Thinking about the election and all I see are desperate people salivating over power. Politics in the 21st century were aptly described in this 20th century song from the great band Living Colour. This performance is from 1989 on the Aresnio Hall Show. Good times.
JamSmooth doesn’t endorse Obama/Biden or McCain/Palin. They all fail. I have no hope in any of them.
Continuing with the theme of great drummers explaining their parts, I had to share this one. This is the legendary Jeff Porcaro, who in this video looks like he just got back from eating a steak. He played with Steely Dan, Toto, Michael McDonald and many others. He makes this incredibly challenging and well-known groove seem effortless to play.
Here’s the whole song.
No JamSmooth.com is not turning into a drummer’s blog, I’m enjoying these great musicians and their insights into playing.
As promised, here is Megan’s outstanding review of the Rush show from Tuesday. Enjoy.
# # #
So JamSmooth and I scored some pretty hot tickets – 26 rows back from the stage – for the Rush concert last night. Now before you stop reading this review because you can’t say “Rush” and “nerd alert” in the same sentence…give me a chance.
The show was at the new Verizon Amphitheater at Encore Park in Alpharetta which to me was just a Lakewood Jr. : smaller and a little more modern. Trying to navigate through Alpharetta to find it when you’re an ITP’er is tough, especially in the rain and especially when you’re not used to such homogeneous surroundings (Wait, was that the turn? I’m not sure because the directions say to hang a left at the Starbuck’s?!) But I digress.
We found our way to our seats and the people watching was spectacular. I must tread lightly here, but go ahead and YouTube Yacht Rock and check out Hollywood Steve. Add a conversion van, a long black trenchcoat, a few comic books and locket of sorts that contains “invisible dust” to the mix and you’ve got a good picture in your head. Classic. There were of course a few kids and some business- men types, but mainly this show was for the die-hards – myself included (in a polo shirt, ok?).
When Alex, Geddy and Neil appeared on stage, my heart started racing. These guys helped me navigate through the isolation of adolescence, the awkwardness of youth, the pains of young love. You know how it is when you only want mom and dad to just leave you alone in your room to think- and my teenage soundtrack was Rush. Every bass line, every cymbal crash, every haunting guitar riff was an expression of my feelings to the core at that time. Now as an adult I can appreciate the brilliance of their songwriting along with my dreamy nostalgia.
They still have it. I’ve seen Bono and Sting forego the highnotes on some of my classic favorites, but Geddy can still hit it. I read an article once about how his voice was similar to that of an “air-raid siren”. So be it. Plus any man who is willing to wear a tight black shirt and jeans is cool in my book. Speaking of stagewear, Alex looked a bit out of the 90s with the shirt under dinner jacket and the Frankenstein-ish combforward, but again, you try to pick up a guitar and play 20 minutes of 2112. And Neil…look – the guy is a legend. Every aspiring drummer will, in unison, agree he is a god. So we’ll let him slide on his overboard support of Snakes and Arrows with cap and shirt.
Every air musician showed up for this show…myself included. And this is the kind of place where you’re accepted, no questions asked. It is an unspoken rule at a Rush show that you can play your air guitar, drums or bass any way you like and we’re going to let it slide. This is a convention of folks who know they aren’t cool, are never gonna be cool, and found others who are just the same. We are the dreamers, the sensitives, the imaginers.
Our friendly Canadian prog rockers still having fun, still touching the masses, and still, in my opinion one of the best bands in the world.
Being a fan of Rush opens you to jokes and ridicule. Mullets, zit-faced teens and outsiders are their biggest fans. Songs about Xanadu, philosophy and science fiction don’t attract the “cool crowd.” When you’re a perfectionist and a musician there’s not many artists who surpass this group.
Growing up Rush played a big part in my adolescence. They were on regulars on MTV and my local radio station. I listened to their records and watched their performances religiously. I learned the guitar tabs and we played their songs in our band. In my then teenage mind, no one could out play them.
Last night that teenage enthusiasm returned for my 4th Rush concert. The last time I saw them was in 1992 at The Omni. I picked up Megan (who will be writing a post as well) from Brookhaven and we drove in the rain up to Alpharetta. I’d found the setlist earlier in the day and we talked about our favorites on there. We laughed at how dorky we sounded. I’d read the show starts at 8:05 p.m. and we were cutting it close to get there. We rushed to our seats. The rain delayed the concert so we had plenty of time before the show. We watched the many Rush fans get to their seats, all shapes, sizes, ages and colors. We played a game called “find the oldest tour T-shirt.”
The PA was playing, “Back In Black,” and mid-way through the song the lights went out and the covers were removed from the amps. A comical video showed Alex Lifeson waking up next to Neil Peart in a dream sequence. Then the band started the show with, “Limelight.”
They played deep cuts like “Digital Man,” “Beneath The Wheels,” and “Ghost of A Chance.” A personal highlight was, “Natural Science.” That has always been my favorite Rush song. They also played the standards we’ve heard for years. At the beginning the mix was off. The guitars were not loud enough and overall the mix was quite muddy. By the 5th song the guitars were louder. The mix may have been muddy due to the fact that we were way on the left side.
Every guy still has it and showed no signs of age in their playing. I noticed a few mistakes but they were so minimal. After all these years they are still having fun and play 25+ year old songs with enthusiasm. I don’t know how they can play “Tom Sawyer,” without wincing a little. The show was heavy on material from the latest album, “Snakes and Arrows,” 9 songs. The new songs are good and I understand why they want to play them but the energy from the crowd fell noticeably during these songs.
I enjoyed seeing Alex Lifeson play only Gibson Les Pauls, save the white 355, all night. Looks like he’s done trying new guitars. Most of his Les Pauls were fitted with Floyd Rose tremelos. His tone was great and on a few songs, “Dreamline,” in particular, he stretched out the solo to the delight of the crowd. Geddy’s setup is stipped down as well, a Roland Fantom and Moog Little Phatty were his only keyboards. Even Neil Peart’s set, while still massive, is stripped down from from the massive 80′s era set. One highlight was seeing Geddy Lee break out the Rickenbacker bass on the encore.
Megan and I had a great time at the show. We played air drums, guitar and bass with the best of ‘em. We sang along to the songs. I enjoyed seeing my teenage heroes one more time. Thanks to CL, TW and JH for the outstanding seats.
Set 1:
Video Intro (same as 2007 leg, features all 3 band members)
Limelight
Digital Man
Ghost of a Chance
Mission
Freewill
The Main Monkey Business
The Larger Bowl (with McKenzie Brothers intro from 2007 leg)
Red Barchetta
The Trees
Between The Wheels
Dreamline
Intermission
Set 2:
Far Cry (What’s That Smell video featuring all 3 members)
Workin’ Them Angels
Armor and Sword
Spindrift
The Way The Wind Blows
Subdivisions
Natural Science
Witch Hunt
Malignant Narcissism (drum solo)
Hope
The Spirit of Radio
2112: Overture / The Temples of Syrinx
Tom Sawyer (South Park intro)
Encore
One Little Victory
A Passage To Bangkok
YYZ
Video Outro
I came across this article and it’s outstanding. The Beatles will always be at the top of JamSmooth’s list of greats. This is good stuff. Check it out.
Here’s a list of bass players I like in no particular order.
A bass player simply plays the root or they bring out melodies you’d never hear. These are players who stand out, who were irreplaceable in the bands they played in and the records they played on.
1. Geddy Lee
2. John Paul Jones
3. Meshell Ndegeocello
4. Adam Clayton
5. Mike Mills
6. Perry Bamonte
7. John Pattitucci
8. Paul McCartney
9. Nathan East
10. Kim Deal
11. Kim Gordon
12. Simon Raymonde
13. Ron Carter
14. Carlos D.
15. Steve Harris
16. Doug Pinnick
17. Joey Staubes
18. Tony Levin
19. Sting
20. Les Claypool
21. Tommy Stinson
22. Paul S. Denman
23. Justin Chancellor
24. MCA
25. Flea
AND of course
26. Derek Smalls
Yesterday at work a contractor we hired to do some work was playing Eric Johnson’s Ah Via Musicom. I’ve listened to that record countless times. With each song I was transported back to Savannah, Georgia.
I remember when I first heard Johnson. It was the song, “High Landrons.” The local rock radio station, WIXV I-95, played it. I remember liking it immediately so I went to the record store and bought it. That alone is worth its own blog post. That’s how the music biz used to work. You’d hear something on the radio. Then you’d go to a record store and buy the record. I haven’t had that experience in years.
Yesterday I imagined the record label meetings where they chose, “High Landrons,” as the single. “Hey Eric we feel that ‘Landrons’ is really the best choice for the first single. It has the most appeal. Then as people get to know you we can release ‘Righteous.’”
That’s not what this is about. It’s about how music takes you away. What I was taken back to was the year 1990. I just resigned from my job working at the St. Joseph’s hospital pharmacy. I just graduated from high school. Having aspirations to become a lawyer I had gotten a job working with Greg Bennett, a local real estate attorney. I was hired to be a runner. I drove around town in my 1982 Nissan Maxima.
My job was to pick up closing documents from the lenders and bring them to our office for closings. That blows my mind again realizing that we literally had to go pick up the documents. Now we effortlessly email these documents in seconds.
My Maxima did not have a CD player. If I wanted to play my music I had to record the CD onto a cassette tape. I still have many of these tapes.
But back to Johnson, I remember this performance from Austin City Limits. My brother and I wore that tape out. I remember the night I taped it. Right when the show came on the phone rang. It was the principal of our high school, Frances Wong. She was calling to see how my brother was doing. The night before a roaming gang of black kids beat up my brother and some of his friends. Nothing serious happened, I think he got scraped a little.
I was so irritated because the show had already started and I hadn’t hit record yet. But it was the principal of the school so I couldn’t say, “Hold on for a minute.” Luckily it wasn’t a long phone call so I only missed the first part.
Now look, with a few keystrokes I can watch this very performance I wanted to tape almost 20 years ago.
So that’s what this is about. All of these memories came back to me because of the music. I had not thought of these events in years. That’s why music is a time machine.
