|
 Berlin
& The Psychedelic Furs
My pal Josh rang up on Tuesday afternoon with extra tickets
to see Berlin and the Psychedelic Furs at the Great American
Music Hall later that night. It was free admission and back
stage "after the show" passes so I readily agreed.
I even got him to kick down some tickets for my pal Ggreg
Taylor. I met up with Josh and some of his friends and
waited out front for Ggreg. It was such a warm night that
the venue was sweltering. When Berlin took the stage, I was
a little dissapointed to see a touring band with Terry Nunn
so the jubulation was genuine when later in the show she brought
out Dave Diamond, from the original lineup. Apparently he
lives in San Francisco and Ggreg and I were sure we've seen
him around town. The band was just on VH1's "Bands Reunited"
so that could be clouding my memory as well. The show was
good, a bit too rock-and-roll-ish for my current tastes but
they still seemed to be in top form. I saw the original group
back in the 80s and I was glad to hear them go from their
song, "Sex" into a cover of Donna Summer's "I
Feel Love". I've heard DJs do that in the clubs with
their records for years and it's nice to know the band pays
attention to such things and has a sense of humour about how
their music is interpreted.
Next up was the Psychedlic Furs. The last time I saw them
was at Irvine Medows Ampetheatre with a few thousand people.
To see them in a venue that holds about 600 was amazing. Richard
Butler's voice sounded a bit more growly then it did back
then, but that only added to the music's haunting qualities.
"Ghost In You" sounded brilliant as did "Heaven"
though their biggest hit, the melodic, radio-friendly MTV
fave, "Love My Way" sounded a bit pat and uninspired.
I always appreciated the biting cynicism which pokes fun at
the "cattle-mart" type nightclubs and without the
snide edge it sounded flat to me. I'm sure they're sick to
death of singing that song as it's probably the only one that
all of their fans can agree on. The surprising point in their
show was when they played, "President Gas" it was
written during their more punkish early days as the Regan
era began. Word for word, it could have been written about
the Bush regime of today... the band can still shock me after
all these years, so they must be doing something right. Brilliant.
St. Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick, known as the Apostle of Ireland used the shamrock
as an illustration of the Trinity to convert the native Irish
to his religion in the 5th century. To celebrate the spiritual
subjugation, Ireland made the shamrock their national symbol.
March 17, is the traditional feast day of Ireland's patron
saint. In the United States, Saint Patrick's Day has evolved
into a celebration of Irish-American heritage and shows how
important and powerful they have become. Many Irish-American
communities hold parades, with celebrants dressed in green
to symbolize the lush Irish landscape. Some people take it
a bit further and dye their hair and food green, and some
communities (such as Chicago) go so far as to pour green dye
into rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water.
This year, I did nothing to celebrate the "holiday"
I was too knackered after the concert to bother with anything
more than reading this Reuter's article
about guiness bubbles sinking.
Slot Machine's First Public Gig
They played a benefit for my pal Andie last weekend. I arrived
too late to see them play so I was really excited to make
up for it this week. The band is made up of my friend's kids.
It was exciting to see them play their first real performance
in such a great venue as the Great American Music Hall. They
were the opening band for my pal Dani (See item below). The
lead singer of Slot Machine will be seven in a couple of months.
You might remember I attended his
fourth birthday party a few years ago. Apparently they
wrote all of their own material and all of it was quite good.
I know punk is probably the easiest style to master for a
begining musician. The oldest member is about 11 or 12 and
I couldn't help but think about how great their third album
will sound. Well done lads!
 Dani
is back in town
I haven't seen her for about four years and hadn't hear her
solo CD, but nothing could have kept me from supporting my
pal Dani. I was glad for the chance to talk to her before
she took to the stage. She cut our reunion short, saying she
had to take care of a bunch of stuff before going on. During
the show I could see why she had so many preparations to look
after. She played three different instruments, four if you
count the vocal processor she had rigged up to one mic. I
didn't know what to expect as her backing band began to play
but as soon as she took the stage the intensity went up another
notch. I'm sure the fact that this was a 'hometown' gig and
the last appearance on her American tour helped energize the
evening and everything came together to create a wonderful
show.
 Dani
Sicilliano was a jazz vocalist in Washington DC before moving
to San Francisco in the early 90's where she transformed herself
into a house DJ. The music was exuberant and moody at times,
upbeat and down tempo in alternating turns. It was obvious
to me that she was experimenting with a lot of her ecclectic
influences and somethings worked well while others didn't.
She has a great stage pressence and obviously feels comfortable
as a performer. I think it may take another album or two for
her to settle on a distinctive sound in style that is uniquely
her own. When she does, watch out TOTP!
|
Election
'04
The
Age of Imperialism
