Thanks to Townsman cherguevarra for passing this baby along. Somebody must have had an ax to grind with The Boss.
Dec 022011
Nov 012011
NOT the Fake Robert Plant.
Last night, Mr. Royale and I joined some friends to hear a couple of tribute bands. First up, a Rolling Stones cover band with a very spry Jagger impersonator. Then, the Led Zeppelin tribute band.
In general, I’m not a big fan of tribute bands but in the case of these bands, for which I am highly unlikely to fork over big bucks to see the remaining members totter around and play their hits from 30 or 40 years ago, this was something entertaining to do. Eighteen dollars seemed a decent price to pay to listen to some renditions of music I enjoy.
I have to admit I haven’t been to see a tribute band since, say, 1981, when I went with a friend to Arizona State University to hear whatever was the touring version of the “Beatles.” So I assumed that the gig would include some guys dressed up and aping the mannerisms of their chosen band.
Instead, we were treated to the oddist mixture of spectacle and fakery. The members were dressed up to look like the original musicians, circa 1974 or so: long-haired wigs, unbuttoned polyester shirts or suits, turquoise jewelry. And they played instruments (to my untrained eye) that also resembled those of Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham. But it was the lead singer who broke my heart. While he wore the long, blond locks and the tight, tight jeans of Robert Plant, and sang with an impressive range of vocal technique, when he opened his mouth to talk, he lost me. I believe we were listening to the Joey Buttafuoco Robert Plant. Although he professed to be Robert Plant, that accent, most notable when pronouncing the /r/ sound, was just too distracting. Mr. Royale, being kinder than me, believes that it was his English accent. Ha! And then the moves. Mr. “Plant” had only four: the “Stretch the Microphone Chord Over the Head,” the “Lemon Thrust,” the “Hair Toss” and the “Modified Rock Iwo Jima.” It was tiring and lacked any sense of sex appeal.
Granted, I’ve been a few times to see a local ’80s cover band. That band seemed to not take themselves very seriously, and in spite of their Worst-of-the-1980s’ fashion stylings, were highly enjoyable.
Please help me here. How important is it for the tribute musicians to look and sound like the originals? Are you able to get past the imperfections of appearance or mannerisms in the show? Is it really only the sound that matters? What is the difference between a cover band and a tribute band?
Oct 182011
How does this performance by Fleet Foxes make you feel? What most stands out for you in the performance and the editing? What do you think my 3 favorite cuts are? What article of clothing is missing from this performance above all else? What do you like about this performance? I think even members of the Bad Attitude Club would acknowledge some good in this.
I look forward to your thoughts.
Sep 262011
Double your pleasure!
Tonight a Townsman is taking his kids to see Foo Fighters. This will be the second time said Townsman, who will remain nameless until he outs himself, has seen “the Foos,” as he tells me The Kidz call ’em. He, like me, sees way less concerts than might be expected considering his encyclopedic knowledge of greatest hits albums and how opinionated—and right—he prides himself in being. We got to talking about it. Not counting cult and underground bands we’ve loved and seen multiple times (eg, Pere Ubu, Gang of Four, and Big Dipper, for myself), beside Elvis Costello it’s possible that neither of us has seen a national-level band more than one time. (By “national-level” I mean big enough to have been on commercial radio, have albums stocked in major chain stores, be big enough so that “regular people” at work are likely to know who you’re talking about if you bring them up in conversation.)
That’s right, he’s seen Nick Lowe twice, but the first time as an acoustic opener, so maybe that doesn’t count. I was supposed to go to that second show with him but had to stay home for, uh, security reasons. Tonight my Townsman friend will leave me in the dust, joining us tomorrow with what are likely to be spot-on comparisons between the two Foos’ shows he’ll have under his belt.
Can anyone beat my record of only having seen one national-level band more than one time? If not, what band have you seen the most times, not counting your friends’ bands or bands you’ve opened for? (I’ve seen Pere Ubu 6 or 7 times.)
Sep 262011
Ian Anderson is just one of rock’s many practitioners of ka-raaay-zeeee eyes. Sometimes we like to believe our rock ‘n roll heroes are capable of actually peeling back society’s layers of civility and letting loose with just how ka-raay-zeeeee life is. Madness, I say! Anderson is one of many rock singers who have delivered on our expectations. What other lead singers come to mind who consistently roll out a pair of ka-raay-zeeeee eyes?
Sep 032011
“Cool” is a relative term. If you have any doubt look no further than any of the “style” posts here at Rock Town Hall—or better yet, see if you can’t find pictures of some of the dorks who write those posts.
Who are we to police rock ‘n roll cool, you might ask, what makes them arbiters of cool?
Within the Halls of Rock we have developed some common ground on what definitely isn’t cool in rock ‘n roll. The following video, submitted by Townsman cherguevara, features many elements of fashion, stage presence, and whatnot that pathetically self-appointed guardians of cool like yours truly spend inordinate and unhealthy amounts of time chuckling over. In the spirit of one of our Nice series of posts, I ask you to view this video and avoid the temptation to shoot ducks in a barrel. Rather, see if you can’t identify examples of relative cool.
Please dig deep; don’t take the easy route and identify obviously cool instrumental fills or laud a musician’s past glories. In all fairness you may want to turn the volume off.
Aug 122011
Here’s an oldie but goodie that first ran a little more than 4 years ago. A few longtime Townspeople struck up a nice dialog, trading personal stories. I suspect so many more personal stories are out there, waiting to be shared by folks who weren’t pacing the Halls of Rock in our nascent days as a blog. Here’s your chance to dazzle!
This post initially appeared 8/7/07.
A friend of mine is a die-hard Police fan, and he’s been to three of the shows on the reunion tour currently ongoing. He’s enjoyed the shows but told me that they’ve been playing exactly the same set and telling exactly the same jokes/stage patter each time. Sting even takes a little walk away from the mic at exactly the same time in exactly the same song.
Back in my touring days, the Dead Milkmen made it a practice to pass the setlist duties around in rotation. The set was always different every night. This made the shows a little more interesting for all of us and hopefully for the folks who saw us multiple nights (we even played different sets for the two reunion shows we did in 2004). Sure we played some key songs every night but chances are you were going to hear a couple different tunes and different stories/stage patter based on who made the setlist that night.
Maybe the Police like other “bigger” bands have lightshows and camera angles for the big screen TV’s to worry about but c’mon! Mix it up a little and take a few risks!
So my questions to the Townspeople are as follows:
- Have you been to see bands multiple nights on a tour and have they always played the same set and told the same jokes each night?
- If you’re a musician, How do you approach the setlist? Do you try to get into the comfort zone and play the same set each night?
- For all of you, How do you feel about bands playing unreleased material and new songs? Or maybe you just want to hear the hits.
