A three day weekend due to the Columbus Day holiday, means the party starts early and lasts longer!
I stopped by Jack Jensen's bookstore/gallery on Friday, but did no acquire a new painting for the collection. He has a couple good paintings I like, but I'm holding out for one of his better pieces which are always in the works.
Bent Gate sponsored a gathering of vendors and a telemark ski movie at the Colorado Mountaineering Club two weeks ago. I bid on a pair of Black Diamond Drift skis, fat boys, during the silent auction. I had the highest bid, making me the proud owner of some nice skis for way under half price. I've recently purchased new climbing skins and bindings that I will have mounted when the skis come in this week. I'm ready for deep powder skiing!
While visiting with Jack I noticed that he was playing a cassette tape by the 80's band a-ha. Their one hit that got air play here in the US was the very recognizable "Take On Me." I was motivated by Morten Harket's smooth voice to download and listen to one of their live shows this Friday night. Chosen was their 2001 Live At VallHall (Norway) - Homecoming Grimstad Benefit Concert
Wikipedia describes the band as such:
a-ha (normally spelled entirely in lower-case) is a rock/pop music band from Norway. The band was founded in 1982 by Morten Harket (vocals), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards), and Pål Waaktaar (guitars). The group initially rose to fame during the mid 1980s after being discovered by musician and producer John Ratcliff and has had continued global success in the 1990s and 2000s. According to their official website, they have sold over 35 million albums worldwide plus more than 25 million singles, making them the best-selling Norwegian music act in history and the second-best-selling act from Scandinavia of all time after ABBA.
a-ha achieved their biggest success with their debut album, Hunting High and Low, in 1985. That album peaked at number 1 in their native Norway, number 2 in the UK and number 15 on the U.S. Billboard album chart, yielded two international number-one singles, "Take on Me" and "The Sun Always Shines on T.V.", and earned the band a Grammy Award nomination as Best New Artist. In the UK, Hunting High and Low continued its chart success into the following year, becoming one of the best-selling albums of 1986. In 1994, after their fifth studio album, the band went on a hiatus.
a-ha achieved their biggest success with their debut album, Hunting High and Low, in 1985. That album peaked at number 1 in their native Norway, number 2 in the UK and number 15 on the U.S. Billboard album chart, yielded two international number-one singles, "Take on Me" and "The Sun Always Shines on T.V.", and earned the band a Grammy Award nomination as Best New Artist. In the UK, Hunting High and Low continued its chart success into the following year, becoming one of the best-selling albums of 1986. In 1994, after their fifth studio album, the band went on a hiatus.
Following a performance at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in 1998, the band returned to the studio and recorded their sixth album, 2000's Minor Earth Major Sky, which was another number-one in Norway and resulted in a new tour. A seventh studio album, Lifelines, was released in 2002, and an eighth album, Analogue, in 2005, was certified Silver in the UK — their most successful album there since 1990's East of the Sun, West of the Moon. Their ninth album, Foot of the Mountain, was first released on 19 June 2009 and returned the band to the UK Top 5 for the first time since 1988, being certified Silver there and Platinum in Germany. The album peaked at number 2 in Norway (their first not to reach number 1 in their home territory). On 15 October 2009, the band announced they would split after a worldwide tour in 2010, the Ending On A High Note tour, which will culminate in three farewell shows in Oslo on 2, 3 and 4 December 2010.
Great performance peaking at the very end when they played "Take On Me", which can be watched and listened to on this YouTube clip:
Looks into their eyes
Aloof, but can't hide the love
Never let me go
Killers rampage
Soldiers exonerated
Victims can't testify
Download it here:
This weekend was spent finishing up the summer renovation project. It is officially over. Paintings are hung and the sparse furniture and bed have been returned to the room. All I need to do is reinstall the window blinds, which must be cut down in size to fit the new windows. That can easily happen next Saturday.
To celebrate this milestone, I picked two shows to play out on the prairie this Saturday night. First up was Killing Joke performing in Amsterdam on April 16, 2006. Their heavy guitar sound drifted across the fields this chilly night, wondering if the distant neighbors would hear Jaz Coleman's harsh growling voice.
A newborns future
Full lives of the here and now
Turn into the past
Stare out from the screen
Young faces of those who served
In memoriam
Walk the corridor
Once there were so many doors
Closing one by one
Election season
Spew their venom on TV
Race to the bottom
Honoring the dead
Calling upon the living
To join the ghostly ranks
Stand there by the curb
They've dropped from society
Living abortions
Download it here:
Late Saturday night and into Sunday morning I listened to Nirvana's live performance at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in Del Mar, CA on December 21, 1991. This was three months after releasing Nevermind, riding a wave of unplanned popularity. They cancelled several shows in Europe scheduled for early December. "Band exhaustion was cited as the reason: Kurt's voice was fried and beyond medicinal repair, and doctors ordered rest for the entire band. But they return to the US and perform this show and one in LA before years end."
Excellent soundboard recording. They appeared well rested based on the performance they put on this night!
Tanker trucks burning
Our money poured down the rat hole
Empty pockets picked
We salute the flag
The richest nation on earth
Beggars wanting more
Come to the table
Share the illusion of peace
With hopes of conquest
Following the plan
Shepard's that lead them astray
Sheep blindly follow
Ape-like hominid
Pretend they rule God's world
They stand no higher
Download it here:
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