Recommended listening

A few CD's that I can't stop listening to lately:

Tuner - "Pole" - Pat Mastelotto (drums) and Markus Reuter (Warr guitar) with a bizarre collection of music ranging from songs that evoke The Sugarcubes to others that could almost be radio friendly until they get weirded up in the middle! Very adventurous prog-rock for those not afraid of experimental music.

Porcupine Tree - "Nil Recurring" - An EP of songs that didn't fit the theme of the "Fear of a Blank Planet" CD. More music is always welcome from what I think is the best band out there right now. Prog-rock meets Metal meets Pop. Amazing material.

Ani DiFranco - "Knuckle Down" - A gift from my sister-in-law Cathie and I think the most consistant and accessible collection of music from Ani yet. Sad personal songs, a little bit of anger and a little bit of humor. Fantastic lyrics and she also does some incredible guitar playing.

One busy Goat!

A very busy, fun and physically exhausting St. Patrick’s Day weekend, beginning at 9 am on Saturday the 15th and ending at 2 am Monday the 17th. Saturday we met at the Valley Community Center in the old First Ward in Buffalo at 9 am to haul equipment in before the parade lined up. At Noon people began filling the auditorium and by the time the parade was over a little after 1 the place was elbow to elbow. Gigi came out and hooked up with her long time friend Eileen, and the band played three full sets until 5:45. The Center also brought in a special guest speaker - Gerry Adams, a member of Parliament for Belfast and the President of Sinn Fein spoke for about 3 minutes, flanked by Brian Higgins and Mayor Byron Brown, and then was rushed out of the building. Apparently he was supposed to speak in Buffalo two years ago but Customs had him on a terrorist watch list. The folks at the Center were also nice enough to provide us with Guinness and a corned beef lunch that gave us the energy to tear down our equipment and head down the street to W.J. Morrisey’s from 9 pm till 12:30.

The parking situation at Morrisey’s was terrible. A monster truck rally at the Arena had the lots and streets full. We were able to sneak into the side lot next to the bar, but paid the price with mud caked sneakers. Walking in we were greeted with the drunken screaming of a group of white-trash girls out front smoking, dropping the f-bomb like it was a Chris Rock concert. The club then crammed the band into a little alcove next to the doors and facing the bar where crowds of people were enjoying a Sabres game that we were about to drown out just in time for the third period. A foreboding start to the night, but we victoriously won the crowd over and had them singing along with us by nights end. Of course the Sabres won, and many of the people had been drinking all day but we’ll take all the help we can get!

Sunday morning began with me waking up at 7:30 and feeling like I had played football the day before. I dragged my aching body (yeah I know, poor me) to play at 9 am Mass, and then loaded up the car and headed out to the Buffalo Irish Center at 12:30 where we played from 3 till 8. When we did our sound check, and I hit my aluminum doumbek for the first time my hands cried out to me “Not again!” More Guinness, more corned beef and a very good reception from the crowd, who sang along and pounded tables helped to push us through the afternoon.

Monday I again loaded the car and after a stop at Moe’s for my free birthday Joey Bag of Donuts burrito, I headed down the 219 to Foster’s Pub in Ellicottville. This was the last time Foster’s was going to have live music on St. Patrick’s Day as the owners were retiring and the bar was closing. We started at 6 and ended up playing four sets of music until 12:30! People just kept pouring into the place all night until I couldn’t figure out where they were putting everyone. As it was, you had to go outside and around the back of the building to get to the bathroom in a decent amount of time. The crowd sang along loudly, danced and cheered and made it a very memorable night. Probably the best reception to music I’ve ever been a part of. Again, the beer and whiskey I’m sure had a lot to do with it, but we did manage to play quite well considering it was our fourth show in three days. Home by 2 am with the pleasure of knowing I had Tuesday off from work. What a weekend!

Adrian Belew Power Trio at The Tralf

Wow! That's all I can say about the Adrian Belew Power Trio at The Tralf last night. I anticipated a good show, knowing beforehand that Belew would be doing some familiar solo and Crimson material, but I didn't expect the direction of some of the instrumentals. To say the band went "out there" would be an understatement. They were WAY out at times and we were all blown away. Blown away that they could do such a beautiful song such as "Matchless Man" one minute and then launch into a jazz-fusion/avant garde/hard-rock instrumental the next.

Some thoughts - Belew's playing and his guitar (Parker Fly) sound are better than ever. Eric Slick (20) played the evening like a cross between Steve Smith and Keith Moon and did a great job on an impromtu drum solo when a fuse blew early in the show. Belew commented that this was one of the benefits of having a great drummer. Just in case of moments like these.

Julie Slick (his 22 yr old sister) is hands down one of the best bass players I've ever seen. Even our waitress admitted she "tore it up". In fact, the two of them easily handled Crimson material without being carbon copies of Tony Levin and Bill Bruford. They played the parts, but played them their way, leaving nothing lacking in their interpretation.

The band looked and sounded like they were having a blast the whole night and it was refreshing to hear a set that offered such a variety of styles. Great too to hear "Big Electric Cat", "Neurotica" and "Thela Hun Ginjeet". Also great to hear they are going into the studio at some point for a CD of new material. Well worth braving the winter storm for this show.