LETS GO TO ENGLAND!

A weekend working on the bookcase, finishing the electricxal, mounting the cases to the wall and beginning the process of installing toungue and grove knotty pine paneling on the back wall of the bookcase.  The more progress I make, the more motivated I become to get it done.  Work stops around sunset and I prepare for the Friday and Saturday nights by selecting music I feel in the mood for.

With Van Halen still coursing through my veins, I steped back in time to listen to one of their classic shows, June 23, 1980 at the London Rainbow Ballroom, their last night on their European tour.  Good quality sound that appears to have been pulled off a vinyl record.  Great way to start a weekend.

Died in December

Next winter takes another

Seasons pass alone

Never on our minds
Futures promise is exposed
Lying in a box

Download it here:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/21iewuuf3yfr/n/VaHal800623LonInv-flc.rar

Van Halen was followed by a collection of music I assembled for my Jackson Hole skit trip videos, a music mix tape.  Some of the songs appeared on the videos, all of which appear here in order from first to last day.

In celebration of the fine music by The English Beat, I pulled up their March 10, 1982 show at the Hammersmith Palais in London, a radio broadcast of the BBC College Concert.  Great sound quality, with Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger putting on a great show, not much different from what I heard only a few short weeks ago.  Dave's voice continues to satisfy over all these years.

In 1977, the Sex Pistols and the Clash were incorporating the more stridently political side of Jamaican reggae into their angry punk-rock songs. Wakeling's band, simply called the Beat in his home country, came along in 1979 and had an agenda to shift the music into what he calls an "upbeat and happy-go-lucky" direction. With singer Wakeling and "toaster" Ranking Roger alternating on vocals, the Beat became part of a British ska movement known as 2 Tone, along with the Specials, Madness and the Selecter.

All of those bands had classic moments, but what distinguished the Beat was Wakeling's ability to express anger or melancholy along with snappy, upbeat pop melodies — from his early "Save It for Later" to "Mirror in the Bathroom" to "I Confess."

"To say 'happy and upbeat' is a shortcut, really," Wakeling says. "That's the dichotomy — there's happy and sad things going on at the same time. People ask you how you are, you say you're doing great — a certain percentage is terrified or unhappy or whatever. We're always running happy and sad at the same time, and that was our notion of it in the Beat.

"We didn't want it to be all angry, like punk, because you can't be angry all the time. You just get tired of being angry. ... The idea of the punky reggae party was you could be hopeful and defiant at the same time. You could be happy, and you could protest."

Read it all here:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-04-05/entertainment/ct-ott-0406-english-beat-20120405_1_british-ska-reggae-english-beat

Born so high above
One summers rain drops falling
Like a kiss on the skin

So it's time to go
To a land that's been promised
There in paradise

Download it here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?7k14oipar6nc079

Coldplay closed out Saturday night with their radio broadcast recording from the June 7, 2012 show at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, England.  Their music always puts me in a contemplative mood.  Loved it.

This was my first time seeing Coldplay live and I got front row! Absolutely incredible, the atmosphere was ridiculous. Despite the rain and metro strikes making getting to sunderland an absolute nightmare it was packed out and everybody was happy! [thanks fooby]

AMAZING. Sometimes something is so good it feels pointless to even explain how incredible it was. So proud that Coldplay came to Sunderland and i hope they really appreciated the crowd, the atmosphere was brilliant and the rain didn't stop us from having a fucking immense night. The lights are beautiful and it gave me chills seeing the stadium of light lit up. [thanks sterock85]

  I finally have a chance to put my thoughts down after only getting to bed at 1am and having to be up for work at 7:30am. I'm completely overwhelmed by that..so much so that i've sunk into a state of PCD (Post-Coldplay depression). With our General Admission tickets, we arrived quite late on (during Rita Ora) and were shocked to find most of the lower bowl seats taken (The OH wanted to sit as is claustrophobic). We decided on a seat at the back near the corner of the West Stand but had no cover so it wasnt nice being drenched in the build up.

As the rain kept coming, somehow we just completely forgot about it. In a way the rain added to the whole atmosphere of the night and made it a show that us and probably Coldplay will never forget. The biggest cheer went to Viva La Vida then Charlie Brown/Paradise looked spectacular in the dark as the Xylobands looked at their best. For me though, the highlight was to come.. as Paradise was ending we noticed something being set up just in front of us. Two guitars, a piano? Surely not? Then we noticed the stewards creating a path right beside us. Is this really happening? And there they were Chris and the band walking past us to a mini stage right in front of us. I was completely blown away by this. Amazing part of the show and something I wasnt expecting at all (I thought the C stage was just one of the corners of the main stage?!) Speed of Sound was superb and i loved the way they introduced each band member individually. The finale back on the main stage was epic and then far too quickly it was all over..and the walk/drive home in the rain as people looked amazed at what they had just witnessed. My first ever Coldplay experience is one i'll never ever forget and something very special to see them in my home City at the football ground I attend every other week. All I feel now is sadness as I just want to relive the whole experience again. [thanks mackemlad79]

Read it all here:
http://www.wikicoldplay.com/7_June_2012:_Stadium_of_Light,_Sunderland,_England

Hands far outstretched
Reaching out to the future
Waiting for their touch

Download it here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?fruaus9r5hu9z3h