Your last gig.

    Well, now it's Foals. I've done it, in a year and two days, seen my 4 top favorite bands live.


    This experience was a little different, because it's all standing and I paid a little extra for mezzanine tickets. I always thought the premium price tickets were on the floor, closest to the stage and that's generally true. In this venue there are no seats. I debated standing on the floor anyway to be close but decided, having never been above the stage and off-center, to give it a try. Have to say it wasn't bad. But you do miss the tangled, sweaty, thriving sense of being in the crowd where it's most intense.


    Anyway the band were electric. I confess I teared up during Spanish Sahara which shares with Domino the most thrilling live moment for me this year (though I felt most emotional of all during Stand Inside Your Love at the Pumpkins). And amazingly, there was a damn butterfly in the stage lights flittering high above the crowd in the delicate moment before the big denouement during that song. You couldn't script it. Spine tingling.


    Music is beautiful. I love music.


    Went to see Robert Plant and Alison Krauss last night in Toronto. We had great seats, 8 rows from the stage. I really like both of their albums and the overall style of their collaboration. Their voices blend really well and Krauss really watches Plant closely to follow his improvisations and deviations. She also has some songs to showcase herself and plays some great fiddle. Plant is in fine form vocally, staying mostly understated with a few break-loose moments that are spine-chilling. The band is excellent, with a fantastic drummer, moody guitars, and a second great fiddler and multi-instrumentalist. A few Zeppelin classics get some interesting reworkings, including a slower Battle of Evermore, a brooding When the Levee Breaks, and a jiving Rock 'n' Roll.


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    Saw Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons in a small but well known pub in Nuneaton. I think it must have been a warm up for their European tour. They were marvelous. Such energy. The 4th time I've seen them and most fun I ever have at gigs.


    Their support was a local band called Jayler. They are so young, teenagers. They strutted around copying their heroes, almost an impersonation of Robert Plant. However they were very very good. The vocals coming out of that young man's mouth were amazing. To me they looked so odd , so young with such a huge sound. Three covers and three originals which were very good. They did Dazed and Confused and were much better than any pub band I've seen. Spot on. If they can work out a style for themselves they could be big.


    Jayler with Phil Campbell.

    IO EARTH in Birmingham. Another fantastic band. Brilliant musicians. I didn't know much about them before the gig. Didn't look like a cheap light show and visuals. 5 members of the band including the Haley Griffiths ( iwas taken aback when I saw her) from Kartanaka on temporary vocals due thier current singer being on maternity leave, and six backing musicians

    on strings and brass. Quite a show all for £26.00 to about 200 people which seemed such a shame. There's a lot of moaning and concern about the death of live music right now , (which I'm not sure about myself) but if as there is a case maybe it's simply that not enough people are interested in seeing great shows great musicians , great music for a decent price.

    Quote from Mr.Farmer

    IO EARTH in Birmingham. Another fantastic band. Brilliant musicians. I didn't know much about them before the gig. Didn't look like a cheap light show and visuals. 5 members of the band including the Haley Griffiths ( iwas taken aback when I saw her) from Kartanaka on temporary vocals due thier current singer being on maternity leave, and six backing musicians

    on strings and brass. Quite a show all for £26.00 to about 200 people which seemed such a shame. There's a lot of moaning and concern about the death of live music right now , (which I'm not sure about myself) but if as there is a case maybe it's simply that not enough people are interested in seeing great shows great musicians , great music for a decent price.

    Huh. I just read an article a couple.of days ago, praising them a lot too, having never heard of them. I had tucked them away in the "check later" folder in my brain. Seems like quite a coincidence.

    Quote from thewatcher

    Huh. I just read an article a couple.of days ago, praising them a lot too, having never heard of them. I had tucked them away in the "check later" folder in my brain. Seems like quite a coincidence.

    Hard to define. Certainly prog. A little Evanescence.

    Should have posted this last week.after having returned from the wonderful A New Day Festival in Kent UK, which we go to every year. (not to be confused with Newday,) Headline Acts, Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons, (best of the weekend,),Ozric Tentacles and The Zombies. Other highlights ,, Steve Hillage System 7, Slim Chance (Ronnie Lane's old band), Pentangle , Caravan, Eddie and the Hot Rods,(I had no idea they're really good),.Nine Below Zero, Lindisfarne.and Leatherat. There was a highly impressive Czech instrumental prog band called Cuprum and there's always a one off totally different act on a Sunday afternoon and this year it was The Glen Miller UK Band. Perfect for a sunny Sunday. I'm beginning to feel recovered!

    The Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks) at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto last night. We had great seats (2nd row centre) and they put on a spirited performance, with great musicianship as usual. They mainly featured their latest album, but reached back to key songs from their early albums. We first saw them in 1999 at Lilith Fair and have been fans ever since. Here they are doing a version of their very first single:


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    Greta Van Fleet.


    I thought I was going to die of boredom. If you want to see a turgid drummer backing up a supremely talentless guitarist playing a TEN FUCKING MINUTES long meandering solo at the end of which the very-pale-imitation-Freddie-Mercury-slash-Led-Zeppelin-wannabe front man springs up and yowls some innanity prompting the crowd to lose their shit then I guess this your band.


    Otherwise avoid.

    Quote from thewatcher

    Greta Van Fleet.


    I thought I was going to die of boredom. If you want to see a turgid drummer backing up a supremely talentless guitarist playing a TEN FUCKING MINUTES long meandering solo at the end of which the very-pale-imitation-Freddie-Mercury-slash-Led-Zeppelin-wannabe front man springs up and yowls some innanity prompting the crowd to lose their shit then I guess this your band.


    Otherwise avoid.

    You have suffered, but think of the many you have saved! :)

    Ian


    Putting the old-fashioned Staffordshire plate in the dishwasher!

    Like 2

    I caught Yes' warm-up show for their current US tour last week in Lititz, Pennsylvania. Roger Dean was there with several of his paintings on display, and he was also the opening act, talking for a half-hour about his training in art and architecture and how that led to doing album art. Roger was introduced by Michael Tait, pioneering stage-lighting engineer, and namesake of the venue "Mickey's Black Box". Roger Clair of Clair Brothers Sound was in the audience. A very "full circle" event for Yes!

    I thought the set list was good - some deeper cuts and covering a lot of different albums. It was great to hear 2 tracks from their latest "Mirror to the Sky".