Tag Archives: music entertainment

The Black Hole in Grateful Dead Releases

Posted on by

By my count, there have been 148 concerts officially released by The Grateful Dead. These releases have come in various incarnations, most notably Dick’s Picks, Road Trips and, the series of late, Dave’s Picks.The Black Hole in Grateful Dead ReleasesAnd while it is a boon for Deadheads to receive any recordings from the archives, a black hole has emerged in these releases – 1982-86 – which is coincidentally the years of my touring. A grand total of four shows have been released from this era –  amounting to only one third of the 1977 releases alone. Even if we excuse the release of all 22 shows from the 1972 European Tour, this works out to a lousy 3% of the releases from almost 20% of their touring years.The Black Hole in Grateful Dead ReleasesSo what gives with Dave Lemieux and company? Is it that these years were particularly weak? I would argue the opposite, that these years offer stellar shows with stellar versions of stellar songs.

Check out these recordings on the Grateful Dead archive and hear for yourself:

Greek Theater 1982/05/22 (Lazy Lightnin’-Supplication)

Madison Square Gardens 1982/09/29 (Loser, China Cat-Rider)

Seattle Auditorium 1983/08/27 (Jack Straw)

Indianapolis Sports and Music Center 1984/06/30 (Shakedown-Playin’-Terrapin)

Worchester Centrum 1984/10/08 (Terrapin-Samson)The Black Hole in Grateful Dead Releases

Augusta Civic Center 1984/10/12 (Cold Rain, Uncle John’s, Morning Dew)

Hartford Civic Center 1984/10/14 (Estimated Prophet)

Oklahoma Zoo Amphitheater 1985/09/02 (Bertha, Me and My Uncle, Stagger Lee)

Henry J. Kaiser 1986/02/11 (Bird Song)

Hopefully one day Dave will wake up and get these shows packaged and shipped. (Providence 1986/03/30 is pretty good too.)

Kacy & Clayton Play The Mercury Lounge

Posted on by

Kacy & Clayton build the moment to stay in, look around and wonder what the hell else there could be.Kacy Anderson’s voice offers an assurance, belonging in this moment and no other. Clayton Linthicum’s guitar fills. The Saskatchewan duo, second cousins, are making music, their music, on the small stage for now – just 50 or so people in the audience at The Mercury Lounge in New York City. That won’t last for long.

What’s Wrong with Model UN

Posted on by

The Model United Nations is all the rage these days in high schools across the United States. School clubs compete at conferences, most held at universities, in committee sessions modeled after the United Nations. What's Wrong with Model UNEach school team is assigned a specific country and topic and then debate other schools (acting as other countries) to come up with resolutions on world matters. For example, a school might be assigned India and the World Health Organization and be given the topic of International Aid for Syrian Refugees. What's Wrong with Model UNIt looks good on paper – many students use it as a tool for college applications – but it’s not as solid in practice. The problem is that students come from a place of privilege and thus have little genuine understanding of the issues, and more importantly, lack empathy. What's Wrong with Model UNInstead of solving problems, the delegates strive for personal gain, aiming for the title of Best Delegate, and in the end model not the aims of the United Nations, but its practice at its worst.

Blitzer & Co: Heads Must Go

Posted on by

They talk. And talk. And talk. And they don’t say anything. They just talk. Blitzer & Co: Heads Must GoAnd talk some more. That’s it. They don’t say anything real. They are wrong. They are right. They are in between. They just go one talking. And talking.Blitzer & Co: Heads Must GoCan’t they be removed? Or at least replaced? Maybe Trump could fire them.

Blitzer & Co: Heads Must GoAt least he could get that one thing right.

Kubrick and Weir: The Laudatory Human Condition

Posted on by

Filmmaker Stanley Kubrick has been praised as a great filmmaker and artist, one who probes the shades of humanity in such great films as Lolita, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Barry Lyndon. Kubrick and Weir: The Laudatory Human ConditionBob Weir, not as highly praised, is certainly recognized for “chasing the music” as he says, on his 50-year journey as rhythm guitarist with The Grateful Dead.  Kubrick and Weir: The Laudatory Human ConditionAnd so I was intrigued to watch documentaries on each man this weekend to perhaps gain an insight or two through understanding their trials and tribulations.

It was not to be.Kubrick and Weir: The Laudatory Human ConditionStanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (2007) offers brief moments of filmic analysis amidst a tidal wave of laudatory praise, Steven Spielberg gushing, “He was a conceptual illustrator of the human condition”. Kubrick and Weir: The Laudatory Human ConditionAnd so despite a 50-year career, we are left with the trite summation that Mr. Kubrick worked terribly hard and loved his family, little else.

The Other One: The Long Strange Trip of Bob Weir (2013) is worse. While some fellow musicians offer comments on Bob Weir’s work, the documentary is almost solely guided by bland recollections by Weir – “Here’s my Jerry Bobbblehead” – occasionally, boyishly and evasively hinting toward his notorious off-stage reputation. Kubrick and Weir: The Laudatory Human ConditionHis band mates are only briefly interviewed, likewise alluding, saying little else. Kubrick and Weir: The Laudatory Human ConditionIt’s a shame that both of these these documentaries offered so little, not that they should focus on personal scandal, but that they veered so very far from the very same human condition that these men had endeavored to understand and instead settled on empty praise.Kubrick and Weir: The Laudatory Human Condition

Jane Says, “Sex and Violence!”

Posted on by

Jane’s Addiction is back on tour, playing their critically acclaimed Nothing’s Shocking from start to finish. Jane Says, "Sex and Violence!"As Perry Farrell asked the crowd last night at the Brooklyn Bowl, “Is it shocking that Nothing’s Shocking is having its 25th anniversary?” Jane Says, "Sex and Violence!"Meant to be rhetorical, it wasn’t. Because it is, shocking that is. Dave Navarro remains as tattooed and rocking’ out as ever while Farrell maintains his crackhead je ne sais crois. Jane Says, "Sex and Violence!"But even with the bra-and-pantied girls swinging above the stage, the music isn’t as raw, nor as overwhelming, but has deteriorated into more of a burlesque. Jane Says, "Sex and Violence!"All of which was made worse by the Williamsburghians, in their hats and beards, chanting “Let’s Go Rangers” at the bar.Jane Says, "Sex and Violence!"

My Bloody Valentine Play New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom

Posted on by

My Bloody Valentine are, as Rolling Stone Magazine says, committed to distortion; they deliver a wall of sound and light, and turn that around on itself.

My Bloody Valentine Play New York's Hammerstein Ballroom

My Bloody Valentine plays Hammerstein Ballroom on November 11

They take turns singing, or seeming to sing; there are no intelligible words, just murmuring beneath the din. My Bloody Valentine Play New York's Hammerstein BallroomThe sound builds, seems to get louder – although nothing like their 2008 tour – pauses and starts again, a certain blissed-out monotony, chaotic but not, that wears everything down, until it’s just one long thing, only stopping to breath, all of this until the last song, You Made Me Realise. My Bloody Valentine Play New York's Hammerstein BallroomThis final, drawn-out moment goes straight in, vibrates against the organs and veins and fights your heart rate until you feel like you’ve been initiated into a murderous cult. My Bloody Valentine Play New York's Hammerstein BallroomAnd then they leave, and that’s that.

Bernardo at Hank’s Saloon in Brooklyn

Posted on by

Bernardo played its first-ever gig at Hank’s Saloon in Brooklyn last night, thanks in part to Bill Murray on a bicycle.

Bernardo at Hank's Saloon in Brooklyn

Hank’s Saloon’s facilities

Lead man, Mike Deminico, walked into the bar a couple of weeks back, inquiring into playing at the venue, and received an indifferent response and email address. Somewhat miffed, Deminico considered abandoning the enterprise when Bill Murray bicycled past and returned Deminico’s greeting. Bernardo at Hank's Saloon in BrooklynHis resolve buoyed, Deminico got in touch with the manager and was on stage shortly thereafter.

Bernardo at Hank's Saloon in Brooklyn

Mike Deminico leads Bernardo at Hank’s Saloon.

The music of Bernardo is an unadulterated pleasure, straight ahead and wildly fun; the short 35-minute set was simply not enough. Deminico promises more in the months ahead.