Live from the Frankenstein Ballroom - Morrissey 10/23/07

Actually, more like Hammerstein Ballroom. But you know Morrissey. And why am I using the famous "Salford Lads" picture instead of something more current from Moz? Because if you had bought the "Queen is Dead" album which had a gatefold sleeve, and opened it up, you would see this same picture. The same album containing the picture which contained the single "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side" which he performed last night to the delight of many an old Smiths fans. One song in particular "Stretch Out And Wait" had transformed me back to those days in the mid 80s. A young V not going to school, but dreaming on the streets of New York City, walking in the rain listening to said songs.

As one commenter (Macker) stated taken from the Brooklyn Vegan Site:

"Being at a Morrissey concert is like playing 'this is your life' - each song brings me back to a specific time in my life and last night it was fun to go back to being 16... "

Other Smiths songs included:

Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before
Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want
Death Of A Disco Dancer
How Soon Is Now?


Early Moz solo fans would have enjoyed:

The Loop
Sister, I'm a Poet
Disappointed
Billy Budd
Jack The Ripper
Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself?
Tomorrow

And most recent ones:

Iris Blood, English Heart
The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores
First Of The Gang To Die

And the only song he sang from Ringleader: Dear God, Please Help Me

New York Dolls Cover: Human Being

New Songs: All You Need Is Me, I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris, That's How People Grow Up, One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell.

It would have been ideal for me to just give you the one setlist, but this isn't an ideal world.

And would you believe I was not about to go to this show? I got up yesterday morning and felt the beginning of headaches and figured it was going to last me the whole day. The mood shifted to me not wanting to take part in this show. I reasoned that I had seen Morrissey in Atlantic City only a few months ago. But an exchange of E-mails from one Celibate to another convinced me that I should indeed go. I'm so glad I did. The setlist was entirely different from the one in Atlantic City so it felt like a completely new show. The audience was better and so was the venue. As always, Moz shows get so much more exciting towards the end of the show as die-hard fans try to outmanoeuvre the security guards and try to make it on stage. I always want to cheer them on. You can't beat all this entertainment for just under $25.

Here are pictures of the show from some Flckr site.

Devenir gris

Midge Ure singing his version of Fade to Grey live in 2002.
Interesting to note that this tune was written by Billie Curie at a time when he was with the Gary Numan band. I wonder how it would have sounded like if Gary sang it. But it ended up on the debut Visage album sung by Steve Strange. I think it's one of those timeless classics that screams London of the early 80s.



I don't know whatever happened to the new Visage that was supposed to starting making some new music. But there is a page at MySpace of Visage MarkII (badly put together). There you can hear the new version of Fade to Grey which is nicely done.

Original video:

Before nightfall

"we should be drenched in wonders, but still we should have wonder left for the thing my companion, with his scientific training, would no doubt be the first to see. He would glance up, with that proprietary eye of the man who knows his constellations down to the little Greek letters. I imagine his exclamation. He would at first doubt his eyes. I should inquire the cause of his consternation, and it would be hard to explain. He would ask me with a certain singularity of manner for "Orion," and I should not find him; for the Great Bear, and it would have vanished. "Where?" I should ask, and "where?" seeking among that scattered starriness, and slowly I should acquire the wonder that possessed him.

Then, for the first time, perhaps, we should realise from this unfamiliar heaven that not the world had changed, but ourselves - that we had come into the uttermost deeps of space."

HG Wells - "A Modern Utopia"

A Day at the MET - Warning lots of pictures

It's been a while since I've been at the MET. So I took some time off to catch up and see some art. Here are some pictures. Seems like the pictures taken at higher resolution do not seem to come out well. So here are some that I think came out OK. The Rembrandt galleries were excellent! But they didn't allow any picture taking at those galleries. Most of these are Greek, Roman, Medieval and Pop.

GREEK & ROMAN

MEDIEVAL

EGYPT

ROMAN

POP

WARHOL

Who remembers? We do!

"Who after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"

This statement was made by Adolf Hitler murderer of 6 million Jews.

The vote by the House committee on Wednesday, condemning the mass killings of Armenians in Turkey as an act of genocide made the cover of The New York Times today.

"Mr. Bush appeared on the South Lawn of the White House before the vote and implored the House not to take up the issue, only to have the majority of the committee disregard his warning at the end of the day, by a vote of 27 to 21"

and

"Despite President George Bush twisting arms and making deals, justice prevailed," said Representative Brad Sherman, Democrat of California and a sponsor of the resolution.


Read the full article here.

From the resolution itself:

(21) President Ronald Reagan in proclamation number 4838, dated April 22, 1981, stated in part 'like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians, which followed it--and like too many other persecutions of too many other people--the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten'.

Reagan was the first president to ever mention the mass killings of the Armenians as genocide. No president after him ever used the term. Since then, there have been more genocides, most recently what has been going on in Darfur.

And just recently I had seen the movie "Screamers" on cable:

Directed by the award-winning, humanitarian activist Carla Garapedian, "Screamers" is an internationally produced documentary that covers the history of modern-day genocide and genocide denial, beginning with the Armenian Genocide in 1915, and how the world's inaction lead to other massacres.

The movie is supported by the metal band System of a Down so for all you metal-heads out there, you won't be disappointed with the music. I'm glad they decided to do this since SOD has a pretty big fan base.

A neo nebula from under the sun

Debbie's new album "Necessary Evil" comes out tomorrow. I will pick it up probably during lunch time at Border's and listen to it that night.

In the meantime, just got an e-mail from Live Nation that Ms. Harry will be performing at Irving Plaza on November 8. It will a nice place to see her as it's not such a big place.

The first time I saw Debbie live was in Phoenix in a place called After The Gold Rush. She was with Chris Stein so it wasn't all Debbie's songs. In fact the second number was Dreaming. The show was actually fantastic but that was ..gosh over 15 years ago. But I'm thinking this show might just be Debbie solo songs and I'm not holding my breath for any Blondie numbers. Should be interesting anyway. I know I've read a lot of bad reviews about her performance in True Colors and a lot of people even stated that because of that show, they will never see Debbie live. But I've seen her live in more than a few occasions, one being A&E's Live by Request where I was a lucky member of the audience and the performance was pretty good.

I'm posting the video for Sweet & Low. A song Debbie wrote about the late Andy Warhol and it's off the Def Dumb & Blonde record. Love how she looks in this video.

Post-It Doodles No. 7

A doodle post. Honestly, these aren't "planned" drawings rather just done mindlessly as the days drag on. They're not meant to be "thought out" art or anything. But still, I like to share. For whatever reason.

I'll be spending the weekend trying to straighten things out at my apartment. I have lived in this apartment for a year now and even after a year, I still need stuff. It will get there, but I need to make some room first and make good use of the space with some sense. So I have to rearrange things.

I know I'm going to need more than one desk and I saw one at the IKEA website that's just perfect for me. I hope to be getting it soon. It's big enough to do some art work and put my computer & music stuff on it.

What else? The weather sucks. I for one am into seasons and I wish the seasons to change immediately. You guys, you got all that summer time between June and September but I want my fall weather! It's hot and humid out there. It just shouldn't be.

All Supernova in a Big Bang fist

Siouxsie has joined the ranks of her old buddies like Marc Almond who has also turned 50 and Morrissey who has two more years to go. And She's done duets with both of them. No longer with the Banshees and no longer married to Budgie of Creatures fame, she is now just plain Siouxsie.

The album has gotten some really great reviews. I read on another review that this album is produced in part by the same producer as Goldfrapp's and there is hint of it in this release. Perhaps a duet with Alison in the future?

So Siouxsie burts all out all transformed in Into A Swan and then heads to the hard driving About To Happen. A clap along of sorts, you half expect Chrissy Hynde or Shirley Manson to join in on the choruses with Get up - Get out / Don't hang about / Get up - Get out.

Loveless is by far one of my favorite tracks next to Sea of Tranquility where she sings: There are more stars in the sky than grains of sand. Right!

They Follow You is a little Goldfrapp in the way she sings it like a starlet of the 40s (?) Agree?

Some choice lyrics.

I remember everything
I can still recall the pain
I was left there for dead
Can't play this game again
To and fro and back again
I'm senseless - I'm doubtless
Loveless

Dream of flight
In rocket ship
Piercing through
Lunar eclipse
If It Doesn't Kill you

Far up above - Up and away
Up in the ether of opal and grey
Biding out time at the end of a line
We're cast adrift on the doldrum shift
Drone Zone

At first I thought Drone Zone to be a little too screwy for me but it has grown on me.

Cool water
Washing over me
Wash away - Wash away
Clues of finger prints
Forensic traces
Footsteps on an ocean bed
Walk away
Sea of Tranquility

Sew up these eyes
Stitch up this smile
Embroidered tears
Drown the wishing well
They follow you - to sorrow you
They Follow You

I would catch a falling star
If you asked me to
But I can't seem to find one
To hold on to
Heaven and Alchemy

The first Banshees album I ever bought was Once Upon A Time - The Singles. It was around the same time Hyena (with Robert Smith) came out and while me and some friends were out shopping for records, I picked it up at the used bin section to buy it. My friend snatched it from my hands and put it back saying "I will not have you listen to this!" I had stupid friends like that. I obeyed. (why?) But you know I came back for it! After that, Tinderbox came out. And during that time I went out to Tower Records (RIP) and stood on a long line to get my Singles album autographed by Siouxsie and the band. My Singles record was a cut-out (those who know records know what I'm talking about) and I've often wondered if Ms. Sioux ever noticed it. But I was glad I now had an autographed copy of a Siouxsie record. The I went to see her perform for the first time at Radio City Music Hall. Before doing her first number (Cities in Dust), she came out on stage wearing this very elaborate Japanese cape of sorts. It was a great show. Got to see them again during the Seven Year Itch tour. I hope she tours the states with this album, I'd love to see her again.