Rock and Roll

Tuesday night was the big Arena Schlock Rock show at the Xcel. [I'm eternally annoyed by that stupid spelling- same thing with Qwest.]

I spent an hour in traffic after work, and found an open meter (gotta love St. Paul- free after 4:30). We had a bite to eat and a few pre-show beers at Great Waters Brewing Co., then headed in just before 7:30. Mal had been to the show the night before, as well, so we knew Pearl Jam would be starting on time.

Our seats were in the club level, section C27. They would be great seats for a hockey game, but not for a concert. I can't believe the face value of my ticket was $86! With TicketMonster charges, that's over 100 bones! Mal got the two tickets for a total of $100 on eBay, but I'm going to avoid him for a while, hoping he forgets I owe him money. Here's the view from our section, from the arena's Web site. (Although, we were in the last row, so it was actually a little further.)


The only band I've seen in arenas in the last 10 or 15 years is Phish. I've always had pretty decent seats. They also have a top-notch sound guy, and the best light show of any band out there (with the possible exception of Pink Floyd). Phish was my favorite band, so I was trying hard not to compare the Pearl Jam/Petty concert experience with a Phish concert. It was hard, though, and I kept thinking about how much I miss Phish.

I've heard people talk about how great the sound system is in the Excel. I wasn't all that impressed. It was kind of muddled during PJ, and could have been louder. Here's the Pearl Jam setlist:

Interstellar Overdrive/(Corduroy)
Severed Hand
Hail Hail
Love Boat Captain
World Wide Suicide
Marker In The Sand
Given To Fly
Even Flow
Light Years
Not For You
Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
Come Back
State Of Love And Trust
Glorified G
Black
Life Wasted
Alive

When I read the setlist, and saw Floyd's Interstellar Overdrive listed first, I was very confused. There was some intro music playing as they took the stage. It sounded vaguely familiar. I'm not sure if the band actually played this song for a bit, or if it was just piped over the PA. When Eddie Vedder announced that they were going to play Love Boat Captain, there was some booing from the crowd. Did they play it in reference to the Viking's boat scandal? I think some people thought that's what was going on.

Luckily, they played some early stuff during the end of their set. Butchie loaned me their latest CD, so I was somewhat familiar with the new songs. Mal had me excited for a Who cover, but sadly, it was not to be. Eddie had a great stage presence, running all over the place, pouring wine for the people in the front row, and playing a lot more guitar than I realized he would (and sounding pretty good). I wasn't impressed with Mike McCready (lead guitar). His solos seemed uninspired.

I didn't realize until a few days before the show that Matt Cameron, formerly of Soungarden, was PJ's drummer now. He was the highlight of the show for me. The drums were nice and loud in the mix, and we had a great view of him. He was all over the place. Good stuff.

Petty's set was basically full of his greatest hits, with a few new tunes thrown in. The band was very tight, Petty's voice sounded good, and Mike Campbell's guitar solos were fantastic. Halfway through, they brought Vedder up to sing on The Waiting, which got me pretty psyched- I hadn't seen it on any of Petty's recent setlists. One problem: Eddie's mic wasn't working. The Strib's Jon Bream couldn't have been paying very much attention- he didn't even mention that in this review. Eddie sang a verse by himself, and you could hardly hear anything. Thankfully, they got him a new microphone before the encore, when he came up for American Girl, which sounded great. My favorite part of the Petty/Heartbreakers set was a cover of Mystic Eyes, a Them (Van Morrison) cover. It rocked as hard as anything Pearl Jam played.

Overall, I had a good time, but I realized that there's a reason I don't go to arena rock shows. I'll stick to First Ave and other clubs for live music.

Arena Rock Revisited

I'll be attending the Pearl Jam/Tom Petty concert at the Xcel tonight. I wasn't planning on going, but then I found out Mal had an extra ticket...I'm getting pretty excited for it. The only time I saw Pearl Jam was in November of 1991, at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium. It was Smashing Pumpkins/Pearl Jam/Red Hot Chili Peppers. I was there to see the Chili Peppers, and I thought both of the openers stunk. (This was right before Pearl Jam started getting serious radio play.) Jeff Ament had all sorts of problems with his bass sound- it kept cutting in and out. I think it was a really harsh crowd, as Billy Corgan got hit with a full cup of beer, and I believe both openers cut their sets short.

I loved the first two Pearl Jam Albums (I think 95% of my generation loved Ten, but really stopped paying attention after that. I've always respected the band- their reluctance to sell out; even taking on TicketMonster. Supposedly they put on a great show, so I'm ready to rock out. The boys are starting to look a little old. At least Eddie Vedder grew his hair out a little. I saw a picture of the band a few years ago, and didn't believe it was them.

I'm also quite stoked to see Tom Petty. Luckily, his setlists include plenty of his classic stuff, so I'll know most of the songs.

I've never been to the Xcel, which I hear is a good place to see arena rock. I cannot remember the last time I saw a non-Phish concert at a large arena. I've seen my share of outdoor festivals over the years, but the last time I saw an arena rock show (other than Phish) was a long time ago- 10 years? 15 years? I know I saw Metallica at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in the fall of '92 or spring of '93 while I was attending Drake. I saw the Allman Brothers at the Target Center a little later- '94? I'll have to go through my ticket stubs...

Quality Late-night TV

My brother called me just past midnight. "Springsteen's about to be on Conan."

Cool. I turned the television on, and went to channel 11. Commercial. Another commercial. And another. I finally got bored, and flipped through a few stations. I stumbled into the most disturbing movie scene I've ever witnessed. Worse than anything I saw in Faces of Death or Faces of Death II. It made me more uncomfortable than any scene from Happiness or Gummo.

It was Emilio Estevez teaching a bunch of grade school hockey players how to line dance. On a hockey rink. Wearing skates. I thought it might be Mighty Ducks XIV or so, but I guess it was just D2. I'm sure the rest of the movie is pretty bad, but this scene was unfathomly bad.

I forgot about The Boss! Panick-stricken, I switched back to NBC, right as they went back to Conan. Phew. Instead of introducing Bruce Springsteen, Conan gave a tease ("Bruce Springsteen will be up in just a little bit"), and then said he'd like to sing a lullaby to all the kids out there. This skit lasted a minute or two, and then...another long commercial break.

Finally, nearly 15 minutes after Dave called me, Bruce started singing a song. He had somewhere between 20 and 30 people on stage with him (I'd guess 27), including a Bonnie Raitt-looking woman playing guitar, a joyous accordian guy, an angry young man in a suit playing egg shakers?, a fireman playing the spoons, a mandolin, dobro, 2 fiddles, banjo, backup singers, about 10 horns, and many, many more.

Bruce played an anti-war tune, Bring Them Back Home. It was filled with a bunch of 30-second breaks (solos) from various instruments. As the song finished, Conan came out, shook Bruce's hand ("Thank you so much, sir") and said into the microphone "We'll be back with more from Bruce Springsteen."

The next commercial break wasn't quite as long. Same big band up on the stage, but who's that tall, dorky-looking redhead strumming a guitar on the left-hand side of the stage? Conan? Conan! He looked nervous as all get-out- quite awkward. (Not that I blame him. Jamming with The Boss?) Bruce even cajoled him into stepping up and singing the repetitious chorus with him into a single mic (Steven Van Zandt-style). I can't recall the song they sang, but it featured a ton of horn action from Conan's boys.

Great stuff. Thanks for calling me, Dave.

San Francisco trip highlights, Part I

It was over three weeks ago, but I never really wrote anything about our fantastic trip out to "Shaky Town." (OK, does anyone actually use that nickname? I read it here.)

We arrived very late Wednesday night, and Matt picked us up from the airport. Our first impression of their apartment- wow. Really nice and spacious, lots of windows, and only a couple blocks from the bay. As the weekend progressed, we realized even more what a great location they're in- tons of good restaurants and bars right down the street, and running/walking/biking paths along the marina 2 blocks away. Rather incredible.

Thursday morning Jenny and I took the 40 minute walk down past Fisherman's Wharf, in order to take the ferry over to Alcatraz. We had heard nothing but good things about the Alcatraz tour, and we weren't in the least bit disappointed. It's a surreal experience. I highly recommend it.



We met up with Matt, grabbed some lunch, and headed to North Beach, old Beat stomping grounds. We hung out in the fabulous City Lights Bookstore (no Lawrence Furlinghetti sightings), then over to Vesuvio, where Kerouac and Neal Cassady used to have drinks and read poetry.

On Friday, Matt and I rented mountain bikes. On the way there we walked down Lombard, "The Crookedest Street in the World." I took the obligatory photograph, and cursed the bad grammar.

We biked down to the water, over to the Golden Gate Bridge, and then crossed it into Marin. After an agonizing climb for 20 minutes or so, wondering out loud why we weren't on road bikes, we found a trail to ride. That answered our question. We didn't find much singletrack, but there were some nice steep hills to bomb down and climb up. A suicidal green snake slithered out in front of my bike, and I didn't have time to stop. He limped (what's a snake's version of a limp?) off into the brush, and I can only hope he survived. We were without a map, and got a little lost, making our trip last a bit longer than planned. But it meant a detour through beautiful Sausalito (complete with pizza). On the way back over the Golden Gate Bridge, the winds were some of the strongest I've ever felt. Extremely frightening on a bicycle.



Since I've been working on this post for more than two days, and I'm not even halfway through my recap of our trip, I'll post this much, and say to be continued...

Good-old colonialism

We watched Rabbit-Proof Fence last night, and it was a fantastic movie. I remember hearing good things about it when it came out a few years back, but never got around to watching it.

Another one of those heartwarming details of history you never really learned in school- assimilation. In the early part of the twentieth century, in their Australian colony, the British government decided that "the destiny of the natives of aboriginal origin, but not of the full blood, lies in their ultimate absorption by the people of the Commonwealth, and it therefore recommends that all efforts be directed to that end."

"Half-castes," or children of mixed descent (partly European), were stolen from their families, and put into orphanages, where they were forced to learn, act, and talk like Brits (no native languages allowed). They would then marry whites, ensuring that the native blood would be further dilluted. Similar Nazi-like practices were also common in the US when it came to dealing with indigenous Indians.

I'm probably making this sound like a quite depressing movie, but it has many uplifting moments, and it's definitely worth seeing. The three young Aboriginal girls, who had no acting experience, do a fabulous job. On a scale of 0-5, where 0= hated it; 1=disliked it; 2=indifferent; 3=liked it; 4=loved it; 5=instant classic, I'd give it a strong 4. Highly recommended.

Happy Summer Solstice!

(Or Winter Solstice, if you're in the southern hemisphere.)

Enjoy the extra sunshine today- I know I will!

Matt and Joy, you should go to that labyrinth we found- there's probably a cool pagan ceremony going on today...

Time Management

I haven't exactly been diligent in my blogging lately. I still planning on writing more about our wonderful trip to San Francisco. I saw X-Men 3 last weekend, and I plan on posting about that. One of the main things I wanted to write about when I started this blog was our wedding and honeymoon. There's also the sports-themed blog, and I've slacked even more on that one.

It's difficult to stay on top of everything, though- especially now that it's summer. Between June and September, I try and spend as much time as humanly possible outdoors, which means less time to do everything else. Sometimes I wish I had a magic stopwatch, so I could stop time periodically, and get caught up on things.

This weekend was tough, since the Telluride Bluegrass Festival was going on, and I wasn't there. Lisa wrote about that sad feeling on her blog.

On the bright side, my good buddy Mike Hyland was in town, so I got to hang out with him.

I'm working on uploading more photos to my flickr page. I just put together a set from our San Francisco trip. Click here to watch a slideshow.

Important Theological Questions

Took this snapshot down in Mankato, after the Moondogs opener. Speaking of the Moondogs- a rainout Friday night foiled their plans of sweeping Alexandria, to climb out of the cellar. A victory tonight will still get them out of sole possesion of last place.

The pitching staff has a 1.70 ERA, but thanks to a .205 team batting average & 27 errors in 14 games, the team has been outscored 52-33. The 27 errors have led to 27 unearned runs!

Eyesight to the Blind

Mose Allison will be playing at Mears Park (St. Paul) Friday evening at 6:45 PM. I know almost nothing about Mr. Allison, other than the fact that he wrote Eyesight to the Blind and Young Man Blues, songs that the greatest rock and roll band of all time, The Who, covered. There's a great exchange between Pete Townsend and Keith Moon during the concert that was released as Live at Leeds (easily the greatest live album of all time, even if you don't think The Who were all that):

Townshend: "We'd like to carry on now, and play a song originally recorded by Mose Allison, who's really a jazz musician 'n' I did read something on one of his record covers which said he was a jazz 'sage.' Quite what that means, I don't know."

Moon: "He'll flavor chicken."

[audience laughs]

Townshend: "And-- [chuckles] 'n' we picked up quite a number of his songs; 'Eyesight to the Bilnd,' which is on the 'Tommy' album, and also this song, which I think 'as gotta be one of his best. It's one of 'is own compositions which he wrote when he was about forty."

Moon: "Teenager!"

Townshend: [chuckles] "Just a mere teenager 'n' he called it 'Young Man Blues.' "

I heard Mose's version of Young Man Blues on the radio this morning, moments before I ran out of gas, and it was great- smooth and swingy piano-driven jazz (as opposed to the blues I would have expected). I'll be at Mears Park tonight- let me know if you're interested. I'll be the guy in the front row yelling out "A Quick One!" all night long.

A moment of silence, please...

I just found out that my trusty 1989 Dodge Caravan will be making a trip to the great parking lot in the sky. This vehicle served me well for the past 1 1/2 years, after 15 productive years with the Butchert family. I had hoped ol' Rusty would just get me through the winter of '04/'05, and he made it through 2 winters like a champ.

I actually got a double dose of vehicle hijinks this morning. On the way to work, motoring down 394, the van started coughing and lurching, the telltale signs of running out of gas. I knew I was low, but thought I had another gallon or two in the tank. Luckily, I was near the Louisiana Avenue exit, and I got over just in time. My van jerked up to the top of the ramp, then died as I turned right onto Louisiana. I coasted down the hill in neutral, and was able to turn the corner before my momentum ran out. Have you ever tried pushing a van by yourself? Not fun. Especially trying to push & steer at the same time. Luckily, two young guys jumped out of a car and helped me out.

I got the thing gassed up, and jumped back onto 394 in a state of elation- what a close call! Talk about timing! I should have been stranded on the side of the freeway! This feeling lasted approximately 3 minutes, as the van started acting funny on the Ridgedale Drive exit ramp. I was on the phone with Jen at the time, and said "Oh shit! I'm pretty sure I have a flat. Gotta go."

I pulled into the Ridgedale Shopping Center parking lot, and got out to survey the damage. Huh? All four tires looked fine. Hmmm...what was making that sound? I got back in, and started driving. Oh, boy- this felt a lot worse than a flat! Think of metal on metal- very, very unpleasant. A grinding, grating feeling & sound, coming from the front of the vehicle. Axle? Transmission?

I got a call from the garage a little while ago, and it needs a couple ball joints, wheel bearings, blah, blah, blah...in other words, $1200 to get the car "driveable." So long, sucka! Been good knowing you.

The Boss and the BoDeans

Maybe this is common knowledge, but I haven't heard anything about it before. The BoDeans totally ripped off Springsteen's Badlands when they recorded Good Things. (No, not Good Thing, by Fine Young Cannibals. It's the one that goes "No, no, no, don't pass me by/See, I can see good things for you and I.")

I was listening to Darkness on the Edge of Town the other day, and right after the Badlands sax solo there's a bridge/interlude where the song mellows a bit, and Bruce is humming. I immediately was transported to the early 90s, when that BoDeans song was severely overplayed on seemingly every radio station.

Both song are in the key of E, with nearly identical chord progressions, so it makes sense that they sound alike. But I think the BoDeans were listening to Badlands when they wrote the song.

Interesting Fact

From Salt: a World History by Mark Kurlansky

The Italian mainland was originally much farther away from the islands that are now the city of Venice. The area between these islands and the peninsula of Comacchio was called the Seven Seas. "To sail the seven seas" meant simply sailing the Seven Seas -- accomplishing the daunting task of navigating past the sandbars of those treacherous twenty-five miles.

About A.D. 600, Venitians started using landfill to extend the mainland closer to the islands of modern-day Venice.

This is a fascinating read. Between this, Nathaniel's Nutmeg, and Krakatoa (which I'm in the process of listening to), I'm learning a ton about the spice trade. Very interesting stuff!

Prairie Home Companion on the big screen

Jenny and I saw the film version of A Prairie Home Companion on Saturday night. It was interesting to be in a movie theater with so many geezers seniors.

Im won't get into any details, since most people haven't seen it yet. If you're a fan of the show, you should see it. If you're a fan of good old American folk music, you should see it. Even if you're not a huge fan of either, it's probably worth seeing if you're from the Twin Cities (particularly St. Paul). The entire movie was shot on location, although 95% of the film takes place in the Fitzgerald Theater.

It definitely does not feel like a typical Robert Altman movie, although there are some scenes (particularly those featuring Meryl Streep and Lilly Tomlin) that have the Altman-style improv feel to them. Overall, it's a fun movie to watch, though some of the plot devices seemed meaningless to me. Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly steal the show as a singing cowboy duo.

If you see it, let me know so we can discuss...

It could all change in a moment...

Anyone watching the news Saturday night in the Twin Cities would have seen a story about a car accident that killed two people in St. Paul. The Pioneer Press and Star Tribune newspapers covered the story, as well.

My beautiful neice Julia and both of her grandmas were in the Pontiac Montana that was involved in the crash. Thankfully, they're all OK.

Mary Ann (my sister-in-law's mother) was driving, and my mom was in the passenger seat. Julia was in her car seat in the back. They were on their way to the hospital, to go see their brand-new granddaughter. They were heading north on Snelling Avenue, ready to turn right onto Concordia, in order to take I-94 into downtown St. Paul. There was a "CRASH!" that my mom said sounded like an explosion, and suddenly there were two cars skidding & spinning towards them. Mary Ann had the presence of mind to step on the gas, and avoid the Camry, that would have smashed into the side of the car, which my mom is positive would have killed them all. While they were able to avoid the Camry, the Ciera caught the front of their vehicle, spinning them into a light pole.

My mother is bruised and sore, but that's really the extent of their injuries, thanks to some great reflexes and a super-safe vehicle. Remind me to never again bad-mouth SUVs!

The Oldsmobile Ciera was sitting at the stop light at Snelling, when the Camry came up the exit ramp full speed (witnesses estimate 60-65). The driver of the Camry claims his brakes weren't working. The Camry sideswiped one car, then rear-ended the Ciera. The back seat of the Ciera was pretty much squashed, and two people were killed.

It's a horrible tragedy, and I feel for the families involved. But mostly, I feel relief. While Dave and Cathy were at the hospital, basking in the glow of their beautiful new baby Esme (Yes! She has a name!), both of their mothers and their daughter were nearly killed. Can you imagine that phone call? Absolutely horrifying.

This incident helped put things into perspective for me (as it should). Don't forget to tell your mom (et al) you love her. You never know...

Baby Moore!

Jenny and I had our baby!



For more, click here.

Adult Videos at the Library?!?

I've been slacking a bit on the blog front recently, but I do have an excuse. Our cable went kaput the other day, meaning we have no Internet access at home. It's been a long time since I have not had access to the Web at home. We had Internet access when I was living at 1303 East Hennepin, which means it has been about nine years since I've been without access to the Web. It's totally crazy how dependent I've become. The last few days have been so strange- no fantasy baseball, bank account access, weather forecasts, blogging, email, news...thank goodness I have access at work, otherwise I may have gone off the deep end. It makes me think that I might need to "cleanse" myself, and go a week or two without online access. I feel like an addict right now.

So, a guy walked up to the reference desk yesterday, and asked who is in charge of purchasing for the library system. I gave him a contact number. Turns out he's producing a how-to drywall DVD, and wants to market to libraries. Then he asked if there's a way to see what the library already owns on the subject. I brought up the library catalog, and showed him a list of videos about drywalling. One children's VHS showed up, and two adult videos.

He said, "the library has x-rated videos?" (I detected a glimmer of excitement in his eyes.)

"No- those videos are intended for an adult audience, as opposed to the childrens' videos."

This experience made me realize that there may be a market for porn involving drywalling...

Goodfellas Revisited

A lot of people I know consider Goodfellas one of the greatest movies of all-time. My impression of it had always been pretty lukewarm. Ray Liotta annoyed me, I wasn't a fan of the constant voice-overs, and the ending seemed to be a letdown. (Although I'm pretty sure that I never actually watched it from beginning to end.)

I love Martin Scorsese, I'm generally a fan of gangster movies, and I'm a huge fan of the Sopranos, which was heavily influenced by Goodfellas. (24 actors have appeared in both productions, most notably Lorraine Bracco and Michael Imperlioi.) So I decided to give it another shot, and go into it with no expectations. I remain disappointed.

(If you've never seen Goodfellas, but plan on seeing it someday, you might want to stop reading- there will be spoilers.)

Here's what I liked about the movie:

• Scorsese's directing- this guy is undoubtedly one of the best motion picture directors ever. The visual style of the film is great throughout. I especially like the occassional freeze frames.
• One of my favorite scenes in the film is when the camera slowly fades in, and, as it focuses, we realize we're looking down the barrel of a gun, held by Henry's wife. Then we figure out it's Henry's point-of-view, and he just might be waking up to his demise.
  
• The soundtrack- great stuff covering a huge time period, including plenty of 70s-era Stones.
  
• Joe Pesci- he stole the movie with his portrayal of the brutal Tommy DeVito. The scene at Tommy's mom's house, when they've got a not-quite-dead Billy Bats in the trunk is brilliant.
• The best scene in the movie, hands down, is the montage that begins with the two corpses in the pink cadillac. The instrumental piano interlude/outro to Layla begins as the camera slowly pans up the grill of the car, revealing Johnny Roastbeef and his new bride, gunned down in their hot new ride (she's wearing the flashy fur coat that enraged Jimmy, as well). The music continues, as we are shown the dead bodies of everyone Jimmy has double crossed, simply because he doesn't want to share the spoils from the big airport job. (Wow. This may be DeNiro's least redeeming character ever. At least he doesn't want to bump off our hero. At least, not yet.)

Here's what I didn't like about the movie:

• The constant voice overs- I've never felt strongly about VOs one way or another. If the movie flows, I'm usually cool with it. Didn't Stand By Me have Richard Dreyfus narrating throughout? However, Ray Liotta's constant yapping got to me, big time.
  
• The aging of characters seemed to be indicated solely by adding some grey to their hair color (and, in DeNiro's case, give him big, ugly glasses).
• The long, drawn-out scene towards the end, where Henry's being followed by a helicopter, and has to make dinner, unload guns, and deal with a bunch of dope in just a few hours didn't work for me. It was supposed to be extremely dramatic, but the only thing I enjoyed about it was the background music.
• I guess my biggest problem with Goodfellas remains Ray Liotta. To love the movie, you've got to love the protagonist. And I don't love Ray's Henry Hill.
  

Overall, I liked Goodfellas quite a bit. But I certainly don't consider it a great movie. It may crack Scorsese's top 10, but definitely not his top 5.

The Pixies, as sung by Prince (and others)

I'm not sure who this guy is, but he's definitely talented. He's recorded 8 Pixies songs, each in the style of a different artist. Even if you don't know the Pixies from Siouxsie and the Banshees, give some of these songs a listen- it's pretty incredible! My favorites are Jimi Hendrix doing "Vamos" and the Bee Gees singing "Wave of Mutilation."

Matthew's Celebrity Pixies Tribute