SOUNDTRACK: VOIVOD-The End of Domancy EP (2020).
Voivod has released a new EP for 2020. The metal band were invited to play the 2019 Montreal Jazz Fest.
To do something special, guitarist Chewy created some orchestration for a song hey had not played live before. This EP has the live version of the song as well as a newly recorded studio version. There’s an extra live song from the Festival as well.
The newly recorded studio version of the song is now called The End Of Dormancy (Metal Section). It has brass quintet comprising saxophone, trombone and trumpet. It works quite well because of how cinematic their music (and especially their newest album The Wake) is. I mean the military drum march in the middle of the song could come from any terrific sci-fi movie. The horns add a very interesting cinematic quality and do not detract from the heaviness of the original. Even though the horns do a lot of the dramatic rising and falling parts there is still plenty of room for Chewy’s guitar soloing. But that high note trumpet at the end is pretty spectacular.
The live version runs about a minute longer because even though Voivod is tight AF and very meticulous, they allow for an improvised saxophone solo. The audience is pretty thrilled by it. I love the way the band is quiet at the beginning of the solo and then builds in intensity to the end of the solo. And that ending trumpet high note is even more impressive live.
The third song is a live version of The Unknown Knows, a fantastic song from Nothingface. Voivod plays incredibly complicated an intricate music and the fact that they can pull it off live–and have it sound even better–is a testament to how great they are. And also how great Chewy is as a replacement for Piggy.
[READ: September 10, 2020] Do You Mind If I Cancel?
I had no idea who Gary Janetti was before reading this book. S. brought it home and thought I’d enjoy reading it. With a title like that I thought it would be kind of funny.
Turns out that Gary Janetti is a TV writer for a few different comedies (although none that I watch). And his writing is a lot like that of David Sedaris. By that I mean he is lauded as being a hilarious writer. But in fact, while some of his piece are funny, there is a lot of sadness and despair in some of these essays. I mean, the last essay is about the many men who died of AIDS in the 80s. To call this book “laugh-out-loud funny” is slightly off base.
I hate to lump Janetti in with Sedaris, because it’s not really fair. They are both gay men, no longer young, with a great eye for details and a snarky attitude. But the difference is in perspective. Janetti is ten years younger (which isn’t that big of a deal, but given the time frame they are talking about, it was quite a change in gay culture). More importantly, whereas Sedaris is from North Carolina, Janetti is from Long Island. So he has has much greater proximity to a big (gay) city. His family also seems to be much less antagonistic with each other–so Janetti’s comedy doesn’t stem from familial wars.
Janetti lived much of his twenties in New York City as a single guy working in a fancy hotel where rich, fabulous people showed up regularly. He has many stories of Broadway, and disappointing encounters famous people and the like. Amusingly he also has a lot of stories about how he watched a lot of TV–typically not the most exciting thing to write about–but his essays about this are quite funny.
There are eighteen essays in total.
Lend-A-Hand
Janetti says that he considered joining the Peace Corps after college (not to help people, but because he imagined it sounded glamorous traveling around.) But he didn’t want to because it was two whole years of his life. So instead he stayed home and did …nothing. Two years went by and he realized he should have joined the Peace Corp because he would have missed working for Lend-A-Hand, an organization that matched people looking for a job done with someone desperate enough to do it. He imagines getting job helping wealthy New Yorkers, who will be so impressed by him that it leads to something fantastic–a job on TV perhaps. Unfortunately, you have to work your way up to the good jobs. And the bad jobs don’t lead to anything.
Patti LuPone
He grew up watching Broadway commercials on TV (as did I), and he fell in love with Patti LuPone (I did not). So when he finally got to see Evita it was wonderful until Patti LuPone was not singing that day. He also talks of an acting class back in college with David Schwimmer. When they met years later David didn’t remember him
Paramount
The Paramount hotel was bought by the owner of Studio 54 who turned it onto place for hot young people to work . Obviously the staff were snotty and terrible (and the pay wasn’t all that great). The worst time was when a friend from college checked in and offered to tip him.
The William Esper Studio
Janetti talks about an acting class he had in school. They had to act out full scenes repeating only one line of dialogue back and forth like “Did you mail the letter?”
QE2
This essay was fascinating and funny and then rather sad. When Gary was a kid, his father worked for a cruise line and was given two free trips a year. His family has been going cruises all of Gary’s life. He loved them and fondly remember trips on the QE2. He remembers most of the entertainers on the ship including one who does bawdy marionettes. It was hugely popular then and he and his sister loved it. Flash forward to current days when he and his boyfriend take a trip on the QE2 and that same performer is still performing. He is excited to relive the memories until he actually does and realizes how sad it is now.
I’d Like to Thank
This is a hilariously nasty fantasy about winning an award an publicly calling out the guy who bullied him as a child.
Better Bodies
In the 90s the only way for gay men to meet was to go to the gym. They all had to be in the best shape at all times. It was exhausting
Bennigan’s
Janetti had a whole slew of terrible jobs. He got a job at Bennigan’s and imagined the waiters would be full of witty repartee but no, mostly it was just running your ass off and eating leftover food off of customers plates because you are so hungry.
One Life to Live
At 12, home sick from school, Janetti decided to get addicted to a soap opera. He chose One Life to Live and watched it for thirty-three years. Through a connection with his father he even managed to go to the set.
I Don’t Feel Well
Janetti used to fake getting sick to get out of school. Once his mother believed he was lying and he wouldn’t admit it–even when he had to go to the doctor.
Tim
Tim was Janetti’s first college boyfriend. He was beautiful and Janetti couldn’t believe they managed to get together. Until he realized he was actually quite boring.
Waldbaum’s
Janetti also worked at a Waldbaum’s. He worked there long enough to become cocky and know it all about the store. He had favorite customers (whom he give discounts by not ringing up every tenth item (this was before scanners). Then he went away for the summer and his store closed. He was sent to work at another location and it just wasn’t the same.
Letter to My Younger Self
Dear younger Gary. You are gay. Don’t freak out, it’s no big deal. Don’t worry so much about getting rejected. It’s okay to be the jerk sometimes. And don’t lay in the sun so much. And most importantly, stop wanting to be older. Enjoy ever minute of your young body.
Saks Fifth Avenue
Gary worked in the menswear department of Saks. Not the actual Fifth Avenue store, but the one on Long Island. People acted like it was the real thing but it really wasn’t However, Susan Lucci lived nearby and would pop in from time to time. Every time she might come in, the store went bonkers trying to make it the best place in the world for her. Then inevitably she would not come in. He is there once when she comes in. But amazingly she doesn’t invite him to be on her soap opera.
American Youth Hostels
Janetti had a bunch of terrible jobs, but this one is the strangest. When he was twenty, he was chosen along with a twenty-one year old woman to lead a bicycle trip through Europe for rich New York City teenagers. What experience did he have? None. Even his other is skeptical of the whole thing. But she “I guess they must have some kind of contingency plan in case anything goes wrong.” This is the 80s and “they must” is as close to Google as you can get. It goes surprisingly well.
Steven Carrinton
Janetti watched d lot of TV soap operas. He loved Steven Carringon from Dynasty, one of the first multi-dimensional gay characters on a TV show. But not when the actor was replaced by someone else.
Paramount Part II
A second story about the Paramount. He worked the overnight shift and made good money–the hotel’s facilities were closed, but if customers wanted something, he would run out into the city and get it and then mark it up tremendously. He hated the job but couldn’t imagine leaving the security. Until one incident pushed him over the edge and towards Los Angeles.
Cafe Sha Sha
Janetti and his boyfriend went to Mykonos where he realized he was no longer the object of every man’s gaze like he used to be. This piece gets very sad as he thinks back to the Cafe Sha Sha where his sister worked when he was 17. The gay men thought that he would be a very popular guy when he was a little older. It was amazing that they were welcoming him into their world. But now he reflects back that most of the men who worked there died of AIDS.
See this book isn’t hilarious. It’s quite emotional.
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