Goldfrapp at Beacon Theater 4/29/2008

Last night I went to see Goldfrapp at the Beacon Theater.

Sometime ago I did go to Beacon to see Margaret Cho perform. Before that it was over 20 years ago. So this was the first musical concert I've been to since then. A flood of memories as I tried to locate where I was and how excited the whole experience was. Now, a concert veteran of sorts, it was business as usual. Another show. That same feeling of anticipated excitement no longer in me. I doubt I ever will get it back. All shows that I've gone to since has been built upon that first night. It was a bit emotional really. So onto Goldfrapp. In short, I thought it was a fantastic performance. Alison is top notch. Her voice is beautiful and she is beautiful. And she loves to wear one-piece numbers. This time around, a peach colored once peace with winged sleeves and pom-poms. She would extend her arms into the air as she let out a siren call and she seemed to be communicating with heaven. The lights would respond and imagery was perfect. The show began very mellow starting with a Seventh Tree number (which one was it? I have not learned all the names of the songs... shame on me). But I recognized those which I loved from her new album. True, Seventh Tree was a departure from Supernature, but the mix between those three albums together with Black Cherry worked very well on the set. The first three (or four) numbers were very pleasant and mellow indeed. The audience kept to their seats. Until Satin Chic and some got up to dance. I think it was after Satin Chic when she began singing Number 1. that people remembered they were at a concert and all stood up to move with the music. Strict Machine really got the crowd clapping along. Strict Machine live has a great build-up to the first verse. Just lovely.

The background was panels of what seemed like basket weave. There was video imaging in the background - usually psychedelic images with lots of colors, squiggles and shapes weaving in and out. Kaleidoscopes and candy. Ooh-la-la was done in some kind of "yahoo" fashion and it still worked. My favorites from the new album are A&E, Little Bird , Some People and Happiness. Happiness being the stand-out track when I first heard the album and that's the song she ended the show with during the encore. We didn't hear Koko or Ride a White Horse which I was longing to see them perform.

I was very pleased with the show and I really enjoyed it. After four albums, Goldfrapp is still not a tour- every -state in the U.S. kinda band. So I feel bad about people not getting the chance to see their shows in other states. Maybe they'll return with more dates. They did come back twice to New York during the Supernature days so maybe I'll catch it again if they return.

Oh, and I think this was the first band that incorporated harp playing as part of the set.

Here's a link to some pictures from this performance at some site. Don't miss Goldfrapp if you're a fan and they're playing near you. You'll love it.

Some are a melody and some are the beat

I think my iPod may be dying. I've had it for about 4 years now. I'm surprised it's lasted as long as this. Who knows, maybe it's just a little thing that the Apple people can fix. But I do want one of the newer ones. But right now, I can't think about buying a new gadget. But I do need my music for my commutes to and back from work.

The last show I went to was Moz's show back in October. So it will be 6 months until I go see Goldfrapp at the Beacon Theater. Should be nice. Then I've got The Cure lined up at MSG. I should have given up this ticket when they called it off the first time around. Because then they started selling for a night at Radio City Music Hall. That would be a better place to see them. That's where I saw The Cure for the first time in 86. Over 20 years ago.

It's a little weird going to see bands that I've seen so long ago for the first time and they're still going at it. When I was just 18, these guys were people I looked up to and thought they were so ahead of me in years. But now, I just realize that they're only a few years older than me.

Hmm... I feel a list coming along. Eh, for whatever reason and as reference to me in the future should this still be around.

I present, V's concert history (as close as he can remember it) covering the early years.

1985

Depeche Mode (Beacon Theatre)
Oingo Boingo (At The Ritz now Webster Hall)
The Damned (At the Ritz)

1986

The Cure (Radio City)
Simple Minds (Radio City)
Siouxsie & The Banshees (Radio City)
The Cure (At The Pier)
Depeche Mode (Radio City played for 3 nights went to 2)
Book of Love (The Ritz)
Erasure (The Ritz 1st U.S. show)
The Communards (The Ritz)
Book of Love (again The Ritz)
Book of Love (Somewhere in Long Island)

1987

Erasure (The Ritz twice)
At this time I was supposed to go see New Order with Gene Loves Jezebel and Echo & The Bunnymen (all in the same show) but I never made it. I was in bad terms with the people going and had to prepare my move back to Phoenix.

1988

Depche Mode (Compton Terrace before 101)
Echo & The Bunnymen (Mesa Amphitheater)
Depeche Mode (Compton Terrace during 101)
Book of Love (After the Gold Rush)

1989

Laurie Anderson (can't remember the venue)

1990

Debbie Harry (After The Gold Rush)
Book of Love (After The Gold Rush)
Depeche Mode (Somewhere in Atlanta)
Depeche Mode (A stadium in Phoenix)


1991

Front 242 (Club Rio)
Frontline Assembly (Silver Dollar Club)

1992

Morrissey (Compton Terrace) Can't remember if this was 91 or 92

Anyway, that's as far as I go. Let me assure you that the rest is mostly the same as above with the exception of:

Belly (in the 90s)
The Ramones (early to mid 90s?)
Kraftwerk (late 90s and as recently as 3 or 4 years ago)
The Psychedelic Furs (late 90s)
Marc Almond (late 90s)
Blondie (late 90s No Exit tour)
Delirium / Conjure 1 (early 2000s)
Diamanda Galas (early 200s)
Soft Cell (early 2000s)
Madonna (A couple of years ago )
Nitzer Ebb (A couple of years ago)
Pet Shop Boys (A couple of years ago)
Goldfrapp (A couple of years ago)

I could go to more shows today but I'm not as enthusiastic lately. Missed Skinny Puppy not too long ago and I recently missed out on Siouxsie last October and also Debbie Harry. I may even miss out on Yaz!! But I'm going to try and make it, if I can find a ticket when I'm ready to buy one. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I'm really tired of going to all these shows alone. Meant nothing before, but as the years have gone on, it has some sort of significance.

On Earth, no one can hear me scream

It's a total coincidence that I got a bug to get me some Sci-Fi books last week and then to find out that Arthur C. Clarke had passed away. This sort of thing happens to me all the time. Who do you think passed away the first time I got a telescope?

Now, if it was not a coincidence and I went to get some Sci-Fi books, you'd think at least one of them would be a Clarke novel. Not so, but I'm very sad to hear of his passing. He had visions of the future which was yet to be realized. He should have copyrighted his ideas.

Anyway, these are the titles I walked away with:

Frank Herbert's "Dune"



This was not really on my list, but I substituted this for a book I didn't find. I've always wanted to know what the fuss was about. I don't know anyone that's read this book but it is one of the most popular science fiction book ever written. Never seen the movie either so no spoilers.

Robert A Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange land"



I've read a couple of Heinlein's books and that was because an old timer stood next to me while I was checking them out and told me I should read his books. So I picked out a couple then and totally enjoyed them. So I can't wait to read this one of Heinlein's best work.


Philip K Dick's "Valis"



"God, as it turns out, is a virus perpetrated upon us by an orbiting satellite." Well, that's all the convincing I needed to get this in my hands. Can't wait to read it. Philip as most know was also the author of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" which was later turned into a movie called "Blade Runner."

There were a couple more on my list which I didn't find but will have to look elsewhere. Maybe a trip to Strand bookstore.

I know at least a couple of you like to read, so I'd like your opinions on my choices.

I wanted to get back into Sci-Fi / Fantasy reading because they have always brought me joy and I just love imagining and creating in my mind the worlds that these great authors draft for me. I'm also a sucker to some of the more light hearted fantasy series like that of Piers Anthony's "Xanth" series and David Asprin's "Myth" series. I got a couple of those too.

Obtaining concert tickets in the space age

OK, so things have changed. How many are you old enough to remember what it took to buy concert tickets? Did you have to take a day off from work? Did you have to ditch school? Did you have to wake up way early in the morning and drag yourself to the venue box office, get on line with people who have already been there hours earlier and hope for a good seat?

Used to be how it went. And maybe in some parts, it's still like that. Is it like that everywhere still? I don't know. All I know is that now, in order to get a ticket for a show, you got to the box office or get them on-line. And now they have this thing where you are alerted pre-sale tickets. You know, where YOU get a chance to buy a ticket before it goes on sale to the public. Meanwhile, everyone is getting that e-mail. It's nonsense really because I've never gotten a good seat during the pre-sales.

So I really want to see Goldfrapp at Beacon Theatre. It's a special place for me. It's the first venue I went to for my first concert experience. That being Depeche Mode on March 16, 1985.

In the past few years, I would try to get these tickets online and if I didn't quite like the seat, I would "search again" and it would pick a different seat each time until I could find one that's satisfactory and purchase it. This time around though it wasn't doing it. I kept getting the same nasty seat. So I came back the next day and still I was getting the real bad seats, like the ones in the "Obstructed View" area. Who wants that??

I let it go for a week or so. My only risk was that the show would be sold out. But I had a hunch that the *GOOD SEATS* were going to be open for the later sales. Turns out I was right. And it's been like that all along. And you possibly know this. I've always gotten better seats when I came in later in the game then when the sales first started.

So the lesson is: Pre-sale doesn't exactly mean you're getting the front center row. If anyone has gotten these seats on the pre-sales, then let me know. You want a good seat, wait around a little and then go for it. But then you risk the "sell out" thing.

You don't represent me!

This is a "You've got to be fucking kidding me!" moment.

It's just scary that there are still people making these kinds of speeches and getting away with it.

Want to know? Read here.

Thank you.

P.I.D. No. 15

Been a sicky for the past week. But getting better. Here are some quick post its. OK, people go on about the Pilot G2 pens but I hate the darn things. As you can see, they don't dry quickly and smudge thus ruining your "masterpiece."

Wilder on the sate of music

Read this interesting article Alan Wilder wrote for Side-Line about the state of music these days. Some interesting insights on sound quality (the decline of sound quality through mp3) and music distribution, etc. Click image for link.

I was too young to understand all this but late at night the TV would be on and my older brothers would be watching SNL. I laughed I guess because they were, not fully knowing exactly what they were laughing at. But some things I didn't even have to try to understand. Like when Chevy would take a fall in the beginning of each show. I'd have to say that the time when I really began watching SNL was about the time when Charles Rocket was in the show. It was also a time when there used to be a show called Fridays. That's when we first got a taste of Michael Richard's comedy. And if that wasn't enough late night comedy, there was also SCTV with Eugene Levy, John Candy, Martin Short, Catherine O'Hara, Andrea Martin, etc. Lots of funny stuff going on during that time. Smart, goofy comedy. Add to that Midnight Special and the British Kenny Everett Show, Monty Python and you'd wonder when TV went so bad? So I got the first season of SNL in order to watch all this stuff that have not had their re-runs recently. But don't be too surprised if you didn't find it as funny as it was back then. Just they way some things go. Chevy Chase saying "I'm Chevy Chase and you're not" seemed a lot funnier back then. But not to worry as there are still plenty of timeless funnies here. I've only been through two of the eight discs in this set. I'm waiting for the one season to come out when Blondie made their appearance. The whole thing reminds me of Junior High and subway cars covered in that wonderful graffiti. I thought they were great works of art.

So I had this transistor radio that I would place by the window and I think it was during Saturdays that Kasey Kassem had that top 10 radio show. I just wanted to find out which number in the top 10 Blondie's Rapture or The Tide is High made it to. Somewhere between Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 and John Lennon's Imagine. This was 1980 and rap music was mostly an underground movement at the time. But a band from the CBGB's punk scene brought it to the top 10. I certainly had never heard anything like it. When I first heard Rapture (it made it's debut on Solid Gold when Debbie was hosting it), I was wondering why she was talking throughout the song.


Here's a movie I can't live without Life of Brian, I think is one of Monty's best made film. Poke fun at religion, and you can't go wrong. I bought this for $20 at Borders the other day. It's a great value for a 2 disc set (The Immaculate Edition). It's tempting to watch it now, but would like to save it for a more appropriate time. It's almost here.

View & P.I.D. No. 14

View from an office, somewhere in Manhattan. A chilly, snowy and grey day. The view wasn't always like this. Whenever I came in the room, I would look out at this area and just be amazed with wonder and awe. The sky wasn't as visible as you see here. That empty area in the middle, where now there is so much sky is where the World Trade Center used to live.

Post-It-Doodle No. 14

These three tracks came up on my pod's shuffle this morning. And it made the commute this morning bearable.

Nitzer Ebb - Shame

Nitzer Ebb - Warsaw Ghetto

Frontline Assembly - The Blade

Post-It Doodlers!

Yep! There some others out there doing this!

First check out The Post It Project in which I'm a contributor now. And lots of links to others who are now doing Post-It Doodles. Some fantastic stuff out there.

Check 'em out!

P.I.D. No. 13

It's Post-It No. 13! and it falls on Valentines day. V-Day! So in honor of V-Day, I give you my "black hearts" post-it.

Deb's IF I HAD YOU video

Click image to see.

The Debster has a new video for "If I Had You." What I like about this video is that one, I think she looks great. And two, I love those old Debbie clips. It's a celebration of her career as a woman in rock.

Phone picture tags

Me and my brother are playing phone picture tag. He sends me pictures of the desert where it's 75 degrees, I send him pictures of the city where it's snowing and below 30 degrees. He tells me he's wearing shorts while I send him a picture of me all bundled up.

But I did like the recent picture. It reminds of the first time I moved to Phoenix and upon waking up in my brother's apartment, this was pretty much the image that I saw out the window. Clear, blue skies and hot air baloons hovering up the sky. Landscapes of cacti and other desert-y things. Anyway, it's quickly owtgrown as it would be to any New Yorker or anyone from a big city (I'm so over it...)

What is funny about this is that they (meaning my brother and anyone living out there in Phoenix). Think because we have a winter season here, that we must be miserable and want to be out there on the sunny side. That may be true to some people, but it sure isn't true of me. Anyway, in contrast, below is the picture I sent to him outside the Native American museum.

No doodles, just words.

I deserted The Monster Island sometime ago. The island and its occupants (The Monsters) have been calling my name saying things like "You are needed here." and "You can do much better here."

I don't know. Sometimes I feel like going there and visiting with the monsters. But then I tell myself that towards the end, really nobody cares. The whole "I'm doing it for myself" thing is such bull. Off course you're doing it to get someone to notice, react, interact and give you feedback. Otherwise, it would be done with pen and paper, and "only for myself." I do know for a fact that writing comes a lot easier when I'm all about the feelings and emotions. A particular event that I'm fond of or not so fond of.

Sigh... I will try and get back to the swing of things soon enough.

I may begin a new blog featuring just the knit projects. Who knows.

Currently reading:

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins

You know, I became a skeptic once I began to take science a serious look and started reading up on it. From the bits and pieces that I took from these books, I started wondering how people get so delusional about such things? I will get into it later, but not today. I'm still in the middle of the book.

Right, cheers, thanks a lot.

P.I.D. No. 12

I had this idea of bringing in my moleskine to do my doodling in during the day. But I keep forgeting. Perhaps I feel like I didn't want to make the post it doodles obsolete. You know, because they are SO popular.

Marc Almond has found it difficult to put up a couple of tracks for sale up on iTunes. These were left out of "Stardom Road." So because of said difficulties, he's kindly put them up in his MySpace page for free downloads.

Yazoo - Their remasters should be coming out soon (packaged with a DVD). They have already announced tour dates in the UK. Lucky bastards. Hope they come to the U.S. soon! I just think when you reunite and start touring and all, how about a couple of new songs? There doesn't seem to be anything like that in the works.

So here's the thing. Picture this. 1986. Young boys and girls on their way to the show.....

I mean, the show didn't even start UNTIL 11:30 and that was the opening act! By 12:30, Book of Love would come on to the stage and we were as awake and jumpy as anything. By 2 AM, the show would end - but that's when the disco began (well, he starts off with Yaz's "Don't Go") How do you not want to dance after all that jumping around for Love? We would leave by 4 AM and find ourselves one of those 24 hour diners to have a meal and talk and about it. None of us really had any nerve to even think about whether we were ever going to find love or not.

Comfort Zone

Lately, this has been sort of a comfort zone.

It all started back in the beginning of 98. I had the flu and I was out of work for about a week. I was looking for something to do. So passing by the fabric store I saw all this yarn in the window and thought, well, why not? So I came back with a couple of skeins of yarn, a pattern booklet and a pair of aluminum needles and began teaching myself to knit. Along the way I've made several sweaters, a lot of hats and socks, scarves and shawls. Today, a lot more men have taken up the craft and are making themselves, families and friends more comfortable with their hand made woollies for the winter. Check out the website Men Who Knit where I've gotten a lot of nice comments on this project.

I made this hat with nobody in mind. Just wanted to knit the thing. It's not the kind of hat that suits me. I just wear a basic black hat that I've made for myself.

I sent the picture to a friend who lives out in GA and he's expressed interest, so I will send it out to him. And I'm happy that he's requested more hats.

Submitted for Inspire Me Thursday's prompt: Comfort Zone

Details:

Pattern: Norwegian Banded Hat obtained from Countrywool
Yarn: Brown Sheep's Naturespun Sport
Needles: Size 3 & 5

P.I.D. No. 11

If I can pull off wearing a kilt, I'd totally do it. I was in San Francisco some years back and saw lots of men wearing kilts and I thought "that totally looks cool!" Not that you'd have to be hanging around Castro street to be wearing them, but it just should be a an option, you know? Well, it is an option for a lot of people, but is it for me? But I think we're a long way from men wearing kilts to work as part of the business-casual wear.

I went to Borders today looking for a calendar to put up at my desk at work. It's all about puppies, kittens and off course chickens and half naked fire fighters with that stuff. The one astronomy calendar I found was all opened up and nearly destroyed and there wasn't another one unopened. I settled on tigers. It came with magnets which will go on my fridge.

I also bought the book "In Search of Schrodinger's Cat - Quantum Physics and Reality." I'm hoping this will be the book that will for once help me get a grip on the subject.

Sprinkled with Almonds

Marc Almond has put up a couple of new tracks on his MySpace website. One in particular which I like is Smoke and Mirrors. An electro-disco track which will be released by the band Starcluster on January 14th. It might be available on iTunes. Doesn't state. The two other tracks will be released by Punx Soundcheck (Saint Now) which he's previously done work with and a track for a tribute album for the film maker Kenneth Anger (The Devil in Disguise). More to come as Marc will start work on his new album to be released in 2009. More info on his official website.

2007 in doodles

Back in June, I started posting some doodles that I'd been making with those yellow post-it pads. I found myself from time to time just doodling around at my desk and I decided to just put them up. I got some nice responses, so I figured I'd make it a regular thing. So for Inspire Me Thursday's prompt, I'm putting up a collection of them. Thanks for checking it out and Happy New Year!

You'll shoot your eye out, kid.

I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays. Enjoy the yule log!

I wanted to share a gift with you that a dear friend of mine got for me. It's called "COSMOS - A FIELD GUIDE." by Giles Sparrow. I love it! It's a giant book of the most fascinating pictures and descriptions of every object in our universe. So far as we have been able to photograph. Stars, galaxies, planets, etc. Perfect for coffee table, so I should get a coffee table. In fact, the book is so big, if it had legs, it would BE a coffee table. Where's Kramer when you need him?







Addendum:



I cast on today to work on yet another hat from the book 101 Designer One Skein Wonders. This time I chose the "Lattice Basket Cap." Worked in the same fashion as "In Between Seasons Cap" where you knit up the band for 20", seam it and then pick up stitches to work the crown. I'm just about to decrease for the crown. It's working up nicely with Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride Worsted in color Prairie Fire. The hat will go to the Shining Star who gave me the book mentioned above for Christmas along with the previous cap I finished.