Gigs

[Wilfrid]

Mm, I must have last seen Squeeze more than 40 years ago.

[MitchW]

34 minutes ago, Wilfrid said:

Mm, I must have last seen Squeeze more than 40 years ago.

That may have almost been Squeeze. Jools or Paul Carrack?

[MitchW]

55 minutes ago, small h said:

You forget how many Squeeze songs you know.

Chris and Glenn were often referred to as the songwriting pair descended from that other great British songwriting pair. 

Their first 3 or 4 albums were loaded with great songs.

[bloviatrix]

I've lost track of the number of times I've seen Squeeze. But the best show I ever saw them play was at The Ritz in July, '88.

[Wilfrid]

3 hours ago, MitchW said:

That may have almost been Squeeze. Jools or Paul Carrack?

Squeeze were formed fifty years ago. Holland, Lavis and Kakoulli were all in place when I saw them.

And I now recall I reviewed the first album for the NME.

[MitchW]

An interesting evening last week at The Baryshnikov Arts Center.  Woolgathering, which was an early book of prose and poetry by Patti Smith, turned into a spoken-word opera (I just copy the words, I don't make them up) and dance, composed and directed by Oliver Tompkins Ray, who at one time played guitar in the Patti Smith Group.

Mikhail was the "special guest." 

The NY Times review is here...Review: The Miraculous Simplicity of Patti Smith’s Childhood

[bloviatrix]

Ben Folds at The Brooklyn Paramount last night. Great show. For the second part of his set he had the audience write down their requests and send them to the stage via paper airplanes which he then picked up randomly from the floor. This led to him attempting unsuccessfully to play a cover of the The Clash's Lost in the Supermarket, an impromptu Bruce Springsteen improvisation and a singalong to a bastardized version of Sweet Caroline.

We had third row seats so when been mentioned his show Bowery Ballroom show in 2001 and I screamed in response to being there, I actually got acknowledged.

We had never been to this venue before. It's really spectacular. Spouse learned that many years ago LIU used to play basketball on the stage and realized that back in '79 he played there for the Yeshiva High School B-ball Championship.

Edited November 13, 2024 by bloviatrix

[backyardchef]

17 minutes ago, bloviatrix said:

ular. Spouse learned that many years ago LIU used to play basketball on the stage and realized that back in '79 he played there for the Yeshiva High School B-ball Championship.

A few blocks from my office. I love that sliver of campus. Always have. 

[MitchW]

Both my dad and Sig Eater’s dad were LIU grads!

I think it was the college that took GI Bill students, when veterans were actually cared about.

[backyardchef]

2 hours ago, MitchW said:

Both my dad and Sig Eater’s dad were LIU grads!

I think it was the college that took GI Bill students, when veterans were actually cared about.

My mom got her PhD there and my dad got his undergrad there, too. 

[StephanieL]

1 hour ago, backyardchef said:

My mom got her PhD there and my dad got his undergrad there, too. 

My parents both got their master's degrees from there.

[MitchW]

Saw the incomparable Steve Earle last night, at Jesse Malin's tiny Berlin, under 2A. He was the special "unannounced guest" at a show headlined by Florence Dore, who was also pretty great. A bit about Florence:

Florence Dore with her band of Bona Fide gentlemen - Will Rigby and Gene Holder of the dBs and Mark Spencer of Son Volt. Florence is a Nashville-born, Chapel Hill, NC-based artist, who by day is a professor of English and Comparative Literature at UNC Chapel Hill. Her most recent record, Highways and Rocketships, recorded with REM producers Mitch Easter and Don Dixon, won Best Americana Album of 2022 at Lonesome Highway Magazine.

Will Rigby, in addition to playing drums in the band, is also Florence's husband.

Edited December 15, 2024 by MitchW

[relbbaddoof]

On 11/14/2024 at 12:14 PM, StephanieL said:

My parents both got their master's degrees from there.

This, and the posts above, are personally interesting to me. LIU has now become more a trade school than a genuine University, its faculty decimated. I know whatof I speak.

[small h]

  

51 minutes ago, MitchW said:

Berlin

I am very fond of that space, which is small and underground and somehow still does not feel claustrophobic.

Edited December 15, 2024 by small h

[Wilfrid]

8 hours ago, MitchW said:

Saw the incomparable Steve Earle last night, at Jesse Malin's tiny Berlin, under 2A. He was the special "unannounced guest" at a show headlined by Florence Dore, who was also pretty great. 

Amazing. And good to know Jesse is still around. It's been a few years.

[MitchW]

Show last night, at 503 Social Club, James Mastro's art/music collective in Hoboken.

Partial Mekons, partial Waco Brothers, partial Men of Gwent, et al. Terrible pix all, but it's what I got...

Jon Langford

Sally Timms

Jon Langford. Jean Cook.

Edited December 16, 2024 by MitchW

[small h]

I hope you said hey to my friends Jenny and Russell.

[MitchW]

55 minutes ago, small h said:

I hope you said hey to my friends Jenny and Russell.

Had I only known!

[small h]

I need to know where everyone's planning to be, so I can arrange introductions.

[Mitchell101]

A few shows over the last month or so:

The Black Crowes at The Capitol: Fun show but very short. Only 90 minutes. Chris R was in really good form. Brother Rich looked like he'd rather be anywhere  else other than the Capitol stage. 

Joe Russo's Almost Dead at The Capitol: These guys continue to get even better. Fantastic arrangements that always surprise. Marco Benevento's piano solo on "Eyes of the World" could have taken place at Carnegie Hall. They played twice as long as the Black Crowes. 

Drive By Truckers at District Music Hall (Really nice newly redone  venue in Norwalk, CT) playing their Southern Rock Opera in its entirety plus a ton of other songs. Really good show.  We got to meet the band before the show as one of my friends went to high school with Patterson Hood. They were on fire from beginning to end and continue to bring the rock and roll energy and political activism that defines them. We noticed a few people walking out when Patterson went after the current administration before getting into "Surrender Under Protest." So be it!