Big Country at the Hollywood Palladium
This is a revised and updated review of one that originally ran in Music Connection, Sept. 29-Oct. 12, 1986. After Stuart Adamson joined the list of rock legends who died too soon when he committed suicide in 2001, his legendary rock band has become inactive save for a few reunion events. However, currently a revised and updated version is touring Europe, with original members Bruce Watson and Mark Brzenzicki. Rather than formally replace Adamson,Mike Peters (formerly of the Alarm) is the new vocalist, while Watson's son Jamie is playing some guitar parts. Derek Forbes replaces bassist Tony Butler, who retired in 2007. See http://www.bigcountry.co.uk/ for the band's official site.
Remember how Big Country were the latest guitar gods to surmount the rock pinnacle in 1983, a Band That Matters artistically, commercially and culturally? Then they were unfairly compared to U2, and their rock stock has been suspect ever since. It shouldn't be, because Big Country and U2 are actually complete opposites, even if they do come from roughly the same part of the world and share some musical and cultural attributes. U2's music is thin and airy, high-flying like a stealth plane. Big Country is the sound of the robust untamed free-spirit outdoors. Now that's been settled, let's just enjoy the greatness of Big Country on their own merits.
At the Palladium to support The Seer, the best demonstration of Big Country's appeal is how Stuart Adamson and his biracial band of Scotsmen kept the mosh pit going for nearly two hours. They hit the right opening note with "Wonderland," followed it with hits like "Fields of Fire" and "Bury Me Where the Rose is Sown" and kept going through a generous sampling of songs spanning all their albums, the crowd often singing along with no urging needed.
They're not dance, they're not punk, but they can sure play an irresistible beat. Over drummer Mark Brzenzicki's hall-filling beat go two guitars turning out Scottish-flavored melodies. Adamson's ability to get a bagpipe sound out a guitar is unique and may never be adequately replicated. Over that goes frontman Adamson's vocals, spitting out a contemporary spin on lyrics that carry a poetic Scottish flavor. Adamson doesn't just sing, he belts and shouts, and then calls out even more power to hit critical notes at critical moments. By comparison U2 frontman Bono's vocals are like a thick Irish mist blanketing a green, while Adamson's are like a storm battering a rough Scottish coastline.
"Just one more song and that's it," was how Adamson introduced "The Teacher," new material from The Seer. Except that wasn't the last song. The evening climaxed with the next song, "In a Big Country" as Adamson lept between stage and barricade to press flesh with some pressed flesh. That must have been a warm-up to an encore, because there was a bigger musical storm still coming, and it was two of Big Country's best at last: "Inwards" and "Harvest Home."
One more encore? This was a Springsteen-like encore, one that on its own runs the length of an entire show. After "One Great Thing" from The Seer and "The Storm" from The Crossing, Adamson asked, "Why stop when we're having fun?" They did another of their original numbers, "Lost Patrol," and then their usual encore cover, "Tracks of My Tears." It's such a complete change of pace that it aptly demonstrates their range--and then they further demonstrated their range with a more unexpected cover choice, "Honky Tonk Women." After one last song, a reprise of "Fields of Fire," at long last the sweaty swarming mob in the mosh pit could become disentangled, take a breath of stuffy Palladium air, and stagger off to whatever after-concert refreshment they had in mind.
When Big Country finds their biggest success, it's in their ability to carry their audience along with every note. The volume may be loud, the dry ice thick and stuffy, the stage lights may have a harsh glare, but none of that matters as the audience becomes subjugated to the sound of the music. Big Country isn't just a contender for the highest pinnacle in rock, they've found their own unique pinnacle in rock. It's time they were rediscovered as one of the ten greatest rock bands of the eighties, and possibly of all time.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Vintage Concert Review: Joan Baez in 1986
I reviewed Joan Baez' concert at the Universal Amphitheater, Los Angeles, on Aug. 8, 1986, but Music Connection never published it. She was just coming off the Amnesty International tour at the time.
What ideally becomes a legend like Joan Baez the most should be a concert that demonstrates just how much she's musically accomplished over her amazingly long and varied career. She played an hour and fifteen minutes at the Universal Amphitheater this week, which would have been sufficient for most artists but she's capable of much more.
Baez as an entertainer has been placed by the media into some neatly labeled boxes: sweet-voiced folksinger, champion of controversial causes, icon from the past. Her song set, however, only reflected a portion of her style. When someone shouted a request, she responded, "Don't worry, I've been doing that one for a quarter of a century." Unfortunately, however, she gave her music from that period very little time--she did the silly fifties' rocker, "Little Darling," but none of the classic folk that made her a legend in the first place.
Baez may be a legend because she makes the old seem new and she keeps trying fresh musical approaches, but even considering the variey of her set, she needs a longer program to adequately demonstrate that. Her song selections this evening stepped into the midst of contemporary popular music. She juxtapositioned "No Woman No Cry" (reggae) up against U2's poetic "MLK," and that up against a couple of contemporary folksongs--"Recently" and "Fairfax County"--that are relatively new to her. She found space for two of her biggest hits, "Dixie" and "Diamonds and Rust," but not "Love is Just a Four-Letter Word." She encored with the R&B of Stevie Wonder's "Clap Your Hands" but missing was her interpretation of the alt-rock "Shout" that she sang so successfully on her tour for Amnesty International recently.
This range of musical stylings was made possible by Baez' legendary soprano but also by her guitar-playing, simple but worthy of showcasing even songs that were originally heavily orchestrated. (Pianist Ceasar Casino accompanied her without overpowering her playing.) Her style remains folk at its base, made very apprent when she brought back her two support acts, Don McLean and Livingston Taylor, for Peter Gabriel's "Biko." Even though she was singing as part of a trio with these guys who are stars in their own right, her voice and guitar remained dominant. The folksiness of the arrangement came through as Baez emphasised the line, "A man is dead" rather than copying Gabriel's haunting soaring coda of "Biko, Biko."
Baez as a legend who remains relevant after three very diverse decades was obvious tonight but how and why she came to occupy the status she holds in American music wasn't. Her audience doesn't need to be convinced again and again how she remains relevant (and her most detracting critics will never admit she is, anyway). Now that she's shown us how she's much more than simple nostalgia, she needs to mount a tour that will allow audiences to savor the experience of her traditional folk and topical protest side-by-side with current pop songs, strummed out accoustically, and if she takes two or three hours to take us on that musical journey, then it will all be part of her still-becoming legend.
What ideally becomes a legend like Joan Baez the most should be a concert that demonstrates just how much she's musically accomplished over her amazingly long and varied career. She played an hour and fifteen minutes at the Universal Amphitheater this week, which would have been sufficient for most artists but she's capable of much more.
Baez as an entertainer has been placed by the media into some neatly labeled boxes: sweet-voiced folksinger, champion of controversial causes, icon from the past. Her song set, however, only reflected a portion of her style. When someone shouted a request, she responded, "Don't worry, I've been doing that one for a quarter of a century." Unfortunately, however, she gave her music from that period very little time--she did the silly fifties' rocker, "Little Darling," but none of the classic folk that made her a legend in the first place.
Baez may be a legend because she makes the old seem new and she keeps trying fresh musical approaches, but even considering the variey of her set, she needs a longer program to adequately demonstrate that. Her song selections this evening stepped into the midst of contemporary popular music. She juxtapositioned "No Woman No Cry" (reggae) up against U2's poetic "MLK," and that up against a couple of contemporary folksongs--"Recently" and "Fairfax County"--that are relatively new to her. She found space for two of her biggest hits, "Dixie" and "Diamonds and Rust," but not "Love is Just a Four-Letter Word." She encored with the R&B of Stevie Wonder's "Clap Your Hands" but missing was her interpretation of the alt-rock "Shout" that she sang so successfully on her tour for Amnesty International recently.
This range of musical stylings was made possible by Baez' legendary soprano but also by her guitar-playing, simple but worthy of showcasing even songs that were originally heavily orchestrated. (Pianist Ceasar Casino accompanied her without overpowering her playing.) Her style remains folk at its base, made very apprent when she brought back her two support acts, Don McLean and Livingston Taylor, for Peter Gabriel's "Biko." Even though she was singing as part of a trio with these guys who are stars in their own right, her voice and guitar remained dominant. The folksiness of the arrangement came through as Baez emphasised the line, "A man is dead" rather than copying Gabriel's haunting soaring coda of "Biko, Biko."
Baez as a legend who remains relevant after three very diverse decades was obvious tonight but how and why she came to occupy the status she holds in American music wasn't. Her audience doesn't need to be convinced again and again how she remains relevant (and her most detracting critics will never admit she is, anyway). Now that she's shown us how she's much more than simple nostalgia, she needs to mount a tour that will allow audiences to savor the experience of her traditional folk and topical protest side-by-side with current pop songs, strummed out accoustically, and if she takes two or three hours to take us on that musical journey, then it will all be part of her still-becoming legend.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Local Politics: Joseph Gordon Interview in Random Lengths
Random Lengths posted my interview with Carson council candidate Joseph Gordon online. Although he didn't win the March 5 election, he's got some interesting things to say about the city and its leaders: http://www.randomlengthsnews.com/blogs/Notebook/2013/02/candidate-gordon-were-the-laughingstock-of-the-south-bay/
Monday, March 4, 2013
Classic Concert Review: Billy Idol
NOTE: Many concert and album reviews I wrote during the eighties were published but many others weren't. Some of those unpublished reviews I'll be posting here over the next few months.
Billy Idol at the Long Beach Arena, March 21, 1984
Not many people can rock for two hours straight but Billy Idol can. He provided his own brand of polished punk (a contradiction, but a good one) at the Long Beach Arena on March 21 as part of his spring tour. Unlike the vast majority of British punk rockers recently, Idol has focused on polishing and improving the basics of punk instead of simply tacking on outside influences. He doesn't need a "who cares if it's in tune" attitude to get New Rock cred, and his music doesn't have a distorted bass line, either. He's got things in tune and in balance, at least by New Wave standards. Although some of the polish was swallowed by arena-show accoustics and signs of road fatigue, there was still enough punky pulse to make the evening worthwhile.
Idol is a musical artist whose looks are so often commented on that people forget he can sing. He's got a big belting classic rock 'n' roll voice, exactly like what Janis Joplin used to have (even if he's male and she was female). He has a tenor but belts a blues line--just like she had a soprano but could belt a blues line. He belongs in the same circle of vocal greatness she did, because like her, he's capable of injecting great tenderness and savagery into the same song, even the same note.
Although Idol as an entertainer can carry the two hours this show lasted, unfortuantely there were signs his voice was at the limits of the demand placed on it. The first several songs played as warm-up's, with the music often overpowering the vocals. Then came "White Wedding," when Idol hit his stride, and the rest of the show--particularly the highlights "Rebel Yell," "Love Calling," and "Do Not Stand in the Shadows," were an incredibly satisfactory experience even had the entire show stopped right there. Road fatigue showed again on "Dancin' With Myself," but Idol still found strength for two encores, his hits "Hot in the City" and "Boney Maroney." He'd be advised to place those songs in the earlier, slower portion of the set and make something else the encore.
Idol's current band includes guitarist Steve Stevens, as intergal to Idol's sound and shows as Keith Richard is to the Rolling Stones. Steve Webber is the bass guitarist, Thommy Brice the drummer, but the female keyboardist, who also does backing vocals, goes inexcusably uncredited. All worked as an ensemble behind the star, adding to the show without showing off and calling undue attention to themselves.
Even with road fatigue showing, the music was incredible. The visual part of the show--the lighting--wasn't. The green, purple, red, and blue spots were distracting and reduced Idol to a blob onstage--exactly the opposite effect of what stage lighting's supposed to accomplish. Plus, what's this cliche of killing all lights at the end of every song? Are we the audience too dumb to know the song's over unless the lights go out?
Although there's room for minor criticism of this show, however, the overall effect was simply incredible. Few artists of Idol's status--still trying to establish himself as a top star, basically--even attempt a two-hour arena show. Idol has everything going for him--voice, looks, charisma, audience, musical material, and backing band. After nearly ten years in the business, Idol's breaking--and that's encouraging to the rest of the New Music scene.
Billy Idol at the Long Beach Arena, March 21, 1984
Not many people can rock for two hours straight but Billy Idol can. He provided his own brand of polished punk (a contradiction, but a good one) at the Long Beach Arena on March 21 as part of his spring tour. Unlike the vast majority of British punk rockers recently, Idol has focused on polishing and improving the basics of punk instead of simply tacking on outside influences. He doesn't need a "who cares if it's in tune" attitude to get New Rock cred, and his music doesn't have a distorted bass line, either. He's got things in tune and in balance, at least by New Wave standards. Although some of the polish was swallowed by arena-show accoustics and signs of road fatigue, there was still enough punky pulse to make the evening worthwhile.
Idol is a musical artist whose looks are so often commented on that people forget he can sing. He's got a big belting classic rock 'n' roll voice, exactly like what Janis Joplin used to have (even if he's male and she was female). He has a tenor but belts a blues line--just like she had a soprano but could belt a blues line. He belongs in the same circle of vocal greatness she did, because like her, he's capable of injecting great tenderness and savagery into the same song, even the same note.
Although Idol as an entertainer can carry the two hours this show lasted, unfortuantely there were signs his voice was at the limits of the demand placed on it. The first several songs played as warm-up's, with the music often overpowering the vocals. Then came "White Wedding," when Idol hit his stride, and the rest of the show--particularly the highlights "Rebel Yell," "Love Calling," and "Do Not Stand in the Shadows," were an incredibly satisfactory experience even had the entire show stopped right there. Road fatigue showed again on "Dancin' With Myself," but Idol still found strength for two encores, his hits "Hot in the City" and "Boney Maroney." He'd be advised to place those songs in the earlier, slower portion of the set and make something else the encore.
Idol's current band includes guitarist Steve Stevens, as intergal to Idol's sound and shows as Keith Richard is to the Rolling Stones. Steve Webber is the bass guitarist, Thommy Brice the drummer, but the female keyboardist, who also does backing vocals, goes inexcusably uncredited. All worked as an ensemble behind the star, adding to the show without showing off and calling undue attention to themselves.
Even with road fatigue showing, the music was incredible. The visual part of the show--the lighting--wasn't. The green, purple, red, and blue spots were distracting and reduced Idol to a blob onstage--exactly the opposite effect of what stage lighting's supposed to accomplish. Plus, what's this cliche of killing all lights at the end of every song? Are we the audience too dumb to know the song's over unless the lights go out?
Although there's room for minor criticism of this show, however, the overall effect was simply incredible. Few artists of Idol's status--still trying to establish himself as a top star, basically--even attempt a two-hour arena show. Idol has everything going for him--voice, looks, charisma, audience, musical material, and backing band. After nearly ten years in the business, Idol's breaking--and that's encouraging to the rest of the New Music scene.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Link and Photo: Carson Gang Diversion Team
Here's the link to pg. 6-7 of 1/24/13 Random Lengths that contains my story and photo of the Carson Sheriff Station's Gang Diversion Team: http://issuu.com/randomlengthsnews/docs/rl_01-24-13_edition
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Book Review: Modern Prometheus
BOOK REVIEW: The Modern Prometheus by Yayoi Neko
For those who haven’t yet savored Yayoi Neko’s graphic art, her latest work, The Modern Prometheus, makes a splendid introduction. She’s an American artist (of museum-gallery quality) who creates beautiful graphic novels of male-male relationships. She’s inspired by both Japanese yaoi (male-male art and stories created for a female audience) and bara (for male audiences). Yaoi tends to feature young, slender, and beautiful effeminate-looking men, while bara tends to depict more muscular and mature-looking men.
Neko previously gave us her self-published The Adventure of the Concussoris Magnus, a liberal reinterpretation in graphic form of a Sherlock Holmes short story. Members of the GLBT community who fancied Guy Ritchie’s twisted takes on the Holmes universe, starring Robert Downey, Jr. are advised to seek out Neko’s graphic novels, which are like comic books for mature audiences.
Prometheus is Neko's liberal re-interpretation of an excerpt from Mary Shelley’s 1818 classic, Frankenstein, illustrating the narrative of a young sea captain who rescues Frankenstein from his monster and finds the “friend” he always wanted. Despite all the previous interpretations of the story, this telling provides a fresh perspective. There’s nothing resembling porn but the art definitely conveys the homoerotic implications of the words. It’s a slim volume, only about forty pages, but both the black-and-white art and the presentation are of superior quality. Neko calls this Issue #1 to indicate she plans a sequel.
Neko’s older work includes Incubus, a multi-volume series inspired by Japanese yaoi manga and currently published by Media Blasters. To purchase Prometheus, the Holmes work, and Lilin (an art book) e-mail the artist at thundertori@yahoo.com or check her DeviantArt site. Her Incubus series is available from Amazon, Rare Flix eBay store, or from emanga.com in a digital version.
Links to Neko artwork and order form(s):
http://thundertori.deviantart.com/art/Prometheus-Preview-Page-1-of-5-Read-Right-to-Left-284308588
http://thundertori.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d4lxovq
For those who haven’t yet savored Yayoi Neko’s graphic art, her latest work, The Modern Prometheus, makes a splendid introduction. She’s an American artist (of museum-gallery quality) who creates beautiful graphic novels of male-male relationships. She’s inspired by both Japanese yaoi (male-male art and stories created for a female audience) and bara (for male audiences). Yaoi tends to feature young, slender, and beautiful effeminate-looking men, while bara tends to depict more muscular and mature-looking men.
Neko previously gave us her self-published The Adventure of the Concussoris Magnus, a liberal reinterpretation in graphic form of a Sherlock Holmes short story. Members of the GLBT community who fancied Guy Ritchie’s twisted takes on the Holmes universe, starring Robert Downey, Jr. are advised to seek out Neko’s graphic novels, which are like comic books for mature audiences.
Prometheus is Neko's liberal re-interpretation of an excerpt from Mary Shelley’s 1818 classic, Frankenstein, illustrating the narrative of a young sea captain who rescues Frankenstein from his monster and finds the “friend” he always wanted. Despite all the previous interpretations of the story, this telling provides a fresh perspective. There’s nothing resembling porn but the art definitely conveys the homoerotic implications of the words. It’s a slim volume, only about forty pages, but both the black-and-white art and the presentation are of superior quality. Neko calls this Issue #1 to indicate she plans a sequel.
Neko’s older work includes Incubus, a multi-volume series inspired by Japanese yaoi manga and currently published by Media Blasters. To purchase Prometheus, the Holmes work, and Lilin (an art book) e-mail the artist at thundertori@yahoo.com or check her DeviantArt site. Her Incubus series is available from Amazon, Rare Flix eBay store, or from emanga.com in a digital version.
Links to Neko artwork and order form(s):
http://thundertori.deviantart.com/art/Prometheus-Preview-Page-1-of-5-Read-Right-to-Left-284308588
http://thundertori.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d4lxovq
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Book Review: Emus Loose in Egnar
Emus Loose in Egnar: Big Stories from Small Towns by Judy Muller (University of Nebraska Press 2011)
By Lyn Jensen
“With all the hand-wringing about the “death of journalism,” it is more than a little ironic that small-town newspapers have been thriving by practicing what the mainstream media are now preaching: Hyper-localism, Citizen Journalism, Advocacy Journalism—these are some of the latest buzzwords of the profession,” so begins Emus Loose in Egnar. “But the concepts have been around for ages at small-town newspapers.”
Award-winning journalist Judy Muller argues in her latest book that the press—in the form of print media industry--still thrives in small-town communities for “the corniest of reasons: our freedoms depend on it.” It’s a job small towns will probably always need done.
Some may take exception to Muller’s use of “corniest” to describe freedoms guaranteed under the First Amendment, but in Emus she guides readers through dozens of small-market communities and their newspapers. She finds towns where generations of journalists have, often at considerable risk, spent their lives reporting on racial strife and other extremely controversial topics. She finds even in relatively quiet communities, police blotter stories (such as loose emus in Egnar, Colorado), school sports, and local obituaries provide towns with a method of communication that new media simply can’t match.
Muller lives in the small town of Norwood, Colorado, when she’s not teaching journalism at USC, so she’s able to provide first-hand observations of that town’s rivalry with nearby Tellerude as reported through the local papers. Although she makes a convincing argument that community journalism in its print form isn’t dead (my primary employer Random Lengths is one of many outlets that prove that), she’s less successful at demonstrating a workable business model for professional journalists to follow.
Many of the businesses she spends time with have slim budgets and overhead, and don’t appear to boast full-time professional experienced or trained staff. Many are portrayed as somehow getting by with part-timers, volunteers, and a few people who admit they can’t write but object to being edited.
Muller’s book makes a persuasive case for the need for small-town newspapers but just how those papers are expected to provide a source of income for their publishers and employees—who sometimes risk firebombing and just plain dislike—is a more difficult question and a subject for another book.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)