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Avatar (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, September 5, 2021)

September 7, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 5, 2021] Avatar

When Avatar announced they were playing TLA I knew I wanted to see them again.  When they opened for Babymetal, I was blown away by what a show they put on–for an opening act.  I imagined that when they headlined, it would be even more amazing.

It wasn’t more amazing (I was actually more impressed by their lights last time) but it was certainly a lot of fun–an even more fun since the audience was there to see them.

Their gear was set up and then a small drumkit was brought to the front of the stage (which was pretty unusual).  Then the five of them walked out and stood in a tight v formation.  After a lengthy pause with all five of them staring at us, drummer John Alfredsson began hitting out a loud snare beat.  Then the guitars started playing and singer Johannes Eckerström–dressed like a ringmaster, his face covered in white paint with (scary) clown makeup on–began singing the fantastic growling anthem “Colossus.”  The band played the entire sing in that tight V shape and from my vantage point when both guitarists played the same solo it was like a multi-armed beast on stage.

They followed that up with “Let it Burn” and then the stage went black.  The crew removed the tiny drum set and the band left the stage briefly while Alfredsson climbed up on top of his full sized kit.  When the band came back out they utilized the full stage and when they started “Silence in the Age if Apes” (the actual first song on the new album) the full synchronized headbanging extravaganza was under way.

Both guitarists take some time to show off, although never for too long.  In fact, when they started soloing, it was usually over by the time I had the camera ready.  Jonas “Kungen” Jarlsby and Tim Öhrström (“he’s single, ladies”) both took turns at the front of the stage.  Although it was Jarlsby who stood up front to play the slow pretty intro of “Bloody Angel.” Continue Reading »

Posted in Avatar, Magic Sword, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts | Leave a Comment »

Magic Sword (Theatre of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA, September 5, 2021) [AVATAR]

September 6, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 5, 2021] Magic Sword

When Avatar announced they were playing TLA I knew I wanted to see them again.  When they opened for Babymetal, I was blown away by what a show they put on–especially for an opening act.  I imagined that when they headlined, it would be even more amazing.

I was pretty psyched that the opening band was going to be Magic Sword.  I had recently been getting into their brand of instrumental 80’s sci-fi/metal soundtrack kind of music (I don’t really know what else you’d call it) and I was pretty excited to see it live.

There are three members: The Keeper (red, keyboard, audio-visual), The Seer (blue, guitar), and The Weaver (yellow, drums).  Oh yes, they are all masked (and not COVID masked, but like a fencing mask with a glowing light (in the above color) for the eyes).  All of their songs are pretty heavy with a main riff (and bass) coming from the keys (and sometimes guitar) and really heavy drums.  And then The Seer plays some extended impressive and super catchy guitar solos.

Every song feels like the exultant triumph of a cheesy 80s sci fi movie.  Which is not to say that their music is cheesy (it really rocks) but that it would be placed in a cheesy movie–and would sound great. Continue Reading »

Posted in Avatar, Magic Sword, Philadelphia, PA, Tallah, Theatre of Living Arts | Leave a Comment »

King Crimson (PNC Bank Center, Holmdel, NJ, September 4, 2021) [rescheduled from June 22, 2020, State Theatre]

September 5, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 4, 2021] King Crimson

This show was originally scheduled at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, which would have been an amazing place to see King Crimson.  The sound would have been incredible, and it’s only 30 minutes from my house.  When this was first rescheduled, it appeared that they’d be playing at the Count Basie in Red Bank, which would have been fine–great sound, but a further drive.  Then it wound up at PNC Bank Center, which has less great sound, but is a nice venue and is very easy to get to.

A few days before the show I heard an ad on the radio that said this was King Crimson’s final tour. I hadn’t heard that before.  And maybe if they had originally played in 2020, they might have done another stretch into 2021…who knows.  Anyhow, an article recently said that yes, this was probably the final tour, but they didn’t want to make a big deal about it.  So it’s possible that this will be my final King Crimson show (five times in eight years is pretty good–especially for King Crimson).

The last few times King Crimson has played two 90 minute sets.  But this time they had the Zappa Band opening for them.  Which meant that they’d do only one set.  Sadly, for the same amount of money.  But oh well.  What this meant was that they did a 90 minute set that almost felt like a greatest hits (of the last few tours) package.

I decided to splurge somewhat for this show–not paying for a VIP, sorry Robert–but I was reasonably close and more or less in the middle.

The back row has remained consistent throughout these tours: Tony Levin (bass, Stick, keyboards this time, too); Mel Collins (saxes, flutes); Jakko Jakszyk (guitar, vocals), and of course, Robert Fripp (guitar and more).  From this vantage point I could see everyone very clearly, which was ideal.  A very obnoxious couple sat down next to me but there were, thankfully, two empty seats on the other side of me so I slid over and was able to sit between the heads of the two people in front of me for an unobstructed view.  The obnoxious couple left mid set…huh. Continue Reading »

Posted in Adrian Belew, Count Basie, Holmdel, NJ, King Crimson, New Brunswick, NJ, PNC Bank Center, Red Bank, NJ, State Theatre, The Zappa Band | Leave a Comment »

The Zappa Band (PNC Bank Center, Holmdel, NJ, September 4, 2021) [KING CRIMSON] [rescheduled from June 22, 2020, State Theatre]

September 4, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[ATTENDED: September 4, 2021] The Zappa Band

When this tour was announced, I was pretty pleased to see that The Zappa Band was opening for King Crimson.  I’ve been a fan of Frank Zappa’s music for years, but I never saw him while he was a live and I’ve never seen any of the various posthumuous offerings that have come around.

I’ve often thought about going to see Dweezil play his dad’s music but I haven’t (looking at the setlist, there’s quite a lot of good stuff there).

But this was an “official” Zappa project, and better yet they were going to be playing where I was planning to be.  Although this lineup isn’t exactly chock full of great Zappa names, everyone in the group has a connection of some merit.

The Zappa Band’s lineup features Zappa alumni Ray White (lead vocals, guitar), Mike Keneally (guitar, keys, vocals), Scott Thunes (bassist) and Robert Martin (keyboards, sax, vocals), and ZPZ alums Jamie Kime (guitar) and ZAPPA archivist Joe “Vaultmeister” Travers (drums, vocals).

I recognized Ray White’s voice immediately (he’s been on 20 plus records).  The other voices were actually quite close approximations to the original.  But really the most amazing thing was hearing  these really complicated and fast pieces done live (and perfectly).

I was pretty delighted to hear “Zomby Woof” a nonsensical song that I’ve always liked.  And I would have been thoroughly disappointed if they hadn’t played “Peaches en Regalia.”  It was somewhere during this song t hat I realized that none of the people on stage was Dweezil Zappa.  I was fairly certain this was his band, but it clearly was not.

I have listened to most of Zappa’s albums many times, (but he has about 1,000 releases).  So I was surprised when I didn’t recognize some songs.  I was even more surprised to find that “I Ain’t Got No Heart” was on Freak Out, and album I particularly like. Continue Reading »

Posted in Adrian Belew, Holmdel, NJ, King Crimson, PNC Bank Center, The Zappa Band | Leave a Comment »

The Residents (The Foundry, Philadelphia, PA, September 3, 2021) [postponed again, again]

September 3, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[POSTPONED: September 3, 2021] The Residents [rescheduled from May 1, 2020 and May 14, 2021; moved to March 31, 2023]

index

I didn’t hear about this cancellation, but it appears that The Residents basically decided to stay in nd around California rather than making any big touring plans.  And it looks like they are laying low for 2022 as well, with concerts in San Francisco and Glendale only.

So, the official confirmed date for Philly is now March, 31, 2023, which seems like a lifetime away.  Glad to know that they’re still planning to come around.

~~~~~~~~~

It seemed like a May date would be safe, but now things are getting pushed back to the middle of the summer and the Fall.  This new date might happen.

The Residents are one of the most famous obscure bands in the world.  Many people have never heard of them.  Many people who have heard of them know that they wear giant eyeballs on their heads, but don’t know much about their music.  And some of us who own a couple of Residents records have no idea what their full output is like.

They’ve been around since the mid 1970s and have released some sixty albums covering all styles and genres, with the focus on avant garde sounds.  They are also hugely influential to all kinds of musicians.

When they play live, each band member wears a costume (usually the giant eyeball, but not always) and aside from the main composer for the band who died two years ago, no one really knows who is in the band.

I’ve heard their live shows were amazing spectacles, so I thought it might be fun to see them.I didn’t even realize they were still touring, so I was quiet surprised to see them coming to Philly in 2020.  I’ve heard their live shows were amazing spectacles, so I thought it might be fun to see them.  Because they’ve been around forever, I kind of assume they can play a larger venue, but again, no one has heard of them, so it makes sense that they were playing The Foundry.  But how big of a spectacle can you have at t The Foundry?

I suspected that cancelling their show might be the end of the tour for them (If the recently deceased member of the band was nearly 80, how old are the rest of them?  Who knows, they could all be in their 20s).  I’m glad to see the show is postponed, as I might just have to see what they are all about live.

Posted in Philadelphia, PA, Postponed, The Foundry, The Residents | Leave a Comment »

Terry Pratchett–The Light Fantastic (1986) [Discworld #2] [Rincewind #2]

September 3, 2021 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: Summer 2021] The Light Fantastic

After finishing the cliffhanger ending Colour of Magic, I quickly started book two.

Unlike the previous book, this one feels like a full novel–one story about the coming end of the Discworld.

Rincewind and Twoflower (with the luggage) have just fallen of off of the Disc.  The one wonderfully convenient thing about writing about wizards and magic and such is that you can have pretty much anything happen.

We learned early in book one that Rincewind had read a spell from the Octavo–the most powerful book of magic (so powerful that it was locked up and it had been assumed that no one would ever open it)–nice job Rincewind.  The spell then became lodged in Rincewind’s mind.  It has tried on occasion to get out (bit thankfully it never has).  It has also prevented Rincewind from learning any other spells–but that’s his problem. Continue Reading »

Posted in Anachronisms, Death, Discworld, End of the World, Funny (ha ha), Magic, Rincewind, Terry Pratchett, The Luggage, Trolls, Twoflower, Wizards, Wizards, Ysabell | Leave a Comment »

Terry Pratchett–The Colour of Magic (1983) [Discworld #1] [Rincewind #1]

September 2, 2021 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: Summer 2021] The Colour of Magic

Back in the mid 1990s I was working at a bookstore in Boston (Wordsworth, R.I.P.).  They had a great imported books section (from England) and I bought the first four Discworld books in mini editions.  They were adorable and preposterous, with a font size of about 4pt. They were about four inches square.

Imagine reading a book that small.  I would be physically incapable of reading it now.

But I read all four books.

At least I thought I did.  Because when I decided to reread the Discworld series, I distinctly remembered that Rincewind was a bad wizard and that he wore a hat with the word “Wizzard” on it.  He traveled with Twoflower and Twflower had magical luggage.

But when I read this book, he never wore a hat that said “Wizzard” and literally nothing in the story was familiar to me.  So maybe I never read these books?  Granted it was over 25 years ago but still

So it was like reading them for the first time.

This first book is rally four interconnected stories.  But there’s enough repetition of basic information at the start of each story that you know that these were intended to be read separately.

Discworld itself is very well established already, though.

“The Color of Magic”

We start in the city of Ankh-Morpork which is presently on fire.  We meet Rincewind who is instantly revealed as a terrible wizard and a cowardly person (as many wizards prove to be). He has lodged in his brain one of the eight mega powerful spells from the Octavo and as a result can fit no other spells into his head.  No one know what will happen is he says the Spell, but it probably wont be good.

He is with (and sort of protecting) Twoflower, the world’s first tourist.  Twoflower is an insurance clerk from the Agatean Empire.  Hhe tries to sell “in-sewer-ants” to a tavern owner who is used to getting his inn burnt down in brawls.  And yes, Twoflower has luggage made of sapient pearwood.  It will follow its owner anywhere (on little legs that everyone finds very disturbing).  The Luggage is aggressive and always looks angry (as angry as a keyhole can look). It also tends to eat anyone who tries to break in. Continue Reading »

Posted in Death, Death, Discworld, Fantasy, Funny (ha ha), Short Story, Terry Pratchett | Leave a Comment »

Alanis Morissette / Garbage / Cat Power (PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ, September 1, 2021) [rescheduled] [CANCELLED]

September 1, 2021 by Paul Debraski

[CANCELLED: September 1, 2021] Alanis Morissette / Garbage / Liz Phair Cat Power [rescheduled from July 1, 2020]

UPDATE: This show was actually cancelled because of the outrageous storm that was the remnants of Hurricane Ida.  Fortunately, they cancelled it long before anyone would have been heading there (I assume), because this rain storm was one of the worst I can remember–insane flooding and even tornados.

It will not be rescheduled because of previous commitments, so that stinks.

~~~

This show had been postponed once and since then, Liz Phair has been replaced by Cat Power, which seems like a VERY different dynamic to me.

I have two shows coming up this weekend, and it seemed like real folly to go out to a show on a Wednesday night as well.   But as I said, I did want to see Garbage again.  But now with the promise of serious rain and probably thunderstorms, it just seems silly to go out at all.

This was a show I wasn’t sure about.

I have seen Alanis Morissette a few times live way back in the 90s when she toured with Tori Amos.  I was there for Tori and I don’t really remember much about Alanis (which is sad, I know).

On this tour, I was more interested in seeing Garbage again (they put on a heck of a show) and for checking out Liz Phair who I once liked and now kinda don’t but who I’m curious about what she’s like live.

This was definitely a show I was going to get lawn seats and try to upgrade.

Concerts are now being postponed earlier.

On May 9, Alanis sent out this message

“Hi everyone.  My North American tour scheduled to begin in a few weeks is being rescheduled to Summer 2021 out of an abundance of caution. Please hold on to your tickets as they will be honored for the new dates which we hope to announce very soon.

So much going on inside and outside take care of yourselves and each other.  Thank you for understanding.  Can’t wait to see you when it is safe for us all to gather.  Hand on all hearts til then.”

Garbage wrote this message:

So the @Alanis tour that @garbage and @lizphairofficial were supposed to be tagging along on this summer got postponed yesterday. We are totally gutted and apologise for any heartache caused. We assure you that we have every intention of fulfilling our obligations to Alanis and to any garbage fans who bought tickets in support of us. We appreciate you so. Please head on over to the @Alanis socials in the days ahead for further info. Please note this is not our tour so we have no answers whatsoever about what happens next.
Looking forward to the days when we all get to hangout and play for you.

No official word from Liz Phair that I have seen.

Posted in Alanis Morissette, Cancelled, Coronavirus, Garbage, Holmdel, NJ, Liz Phair, PNC Bank Center, Postponed, Quarantine, Tori Amos | Leave a Comment »

Neil Peart Illustrated Quotes (2020)

August 31, 2021 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK: RUSH

[READ: August 2021] Neil Peart Illustrated Quotes

This book came across my desk at work and I was totally surprised.   We do get a lot of music book and we get a lot of pop culture books, but this seemed so unlikely to sit in our music library.  I hadn’t even known it existed.

So, what we get here is 100 or so pages of things Neil Peart has said with an accompanying cartoon drawn by Lindsay Lee.

Lee’s style is pretty varied which is nice.  The selections of quotations are also very varied which is less nice.  Some are thoughtful passages and other just seem to be things Neil said at some point.

You get stuff like: Continue Reading »

Posted in Lindsay Lee, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Neil Peart, Rush, Sting | Leave a Comment »

Eric Spitznagel–Rock Stars On The Record: The Albums That Changed Their Lives (2021)

August 30, 2021 by Paul Debraski

SOUNDTRACK: see below.

[READ: August 2021] Rock Stars On The Record

I saw this book at work and rolled my eyes.  I thought well, here’s another book about musicians talking about music.

Really, most musicians aren’t very interesting and it was probably just the same old same olds talking about albums that have been praised to high heaven already.

But then I saw a few names that intrigued me.  So I read it.  And it was fantastic because Eric Spitznagel did a magnificent job with this task.

Not only because he chose diverse people (some hardly even rock stars, really) who had interesting things to say, but because of the way he followed up his questions with better questions–questions that the musicians seemed excited to answer.

And also because the list of people turned out to be really interesting.  I didn’t recognize a number of names, but that’s because they might have been the guitarist for a famous lead singer).  And this made it really interesting.

I don’t know if it’s worth stating the why’s of each person here (each interview is basically four pages) but I will state each person’s favorite record (with a few extra comments here and there). Continue Reading »

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Adam and the Ants, Against Me!, Alice Bag, Alice Cooper, Amanda Shires, Asia, Bad Brains, Beach Slang, Bjork, Blondie, Bob Dylan, Buddy Holly, Buggles, Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band, Craig Finn, Crass, David Bowie, Depeche Mode, Dip-in Books, Don McLean, Donny Osmond, Drive-By Truckers, Elton John, Eric Spitznagel, Fishbone, Frank Turner, Frank Zappa, Fugazi, Gwar, Henry Rollins, Hole, Interviews, Iron Maiden, John Lennon, Kiss, Kristin Hersh, Laura Jane Grace, Leonard Cohen, M.I.A., Mac Demarco, Mannequin Pussy, Mark Mothersbaugh, MC5, Minor Threat, Mitski, Nickelback, Oasis, Pom Pom Squad, Procol Harum, Rainer Maria, Sex Pistols, Soul Asylum, Stevie Wonder, Superchunk, Suzi Quatro, The Buggs, The Left Banke, The Mothers of Invention, The Runaways, The Velvet Underground, The Who, Todd Rundgren, Van Halen, Wendy & Lisa, White Denim, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Yoko Ono | Leave a Comment »

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