XPoNential Music Festival
Wiggins Park
Camden, NJ
Saturday, July 21st, 2007
General Admission
$0.00
Karaoke night
Expresso Yourself Coffee House
Philadelphia, PA
Saturday, July 21st, 2007 (8:00pm)
General Admission
$5
Yep. I was in Philadelphia again. Work sent me back to my hometown for a week long conference, and I flew out early to spend some time with friends. Then, since I can't possibly take a business trip and go home like a normal person, I had them fly me to Chicago for Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival. Roy met me there and we went to the concert and drove home together.
Since I added the early weekend to my Philly trip, this is now the longest we've been apart since we got married. That part is sad, but I had a lot of fun that weekend, and it sure beats the three months apart we once did when it was still a long-distance-relationship.
My early weekend in Philly coincided with WXPN's XPoNential Music Festival. Back when I worked there, we had something called Singer Songwriter weekend, which I always enjoyed. I hung out with my bosses and ran errands for them and felt useful. We could hear all the music. I could take off whenever there was a band I wanted to see. My former boss Kathy was going to be there, and she dropped off a 4 day member pass for me at my hotel. I made plans for both evening nights with friends, but I figured I could spend each afternoon at the festival.
Saturday morning was great. Nice day, not too hot yet. I was staying in Rittenhouse Square and I took a walk up to the Art Museum and then around it to Kelly Drive and the "front side" of Boathouse Row. It's so Philadelphia and home-feeling to me. Then I did the touristy thing and ran up the steps like Rocky did.
I caught the El to Penn's Landing. There was supposed to be a ferry there to go across the Delaware River to Camden leaving on the hour. Well, it was 10 til noon, and I couldn't find the ferry. Penn's Landing goes for several blocks south and there were barricades and running up and down steps to the different levels. It hit noon, and I still hadn't found it. I didn't want to wait another hour. I found a cab, and asked the driver if he would take me to Camden. (BTW, although the riverfront area is touristy, this is still the "most dangerous city in America" Camden. I can only imagine what the cabbie thought.) Neither of us had any idea where Wiggin's Park is, but we followed the directions for the aquarium and found a sign for it.
The setup here was quite different than across the river at the old Penn's Landing amphitheater. There was a separate area for families with lots of activities, kid's music, Kathy doing a meet and greet, but it was so cut off from the main stage music. I went there and chatted with Kathy for awhile. She had a volunteer helping her out. The autograph line was much shorter than it used to be, but this was in a member's only area that you really had to look for. After a while, she shooed me off to go see some music.
The festival itself was different too. The old place had an amphitheater made of stone steps. You just picked a place and sat. Here, there was a big grassy area where people brought chairs. I didn't have a chair. There were some bleachers in the back, but they were metal and in the sun. There also used to be tables and chairs in the members area, but not this time. There really wasn't a good place to sit and hang out to listen to the music. Or eat. I made a mess of myself getting tzatziki sauce on my tshirt. And of course, back then, I listened to XPN all the time, so I knew the bands. I knew a couple headliners, but no one who played early in the day. I wandered around while Hoots & Hellmouth, Illinois, and Will Hoge played. Nothing really stood out. I said goodbye to Kathy and took the 3:30 ferry back to Philly.
I was really tired afterwards, but I freshened up a bit at the hotel. Took the El up to my childhood stop and Angela picked me up there. We hung out at her place for a while and then got dinner with her husband Baxter. Bax is an MC - he's done comedy, magic, and now he's hosting karaoke and trivia at a coffeehouse in the Mayfair section of the Northeast. Angela's really been getting into it. I've never been to karaoke, since I don't do bars, and I'm not going to sing solo in public. But I agreed to check it out. The coffeehouse has a neighborhood bar type of feeling and is filled with regulars.
I was looking at Baxter's list of songs, and there were three Yes songs: Roundabout, Owner of a Lonely Heart, and I've Seen All Good People. I am NOT going to sing, but I think to myself that of the three of those, the first half of All Good People would be the easiest, but I wouldn't want to do the repetitive second half.
Baxter and Angela do a couple songs. Then Angela surprises me with ... All Good People. I haven't found out if she listened to this at home first or just winged it, but I'm going to guess she didn't practice singing along with it. The first half of the song is called Your Move, and it's simple, pretty folk type song. The second half repeats the line "I've seen all good people turn their heads each day, so satisfied I'm on my way" over and over.
And over.
There are two monitors set up, one facing Angela and one facing the audience. Every time the lyrics refresh with those same words there again, the look on Angela's face, oh my goodness, it was so funny! When will this ever end and Why does Rhea like this stuff so much? I was really touched that she did this for me, and we both had a good laugh afterwards. She said it felt a lot longer than 8 minutes.
I ended up having a better time at karaoke than I did at the festival. I could spend time with Angela instead of feeling like a hanger-on or groundless at the festival. Plus, it took away so much Philly time. Angela drove me back to my hotel. The next day, I decided not to go again. I had another Philly tourist day, going to the Reading Terminal Market for brunch (it's open on Sundays now) and the Atwater Kent Philly history museum. Debbie picked me up around 4, and I got to see her new house way out in the New Jersey suburbs.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Sweetheart of the Rodeo
I don't like country music.
But...
EmmyLou Harris
Live on the Levee
On the Banks of the Mississippi
St. Louis, MO
Saturday, July 7, 2007
General Admission
free
I don't really consider EmmyLou Harris to be a country artist. She's more of a country/rock/folk crossover. She was right there at the beginning of country rock, singing with Graham Parsons. The first album I heard of hers was a rock covers album released in 1995 called Wrecking Ball. The radio station I used to work at played it a lot, and it sounded gorgeous. Her voice is beautiful.
Some years later, there was a cover story written about her in Goldmine. Roy and I both read it. I put EmmyLou in my "I wouldn't mind seeing her live sometime" group of artists. Roy downloaded a show of hers on-line and said it sounded too twangy.
St. Louis has a free summer concert series called Live on the Levee. The St. Louis Arch and surrounding park is a huge emblem of St. Louis and that's where the festivities are held. The stage is down near the Mississippi River, the street in front of it is blocked off, and on the other side of the street are the steps leading up to the Arch. It's a great view for the performers. The steps form an amphitheater of sorts, good seating for everyone who comes.
This was my first time attending Live on the Levee. We always have some reason not to go - the weather is bad, we're tired, don't want to face the crowds, we used to live too far away, but usually it's just that we're not interested in seeing those bands. We live closer now and I wanted to go. It's free and wouldn't go on too late, and there would be fireworks at the end.
After dinner, we took the Metrolink down. The festival opened at 6, but EmmyLou was going on stage at 8. Plenty of people would already be there. Roy warned me that we wouldn't get "good" seats, but I'd have no problem with people blocking my view sitting on the Arch steps. It's good.
We're making our way down the Arch steps and I found an open spot. But then my hero Roy noticed the area by the stage. Basically, there's thousands of people sitting on the Arch steps. But at the bottom of the steps, there's that closed off road, then the stage. The stage has a barrier in front of it, and two people standing in the makeshift front row. Roy doesn't even like standing for long periods of time, but he pointed it out and asked if I'd rather sit where we were or go down and be in the front row. I love the front row!!!!
We walked down the rest of the steps. I bought a water. Roy wanted to walk around some more, so I went to grab a spot by the stage. A country-fan-looking guy already there gave me a smile, in a "aren't we smart for grabbing this great spot?" way. More people came up front after me. It was still 90+ degrees out, but it didn't feel bad. Low humidity and a good breeze by the riverfront.
EmmyLou came on stage a little early, about 7:50. She played guitar, and had another guitarist, bass player, and percussionist with her. Some college-aged kid with a blue mohawk stood next to me, and he sang along to songs I'd never heard before. I did know a bunch of songs - EmmyLou has recorded a lot of cover songs, or should I call them interpretations so it sounds classier?
Anyway, she did "To Know Him is to Live Him", a Beatles song, Simon and Garfunkel's "The Boxer", Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush". She also did a Sinead O'Connor song that I'm not familiar with. Some people in the audience booed when she mentioned O'Connor. There were some covers of country songs and one of her own songs "Evangeline" that I vaguely knew.
The vocals from EmmyLou and the harmony singers were excellent - at times they all sang into the same microphone. Roy thought the show slowed down too much in the middle. I enjoyed the whole thing; it was mellow and not too exciting, but very nice.
There was some give and take with the audience. One woman near us yelled out that she named her cat after EmmyLou. She responded and is apparently a big animal lover. I swear she got a subtle anti-Bush comment in. She was going to do a couple songs by herself. She said she decided to do it, which led to "I'm the decider". Then, "That was a cheap shot". Either I'm reading into things or people didn't get it, because there was no crowd response. If I'm right, yay, especially for a country person in a setting like this! I like her even better.
After the show, we found a good spot to watch the fireworks. I hadn't seen professional ones for a few years. We usually just sit on our deck and peer through trees to catch some on Independence Day - there's some local show and private displays. There was a huge line for the Metrolink on the way home. Good that people are taking public transportation, but they're so unprepared for big crowds, it makes SEPTA look good.
It was a nice night, but it didn't make me want to check out more of her albums or anything. I don't consider myself a fan, but I do have a greater appreciation now.
But...
EmmyLou Harris
Live on the Levee
On the Banks of the Mississippi
St. Louis, MO
Saturday, July 7, 2007
General Admission
free
I don't really consider EmmyLou Harris to be a country artist. She's more of a country/rock/folk crossover. She was right there at the beginning of country rock, singing with Graham Parsons. The first album I heard of hers was a rock covers album released in 1995 called Wrecking Ball. The radio station I used to work at played it a lot, and it sounded gorgeous. Her voice is beautiful.
Some years later, there was a cover story written about her in Goldmine. Roy and I both read it. I put EmmyLou in my "I wouldn't mind seeing her live sometime" group of artists. Roy downloaded a show of hers on-line and said it sounded too twangy.
St. Louis has a free summer concert series called Live on the Levee. The St. Louis Arch and surrounding park is a huge emblem of St. Louis and that's where the festivities are held. The stage is down near the Mississippi River, the street in front of it is blocked off, and on the other side of the street are the steps leading up to the Arch. It's a great view for the performers. The steps form an amphitheater of sorts, good seating for everyone who comes.
This was my first time attending Live on the Levee. We always have some reason not to go - the weather is bad, we're tired, don't want to face the crowds, we used to live too far away, but usually it's just that we're not interested in seeing those bands. We live closer now and I wanted to go. It's free and wouldn't go on too late, and there would be fireworks at the end.
After dinner, we took the Metrolink down. The festival opened at 6, but EmmyLou was going on stage at 8. Plenty of people would already be there. Roy warned me that we wouldn't get "good" seats, but I'd have no problem with people blocking my view sitting on the Arch steps. It's good.
We're making our way down the Arch steps and I found an open spot. But then my hero Roy noticed the area by the stage. Basically, there's thousands of people sitting on the Arch steps. But at the bottom of the steps, there's that closed off road, then the stage. The stage has a barrier in front of it, and two people standing in the makeshift front row. Roy doesn't even like standing for long periods of time, but he pointed it out and asked if I'd rather sit where we were or go down and be in the front row. I love the front row!!!!
We walked down the rest of the steps. I bought a water. Roy wanted to walk around some more, so I went to grab a spot by the stage. A country-fan-looking guy already there gave me a smile, in a "aren't we smart for grabbing this great spot?" way. More people came up front after me. It was still 90+ degrees out, but it didn't feel bad. Low humidity and a good breeze by the riverfront.
EmmyLou came on stage a little early, about 7:50. She played guitar, and had another guitarist, bass player, and percussionist with her. Some college-aged kid with a blue mohawk stood next to me, and he sang along to songs I'd never heard before. I did know a bunch of songs - EmmyLou has recorded a lot of cover songs, or should I call them interpretations so it sounds classier?
Anyway, she did "To Know Him is to Live Him", a Beatles song, Simon and Garfunkel's "The Boxer", Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush". She also did a Sinead O'Connor song that I'm not familiar with. Some people in the audience booed when she mentioned O'Connor. There were some covers of country songs and one of her own songs "Evangeline" that I vaguely knew.
The vocals from EmmyLou and the harmony singers were excellent - at times they all sang into the same microphone. Roy thought the show slowed down too much in the middle. I enjoyed the whole thing; it was mellow and not too exciting, but very nice.
There was some give and take with the audience. One woman near us yelled out that she named her cat after EmmyLou. She responded and is apparently a big animal lover. I swear she got a subtle anti-Bush comment in. She was going to do a couple songs by herself. She said she decided to do it, which led to "I'm the decider". Then, "That was a cheap shot". Either I'm reading into things or people didn't get it, because there was no crowd response. If I'm right, yay, especially for a country person in a setting like this! I like her even better.
After the show, we found a good spot to watch the fireworks. I hadn't seen professional ones for a few years. We usually just sit on our deck and peer through trees to catch some on Independence Day - there's some local show and private displays. There was a huge line for the Metrolink on the way home. Good that people are taking public transportation, but they're so unprepared for big crowds, it makes SEPTA look good.
It was a nice night, but it didn't make me want to check out more of her albums or anything. I don't consider myself a fan, but I do have a greater appreciation now.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Lots of Synchronicity!
The Police
Opening Act: Fiction Plane
Scottrade Center
St. Louis, MO
Monday, July 2, 2007
Event Level, Section C, Row 16, Seat 12
$0.00
and
Plaza Level, Section 105, Row H, Seat 1
$92.50
I have a lot of gaps in my musical knowledge. Even in my favorite mainstream genre, classic rock, I have some depth and a lot of breadth. But I didn't live through the time period of these songs, and for a lot of bands the only songs I know from them are the ones that still get played on the radio. I've learned there is some regional variation in classic rock radio stations, but there is a lot of music that doesn't get played anymore. My knowledge of some bands' catalogs is the "two songs" that still get airplay. That said, I know an awful lot of Police songs even though I never bought any of their albums.
I've always liked them and sung along with their songs when I hear them on the radio. But the only Police related album I owned was one that Andy Summers did with Robert Fripp from King Crimson. Last spring, Roy borrowed Andy Summers' memoir from the library and suggested I read it too. There were mentions of Fripp in there and general discussion of the music scene in London. It was a good read and it put me in the mood to hear more Police. Roy has all their albums, so I pulled out Synchronicity.
Later that week the morning DJ announced that the Police were getting back together and were booking a show in St. Louis. Synchronicity indeed!
Roy and I moved into a new condo in 2005. We decided to buy some new appliances, a washer, dryer, and refrigerator. We bought them from Best Buy and signed up for their Reward Zone membership program. For maybe this one time only, I am happy with corporate sponsorship - Best Buy sponsored this tour and were very good to us. There was a presale only open to two groups of people - people who paid $100 to join Police's fanclub and people who belonged to the Reward Zone prior to the announced presales. Like us.
We were in. We'd definitely be able to get tickets. But what seats to get? The best seats were $200 per ticket. I've paid that much to a scalper to sit in the front row for Yes, but that's my favorite band and the best seats. I didn't want to spend that much to sit on the floor with 20 rows of taller people in front of me. Roy said his dream was to sit as close to the stage as possible. Mine was to sit somewhere with a full view of the stage. I talked him into it. We got decent $90 tickets on the first tier.
And then Reward Zone helped us out again. We won free tickets to the Police. $200 tickets. They were on the floor, 16 rows back, on the right section. Roy was thrilled, but I didn't want 15 rows of taller people in front of me. Roy hit on a compromise - we'd hold on to both sets of tickets. If the floor seats were good and I felt comfortable, we'd stay on the floor. If not, we'd move to the first tier location. It meant we wouldn't sell our extra tickets. I avoided telling people we won tickets and had extra seats so they wouldn't ask to come along. This is the second time this year (and second time ever) we've won free concert tickets. The Reward Zone win also came with an invitation for a Moroccan-themed preshow party.
The day of the concert came. We took Metrolink downtown and had dinner at Union Station. It's our arena show tradition. It was so nice outside, so we ate dinner outdoors overlooking the lake. We didn't know what the preshow would entail, but we finished dinner early enough to check it out. The woman at the Reward Zone table gave us laminated passes and we got an escort to the party. The opening act Fiction Plane featuring Sting's son was there, just finishing up signing autographs. They had free food and tea and a cash bar. Yay! I could get bottled water at the bar for free. Saved me $4. I didn't have much to eat since we had just come from dinner, but Roy saved some room and tried out a few things. He enjoyed it much more than I did - it was warm in the room and no places left to sit. We could leave at any point, but they were offering backstage tours to the floor - just a walk backstage where we saw trucks and equipment, no interesting people. The tour didn't start til the opening act was already gone on, so we missed a bit of their set.
The biggest surprise was our seats. A few years ago, we had floor seats for Simon and Garfunkle. Yes, they were back a ways on the floor, but they were the front row of our section. The aisle in front of us was enough space to let me see over people's heads and offer a good view of the concert. I checked my stub and it was 21 rows back. No such luck this time.
But I was wrong! Roy noticed this before me as we walked to our seats. The front section had only 15 rows, so our row 16 was the front of our section. Plus, our seats were in the right section, but on the aisle between right and center. My view towards the stage was looking over the aisle in front of us and then the right-center aisle before I got to any tall people in front of me. I could see great! I was so surprised, I had to find an usher to confirm that this really was my seat.
The opening act was alright. Sting's son was the singer and looked and sounded like him. They did not appear ready to be playing a venue this big. They might grow into something interesting. I liked the anti-smoking song Cigarette.
Finally, the Police came on stage. They opened with Message in a Bottle and then Synchronicity II. The whole floor and first tier stood up for the entire show - every seat was a dancing seat. I was surprised at how many songs I knew, even songs I had forgotten about. My favorite songs of the night were Synchronicity II, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic and Wrapped Around Your Finger. Ironically (coincidentally?), the review in the Post Dispatch called out these three as "among the songs close enough to their original versions to keep those resistant to change happy".
Ah, the new arrangements. I do like the fact that the Police didn't just relearn their songs note for note. They worked to create some new arrangements. It's just, and this is going to sound funny coming from a progressive rock fan, but I like songs I can dance to. I certainly don't need 4/4 time to dance, but I need something. There were quite a few songs that lost their danceability with the new arrangements.
This is the setlist from the Post Dispatch:
"Message in a Bottle"
"Synchronicity II"
"Walking on the Moon"
"Voices Inside My Head"/"When the World is Running Down, You Make the Best of What’s Still Around"
"Don’t Stand So Close to Me"
"Driven to Tears"
"The Bed’s Too Big Without You"
"Truth Hits Everybody"
"Every Little Thing She Does is Magic"
"Wrapped Around Your Finger"
"De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da"
"Invisible Sun"
"Walking in Your Footsteps"
"Can’t Stand Losing You"
Encores:
"Roxanne"
"King of Pain"
"So Lonely"
"Every Breath You Take"
"Next to You"
The musicianship was excellent. I am so glad they didn't bring an extended lineup of musicians like some other reunited bands do. Sting was in great voice, still able to hit the notes in Roxanne. I've never been much a fan of his solo work, and I'd never seen him in concert before, but he really impressed me. As did Summers and Copeland. What a great show!
Opening Act: Fiction Plane
Scottrade Center
St. Louis, MO
Monday, July 2, 2007
Event Level, Section C, Row 16, Seat 12
$0.00
and
Plaza Level, Section 105, Row H, Seat 1
$92.50
I have a lot of gaps in my musical knowledge. Even in my favorite mainstream genre, classic rock, I have some depth and a lot of breadth. But I didn't live through the time period of these songs, and for a lot of bands the only songs I know from them are the ones that still get played on the radio. I've learned there is some regional variation in classic rock radio stations, but there is a lot of music that doesn't get played anymore. My knowledge of some bands' catalogs is the "two songs" that still get airplay. That said, I know an awful lot of Police songs even though I never bought any of their albums.
I've always liked them and sung along with their songs when I hear them on the radio. But the only Police related album I owned was one that Andy Summers did with Robert Fripp from King Crimson. Last spring, Roy borrowed Andy Summers' memoir from the library and suggested I read it too. There were mentions of Fripp in there and general discussion of the music scene in London. It was a good read and it put me in the mood to hear more Police. Roy has all their albums, so I pulled out Synchronicity.
Later that week the morning DJ announced that the Police were getting back together and were booking a show in St. Louis. Synchronicity indeed!
Roy and I moved into a new condo in 2005. We decided to buy some new appliances, a washer, dryer, and refrigerator. We bought them from Best Buy and signed up for their Reward Zone membership program. For maybe this one time only, I am happy with corporate sponsorship - Best Buy sponsored this tour and were very good to us. There was a presale only open to two groups of people - people who paid $100 to join Police's fanclub and people who belonged to the Reward Zone prior to the announced presales. Like us.
We were in. We'd definitely be able to get tickets. But what seats to get? The best seats were $200 per ticket. I've paid that much to a scalper to sit in the front row for Yes, but that's my favorite band and the best seats. I didn't want to spend that much to sit on the floor with 20 rows of taller people in front of me. Roy said his dream was to sit as close to the stage as possible. Mine was to sit somewhere with a full view of the stage. I talked him into it. We got decent $90 tickets on the first tier.
And then Reward Zone helped us out again. We won free tickets to the Police. $200 tickets. They were on the floor, 16 rows back, on the right section. Roy was thrilled, but I didn't want 15 rows of taller people in front of me. Roy hit on a compromise - we'd hold on to both sets of tickets. If the floor seats were good and I felt comfortable, we'd stay on the floor. If not, we'd move to the first tier location. It meant we wouldn't sell our extra tickets. I avoided telling people we won tickets and had extra seats so they wouldn't ask to come along. This is the second time this year (and second time ever) we've won free concert tickets. The Reward Zone win also came with an invitation for a Moroccan-themed preshow party.
The day of the concert came. We took Metrolink downtown and had dinner at Union Station. It's our arena show tradition. It was so nice outside, so we ate dinner outdoors overlooking the lake. We didn't know what the preshow would entail, but we finished dinner early enough to check it out. The woman at the Reward Zone table gave us laminated passes and we got an escort to the party. The opening act Fiction Plane featuring Sting's son was there, just finishing up signing autographs. They had free food and tea and a cash bar. Yay! I could get bottled water at the bar for free. Saved me $4. I didn't have much to eat since we had just come from dinner, but Roy saved some room and tried out a few things. He enjoyed it much more than I did - it was warm in the room and no places left to sit. We could leave at any point, but they were offering backstage tours to the floor - just a walk backstage where we saw trucks and equipment, no interesting people. The tour didn't start til the opening act was already gone on, so we missed a bit of their set.
The biggest surprise was our seats. A few years ago, we had floor seats for Simon and Garfunkle. Yes, they were back a ways on the floor, but they were the front row of our section. The aisle in front of us was enough space to let me see over people's heads and offer a good view of the concert. I checked my stub and it was 21 rows back. No such luck this time.
But I was wrong! Roy noticed this before me as we walked to our seats. The front section had only 15 rows, so our row 16 was the front of our section. Plus, our seats were in the right section, but on the aisle between right and center. My view towards the stage was looking over the aisle in front of us and then the right-center aisle before I got to any tall people in front of me. I could see great! I was so surprised, I had to find an usher to confirm that this really was my seat.
The opening act was alright. Sting's son was the singer and looked and sounded like him. They did not appear ready to be playing a venue this big. They might grow into something interesting. I liked the anti-smoking song Cigarette.
Finally, the Police came on stage. They opened with Message in a Bottle and then Synchronicity II. The whole floor and first tier stood up for the entire show - every seat was a dancing seat. I was surprised at how many songs I knew, even songs I had forgotten about. My favorite songs of the night were Synchronicity II, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic and Wrapped Around Your Finger. Ironically (coincidentally?), the review in the Post Dispatch called out these three as "among the songs close enough to their original versions to keep those resistant to change happy".
Ah, the new arrangements. I do like the fact that the Police didn't just relearn their songs note for note. They worked to create some new arrangements. It's just, and this is going to sound funny coming from a progressive rock fan, but I like songs I can dance to. I certainly don't need 4/4 time to dance, but I need something. There were quite a few songs that lost their danceability with the new arrangements.
This is the setlist from the Post Dispatch:
"Message in a Bottle"
"Synchronicity II"
"Walking on the Moon"
"Voices Inside My Head"/"When the World is Running Down, You Make the Best of What’s Still Around"
"Don’t Stand So Close to Me"
"Driven to Tears"
"The Bed’s Too Big Without You"
"Truth Hits Everybody"
"Every Little Thing She Does is Magic"
"Wrapped Around Your Finger"
"De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da"
"Invisible Sun"
"Walking in Your Footsteps"
"Can’t Stand Losing You"
Encores:
"Roxanne"
"King of Pain"
"So Lonely"
"Every Breath You Take"
"Next to You"
The musicianship was excellent. I am so glad they didn't bring an extended lineup of musicians like some other reunited bands do. Sting was in great voice, still able to hit the notes in Roxanne. I've never been much a fan of his solo work, and I'd never seen him in concert before, but he really impressed me. As did Summers and Copeland. What a great show!
NEARFest Day 2
NEARFest Day 2
Zoellner Arts Center
Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA
Sunday, June 24, 2007 11:00AM
Section Orchestra, Row A, Seat 33
When NEARFest is in Bethlehem, we never stay at the official band hotel. It sells out too quickly. Usually we stay at one of the cheaper motels by the highway. Last time, we stayed at a really nice place, the Hotel Bethlehem, right on Main Street. Unfortunately, it was sold out for the weekend, but we treated ourselves to a nice breakfast there on Sunday morning.
This time, we stayed at the same hotel as Linda and Jeff, but we barely saw them there. We did bump into them before we left for our fancy breakfast. Linda's first words were that we made the right decision to skip Hawkwind. She hated them! She made this "chugga chugga" guitar sound and said they sounded like a biker band all night. During the day, I polled a few people. Several hated them passionately, and a few liked them.
The first band on Sunday was Indukti from Poland. They were labeled as "melodic metal", with a distinctive mid-70s King Crimson influence. In fact, they sounded like a little bit of Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part I played over and over again. On every song. I could only stay for three songs before I had enough. They need more dynamics and more variation. And melody. The violin helped with the sound color - otherwise I would have left immediately. It was a nice day, not too hot yet, so I sat outside on the grass and read for a while.
After Indukti, I went to look for Roy. I found Tina and her friend Mark in the Indukti autograph line. We talked for a bit. Tina has been bringing her daughters to some festivals and other concerts. We joked about "The seven phases in the life of a hard-core prog fan" article in the festival program written by Rob LaDuca. Stage 2, fandom seemed to be written about me. "Your love of King Crimson is topped only by your obsession with Yes... Why do you need 55 different recordings of Roundabout?" Rob walked by, and I asked him about it. Nope, not anyone in particular, just that there are a lot of Yes fans. Roy's made it all the way to the final stage, Phase 7: Maturity.
I had high hopes for the next band. Back at my very first prog festival, I was familiar with all the big prog bands and a few local ones. My introduction to the Italian symphonic style was the legendary concert by Finisterre at ProgDay '97. (OK, legendary to an extremely small number of people, but we all remember it fondly.) Finisterre's bass player and singer Fabio Zuffanti is also a member of a number of different projects: one is one of my favorite recent albums Hostsonaten's Springsong and another is the band playing this year at Nearfest - La Maschera di Cera.
La Maschera are a full-blown Italian symph band, very influenced by the classics. Lots of analog synthesizers with a warm feeling, lots of melodies, lots of atmosphere. Not as pretty-sounding as Finisterre. They also had a singer with a great stage presence. I didn't like his voice all that much, but he sang with so much energy that I got into his performance anyway. Fabio would have been a better vocalist, but he stuck to playing bass.
I thoroughly enjoyed their performance, but a lot of people compared them to Finisterre. Someone asked if we were all jaded now - why weren't we blown away like we were in 1997? What did Finisterre have that La Maschera didn't? Was it just the newness of seeing a young band playing like this? The covers they threw in? How excited and charming the musicians were? I think Finisterre had better songs, even though La Maschera sounded great. Linda couldn't get into them because of the vocalist.
We got our time with Peter and Dan this day. The solo spotlight today was Robert Rich, an ambient musician. I have no interest in sitting in a dark theater watching ambient performed live. So we had a nice relaxed talk, just like I wanted the day before. They had a table in the same vending room as Roger Dean. Dan isn't really into this scene and wasn't a fan of Roger's, but told us "That Roger guy bought me lunch today." The two ate together during the last band. Lucky!
The next band was getting a lot of buzz. Pure Reason Revolution. They were described as Pink Floyd with Beach Boys harmonies. Sounded promising! I think they suffered from a poor mix - the vocals were low in the mix and indistinguishable. The rest of the sound, well, everything sounded bassy and no one was playing a melody line. Also, the band had recently lost a few members, so they played to some prerecorded sounds - drum machines and other samples. Maybe the vocals would have carried the melodies, if they stood out better. I left partway through. I heard later on from Jeff that they sounded very different from the albums. NEARFest had a lot of problems with sound at the larger venue in Trenton a few years back, I'm sad it's still the case in Bethlehem.
I bumped into Chris Richards and Tina's friend Mark in the upstairs lobby. Chris hated Pure Reason Revolution and lumped them in with 90's alternative rock. We all chatted for a while and Stella Vander from Magma walked by. Chris just beamed and called out "Bonjour!" and said he was looking forward to their set tonight. Stella thanked him. She looks so normal, it doesn't fit with Magma's live image.
Linda, Jeff, Roy, and I went out for dinner. I prefer small groups like this, where we can all have a single conversation with each other. They found an Italian place near the hotel. Our waiter was a hoot. Roy asked for a description of Italian Wedding soup, and the waiter struggled to say "It's like chicken noodle soup, with meatballs, but without the chicken and without the noodles." I asked what the vegetable of the day was, and he replied "I can't remember what it's called, but it's like a cake." Alright, it turned out to be a veggie quiche. The chicken noodle soup without the chicken and noodles just cracked me up. The waiter got into it too, and asked me how my cake was later on.
And then it was time for the last band, Magma. They've been around for 30 some years and are best known for recording a string of concept albums. The albums tell a scifi story about the planet Kobaia in a made-up language called Kobian. The music, while very repetitive, constantly builds in tension. The vocals are done by 4 singers and sound more like a chant. Everything is very dramatic and theatrical, even how the singers move about on stage. I never listen to their music at home, but I love seeing them live. It all sounds weird, but I get sucked in by the intensity of it. It's like opera.
The first time I saw Magma was at a club in Chicago. We stood in front of the vocalists. They were all dressed in black and wearing the Magma logo necklaces. They look so dour in publicity photos. But they all looked so middle aged and normal and happy doing these chants. An alternate universe Polyphonic Spree maybe? I liked it a lot better than I thought I would.
The next time I saw them was at NEARFest four years ago. The vocals were low in the mix. We were sitting six rows back. It lost something. But Chris is such a big Magma fan - the seats next to us were empty so I ran back and got him to join us. He still thanks us about that.
This time, I was worried about the sound. I was worried about sitting versus standing up packed at the Chicago club. And when we got back to the auditorium and saw how the stage was set up, I was worried our far left seats wouldn't give us a full view. Thankfully, Magma is a polarizing band and lots of people don't like them. There were some empty seats in the orchestra pit in front of us. We moved to the third row. I would have hated to sit so close in with everyone all weekend, but being this close to the stage and picking up the energy of the people around us really helped with Magma.
They are the real deal. Stage presence, professionalism, enthusiasm, good use of sound, dynamics, memorable music. They were captivating the whole time they were on stage. So many bands recently play with low frequencies, everything sounds bassy, and I have trouble discerning the individual sounds in the mix. It all sounds like a low rumbly mush to me. I notice even bands in the prog genre doing this. Not Magma. When the singers weren't chanting away, there was a keyboard high in the mix doing a solo or playing a melody line. I can't sing along to it and I can't dance to it, but it never lost my interest.
The first song was album-length, around 45 minutes long. We gave it a long standing ovation. I told Roy they were already my favorite band of the fest. Their second song was an unreleased song they started writing in the 70s but only recently started playing live. Those two songs were the main set. They came back out and did two encores, covering another half hour. By the end, I decided Magma was the best band of the whole weekend.
We chatted with a couple people on our way out of the theater and had breakfast with Linda the next day before driving back to Philly and catching our flight home. There weren't many traditional prog big name bands playing, polarizing headliners, and no true crowd favorite. But even though I walked out on three bands and skipped another, I was glad I came to the fest this year. It's always good to see my friends and I got to sample a lot of bands. Some were enjoyable and some were truly great.
Zoellner Arts Center
Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA
Sunday, June 24, 2007 11:00AM
Section Orchestra, Row A, Seat 33
When NEARFest is in Bethlehem, we never stay at the official band hotel. It sells out too quickly. Usually we stay at one of the cheaper motels by the highway. Last time, we stayed at a really nice place, the Hotel Bethlehem, right on Main Street. Unfortunately, it was sold out for the weekend, but we treated ourselves to a nice breakfast there on Sunday morning.
This time, we stayed at the same hotel as Linda and Jeff, but we barely saw them there. We did bump into them before we left for our fancy breakfast. Linda's first words were that we made the right decision to skip Hawkwind. She hated them! She made this "chugga chugga" guitar sound and said they sounded like a biker band all night. During the day, I polled a few people. Several hated them passionately, and a few liked them.
The first band on Sunday was Indukti from Poland. They were labeled as "melodic metal", with a distinctive mid-70s King Crimson influence. In fact, they sounded like a little bit of Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part I played over and over again. On every song. I could only stay for three songs before I had enough. They need more dynamics and more variation. And melody. The violin helped with the sound color - otherwise I would have left immediately. It was a nice day, not too hot yet, so I sat outside on the grass and read for a while.
After Indukti, I went to look for Roy. I found Tina and her friend Mark in the Indukti autograph line. We talked for a bit. Tina has been bringing her daughters to some festivals and other concerts. We joked about "The seven phases in the life of a hard-core prog fan" article in the festival program written by Rob LaDuca. Stage 2, fandom seemed to be written about me. "Your love of King Crimson is topped only by your obsession with Yes... Why do you need 55 different recordings of Roundabout?" Rob walked by, and I asked him about it. Nope, not anyone in particular, just that there are a lot of Yes fans. Roy's made it all the way to the final stage, Phase 7: Maturity.
I had high hopes for the next band. Back at my very first prog festival, I was familiar with all the big prog bands and a few local ones. My introduction to the Italian symphonic style was the legendary concert by Finisterre at ProgDay '97. (OK, legendary to an extremely small number of people, but we all remember it fondly.) Finisterre's bass player and singer Fabio Zuffanti is also a member of a number of different projects: one is one of my favorite recent albums Hostsonaten's Springsong and another is the band playing this year at Nearfest - La Maschera di Cera.
La Maschera are a full-blown Italian symph band, very influenced by the classics. Lots of analog synthesizers with a warm feeling, lots of melodies, lots of atmosphere. Not as pretty-sounding as Finisterre. They also had a singer with a great stage presence. I didn't like his voice all that much, but he sang with so much energy that I got into his performance anyway. Fabio would have been a better vocalist, but he stuck to playing bass.
I thoroughly enjoyed their performance, but a lot of people compared them to Finisterre. Someone asked if we were all jaded now - why weren't we blown away like we were in 1997? What did Finisterre have that La Maschera didn't? Was it just the newness of seeing a young band playing like this? The covers they threw in? How excited and charming the musicians were? I think Finisterre had better songs, even though La Maschera sounded great. Linda couldn't get into them because of the vocalist.
We got our time with Peter and Dan this day. The solo spotlight today was Robert Rich, an ambient musician. I have no interest in sitting in a dark theater watching ambient performed live. So we had a nice relaxed talk, just like I wanted the day before. They had a table in the same vending room as Roger Dean. Dan isn't really into this scene and wasn't a fan of Roger's, but told us "That Roger guy bought me lunch today." The two ate together during the last band. Lucky!
The next band was getting a lot of buzz. Pure Reason Revolution. They were described as Pink Floyd with Beach Boys harmonies. Sounded promising! I think they suffered from a poor mix - the vocals were low in the mix and indistinguishable. The rest of the sound, well, everything sounded bassy and no one was playing a melody line. Also, the band had recently lost a few members, so they played to some prerecorded sounds - drum machines and other samples. Maybe the vocals would have carried the melodies, if they stood out better. I left partway through. I heard later on from Jeff that they sounded very different from the albums. NEARFest had a lot of problems with sound at the larger venue in Trenton a few years back, I'm sad it's still the case in Bethlehem.
I bumped into Chris Richards and Tina's friend Mark in the upstairs lobby. Chris hated Pure Reason Revolution and lumped them in with 90's alternative rock. We all chatted for a while and Stella Vander from Magma walked by. Chris just beamed and called out "Bonjour!" and said he was looking forward to their set tonight. Stella thanked him. She looks so normal, it doesn't fit with Magma's live image.
Linda, Jeff, Roy, and I went out for dinner. I prefer small groups like this, where we can all have a single conversation with each other. They found an Italian place near the hotel. Our waiter was a hoot. Roy asked for a description of Italian Wedding soup, and the waiter struggled to say "It's like chicken noodle soup, with meatballs, but without the chicken and without the noodles." I asked what the vegetable of the day was, and he replied "I can't remember what it's called, but it's like a cake." Alright, it turned out to be a veggie quiche. The chicken noodle soup without the chicken and noodles just cracked me up. The waiter got into it too, and asked me how my cake was later on.
And then it was time for the last band, Magma. They've been around for 30 some years and are best known for recording a string of concept albums. The albums tell a scifi story about the planet Kobaia in a made-up language called Kobian. The music, while very repetitive, constantly builds in tension. The vocals are done by 4 singers and sound more like a chant. Everything is very dramatic and theatrical, even how the singers move about on stage. I never listen to their music at home, but I love seeing them live. It all sounds weird, but I get sucked in by the intensity of it. It's like opera.
The first time I saw Magma was at a club in Chicago. We stood in front of the vocalists. They were all dressed in black and wearing the Magma logo necklaces. They look so dour in publicity photos. But they all looked so middle aged and normal and happy doing these chants. An alternate universe Polyphonic Spree maybe? I liked it a lot better than I thought I would.
The next time I saw them was at NEARFest four years ago. The vocals were low in the mix. We were sitting six rows back. It lost something. But Chris is such a big Magma fan - the seats next to us were empty so I ran back and got him to join us. He still thanks us about that.
This time, I was worried about the sound. I was worried about sitting versus standing up packed at the Chicago club. And when we got back to the auditorium and saw how the stage was set up, I was worried our far left seats wouldn't give us a full view. Thankfully, Magma is a polarizing band and lots of people don't like them. There were some empty seats in the orchestra pit in front of us. We moved to the third row. I would have hated to sit so close in with everyone all weekend, but being this close to the stage and picking up the energy of the people around us really helped with Magma.
They are the real deal. Stage presence, professionalism, enthusiasm, good use of sound, dynamics, memorable music. They were captivating the whole time they were on stage. So many bands recently play with low frequencies, everything sounds bassy, and I have trouble discerning the individual sounds in the mix. It all sounds like a low rumbly mush to me. I notice even bands in the prog genre doing this. Not Magma. When the singers weren't chanting away, there was a keyboard high in the mix doing a solo or playing a melody line. I can't sing along to it and I can't dance to it, but it never lost my interest.
The first song was album-length, around 45 minutes long. We gave it a long standing ovation. I told Roy they were already my favorite band of the fest. Their second song was an unreleased song they started writing in the 70s but only recently started playing live. Those two songs were the main set. They came back out and did two encores, covering another half hour. By the end, I decided Magma was the best band of the whole weekend.
We chatted with a couple people on our way out of the theater and had breakfast with Linda the next day before driving back to Philly and catching our flight home. There weren't many traditional prog big name bands playing, polarizing headliners, and no true crowd favorite. But even though I walked out on three bands and skipped another, I was glad I came to the fest this year. It's always good to see my friends and I got to sample a lot of bands. Some were enjoyable and some were truly great.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Worth Skipping Hawkwind for - Belew in Sellersville
Adrian Belew of King Crimson
Opening Act: Caryn Lin
The Sellersville Theater
Sellersville, PA
Saturday, June 23, 2007 8:00pm
Table 4
$29.50
We did not get lost on our way to Sellersville. No delays either. It was almost too easy. Getting the tickets was strange. The venue has a membership program, where only members can purchase the front cabaret tables and first few rows. The ones that haven't been purchased go on sale to the public a month before the concert. The nice lady on the phone even told me I could purchase tickets further back to ensure I had semi-decent seats, and then call back when the good tix go on sale, and exchange them for the close up seats if any remain. I did. We got seats in the front table, audience left.
There's not much in Sellersville, but there is a restaurant next door that is owned or affiliated with the theater. We ate there, outside. It was less than an hour til show time, but they got us our food quickly. Adrian was eating there too, and we said hi as he passed by on his way to the theater. I wanted to be cool about it, but my back was to the door and he already walked by when I saw him. I called out "Hi Adrian" and he looked back and waved hello. Another table also did the "Hi Adrian" thing after hearing me. Maybe I should have kept my cool and not called attention to him.
The opening act was an old favorite. Caryn Lin is an electronic violinist. She's also a friend of my ex-boss Kathy and was a guest at Kid's Corner, the program I used to work for, many times. I've seen her live-in-the-studio and in concerts before. She did a really good one-woman show and had a lot of personality. Got a standing ovation and encore from an audience unfamiliar with her before the show. I got to talk to her after the set, and mentioned my history with her and she said she remembered me. I worked for Kid's Corner ten years ago, so it was nice to make an impression.
Small piece of trivia - Caryn opened for echolyn for their As the World CD release party at the TLA in March, 1995. She told Kathy she was opening for a band that "sounds like Yes". Well, Kathy jumped on it and found out the details about the show. When I got to work that day, Kathy told me to go immediately to buy a ticket for this band I had never heard of and buy the CD on its release date a few days later. I've been an echolyn fan ever since, but I still don't think they sound like Yes!
I had hoped my seat would be right in front of Adrian - the last few times I saw him, he had been audience left. But he was front and center this time. We would be in front of the bass player, Julie Slick. I was not happy to be sitting in front of the bass player; the first time we saw Adrian with the power trio format, it was horrible sound, all we could hear was the bass player. Guitar was low, vocals were low. It was my least favorite Adrian concert. I know sitting in the front row doesn't offer the best sound, but it's usually decent enough. If a problem like this ever happened again, I'd leave my "good seat" and move further back.
This show started Writing on the Wall and had some technical difficulties. I had my earplugs in and all I could hear was bass. It wasn't just me. Adrian's mike wasn't working. After the song, they left the stage until it was fixed. I was worried about the bass sound. Roy told me to loosen my right earplug - the left one would still block the bass but all the guitar was coming from the monitor on my right. I don't know if they raised the guitar volume or the earplug trick worked, but the sound was much better afterwards.
They came back out and played Writing on the Wall again. Then, one of my all time favorite Crimson songs, Dinosaur. It was a good start, but I wasn't thrilled with the overall setlist. When it comes to Adrian's music, I'm more a fan of his songs than some of the instrumental heavy stuff. I like some of that, for instance Elektrik is one of my favorite recent Crimson pieces. I was worried when Side One came out that I wouldn't like it. I've still only listened to it a couple times. For me, this setlist had too few songs and too much time spent on instrumentals. Every time one started, I had to turn to Roy and ask him what it was. He replied "I think it's one of the Sides" for most of them. It's not that I dislike them, I'd just rather hear more of what I really love.
This is a setlist from another show on the tour:
Writing on the Wall
Dinosaur
Ampersand
Young Lions
Beatbox Guitar
Men In Helicopters
Matchless Man
Madness
Drive*
The Lone Rhinoceros*
Neurotica
Of Bow and Drum
Big Electric Cat
Three of a Perfect Pair
encore:
Elephant Talk
Thela Hun Ginjeet
*Adrian solo
This was our first time seeing the other musicians in the power trio. Eric and Julie Slick are brother and sister and have been playing with Adrian for the last year or so. They are in their early twenties and were students in the Paul Green School of Rock. They live up to their hype. Everyone makes a big deal about their ages, but Bill Bruford was only 19 when he joined Yes and played with a lot of maturity then. As a rhythm section, they were a powerhouse. Eric played with a lot of energy and a lot of movement. Julie was very precise. She knocked me out with Elephant Talk, hitting the notes out on her bass like it was a Stick. I watched her quite a bit since she was right in front of me. There were more equipment problems, with Eric's drums, but he handled it fine.
Men in Helicopters was one of the highlights for me. Also Three of a Perfect Pair. I love how quirky, but still so memorable, the guitar line is, and I love singing along with the audience providing the backing vocals. Neurotica was a nice surprise, with the spoken word part played back from a recording instead of done live.
Aside from my nitpicking with the setlist, it was a wonderful show. Lots of fun, lots of energy, and great performances. The music and the stage presence was so much stronger than what I had seen earlier that day at Nearfest. These were the professionals.
The most amazing thing happened after the show. I've been a fan of Adrian's since I was a teenager and have seen him in concert many times. He's one of my favorites. But we've seen him so often recently, and I've been reading his blog at http://elephant-blog.blogspot.com/ every day, it's like he's more a part of my everyday life than some musician I listen to once in a while. I've written comments on his blog as well.
Adrian came out to greet fans and sign autographs rather quickly. I don't think it was my turn in line, but Adrian turned to talk to us. We shook hands and told him that we were in town for Nearfest but blew off Hawkwind to see him instead. He didn't seem familiar with the festival, but he asked if his old friend Simon House was in the band. I didn't know who he was talking about, but Roy said he didn't think so, that this was the Dave Brock-led band. (Roy filled me in later that Adrian had played with Simon House in Bowie's band.)
We were getting ready to leave, when Adrian asked me what my name was. But he already knew. Just as I started to say "Rhea", he said it as well. We said it in unison. He even pronounced it right. Adrian must have read my comments on his blog and thought "I know who that is". And he remembered my name!! Even a week later, I'm still walking on air thinking about this. Then he said to me "I've seen you online." I wonder exactly what I wrote that caused him to tie my words together with me.
I don't think I was capable of conversation after that, so I didn't say anything more. We left after that. Headed back to Bethlehem for NEARFest Day Two.
Opening Act: Caryn Lin
The Sellersville Theater
Sellersville, PA
Saturday, June 23, 2007 8:00pm
Table 4
$29.50
We did not get lost on our way to Sellersville. No delays either. It was almost too easy. Getting the tickets was strange. The venue has a membership program, where only members can purchase the front cabaret tables and first few rows. The ones that haven't been purchased go on sale to the public a month before the concert. The nice lady on the phone even told me I could purchase tickets further back to ensure I had semi-decent seats, and then call back when the good tix go on sale, and exchange them for the close up seats if any remain. I did. We got seats in the front table, audience left.
There's not much in Sellersville, but there is a restaurant next door that is owned or affiliated with the theater. We ate there, outside. It was less than an hour til show time, but they got us our food quickly. Adrian was eating there too, and we said hi as he passed by on his way to the theater. I wanted to be cool about it, but my back was to the door and he already walked by when I saw him. I called out "Hi Adrian" and he looked back and waved hello. Another table also did the "Hi Adrian" thing after hearing me. Maybe I should have kept my cool and not called attention to him.
The opening act was an old favorite. Caryn Lin is an electronic violinist. She's also a friend of my ex-boss Kathy and was a guest at Kid's Corner, the program I used to work for, many times. I've seen her live-in-the-studio and in concerts before. She did a really good one-woman show and had a lot of personality. Got a standing ovation and encore from an audience unfamiliar with her before the show. I got to talk to her after the set, and mentioned my history with her and she said she remembered me. I worked for Kid's Corner ten years ago, so it was nice to make an impression.
Small piece of trivia - Caryn opened for echolyn for their As the World CD release party at the TLA in March, 1995. She told Kathy she was opening for a band that "sounds like Yes". Well, Kathy jumped on it and found out the details about the show. When I got to work that day, Kathy told me to go immediately to buy a ticket for this band I had never heard of and buy the CD on its release date a few days later. I've been an echolyn fan ever since, but I still don't think they sound like Yes!
I had hoped my seat would be right in front of Adrian - the last few times I saw him, he had been audience left. But he was front and center this time. We would be in front of the bass player, Julie Slick. I was not happy to be sitting in front of the bass player; the first time we saw Adrian with the power trio format, it was horrible sound, all we could hear was the bass player. Guitar was low, vocals were low. It was my least favorite Adrian concert. I know sitting in the front row doesn't offer the best sound, but it's usually decent enough. If a problem like this ever happened again, I'd leave my "good seat" and move further back.
This show started Writing on the Wall and had some technical difficulties. I had my earplugs in and all I could hear was bass. It wasn't just me. Adrian's mike wasn't working. After the song, they left the stage until it was fixed. I was worried about the bass sound. Roy told me to loosen my right earplug - the left one would still block the bass but all the guitar was coming from the monitor on my right. I don't know if they raised the guitar volume or the earplug trick worked, but the sound was much better afterwards.
They came back out and played Writing on the Wall again. Then, one of my all time favorite Crimson songs, Dinosaur. It was a good start, but I wasn't thrilled with the overall setlist. When it comes to Adrian's music, I'm more a fan of his songs than some of the instrumental heavy stuff. I like some of that, for instance Elektrik is one of my favorite recent Crimson pieces. I was worried when Side One came out that I wouldn't like it. I've still only listened to it a couple times. For me, this setlist had too few songs and too much time spent on instrumentals. Every time one started, I had to turn to Roy and ask him what it was. He replied "I think it's one of the Sides" for most of them. It's not that I dislike them, I'd just rather hear more of what I really love.
This is a setlist from another show on the tour:
Writing on the Wall
Dinosaur
Ampersand
Young Lions
Beatbox Guitar
Men In Helicopters
Matchless Man
Madness
Drive*
The Lone Rhinoceros*
Neurotica
Of Bow and Drum
Big Electric Cat
Three of a Perfect Pair
encore:
Elephant Talk
Thela Hun Ginjeet
*Adrian solo
This was our first time seeing the other musicians in the power trio. Eric and Julie Slick are brother and sister and have been playing with Adrian for the last year or so. They are in their early twenties and were students in the Paul Green School of Rock. They live up to their hype. Everyone makes a big deal about their ages, but Bill Bruford was only 19 when he joined Yes and played with a lot of maturity then. As a rhythm section, they were a powerhouse. Eric played with a lot of energy and a lot of movement. Julie was very precise. She knocked me out with Elephant Talk, hitting the notes out on her bass like it was a Stick. I watched her quite a bit since she was right in front of me. There were more equipment problems, with Eric's drums, but he handled it fine.
Men in Helicopters was one of the highlights for me. Also Three of a Perfect Pair. I love how quirky, but still so memorable, the guitar line is, and I love singing along with the audience providing the backing vocals. Neurotica was a nice surprise, with the spoken word part played back from a recording instead of done live.
Aside from my nitpicking with the setlist, it was a wonderful show. Lots of fun, lots of energy, and great performances. The music and the stage presence was so much stronger than what I had seen earlier that day at Nearfest. These were the professionals.
The most amazing thing happened after the show. I've been a fan of Adrian's since I was a teenager and have seen him in concert many times. He's one of my favorites. But we've seen him so often recently, and I've been reading his blog at http://elephant-blog.blogspot.com/ every day, it's like he's more a part of my everyday life than some musician I listen to once in a while. I've written comments on his blog as well.
Adrian came out to greet fans and sign autographs rather quickly. I don't think it was my turn in line, but Adrian turned to talk to us. We shook hands and told him that we were in town for Nearfest but blew off Hawkwind to see him instead. He didn't seem familiar with the festival, but he asked if his old friend Simon House was in the band. I didn't know who he was talking about, but Roy said he didn't think so, that this was the Dave Brock-led band. (Roy filled me in later that Adrian had played with Simon House in Bowie's band.)
We were getting ready to leave, when Adrian asked me what my name was. But he already knew. Just as I started to say "Rhea", he said it as well. We said it in unison. He even pronounced it right. Adrian must have read my comments on his blog and thought "I know who that is". And he remembered my name!! Even a week later, I'm still walking on air thinking about this. Then he said to me "I've seen you online." I wonder exactly what I wrote that caused him to tie my words together with me.
I don't think I was capable of conversation after that, so I didn't say anything more. We left after that. Headed back to Bethlehem for NEARFest Day Two.
NEARFest Day 1
NEARfest Day 1
Zoellner Arts Center
Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA
Saturday, June 23, 2007 11:00AM
Section Orchestra, Row A, Seat 33
Patron seats: $240
NEARFest - the North East Art Rock Festival - is one of the most successful and professionally run progressive rock festivals in North America. It was started by my friend Rob LaDuca. He was a volunteer organizer for ProgDay one year, and he thought of all the ways he could improve the stability of a prog festival. He moved it indoors, to a more densely populated area of the country, booked better known bands, and promoted it better. There have been nine NEARFests, and all nine sold out. Some in a theater that held 2000.
That said, NEARFest is not my favorite festival, with so much going on it can be an endurance test. It scaled down a few years ago, and we stayed home for a couple years. I was now over the burnt-out factor and ready for the fest!
The bands on the first day were IZZ, Nebelnest, Bob Drake, Magenta, and Hawkwind. We were skipping Hawkwind in order to catch the Adrian Belew show in nearby Sellersville. Roger Dean, Paul Whitehead, and Annie Haslam were also there to sell artwork and chat with fans.
I needed to chat with some fans too. There are so many people I know at NEARFest, sometimes it feels like all I can do is say hi to a few people, not really build a relationship with them. Over the course of the weekend, we got to spend time with Linda, Jeff, Peter and his brother Dan, Mark from one of my Yeslists, Chris, Tina, and Krista.
We'd seen IZZ a couple of times, Roy more than me. IZZ played ProgDay on our wedding day, so they always remind me of that happy day. I like them well enough. They have two female backing vocalists who add a lot to their sound - I'd like to see them as co-leads and used more often. It gives more color to their sound. They're a traditional song based band.
During one of the breaks, we talked to Roger Dean. He had a bunch of new posters he was selling. Roy asked him to sign the live Asia CD we bought the night before. Roger confirmed that he did some additional artwork for the cover, but they made it the wrong color. He lamented about how hard it used to be to do a layout, and now "people who make coffee" can change his artwork. Roger also complemented Roy on his tshirt - the Big Electric Bear from the 2002 Bears tour. He thought it was a dog, and when I said it was a bear, he said "Even better!" He's always a good person to talk to, very polite, but very honest about what he sees.
I also talked with Annie Haslam, the former lead singer of Renaissance. I love that band and got to know Annie a bit because she lived near me and did local shows a couple times a year. She's also the friend of a friend of mine. I talked to her more like an old friend than a fan to a rock star. She hadn't seen our mutual friend in a few months, so I didn't get any news on him. I also told her how much I enjoyed all those concerts in the '90s. There was always some concert to look forward to when I lived in Philly, and hers were always great.
The next band was Nebelnest. I saw them years ago at ProgDay 99, and I didn't get into them. Same here. They're not bad, but all their pieces sound so similar, they don't keep my attention. Roy looked tired, so I
suggested we skip the rest of the set and get lunch. Roy got a chance to talk to Annie Haslam, and we both talked to Krista for a little bit.
We sat down with Peter and Dan for lunch. We had some time before Magenta was going on stage. I was thinking how nice it was to sit outside and have time to catch up with people. Damn it, I forgot about Bob Drake's set. We left quickly and made it back into the theater. Drake's spot was a "solo spotlight" that ran about a half hour. We were able to catch the last 20 minutes.
Bob Drake is a singer/songwriter/guitarist/producer. He's played with 5uu's and done some solo work that I like. His music and performance had a sense of humor. It kept me interested and entertained through unfamiliar material. His drummer was Dave Kerman, who has played at a few prog festivals. Instead of going offstage for songs without drums, he was wearing a robe and showercap, and brought out a pillow to nap when he wasn't needed. More twisted pop than "prog", but I enjoyed his set a lot.
The next band was the one that made me think "I need to go to NEARFest to see them". Magenta. I think they've played at Baja Prog and ROSfest previously and got great reviews about their live performance. We have their first two albums, and they sound great. They're another song-based symphonic band, with strong female vocals. The performance left me, I don't know, underwhelmed. Roy described it as their rhythm section getting into this groove that was hypnotic. Too much of the same sound, too little dynamics. I felt like I was watching it on TV rather than attending a live performance. Everyone else seemed to like it, so what do I know?
After Magenta, we left quickly and drove to Sellersville for the highlight of the day and the performance I was most looking forward to all weekend, the Adrian Belew Power Trio.
Zoellner Arts Center
Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA
Saturday, June 23, 2007 11:00AM
Section Orchestra, Row A, Seat 33
Patron seats: $240
NEARFest - the North East Art Rock Festival - is one of the most successful and professionally run progressive rock festivals in North America. It was started by my friend Rob LaDuca. He was a volunteer organizer for ProgDay one year, and he thought of all the ways he could improve the stability of a prog festival. He moved it indoors, to a more densely populated area of the country, booked better known bands, and promoted it better. There have been nine NEARFests, and all nine sold out. Some in a theater that held 2000.
That said, NEARFest is not my favorite festival, with so much going on it can be an endurance test. It scaled down a few years ago, and we stayed home for a couple years. I was now over the burnt-out factor and ready for the fest!
The bands on the first day were IZZ, Nebelnest, Bob Drake, Magenta, and Hawkwind. We were skipping Hawkwind in order to catch the Adrian Belew show in nearby Sellersville. Roger Dean, Paul Whitehead, and Annie Haslam were also there to sell artwork and chat with fans.
I needed to chat with some fans too. There are so many people I know at NEARFest, sometimes it feels like all I can do is say hi to a few people, not really build a relationship with them. Over the course of the weekend, we got to spend time with Linda, Jeff, Peter and his brother Dan, Mark from one of my Yeslists, Chris, Tina, and Krista.
We'd seen IZZ a couple of times, Roy more than me. IZZ played ProgDay on our wedding day, so they always remind me of that happy day. I like them well enough. They have two female backing vocalists who add a lot to their sound - I'd like to see them as co-leads and used more often. It gives more color to their sound. They're a traditional song based band.
During one of the breaks, we talked to Roger Dean. He had a bunch of new posters he was selling. Roy asked him to sign the live Asia CD we bought the night before. Roger confirmed that he did some additional artwork for the cover, but they made it the wrong color. He lamented about how hard it used to be to do a layout, and now "people who make coffee" can change his artwork. Roger also complemented Roy on his tshirt - the Big Electric Bear from the 2002 Bears tour. He thought it was a dog, and when I said it was a bear, he said "Even better!" He's always a good person to talk to, very polite, but very honest about what he sees.
I also talked with Annie Haslam, the former lead singer of Renaissance. I love that band and got to know Annie a bit because she lived near me and did local shows a couple times a year. She's also the friend of a friend of mine. I talked to her more like an old friend than a fan to a rock star. She hadn't seen our mutual friend in a few months, so I didn't get any news on him. I also told her how much I enjoyed all those concerts in the '90s. There was always some concert to look forward to when I lived in Philly, and hers were always great.
The next band was Nebelnest. I saw them years ago at ProgDay 99, and I didn't get into them. Same here. They're not bad, but all their pieces sound so similar, they don't keep my attention. Roy looked tired, so I
suggested we skip the rest of the set and get lunch. Roy got a chance to talk to Annie Haslam, and we both talked to Krista for a little bit.
We sat down with Peter and Dan for lunch. We had some time before Magenta was going on stage. I was thinking how nice it was to sit outside and have time to catch up with people. Damn it, I forgot about Bob Drake's set. We left quickly and made it back into the theater. Drake's spot was a "solo spotlight" that ran about a half hour. We were able to catch the last 20 minutes.
Bob Drake is a singer/songwriter/guitarist/producer. He's played with 5uu's and done some solo work that I like. His music and performance had a sense of humor. It kept me interested and entertained through unfamiliar material. His drummer was Dave Kerman, who has played at a few prog festivals. Instead of going offstage for songs without drums, he was wearing a robe and showercap, and brought out a pillow to nap when he wasn't needed. More twisted pop than "prog", but I enjoyed his set a lot.
The next band was the one that made me think "I need to go to NEARFest to see them". Magenta. I think they've played at Baja Prog and ROSfest previously and got great reviews about their live performance. We have their first two albums, and they sound great. They're another song-based symphonic band, with strong female vocals. The performance left me, I don't know, underwhelmed. Roy described it as their rhythm section getting into this groove that was hypnotic. Too much of the same sound, too little dynamics. I felt like I was watching it on TV rather than attending a live performance. Everyone else seemed to like it, so what do I know?
After Magenta, we left quickly and drove to Sellersville for the highlight of the day and the performance I was most looking forward to all weekend, the Adrian Belew Power Trio.
21st Century Schizoid Hoople
Ian Hunter
Live at the World Cafe
Philadelphia, PA
Friday, June 22, 2007 (noon)
General Admission
free
All Four Original Members of Asia
Keswick Theater
Glenside (Philadelphia), PA
Friday, June 22, 2007 (8:00PM)
Section Left, Row G, Seat 21
$49.50
This past weekend didn't seem too hectic, but looking back, it sure was. Roy and I saw 12 bands over three days. One was a two day long festival, and the other three were individual concerts. Lots of good music. I saw two members of Yes, two members of King Crimson, and a band from France who topped them all.
The original point of this trip was to attend Nearfest, the North East Art Rock Festival. I went to the original one in 1999 when I still lived in Philly. Also went to the next five of them, but we skipped the last two years. We decided to go this year because of two bands - Magenta and Magma - and because we missed some friends that we haven't seen recently.
Some other concerts got added because of scheduling luck - Asia was playing in a Philly suburb the night before the festival. Adrian Belew added a show with his power trio in Sellersville, only 40 minutes from Bethlehem. We decided to skip the headliner that night to see Adrian again. The radio station I used to work at hosts free concerts on Fridays at noon; we were going regardless of who was playing, but it turned out to be Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople. I sent Roy an IM saying we would be seeing a "not-too-young dude".
Roy and I flew into Philly on Thursday night after work. We stayed by the airport and slept in the next morning. The weather was beautiful, low humidity and temps in the 80s, quite good for a Philly summer. We made it to my old radio station WXPN for the free concert. I tried to get in touch with my old bosses. I keep in touch with Kathy, the host of Kid's Corner and my college substitute-mom, but unfortunately both she and Robert Drake were not in the office while we were there. I did see program director Bruce Warren and reintroduced myself to him.
I was expecting a seated concert and small crowd, but I was mistaken. It was standing room only. We grabbed a spot by the wall, so I had something to lean on and still an okay view. Ian Hunter opened with Once Bitten, Twice Shy. I knew the song from the Great White cover version, but I didn't know it was originally an Ian Hunter solo track. I'm amazed to see on Wikipedia that he is 68 years old. He played several songs from his recent solo album, and they fit in well. I thought the only song I'd know was All the Young Dudes, but I knew more of his material than I thought, another song was All the Way to Memphis. The band played for a little over an hour, and I enjoyed the show. I like daytime concerts, but after the show, the guitarist told the crowd to go back to bed. Perhaps noon is a little too early for rock and roll.
I was a little upset that I'm losing my connections to WXPN. The balcony of the theater (with seating) was closed off to all but VIPs, and I didn't have anyone to get me in. I used to be a person that could get in with just my name. I didn't visit with anyone, because the people I'd visit work nights and weren't there yet.
Roy and I did the tourist thing. We went to the food court at the Bourse for a quick lunch, and then walked around the city. Focused on Old City, north of the historic section. Roy had never heard of Elfreth's Alley, the oldest continuously occupied residential block in the US. So we walked up 2nd Street and looked at the houses and little museum.
The most fun I had that day was a trip to Franklin Square. When William Penn founded the city, he planned for five public squares, one in the center and one in each quadrant of the city, what is now the downtown Center City area. The center square now holds City Hall, and the other squares are the well-known Rittenhouse, Logan, and Washington. Franklin Square frankly was in a bad area and a hang-out for miscreants. No fancy apartment buildings and restaurants surrounding this park. But the area did improve, and the square was renovated. It's kid-friendly now, with a fountain, sand sculptures, playground, carousel, and a miniature golf course. The golf course has symbols of Philly, from the Liberty Bell to 45s for the Sound of Philadelphia. We rode on the carousel, and I felt like a kid. I loved the views. I hope this square does well, because it will have to be a destination unto itself - there's still not much in this area except for industry and some renovated loft buildings.
We walked around Old City and Society Hill for a little bit, and then headed out for dinner. The evening's concert was at the Keswick Theater in Glenside. I used to work in nearby Jenkintown, so I made plans to have dinner there with my old friend Debbie, her husband, and year old baby Robbie. These are old, established suburbs, from long before urban sprawl, so they have their own character and are pretty to drive through. Debbie got stuck in traffic, and they were a half hour late. It cut our time with them short, but it was still good to see them.
We left dinner later than planned, but still got to the Keswick in time for the Asia concert. I had screwed up the tickets, forgot when they went on sale, and then used Ticketmaster rather than the Keswick's own website to buy the tickets. We were about 20 rows back, not quite on the far left aisle. I was chastened when people sat in the row behind us and talked about what great seats these were. I kept comparing this show to the one we saw last year. That was a general admission concert, and we were in the front row, right in front of Steve. That one was so exciting.
This concert was well performed, but I missed the eye-contact and the feeling that I was adding to the energy of the show that I got when I was up front. I didn't get the adrenaline rush I got at the previous show. Maybe it was also because I was sitting instead of standing up and dancing. We were a few seats off the aisle, and I could have stood in the aisle without hassling anyone. I just didn't feel the need to, like I do with Yes. We saw Dian at the show, her seat was a few rows in front of mine.
It was practically the same concert as the last leg, with the songs in a different order. They made good use of video screens this time, showing closeups of the musicians and also clips of the videos from the songs playing. Kinda strange hearing John Wetton singing Video Killed the Radio Star and then looking up and seeing Trevor Horn on the video. It still felt like two separate bands to me - one doing the Asia songs and the other being a true prog supergroup playing the classics.
The actual setlist consisted of most of the first album, acoustic versions of Don't Cry, The Smile Has Left Your Eyes, and the non-album B-side Ride Easy, Roundabout, Court of the Crimson King, Fanfare for the Common Man, and Video Killed the Radio Star. I really got into Roundabout; it was the highlight of the show to me, but I wasn't as excited as I should be seeing two members of Yes. Enjoyable night, but not too memorable. This was my first time not seeing Asia from the front row.
After the show, all four of them came out to do a record signing. I think this is so classy. Roy bought their new live CD called Fantasia and got that signed. Dian had bought a poster, but she had to leave early, so I got that signed for her. Even here, I enjoyed meeting them more at the previous show - they were all more talkative there and I was more excited to talk to them then. I barely said anything to Steve Howe, and he's one of my all time favorite musicians. (Then again, all the other musicians I've seen so many times recognize me by now. More on that at tomorrow's show.)
After the show, we drove up to Bethlehem. No problem finding the hotel. We got to bed around 1:00 AM, and planned to wake up at 8 for the next day's activities.
Live at the World Cafe
Philadelphia, PA
Friday, June 22, 2007 (noon)
General Admission
free
All Four Original Members of Asia
Keswick Theater
Glenside (Philadelphia), PA
Friday, June 22, 2007 (8:00PM)
Section Left, Row G, Seat 21
$49.50
This past weekend didn't seem too hectic, but looking back, it sure was. Roy and I saw 12 bands over three days. One was a two day long festival, and the other three were individual concerts. Lots of good music. I saw two members of Yes, two members of King Crimson, and a band from France who topped them all.
The original point of this trip was to attend Nearfest, the North East Art Rock Festival. I went to the original one in 1999 when I still lived in Philly. Also went to the next five of them, but we skipped the last two years. We decided to go this year because of two bands - Magenta and Magma - and because we missed some friends that we haven't seen recently.
Some other concerts got added because of scheduling luck - Asia was playing in a Philly suburb the night before the festival. Adrian Belew added a show with his power trio in Sellersville, only 40 minutes from Bethlehem. We decided to skip the headliner that night to see Adrian again. The radio station I used to work at hosts free concerts on Fridays at noon; we were going regardless of who was playing, but it turned out to be Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople. I sent Roy an IM saying we would be seeing a "not-too-young dude".
Roy and I flew into Philly on Thursday night after work. We stayed by the airport and slept in the next morning. The weather was beautiful, low humidity and temps in the 80s, quite good for a Philly summer. We made it to my old radio station WXPN for the free concert. I tried to get in touch with my old bosses. I keep in touch with Kathy, the host of Kid's Corner and my college substitute-mom, but unfortunately both she and Robert Drake were not in the office while we were there. I did see program director Bruce Warren and reintroduced myself to him.
I was expecting a seated concert and small crowd, but I was mistaken. It was standing room only. We grabbed a spot by the wall, so I had something to lean on and still an okay view. Ian Hunter opened with Once Bitten, Twice Shy. I knew the song from the Great White cover version, but I didn't know it was originally an Ian Hunter solo track. I'm amazed to see on Wikipedia that he is 68 years old. He played several songs from his recent solo album, and they fit in well. I thought the only song I'd know was All the Young Dudes, but I knew more of his material than I thought, another song was All the Way to Memphis. The band played for a little over an hour, and I enjoyed the show. I like daytime concerts, but after the show, the guitarist told the crowd to go back to bed. Perhaps noon is a little too early for rock and roll.
I was a little upset that I'm losing my connections to WXPN. The balcony of the theater (with seating) was closed off to all but VIPs, and I didn't have anyone to get me in. I used to be a person that could get in with just my name. I didn't visit with anyone, because the people I'd visit work nights and weren't there yet.
Roy and I did the tourist thing. We went to the food court at the Bourse for a quick lunch, and then walked around the city. Focused on Old City, north of the historic section. Roy had never heard of Elfreth's Alley, the oldest continuously occupied residential block in the US. So we walked up 2nd Street and looked at the houses and little museum.
The most fun I had that day was a trip to Franklin Square. When William Penn founded the city, he planned for five public squares, one in the center and one in each quadrant of the city, what is now the downtown Center City area. The center square now holds City Hall, and the other squares are the well-known Rittenhouse, Logan, and Washington. Franklin Square frankly was in a bad area and a hang-out for miscreants. No fancy apartment buildings and restaurants surrounding this park. But the area did improve, and the square was renovated. It's kid-friendly now, with a fountain, sand sculptures, playground, carousel, and a miniature golf course. The golf course has symbols of Philly, from the Liberty Bell to 45s for the Sound of Philadelphia. We rode on the carousel, and I felt like a kid. I loved the views. I hope this square does well, because it will have to be a destination unto itself - there's still not much in this area except for industry and some renovated loft buildings.
We walked around Old City and Society Hill for a little bit, and then headed out for dinner. The evening's concert was at the Keswick Theater in Glenside. I used to work in nearby Jenkintown, so I made plans to have dinner there with my old friend Debbie, her husband, and year old baby Robbie. These are old, established suburbs, from long before urban sprawl, so they have their own character and are pretty to drive through. Debbie got stuck in traffic, and they were a half hour late. It cut our time with them short, but it was still good to see them.
We left dinner later than planned, but still got to the Keswick in time for the Asia concert. I had screwed up the tickets, forgot when they went on sale, and then used Ticketmaster rather than the Keswick's own website to buy the tickets. We were about 20 rows back, not quite on the far left aisle. I was chastened when people sat in the row behind us and talked about what great seats these were. I kept comparing this show to the one we saw last year. That was a general admission concert, and we were in the front row, right in front of Steve. That one was so exciting.
This concert was well performed, but I missed the eye-contact and the feeling that I was adding to the energy of the show that I got when I was up front. I didn't get the adrenaline rush I got at the previous show. Maybe it was also because I was sitting instead of standing up and dancing. We were a few seats off the aisle, and I could have stood in the aisle without hassling anyone. I just didn't feel the need to, like I do with Yes. We saw Dian at the show, her seat was a few rows in front of mine.
It was practically the same concert as the last leg, with the songs in a different order. They made good use of video screens this time, showing closeups of the musicians and also clips of the videos from the songs playing. Kinda strange hearing John Wetton singing Video Killed the Radio Star and then looking up and seeing Trevor Horn on the video. It still felt like two separate bands to me - one doing the Asia songs and the other being a true prog supergroup playing the classics.
The actual setlist consisted of most of the first album, acoustic versions of Don't Cry, The Smile Has Left Your Eyes, and the non-album B-side Ride Easy, Roundabout, Court of the Crimson King, Fanfare for the Common Man, and Video Killed the Radio Star. I really got into Roundabout; it was the highlight of the show to me, but I wasn't as excited as I should be seeing two members of Yes. Enjoyable night, but not too memorable. This was my first time not seeing Asia from the front row.
After the show, all four of them came out to do a record signing. I think this is so classy. Roy bought their new live CD called Fantasia and got that signed. Dian had bought a poster, but she had to leave early, so I got that signed for her. Even here, I enjoyed meeting them more at the previous show - they were all more talkative there and I was more excited to talk to them then. I barely said anything to Steve Howe, and he's one of my all time favorite musicians. (Then again, all the other musicians I've seen so many times recognize me by now. More on that at tomorrow's show.)
After the show, we drove up to Bethlehem. No problem finding the hotel. We got to bed around 1:00 AM, and planned to wake up at 8 for the next day's activities.
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