Wednesday, November 29, 2006

What I heard at the airport

We had a 6am flight from our Thanksgiving vacation in San Antonio and the only open store at the airport at 5:30am was Starbucks. While waiting on the long line I was treated to one of my all time favorite songs, Lost in a Supermarket by The Clash. It was followed by what sounded like a mixed tape from my college days. I saw the Clash live probably about six times and they were consistantly amazing. I remember the show where Mick Jones smashed his guitar on the stage of the Palladium and at that same venue when they sang London Calling and ripped up a copy of the Post or was it the Daily News. The headline was predicting a Beatles reunion, the band sang "that phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust". The Palladium is now an NYU dorm-which houses the only Trader Joe's in NYC. We need more bands like The Clash now. Their songs meant something, they took in all genres of music and made it sound great and they put their heart and soul into their live show.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Marisa Monte at The Beacon

I'm amazed by the amount of music out there that I know nothing about. Last night I saw Marisa Monte at the Beacon. She is a huge star in Brazil and in the Latin music world. I would know nothing of her if it wasn't for Mike at AEG, who promoted the show. I don't think I've ever seen the Beacon that packed. Day of show they put 100 SRO tickets on sale and they all sold out. That's about 2900 tickets. I read that she hasn't toured the States in 6 years, so I'm guessing fans were starved. The staging was quite elegant, like Marisa. She performed the first song completely in the dark accompanied by 9 musicians. It reminded the of the Public Image tour where they performed behind a curtain. PIL had chairs thrown at them; this was not the case last night. A solo light shone on her face at the end of the song. She was seated for the first few song, playing acoustic guitar on a riser behind and above most of her band. The other guitarists were seated next to her. Lighted panels that moved, created a cocoon for the band. Marisa has a beautiful voice, which was heightened by the instrumentation around her: ukulele, flugel horn, trumpet (according to her site, at the suggestion of Phillip Glass, she added a trumpet/flugel horn) keyboard, something that looked and sounded like a cowbell. Songs were sung in Spanish. My college Spanish failed me. My ears were opened to some beautiful music. A natural siting: David Byrne in the lobby before the show.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

All Night Chemists: Point Of View

Point of View - The Making of a Video






Gabriel Trujillo, renaissance man and music lover shot this video on the ever scenic Brooklyn Bridge. Gabriel's vision was right in line with the direction Len and I were heading in. My idea was fueled by watching too many Beach Boys promotional videos from the late 60's early 70's on YouTube. I have Josh from The You to thank for that. Luckily it was mildly windy on the day it was shot. Luckily the pedestrian path is down the middle of the Bridge instead of on either side which would have eliminated me from the day's festivities. To quote U2-vertigo. No lip synching, just Len, Brandon and Andy hanging out on the bridge. There is a much cleaner version of the video on flurl. Watch it and enjoy.

Friday, November 03, 2006

A Gem: Poughkeepsie Live!



There are gems out there than can be unearthed. I booked the TV show Poughkeepsie Live! for All Night Chemists. They performed on it last night. Time Warner subscribers in the Mid-Hudson Valley, South of Albany area of New York can watch it. One act gets 30 minutes of airtime! Raj Sirohi leads an amazing team of volunteers who put on a top notch, profession show. Did I mention how friendly/accommodating everyone was? How much they enjoyed what they do? It was a great experience. For those unable to view it, the show will soon be streamed on the Chemists website. Len, Brandon and Andy rocked.
Set list:
Waste of Time
Open

Fine with Me

Look Me In The Eye

No Reason