" (in reference to "Jacob's Ladder") and promising the horns, "And I will remember the outro" (which had obviously been forgotten at a previous performance). (Hey, there's a reason the current APCH shows are referred to as rehearsal shows.)

"Throw that fiddle solo back in the middle -- that's why we got - confused - last night," Bruce mutters, as the 17 piece ensemble (this band needs a name. more on this later.) gets ready to perform "O Mary Don't You Weep," just what suburban housewives want to be watching as they get their kids off to school. Or maybe they do. What was fun to watch was Bruce turning from bruce, when the cameras were off, into BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, once the cameras were on. There was nothing artificial or inauthentic about it -- that's why they call it performing, after all -- but it's rare that we get to see it happen in front of us.

He had no internal monologue this morning, either. Holding up two plastic cups, he informs us: "I drank into one of these, and spit into the other."
Pause, regards the cups, tilts them into the light, clearly attempting to discern which is which. Not calling for another cup from Kevin. Not keeping this information to himself.
"There should have been a red cup and a blue cup." He squints into the cups again, makes a choice, swallows.
"I should have picked the other one."

After watching two versions of "When The Saints Go Marching In" (I preferred the one you didn't get to see, the more plaintive, unadorned one), he looks at the crowd.
"So what are your plans for the rest of the day?"
People yell various nonsense.
"I'm going back to bed." Pause. "I actually have my pj's on under these pants--" and then proceeds to inform us that this is something he usually does, when he takes the kids to school, just pulls on his pants over his pj's and then climbs back into bed when he gets home.
His wife is attempting to ignore most of this exchange.

The stage manager strolls over and tells Bruce he has about two minutes. Bruce looks around, realizes they can't play another song in two minutes, so he starts whistling aimlessly.
"WHen they come back, I'm gonna do that. 3 minutes of whistling."
He whistles again.
"I like that. They'll call me - The Whistler."
More whistling.
"The Whistler's coming to town."
Pause.
"The Whistler played last night."
Pause.
"I like that, it sounds -- mysterious."
Patti rolls her eyes.
"Patti is complaining about me just out of earshot."
Giggle.

So that was about it. Three songs, four songs, most repeated at least twice, not as much as I'd hoped to hear, but it was free, and it was cool as hell, and I'd do it again tomorrow, um, afternoon.

Oh, wait.

Which is when you will get your full report on what I think of THE SEEGER SESSIONS.

UPDATE: Grab a mp3 of "Jacob's Ladder" from this morning here. http://ickmusic.com/index.php/2006/04/25/bruce-live-on-gma/ [from ickmusic.com, via Scatter o' Light]

[And in case you are going to ask, "Why aren't there any photos of the performance?" you clearly have never been to a Bruce Springsteen concert before. When they say "no cameras" it isn't a suggestion.]

Grammy Aftermath

About 30 people landed here yesterday because they Googled "Grammys suck" and that number has tripled or quadrupled today. (There's also a huge quantity of people who want to know why Sly Stone walked offstage. That didn't surprise me as much as him actually showing up.)

The thing is, this year sucked the least, in my opinion, and Pareles at the NY Times captured why best: because this year focused on musical performances. Not that many awards were broadcast at all. There were actual performances, whether I wanted to see Mariah or not, it wasn't just a video for the record. There were production values. Aside from the annoying piped-in crowd noise, it was good music on tv for a change. It wasn't even that annoying ADD-type camerawork that we are used to from anything that MTV films.

I thought Madonna was underwhelming; I wish Bruce had delivered a stronger performance; I was reminded how much I like "Vertigo" and that I was probably unnecessarily harsh on U2 earlier in this record's release (and the only loss there was mine); Kelly Clarkson needs some serious coaching but how high are your standards, really, for the pop song category; and finally, am I the only person out there (besides Bono) who genuinely *likes* Kanye West? Did I miss that hipper-than-thou memo? I keep reading shit like "well, unfortunately, Kanye West won something" and I am trying hard to think of another Grammy spectacular that was that energetic or amusing or just enjoyable? I've been listening to "Golddigger" on repeat since last night.

Yes. It sucked that the New Orleans tribute wasn't at the center of the broadcast but it was structured as finale material, and my only complaint was that they ran the credits over it. Should it have been longer and should there have been more? Maybe, but this is the Grammy broadcast. 10 minutes in prime time on a major network is a lot.

And when people are giving thank you speeches, they are thanking people, and I don't expect them to turn it into some kind of political platform. Would I like it if they did? Sure. But I'm not going to skewer them if they didn't, especially in the case of Green Day, who already went out on that political limb with the fucking song in the first place, or Springsteen, who continues to happily attempt to alienate the more obtuse part of his fanbase (not obtuse because they have differing opinions, obtuse because they act like they're surprised that he feels this way). Do these artists need to stand there with a large neon sign reading "REMEMBER: THIS SONG IS POLITICAL" while they accept their award? I mean, jesus, doesn't Bono get shit for putting his money where his mouth is and sticking his nose into political issues all over the world on a daily basis - he had to do it here, too?

End rant.
Some real writing coming back to this space soon.

the grammys 2006: how much can they piss me off

And here is the photo worth it all:

~~exciting live coverage!~~

11:31. And thank you for playing. God knows I'm not ever doing this again.
11:30 FUCK YOU FOR CUTTING TO COMMERCIAL WHILE THIS IS ON.
11:30: Irma Thomas with Sam now. Bruce and Elvis are having a great time.
11:30: The Edge, Bruce and Elvis... and the Esquire is onstage.
11:29: Nice dedication to Wilson Pickett from Bruce.
11:28: I once flew 3,000 miles, ticketless, on a wing and a prayer to see Bruce Springsteen and Sam Moore on the same stage, and it still remains one of the best concerts I have ever seen in my life. Bruce and Sam Moore on "In The Midnight Hour" is unbelievable.
11:27: BRUCE AND SAM MOORE.
11:27: Where is the second song.
11:27: the Edge and Elvis Costello (who has always been a severely underrated guitar player).
11:24: this is pretty cool. I am kind of astonished by the actual quantity of real music and performance on this year's show.

11:22: WHERE THE FUCK IS THE NEW ORLEANS TRIBUTE.
11:21: Adam says something unintelligble. Oh good, they turned the mic up. He thanks their producers. That was nice.
11:20: "Kanye, you're next."
11:20: Bono is visibly shocked, but he stopped and went over to Kanye, who got robbed.
11:19: Album of the Year. The call here is for Kanye.
11:17: Bonnie Raitt and James Taylor. This has got to be leading up to the New Orleans tribute.
11:10: Richard Pryor tribute. isn't this supposed to end in 20 minutes? Oops. The tribute film did not roll.
11:08: The dead people segment.
11:06: Best new artist, or the 'who cares' award. John Legend.
11:05: this is interminably horrific.
10:58: Four minutes later and it still sucks.
10:54: This is the Herbie Hancock and -- Christina Aguilera. GAG.
10:53: Jessye Norman wins an award.
10:47: this is a longer post, but i have found myself in the improbable position of defending Green Day more times over the last few years than I ever expected. I am glad they won this.
10:46: Record of the Year. Green Day needs to win this.
10:46: Sheryl Crowe and Sting. Just great. Cream is getting an award.
10:45: I am still in shock. that was incredible.
10:40: this is f'in righteous.
10:39: Kanye!
10:35: Consensus in the Springsteen community is that Bruce said "Bring them HOME."
Right fucking on.
10:33: Clearly I need to get out of the prediction business.
10:32: So much for that prediction. I do predict someone in U2 mentions winning over Bruce, however.
10:31: As much as I don't want Bruce to win a Grammy for this, it's obvious he's going to get it.
10:30: Okay, "Bring 'em on" implies that other musicians were about to join Mr. Bruce Springsteen. Instead, Destiny's Child is standing onstage.
10:30: "Bring 'em on." Bono is giving Bruce a standing O.
10:28: Word on the street is that Bruce is doing two, possibly three songs.
10:27: I challenge anyone to show me how this is a rock song.

10:25: Here we go. "Devils & Dust". I am waiting for a dozen text messages from various friends with various comments and snarky remarks about how I never wanted to hear this song again for quite a while.
His hair looks terrible.
10:24: Tom Hanks means Bruce is next. But first, the Weavers are getting an award. This ties into the Pete Seeger record Bruce is putting out next month.
10:19: Bruce is probably next.
10:18: Now I understand the t-shirt. Macca onstage. This is really stupid.
10:15: Jay-Z is wearing the Bob Gruen John Lennon new York City photo tshirt.
10:14: Jay-Z and Linkin Park. "I was hoping LL Cool J would introduce Bruce."
10:13: LL Cool J is giving an award to Robert Johnson. I am having a hard time comprehending the point here.
10:07: Sly has left the stage. Again, trainwreck.
10:06: Whose idea was this? This is a trainwreck, in the saddest way possible.
10:05: Oh my god. He has a platinum mohawk. "If I came back after 19 years, I'd want a platinum mohawk too." He looks like Jean Beauvoir.
10:04: The concept of the medley should be blown off the face of the earth.
10:04: Thank god, Steven tyler, Joe Perry and Robert Randolph. Some actual MUSICIANSHIP. It's an interpretation but it's not one that sucks ass.
10:03: No, you do not get to rap the song instead of singing it.
10:02: Okay, will.i.am could be okay, but the backing band is HORRIBLE. Where is Paul Schaeffer when you need him?
10:01: And Ciara couldn't remember one verse of the song without a teleprompter. My niece can sing the song without a teleprompter. Of course, that is because I am her aunt, but still.
10:01: AUGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHHG MAROON 5 ARE RUINING EVERY DAY PEOPLE
10:00: I am hard pressed to believe that this is all they could fucking get to perform in a Sly Stone tribute. Who is this punk ripoff with the Supercuts do? Also, oversinging much?
9:59: A bunch of people oversinging. Great.
9:58: Here comes Sly. I am so genuinely excited for this. Please do not fuck it up. Please please please.
9:55: Dave Chappelle introducing. Or babbling. Or something unfunny.
9:51: Sly Stone is apparently in the house because they are now claiming he will be performing.
9:50: And Linkin Park are surprising me by not being neanderthals, but thanking MTV.
9:48: Best Rap Song Collaboration. Jay-Z and Linkin Park.
9:47: "The new rnb teen sensation!" and Carlos Santana. Alright. Mo Ostin is getting recognized by the Academy.
9:41: Jenna Elfman is introducing Faith Hill and Keith Urban. This is the moment the boyfriend has been waiting for, he is running out for drinks.
9:40: ARE WE GETTING TO THE GOOD PART YET?
9:34: Kelly Clarkson. That's the right one. this is actually somewhat charming.
9:33: Best Pop Vocal album. Sheryl Crow looks HORRIBLE.
9:32: I want to buy a drink for anyone who didn't give her a standing ovation.
9:31: There is a gospel choir now. The sound is off but her face is getting all red and stuff. I guess I should listen.
Um, no.
9:28: This isn't even worth throwing stuff at the tv over. I long for those days.
9:26: Mariah"psychobabble" Carey.
9:19: Only one person has thanked God. I am so disappointed.
9:18: Best male rnb vocal performance. "Who are these people?" We are savages. John Legend wins.
9:17: Black Eyed Peas are giving an award to Chris Blackwell from Island.
9:16: Still with the piped in crowd noise. even that can't help this performance. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah could have done a better version.
9:13: An incredibly anemic "Helter Skelter." "If you don't bring Bono up onstage, you're in trouble." Dream on. No one is going to share that stage with Macca.
9:12: There's the Beatle bass. "I'm glad I passed the audition." Hey, asshole, that was JOHN's line.
9:11: This amplified crowd noise is getting to me. It's starting to sound like KISS Alive.
9:08: Ellen DeGeneres is on. "Our next performer needs no introduction." She walks away and Paul McCartney starts to play.
9:04: Thank you, Edge, for pulling that out of the toilet.
9:03: Is this making any sense to anyone?
9:02: "Couldn't Adam just give the acceptance speech." I would vote for Larry myself.
9:02: U2 wins. The boyfriend is 4:4 and regrets not having placed any money on these. "You can in Vegas."
9:01: How is "prairie wind" a rock album? It's called "neil almost died so we feel guilty so let's nominate him."
9:01: Best Rock Album nominees. Bite me, Coldplay. And I will throw up if the Stones win.
9:00: Gwen Stefani and Billie Joe Armstrong. The boyfriend is betraying a preference for Gwen Stefani I have never been aware of until now. He seems dismayed she is pregnant. We learn that Les Paul is in the hospital, which neither of us know.
8:56: Kelly Clarkson. time for a break.
8:55: some slob from the Steelers is presenting. "Why is this asshole onstage at the Grammys?"
8:49: Kanye West, Late Registration. What *is* he wearing? He just pulled out a big piece of paper that says, "THANK YOU LIST" on the back of it. The boyfriend points out he is 3 for 3. He should be glad he is not here. U2 got thanked for bringing him on tour.
8:48: Best rap album time. Matt Dillon and Ludacris. Maybe Bruce and Ludacris could get it together. He's talked about listening to him in the car.
8:47: CLIFF PONCIER is giving David Bowie a Lifetime Achievement Award? And of course, Bowie doesn't show.
8:46: The boyfriend offers that "One" is U2's best song. I offer that we need to shelve this for another time.
8:45: This is one of the best fucking things I have ever seen on the Grammys. He let her sing that last bridge and that was BREATHTAKING. It was too good for the Grammys.
8:44: Here is Mary J. That green Gretsch is totally fucking wasted on Bono. LEAD SINGERS SHOULD NOT PLAY GUITAR.
8:42: Bono tags "She Loves You" at the end of Vertigo. Into the second song. "One," so Mary J. will be out here soon. I didn't get to hear this the last time they did it. I do a mean karaoke version of this song. (HI SHARON!)
8:41: "Bono needs to cut his hair shorter."
8:39: "We're the loudest folk band in the world." Uno, dos, tres, quatorze. WHEE.
8:33: I am now told that Bruce is a Kenny Chesney fan. I am even more concerned.
The boyfriend points out that he is 2 for 2 in predicting the broadcast awards.
U2 and Mary J. Blige are next. As the credits flash past, I observe that I would give just about anything to see Bruce Springsteen and Kanye West perform together.
8:32: Merle Haggard is getting a lifetime achievement award. Now we are at the Best Country Album. The boyfriend seems to be very interested in this category and I am slightly concerned.
8:31: How is "Devils & Dust" a rock song? there is nothing rock and roll about it.
8:30: Spinal Tap moment: there is interference in the vocal signal of whatever crappy New Country band is onstage now. This is funny.
8:27: Bruce is 1 for 4 in pre-show awards. He won Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance beating Neal, Rob Thomas, Robert Plant and Eric Clapton. The categories he lost in: Best Rock Song (to U2), Best Contemporary Folk Album (to John Prine), best Long Form Music Video (to No Direction Home).
8:24: John Legend is babbling about something. I am not going to pretend I care. I realize this makes me some kind of savage.
8:18: Strike that. Chris Martin is now running through the audience in a move so borrowed Bono will be calling the trademark office tomorrow. I have never seen them before and the blatant U2 derivation is making me hurl.
8:17: Chris Martin is 'spontaneously' climbing into the audience. I think I have reached the limits of any Coldplay snarkiness.
8:16: Chris Martin's shirt is too short and he's trying to pull it down. Um, Gwyneth, wardrobe check.
8:14: Oh, look, it's Coldplay.
"People who are overrated for $200.00, Alex."
I guess this is supposed to be spontaneous or something but this is so not working. Oh, look, they're going to perform. Time for a cold drink.
8:13: Kelly Clarkson won something. Her dress is unspectacular. For some reason she is carrying her evening bag up to the podium. This is "Female Pop Vocal Performance." *yawn* She is crying.
8:11: Acapella "Higher Ground." The boyfriend: "That was completely unnecessary."
8:09: Alicia Keys and Stevie Wonder. Stevie: "You look beautiful." He's cracking up at his own blind jokes.
8:05: "Madonna looks really good for a 50 year old woman."
"Right. If I had her money, her personal trainer, and her free time, I would look like that too."
"But still."
"Right, and she did take care of herself. She didn't do lots of drugs, or--"
"Oh, come on. She must have done lots of cocaine in the 80's."
8:02: "Where is Madonna?" Oh, here she is.
8:00: Here we go. "Which moment from tonight's Grammy awards will everyone be talking about tomorrow?" Um, not Madonna and Gorillaz. This is fucking boring, but I'm sure there are several thousand BOF's sitting in their chairs going, "Oh my god! Cartoon characters! We need to do something like this!"
7:54: The online tv guide listing for the Grammys says: "Exellence in the recording industry." HA!

REASON 4, 386 THE GRAMMYS SUCK A**

While this was one part astonishingly good news (backed with one part 'please let it not be an embarassment for him), this below gives one pause:

Ron Roecker, a spokesman for the Recording Academy, wouldn't confirm that the reunion is on the Grammy-night schedule, which already includes an all-star tribute to Sly and the Family Stone. The tribute -- featuring John Legend, Maroon 5, will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, among others

THIS IS THE BEST YOU COULD COME UP WITH FOR A TRIBUTE TO SLY STONE, MUCH LESS SLY STONE'S COMEBACK??! You are simply NOT trying hard enough. Maroon 5? WTF??!

the real godfather of punk

Yet another blog entry on the Scorsese Dylan documentary, No Direction Home, on PBS.

So we've been watching Dylan in the studio with Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper, and then it's the Newport Folk Festival... and then when the stellar documentary footage shows Peter Yarrow walking onstage to introduce Dylan.

And then I realized where the documentary was going.

Dylan going electric at Newport. I feel like I've seen at least part of this before, as a teenager, on one of those Rolling Stone history of rock things. I remember vaguely feeling elated when watching it then, understanding what I was seeing; I know I had the same feeling tonight, fully cognizant of Dylan's history and impact.

All I could think was: Man, that was seriously punk rock.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about what is and isn't punk, lately; working on my Springsteen presentation; the impending closure of CBGB; all of this meaning that I've been trying to find a way to explain to the uninitiated what punk really means.

But my god! How much more punk was Dylan going electric at Newport?! It was protest and statement and unavoidable upsetting the apple cart, palate clearing, throwing down the gauntlet, and, I'm sure, more than just a little of the imp of the perverse.

But damn it was PUNK! People BOOED him the entire set! You can hear the boos over the band! And they just kept playing, went offstage. He's coerced to come back with the good guitar, the acoustic guitar, and what does he sing? "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue":

Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you.
Forget the dead you've left, they will not follow you.
The vagabond who's rapping at your door
Is standing in the clothes that you once wore.
Strike another match, go start anew
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

If the set wasn't fuck you to the folk establishment, to the labels put on Dylan, to the role he was expected to play...well, let's just make really damn sure with the choice of this particular song.

More than almost anything else in the documentary, I was completely blown away by this scene. And if that's not punk, well, I don't know what is.

live 8

actual dialogue from saturday afternoon:

philadelphia. stevie wonder onstage. much jubilation.
CUT TO:
MTV moron: "Stevie Wonder is onstage and it's just incredible..."
Boyfriend: "Oh my god, you people are completely useless! Stevie Wonder is playing 'Higher Ground,' would you please SHUT UP."

This, of course, was nothing compared to the searing white hot rage I felt at the MTV vj with the name "Aaman" (or something carefully diverse) as he felt the need TO TELL US THAT THE WHO WERE ONSTAGE IN THE MIDDLE OF ''WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN" ABOUT THREE SECONDS BEFORE THE MOTHERFUCKING POWER SCREAM, and we hit the volume on the computer so we could WATCH THE GODDAMN CONCERT, and Roger actually NAILED in front of the whole world, and the second he did I started sobbing uncontrollably, partly because whether I like it or not they are still My Band, it is like that old boyfriend that you just can't shake yourself from emotionally, and Pete looked so good in that denim jacket and not a f'in suit for a change (although the beard makes Joe Grushecky's eerie resemblance of PT even stranger).

Him: "And why didn't we go to London for this?"
Me: "I'm sure we had a perfectly good reason at the time."

But, I am getting ahead of myself.

I don't have anything to say about the complete and utter ineptitude of Viacom and its various networks and their complete lack of ability to present a worldwide historical musical event with any professionalism or competence whatsoever that someone somewhere hasn't already said. But, that said, I don't know how anyone at that network isn't going to be completely embarassed going to work on Tuesday morning. It was childish, moronic, disrespectful, inappropriate, and just plain LAME.

Around the time of Woodstock II (I think), I remember someone from MTV being interviewed about their proposed coverage and how they had learned a few lessons from the debacle that was their coverage of Live Aid -- and there at least they had an excuse, the channel and the entire concept being in its infancy, but even then you didn't need a rocket scientist to know that WHEN LED ZEPPELIN ARE REUNITING FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER YOU DO NOT SHOW MARTHA QUINN AND MARK GOODMAN HEADBANGING WHEN JIMMY PAGE IS TAKING A GUITAR SOLO!

(Yes, I'm still bitter about that one, and I am not any kind of Zeppelin fan whatsoever.)

Maybe it was deliberate, that they didn't show one song in its entirety; maybe this was all by careful planning and design, maybe Geldof is still bitter about the people who taped Live Aid and sold the dvd's on eBay (which could have been prevented a long time ago, but noooo). Yes, we had the computer and broadband to bring us anything that we missed and from a technical perspective, it worked flawlessly considering the load those servers must have been under.

It just seems a shame, in an age when music is respectable and valued commercially and critically, that an event of this stature couldn't rate the coverage it deserved, especially considering the cause it was organized on behalf of.

Me: "The reason we didn't go to London was?"
Boyfriend: "I'm not really sure right now."

live8

punk: attitude! on IFC next week

“All you need is one guy or girl to stand up and say 'Fuck this,' and everyone goes: 'Voice of a generation! Thank you. I’ve been thinking that, I never had the guts to say it' - and all of a sudden - 'Fuck this' has a backbeat.”

--Henry Rollins

July 9 (thanks, BP) on IFC at 10pm (for the six people who have it as part of their cable package), and July 20 on A&E! So you have, actually, no excuse not to see this. (Also, coming soon to DVD, I hear.)

My review of "Punk: Attitude!"

Bruce Springsteen: Storytellers

"Tell me I can't cry because my mascara is going to run," I pleaded.
"You can't cry because your mascara is going to run, and you're going to be on television in a few hours," the boyfriend kindly offered.

It was Monday afternoon at 3:15pm. We are at the Molly Pitcher Inn in Red Bank, New Jersey, and have just walked out of the conference room in which VH-1 was handing out tickets to the lucky attendees of the Bruce Springsteen Storytellers broadcast.

I am sitting on a lavishly upholstered bench and hyperventilating, hovering somewhere between panic attack and freakout. I'd known since Thursday that we were in the door, but it wasn't until I actually held the tickets in my hands that the reality of everything finally sunk in. I never do this. I never freak out until I'm in my seat or in front of the stage. Tonight, however, that reaction would belong to the boyfriend, who went into speechless shock when we took our seats. "When do I wake up?" he finally asked after a few minutes.

The brand-new Two River Theater is tiny: legal capacity is 352. There weren't many more people than that in the audience. They removed the last row of seats (or weren't allowed to use them yet) and had the sound crew up there, along with what looked like the Sony VIP's. There were also some rows of chairs on the stage, behind Bruce; allegedly these were supposed to be for people in a younger demographic and were classified as "bleacher seats" but ended up being rows of folding chairs. There were monitors facing them so they could hear just fine, and at least half of them had a view of Bruce at the piano I would have gladly traded places with them for.

Our seats were in the house proper, left side. When we walked in and sat down, there were cameras on tripods on both corners of the stage. This meant that there would be a tripod in front of our seats. Not long before the broadcast began, the tripods were suddenly removed and the cameramen hand-held everything. I think we would have been fine but it was certainly stunning to have this utterly unobstructed view of Bruce Springsteen literally feet away.

The setlist consisted of eight songs (remember, this is for a one hour broadcast that will probably in total end up with 46 minutes of actual program time). I know, eight songs seems like nothing, but imagine the feeling of Bruce Springsteen playing a private concert in your living room. Eight songs would seem like an eternity, especially if he decided he didn't like how they came out and played them more than once.

Devils and Dust: I liked this song live a lot better than I did studio, but the boyfriend felt the opposite way. Bruce used this song to outline what I called "Advanced Songwriting 101," in which he took the song apart line by line, but it wasn't so much an explication of the song as it was an explanation of how he writes a song and how a song comes together for him. He puts a lot of stock in a title, somehow a good title makes everything click for him (significant to me because I feel the same way). Line by line, what role each element was playing, tradeoffs made, symbolism, the tie between the melody and the lyrics and its role in not only propelling the song but creating tension and feeling. "Did I know all of this when I was writing the song? No! Did I feel all of this when I was writing the song? Yes."

Blinded By the Light: Here we realized that the night was likely going to be a smaller version of Somerville, based on the song choice and what he was saying. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, go read this article and then come back here.) He had to be quicker than he was in Somerville (time constraints), and there were some lines that could have been grouped under the "self-explanatory" category he's fond of using that he chose not to (do I need to draw you a picture? No, I don't think so). It was hard not to sing along, but he encouraged us to do so at the end for the "I was blinded" refrain. Talked about burning up the rhyming dictionary, the mention of Manfred Mann and how this was his only number one hit.

Brilliant Disguise: This was an obvious choice, and I was glad to see Patti come out to join Bruce for it. Here, the explanation preceded the song, Bruce talking about how some people might feel that it was a song about betrayal, but that it was more about questioning. Here is when he began to discuss the issue that I felt was nothing short of a completely jaw-dropping revelation: the disarming, matter-of-fact acknowledgement of the differences between "Bruce Springsteen" and bruce springsteen. The latter gentleman used to favor strip clubs back in the good old, pre-lap dance days (these are his words, not mine; I'm having a little trouble with this); but "Bruce Springsteen" could never be caught dead at such an establishment. He then related running into a couple outside of such a place (leading me to think for a sinking few seconds we would waste precious time on "Pilgrim In The Temple of Love," and then common sense set in), and how they said, "Bruce! You're not supposed to be here!" And his response was a highly amusing, quasi-existential subterfuge about the differences between the two people and how "Bruce" didn't even know that bruce was there at that moment.

This was, of course, the perfect moment for Mrs. Springsteen to make her entrance, and I would have loved to have heard their off-mic conversation when she walked onstage. And I am struck, yet again, by how much love there is between the two of them, it is glowing and visible and undeniable.

Nebraska: He played this one twice; immediately upon finishing the first version, he stopped and said that he was going to play it again: "They told me I could do it over if I wanted to." The explanation was almost identical to Somerville, except that he didn't discuss the point that I feel is so critical about this song in particular - his role in taking his audience to places they might not normally find themselves. Considering that there are people in the fanbase that think Bruce was "wrong" to have written about the Starkweather killings, it's not a small point. (Later, driving home and analyzing the show, the boyfriend offered that he wished this one hadn't made the setlist, that it was a fine song but he didn't like the music. I offered Bruce's point from his commentary about "Devils and Dust" and that maybe we weren't supposed to like the music.)

Jesus Was an Only Son: Moving to the piano ("Oh, the possibilities," murmured the boyfriend, salivating). This is a new song from Devils and Dust. As soon as it finished, I said, "Gosh, I wish he'd decide he didn't like how that one went because I don't think I got it all" and sure enough, one more time. I don't want to turn this into a D&D review based on two songs but I will say that I wasn't that impressed. Sure, it's The Greatest Story Ever Told but - as Bruce himself said later, if you don't push yourself into the song, then it's just flat. I thought the explanation about the song and what was behind it, writing about Jesus as a son, from his mother's perspective, and how that relates to his feelings about his growing teenage sons was fantastic, given the role that the father-son dynamic has played as a theme and a catalyst in Bruce's work, but if a song needs that much of an explanation every time to make it a good song, then it might not be isn't all that good.

It did, however, lead me to consider how Bruce's work may change in perspective over the next few years. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to look at the ages of his sons and to realize that he's got to be thinking: "They're leaving home soon. Did i do a good job? Will they be okay? Did i give them what they needed to become good people?" It's logical that he'll be wanting to explore that, but likely it's going to be less "Adam raised a Cain"and more along the lines of "Jesus".

Waiting on a Sunny Day: "Sometimes the reason you write a song is so you can hear an audience sing it back at you" is what we heard about Bruce's relationship to the pop tradition at Somerville, and once again, he talked about that tonight -- except here, he spoke lovingly of wanting to sing like Smokey Robinson (and actually attempted that legendary falsetto for a heart-stopping 30 seconds).

The Rising: Another do-over. I am not sure I was fond of the arrangement of this one, especially compared to how it was performed in Somerville. But given the do-over, I'm not sure Bruce was all that thrilled with it either. For me, the arrangement was too passive, and not driving enough. It was interesting to hear the line-by-line on this one because he saw it as far more general as we as fans interpreted the song, and how there was even significance in the "li-li-li"'s.

Thunder Road: Another one he had to play twice, struggling with the piano outro a bit, but my god, I could have sat there and listened to him play it all night. This was, without a doubt, the moment of a lifetime for a Springsteen fan. In my humble opinion, "Thunder Road" is the mother of all Springsteen songs. In Somerville, the quote was that "Thunder Road" represented the moment when everything seemed possible. Here, Bruce expanded on that theme, line by line, summating with the thought that "This was my invitation to the world." Driving home later, the boyfriend (for whom this is #1) said, "It's his invitation to everything about rock and roll" and I replied, "No. It's his invitation to EVERYTHING." The invitation, the themes of freedom and liberation and escape and life and living and seizing the moment and attempting the impossible, he touched on all of it in his comments. I was so overwhelmed by what he was saying that it is hard for me now to recall it with any precision whatsoever, but I do know that it was a vicious battle inside to not start weeping openly.

This is probably a good time to talk about the audience. While everyone was on their best behavior, I did want to kill the inconsiderate Neanderthal behind me that felt the need to say something OUT LOUD DURING THE PERFORMANCE about the fact that Bruce clearly sang "sways" and not "waves". I will quote the boyfriend here, since he says it better than I do: "Oh my god. IT DOESN’T MATTER. It does not change the song, the performance or the image of Mary walking across the porch one iota whatsoever whether it is sways or waves. I will personally kill anyone who asks that question with my bare hands.” Springsteen fans: get over it. There is no issue more irrelevant in Springsteen fandom than this one, except maybe whether "Terry" in "Backstreets" is male or female, and of course, why Bruce has a song called "My Lover Man".

::getting off of soapbox::

The Q&A: many people are up in arms over this "lost opportunity" so I guess I must be one of the only people on the planet who (despite the Backstreets contest) had zero expectations from anything related to MTV Networks to provide an environment in which real fans would get to ask the real questions. I do not think that the questions asked were as horrible as many of my colleagues there that night did, but I also didn't expect them to be good so I didn't much care. I did think it was hysterical that Bruce said, "You know, we've done this before [Somerville] and one night was great, but the other one, as my kids would say, totally sucked." (I hope that anyone who asked one of the asinine questions at Somerville night two feels appropriately humiliated; however, I doubt it). Anyway, so a commercial music television outlet fucked up fan-based questions. In further news, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

I don't know that I am more pragmatic, or realistic, or if it's simply a matter that I'm so astounded to have access to things like this that I find no joy or interest in picking it apart. This was a commercial production for television, after all, so I didn't imagine for half a second that Bruce would walk onstage and say, "Okay, so let me explain exactly how I wrote 'Meeting Across The River.' One afternoon, I was listening to a movie playing in another room, and I heard a random line of dialogue: 'Hey, Eddie, can you lend me a few bucks?' Suddenly, I had the whole story running through my head. I picked up my notebook and started writing the song, it just kind of came out the way it's written, not many changes. What's that? Did I then just sit down and start writing 'Jungleland'? No, that came much later. When did I decide to connect the two as a song suite? It was kind of complicated and I'm not sure I remember exactly. Wait, let me get my cell phone and see if Stevie remembers more than I do."

You know what, part of me says, in our fucking dreams. And then the other part of me says, no, actually, I don't think I want to know everything. Or I want to know a lot about how he works, but I don't necessarily need or want it down to that kind of granular detail. And, I don't know that he could actually do it even if he tried, we are talking an extensive, prolific body of work stretching back 30 years and he may not remember what the catalysts were. I am also probably far more interested in this detail than many people, given that I am a writer (disclaimer: oh, write it yourself) and listening to him talk about how he does his job is encouraging and inspirational on an almost religious level.

There is a certain truth to the fact that if you take art apart too much (if you even can) then it starts to lose its magic. Bruce tried to make that point both at the beginning and at the end of the evening: that talking about music is like talking about sex. He laughed when he said it, but it’s really the same issue at the heart: music is about magic and the divine and the inexplicable. I walked out of the theater Monday night feeling like, for a second, that I had gotten a little bit closer to all of that.

~~~~~
Storytellers will be broadcast on VH-1 on April 23. You can read more about the performance at Backstreets (although, blissfully, I am not covering this performance for the magazine this time).

u2 on snl

The rule is, of course, that all bands look bad on Saturday Night Live. Heck, even the Stones did in 78, that studio compresses bands into a tiny box and for the most part, loses a lot of the power of a performance. It's not surprising that people choose to or try to lip sync, given this fact.

"Vertigo" wasn't bad, kind of rough around the edges (lol) but in a good way, but still, the performance just felt compressed. "Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own" was kind of flat, but then again, I don't think much of the song particularly, so I can't attribute the lackluster performance just to SNL. Larry and Adam have aged well; Edge still is the Edge, and Bono...could use a stylist.

So after the first two songs, I was about to come in here and type a brief note. I didn't turn the TV off for some reason (because, my god, that show is embarassingly abysmal) - I was toying with the idea of doing some late-night manuscript formatting while watching a West Wing rerun.

And then I heard those chords, you know, the ones that for U2 are their shot heard 'round the world, their "Satisfaction," "I Will Follow" (and yes there are songs that were bigger and sold more and my mom probably knows, say, "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" but not "I Will Follow,") but the chords are just so alarming and ringing and brain-burning memorable. And, sure, jumping out into the audience might not be the most original thing ever done, but how many bands *have* done it on SNL (counterpoint: how many bands could get away with it and not worry about being asked back). Yes, Bono sticking his face into the camera lens is getting old, but that was two tours ago and there's probably someone out there who doesn't remember.

The end, when Edge came down off the stage and joined Bono, followed by Adam, it was probably the first spontaneous moment on that show since Elvis Costello traded "Radio Radio" for "Less Than Zero" (and the imp of the perverse who lives under my desk is tugging on my leg and going, "Come on, you don't really believe that that wasn't rehearsed and scripted," and the truth is I'm not sure, but I would so very much like to believe that it wasn't.

But it was powerful, and it was big, and loud, and very U2, and I'll be heading for that rumored free show on Monday, for sure.