'Once the song's begun the group is one'
Jul. 11th, 2003 11:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jazzfish Went to class (yay class), came home, climbed into Maureen's car with Maureen, J., and E, and drove the two hours to Green Valley Book Fair. Spent a little over an hour, which isn't nearly long enough, and about $15 on three books, which isn't nearly enough books. Picked up Scott McCloud's classic Understanding Comics, Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist on the recommendation of both E and Maureen (plus the BBC Top 100 list), and a book on the last nine hundred years of Irish history, which should be a good read.
Then we all piled back into the car and drove the two hours to Lisa's, where her mother fed us delicious chicken & rice, and then we drove to Merriwether Post Pavilion, followed by Lisa & Vond. At one point our two black Civics were preceded by a third black Civic... and the car in front ot it was black as well, and possibly a Civic. I see a line of cars, and they are painted black.
Arrived at Merriwether about half an hour later than I'd intended and fifteen minutes after the show started (thanks to traffic and my inability to remember/determine exactly how far up 29 we were going). So we missed the first half of Tracy Bonham's act. Oh well. What we heard was alright. Venus Hum (the second opening act) was musically a bit more to my taste, although the lyrics were incomprehensible. I couldn't tell if that was a result of being live music or just how the singer sings.
There followed a half-hour intermission while the crew rushed around 'backstage' (behind a large curtain) and got things ready. We were entertained during this by two marquee signs. The sign on the right delivered useless trivia and exhorted us to buy concert Stuff and not record the concert, while the sign on the left was inordinately bitter about its lot in life.
Then, the show. My God, the show. ":Above" (the first track on The Complex), with the Blue Men joining in one at a time, silhouetted on the backlit curtain... and the the curtain drops, and there's drumbeats just flowing through you and strobe lights and giant PVC instruments and so. much. energy. that I couldn't understand why I didn't just explode from the exhilaration.
Half theatre experience, half rock concert. The voices instruct the Blue Men how to be rock stars, and detail various Rock Concert movements (starting with the Basic Head Bob and moving on to Bringing Out A Guest Vocalist and Getting the Audience to Sing Along). They played everything off The Complex, but only "Drumbone" from Audio. (The drumbone is still a very cool instrument.) The uninterrupted three-song set of "Shadows Part 2," "Current," and "The Complex" is very, very powerful. "Shadows" and "Complex" have excellent videos projected on a large screen, and for "Current" they did a very funky trick involving making everyone appear to be just outlines.
The pure energy of "What Is Rock" was phenomenal. It was the only song that people actually got up and danced to, which was unfortunate (E and Maureen probably got very sick of me sitting between them bopping back and forth in my chair).
I am so going to see them again the last week in August.
'And once the song is done the group is gone'
Then we all piled back into the car and drove the two hours to Lisa's, where her mother fed us delicious chicken & rice, and then we drove to Merriwether Post Pavilion, followed by Lisa & Vond. At one point our two black Civics were preceded by a third black Civic... and the car in front ot it was black as well, and possibly a Civic. I see a line of cars, and they are painted black.
Arrived at Merriwether about half an hour later than I'd intended and fifteen minutes after the show started (thanks to traffic and my inability to remember/determine exactly how far up 29 we were going). So we missed the first half of Tracy Bonham's act. Oh well. What we heard was alright. Venus Hum (the second opening act) was musically a bit more to my taste, although the lyrics were incomprehensible. I couldn't tell if that was a result of being live music or just how the singer sings.
There followed a half-hour intermission while the crew rushed around 'backstage' (behind a large curtain) and got things ready. We were entertained during this by two marquee signs. The sign on the right delivered useless trivia and exhorted us to buy concert Stuff and not record the concert, while the sign on the left was inordinately bitter about its lot in life.
Then, the show. My God, the show. ":Above" (the first track on The Complex), with the Blue Men joining in one at a time, silhouetted on the backlit curtain... and the the curtain drops, and there's drumbeats just flowing through you and strobe lights and giant PVC instruments and so. much. energy. that I couldn't understand why I didn't just explode from the exhilaration.
Half theatre experience, half rock concert. The voices instruct the Blue Men how to be rock stars, and detail various Rock Concert movements (starting with the Basic Head Bob and moving on to Bringing Out A Guest Vocalist and Getting the Audience to Sing Along). They played everything off The Complex, but only "Drumbone" from Audio. (The drumbone is still a very cool instrument.) The uninterrupted three-song set of "Shadows Part 2," "Current," and "The Complex" is very, very powerful. "Shadows" and "Complex" have excellent videos projected on a large screen, and for "Current" they did a very funky trick involving making everyone appear to be just outlines.
The pure energy of "What Is Rock" was phenomenal. It was the only song that people actually got up and danced to, which was unfortunate (E and Maureen probably got very sick of me sitting between them bopping back and forth in my chair).
I am so going to see them again the last week in August.
'And once the song is done the group is gone'
This is a test
Date: 2003-07-12 08:11 pm (UTC)I have been sitting in a tiny cubelet in the back of a larger cube. I'm supposed to share it with Roy, but Roy's gone until Monday after next, so I have this tiny dark corner all to myself and a big pile of code that needs working on (both PLUM and JavaVolcano, which I've determined that I can get away with working on at work). Because the people in the front of the cube all have annoying voices, I find myself listening to CDs at really high volume on high-quality headphones all the time.
CD of choice? Audio. CD when that one finishes? Complex. Then back to Audio. Drive home? Audio again, then Complex if there's traffic and it takes a while.
I am so going to see them again the last week in August.
So how's McCloud? I've been wanting to read that, but hadn't gotten around to buying it.
no subject
Date: 2003-07-13 05:20 pm (UTC)BMG
Date: 2003-07-17 09:04 pm (UTC)My father caught their stage show in Boston, and he thought it was just the greatest thing he'd ever seen. My father grew up in Arkansas, works for the State Dept, and is very active in his church. I guess they really do have a universal appeal.
If you've not got the album The Complex, I recommend picking it up and giving it a few listens before the concert. That way you'll have some idea what you're in for.
Re: BMG
Date: 2003-07-18 05:41 am (UTC)