FROM THE STUDIO TO SYDNEY

Short work week due to the holiday weekend. With a three day weekend before me, I have grand visions of getting much accomplished on the house, bringing me closer to being done by mid July. However, this Thursday night brings rain, cutting down the time I can get a head start on the days ahead.

Thursday night becomes my Friday night, a night to party in celebration of the American Independence! Yeah, right. Drove out to the spot on the prairie where I can rely on the truck stereo to provide the sound. It was a nice change from the headphone routine I was doing these last few weekends.

I was originally was going to play Nirvana but switched to the punk rock band Green Day at the last minute. And instead of a bootleg concert, I went for their fifth studio album, Nimrod, which was released on October 14, 1997. One of my favorite albums of theirs with some classic songs that continue to get played in their more recent appearances on stage.

According to Wikipedia: Nimrod was "an experimental deviation from the band's standard pop-punk brand of music. It provided a variety of music, from pop-punk, surf rock, and ska, to an acoustic ballad. Nimrod entered the charts at number 10. The success of "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" won the band an MTV Video Award for Best Alternative Video for the song's video, which depicted people undergoing major changes in their lives while Billie Joe Armstrong strummed his acoustic guitar.

Billie Joe in an interview in Guitar Legends magazine, May 2005:

"At the time I wrote Good Riddance, I was breaking up with a girl that was moving to Ecuador, and I was trying to be as understanding about it as I could. I wrote the song as kind of a bon voyage. I was trying not to be bitter, but I think it came out a little bit bitter anyway... I thought that calling the song "Time of Your Life" was just a little too level-headed for me, so I had to come up with something different"

Stars hid by dark clouds

Face and scalp feel the cool wet

Steady rain falling

Fast cars rushing by

Live our solitary lives

Hides in the darkness

So rare and precious

Alone with its sudden loss

Heart that's been stolen

Next up was Echo & The Bunnymen, their live show on November 11, 1981 in Sydney, Australia. The original version I had did not sound that good, Ian's voice being very distant and the overall mix being very muddy. I remixed it to pull Ian forward and lend some clarity to the entire show, the result being that much of the bass end being lost. Hence the need for the truck with the ability to bring back some of that lost sound.

This particular show happened a half year after the release of their second album, Heaven Up Here. Chris Adams writes:

"1981 burdened the Bunnymen with the toughest touring schedule of their career. Over the course of 169 days, the band played 113 shows. By the end of the year, they had slogged through two major UK and US tours, one European jaunt, and a stop-off in Australia and New Zealand. This breakneck pace gelled the band as a live unit."

Feeling aches and pains

A dark figure approaching

The old man's coming

Download it here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PVPYUFYG

DANCE PARTY (LIKE ITS 1995)

Slaved away on the house another Saturday, chugging water to stay hydrated. Another wall ripped off and measured. I'm working in zombie mode. The end of the day finds me on the roof enjoying the last rays of the sun, glad to have made it to the end, satisfied with what I've accomplished and enjoying the simple pleasures of life.

Tonight I was going for two short sets. First up was Weezer's gig in Paris, France on February 12, 1995, always referred to as "The Black Sessions". High quality recording with some of the best early songs. This was a radio broadcast so a Frenchman inserts himself in between each song announcing who's playing to the radio audience. This is one of the best sounding recordings of the band I have, the others being distant, muddy and/or with too much audience in the mix. This show was performed long after the release of their debut album (May 10, 1994) of this American alternative rock band, Weezer, often referred to as "The Blue Album". They only got better from this point on.

Nuclear fires rage

Burning silently above

White points in night sky

Download it here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/50248485/WeezerParis_Black_Sessions__02-21-95_.rar

Next up was Van Halen appearing in the Molson Amphitheater in Toronto on August 19, 1995. Its a great soundboard quality recording. The only problem with it is that its an edited show with only ten songs out of the 17 or more played that evening. But it includes some of their best tunes, although Eddie's solo has been edited out. I no longer have the link for this particular recording, so I threw in the one posted on Guitars 101, identical in every way except it includes five more songs, the whole show being of slightly lower quality than the one I listened to.

I was hoping this would be a short night but that never proves to be the case when Van Halen is on stage. A beautiful night outside!

Shed the tears you cry

Hero's depart one by one

Replaced by mere shadows

Downkload it from Guitars 101:

http://www.guitars101.com/forums/f62/van-halen-toronto-pay-per-view-1995-a-26775.html

TIME THE AVENGER

I can't believe how quickly the weeks are whipping by. It's the end of June, less than a month to the New York trip. I'm moving along on the house project faster than I was anticipating as well. More heavy thunderstorms swept through Denver this past week. One struck while at work, what seemed like hurricane force winds pelting the windows with torrential rain. People gathered at the windows to watch the parking lot flood. What they didn't expect was me sneaking up behind them with a cup of water that I hurled onto the glass above their heads, splashing them. A small taste of what was happening outside! My reputation grows.

Two American icons passed away the previous day. Three if you count Ed McMahon. Farrah Fawcett was a beauty who pranced on the television screen, a lustful dream of so many adolescent boys. Michael Jackson fed the air waves with pop music that everyone could dance to, bringing a nation, a world to its feet. Stardom is no protection against the inevitable.

Stepped away from us
To turn and face cold shadows
So far out of reach

Farrah has fallen
True American idol
Her beauty erased

Hides behind the mask
Sign of insecurity
A life of despair

Stardom forgotten
Lone battle just to survive
Watching her suffer

Like water flowing
Swept up in the strong current
Takes us to the end

Awash with talent
Drawn into the fire's spotlight
Victim of our love

Rush of a strong wind
Feels refreshing on our face
Passing through our world

The chill of the night
Feels so pleasant compared to
The cold that awaits

White light in our eyes
Passing from our memory
Record in a book

A flash in our eyes
Beginning always the end
How long can it last?

First up were The Pretenders, appearing in Detroit on April 7, 1984. They were on tour following the release of their third studio album, Learning To Crawl, on January 17, 1984. This album was released after a more than two-year hiatus during which time Pretenders members James Honeymean-Scott and Pete Farndon both died of drug overdoses. An excellent recording, enjoying every minute of the hour they were on stage.

I just found out The Pretenders will be performing here in Denver on August 22nd. I'm guessing Chrissie Hynde is the only original member to be playing these days. I've got to buy a ticket this weekend! There are so many good shows to see this summer.

Download it here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PW1B7YA2

The pattern these days is for Echo & The Bunnymen, my headliner for the night, to take the stage next. I went back to the beginning and listened to their first album, Crocodiles, the special edition with bonus tracks. A great collection of songs, end with one of my favorite at the end, Over The Wall.

The tequila and cigar combination were for some unknown reason especially potent this evening, kicking my butt really hard. A beautiful night with stars shining through passing clouds. Cool enough to require a jacket to prevent getting chilled. After bothering the computer playing kids with my stinky breath, I dropped into bed by 1:30 AM.

Saw the opening

Reached up and touched white hot stars

Once upon a time

End of the concert

Seeks inanimate support

His firm grip is lost

TWO NIGHTS IN EIGHTY ONE

I screwed up my back Friday morning while exercising, sharp pain followed by constant aching all day long. This new aliment, along with the other existing aches proves that getting old sucks.

Continuing to work on the house, ready to rip off a new area of siding this weekend. More opportunities for injury.

Looking to something new. This night I decided to go back to 1981. First up was the British rock band The Pretenders, their December 16, 1981 show at the Old Dominion Theater in London. An excellent audience recording of some of their best music from their first two albums. Chrissie was sounding great while the guitar work was superb! A really rocking show. I had forgotten how good they were.

They were gaining in popularity following the release of two studio albums in 1980 and 1981. Their second album, Pretenders II, was release a few months prior to this show. The album would be the final release from the original lineup of the band, as shortly afterword the band would be fractured by the drug abuse that would take the life of guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, leading to a long recording hiatus.

If I remember correctly, I saw the original lineup at SUNY/Stony Brook, in the gym back in February 1982. I was transitioning from one job to another, taking a few months off to hang out at home during the winter. The Pretenders were frequently played on the radio station I listened to while finishing up my masters degree at the the University of Oregon. I liked them back then, I still like them now.

The paths beginning

Has not a care in the world

Felt like forever

Was a time to laugh
A life of youthful squander
But now he's crying

Trapped in this vessel
Spirit striving on clipped wings
Yearning to roam free

Mutiny in progress

A body in rebellion

Breakdown in command

The short horizon
Trees give way to nights stars
No limit above

A world in decay
The worst of us on display
Where are the heroes?

Download it here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DD0TMRBP

The second show to rock my world this evening was Echo & The Bunnymen, live at the Philadelphia East Side Club On October 15, 1981. A good quality audience recording. Someone in the club was really wanting to hear Over The Wall real bad, repeatedly calling for it towards the end of the show. Since it is a favorite of mine, I was hoping the band would play it too. Alas, they did not.

"Separately, what they're playing didn't seem that great. But somehow , when the four of them touched together, it ignited the blue paper. You could say to them, 'Play A to D' They'd all join in and play A to D, and it would just sound great. The four of them created some kind of chemical reaction." -Mojo, 1997

Song of the parents

Their children taught how to sing

The grand finale

Feet firm on the ground

Eyes looking up to the stars

Sky so far above

Gray hair on his head

Family awaits the end

Young man trapped inside

The whispering pines

Sound that goes on forever

Ears that stop hearing