Category: Music

Seattle And Bumbershoot 2011 – Part 3

September 13, 2011
ArtBumbershootCoffeeComedyFoodFriendsMusicMy LifeSeattleTravel

Did you miss the first two parts? Read part one here and part two here. And there will be a bunch of pictures soon too…

Monday September 5

Last day of the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival and the routine is familiar. A bit of food in the room and then we took the monorail over to the festival. Once there, we snacked at the hospitality room and pondered the myriad of possibilities for the day. At one of the booths we watched a song or two by Lemolo, which I didn’t really like. It was very low-key female vocal but much too low-key. Today we had decided to see some comedy too, not just music. Our VIP passes got us to the front of all the comedy lines so we wanted to take advantage of that. The comedy show we went to had a short funny introduction by Baron somebody (I think), didn’t catch the last name. But the main show was two fairly well-known comedians, Amy Shumer and Eugene Mirman. Seriously, Amy was so funny I barely stopped laughing for her whole set. Politically incorrect. Yep. Funny? Hilarious! And Mr. Mirman was very funny too. Great show. After that, we watched a four-person panel discussion about being vegan, featuring the Black Metal Vegan Chef. He is so cool, check out his videos on YouTube. The panel was humorous at times and informative.

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Seattle And Bumbershoot 2011 – Part 2

September 11, 2011
ArtBumbershootCoffeeComedyFriendsMusicMy LifeSeattleTravelVegetarian

This is the second part of the trip recap. To read part one, click here.

Saturday September 3

Mid-morning we took the convenient monorail over to the Seattle Center, the site of the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. Today was the first day of this amazing event. Doors opened at 11:00 but we got there at about 10:30 and they let us in early! I took that as a good omen. We got our Starbucks pass, allowing us free coffee drinks for the entire festival. Can’t argue with that. Then we went to the VIP hospitality lounge for some food to get us started for the day. They were determined to provide vegetarian and even some vegan options too. We checked our schedules for the day and decided to start with a new stage this year (EMP Level 3) where Seattle’s Tomten was playing. They had won a competition to get a performing slot and were pretty good. Indie-type rock with a little more to the songs than some. Oh, and in case I forget, all three days of the festival we ate some festival food too. Eating is fun! But back to the music. The next act we saw was at the Main Stage (moved indoors this year), 90s act The Presidents of the USA. We watched about half of their set and they are still doing what they have always done. Of course they did their hit “Lump” and a bunch of others. Meanwhile, we realized that with our VIP passes we got some free drink tickets, so we went to one of the beer gardens and had a beer (or in Petra’s case, a glass of wine). At a nearby stage P.S. I Love You was playing but we didn’t hear anything that made us want to stick around. Not with so many other options. What are there, 12-15 stages?

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Eisley At Macy’s

September 10, 2011
MusicMy Life
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Today we went to see the rock band Eisley, playing at Macy’s. Yeah, I was surprised to see that Macy’s was having music, much less by a good band. I had seen Eisley last week when we were at the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival in Seattle and I really liked their set. They rocked but it was still melodic and the harmonies were really special. Three sisters front the group and do the vocals, guitars, and keyboard. Their brother and cousin complete the band on bass and drums.

Today’s set at Macy’s was stripped down, just the three women on two guitars and a keyboard, so it was more of a (nearly) acoustic show. So the songs were quieter but the harmonies still great. It was almost folky but in a really good way. It was about 8-10 songs, I didn’t keep an exact count.

I’ve gotten three of their CDs recently, and they autographed the latest one up in Seattle. So I didn’t bother them for more today. Just pictures and video 😉

Here’s one of my four videos from today, the other three are linked below:

My three other videos (and the one above) are here (you might need to click the “continue reading” link!):

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Seattle And Bumbershoot 2011 – Part 1

September 8, 2011
ArtBumbershootCoffeeComedyFriendsMusicMy LifeSeattleTravelVegetarian

We just got back from our annual trek to Seattle for the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival (and more). I’ll post some pictures soon, but in the meantime here is a short synopsis of what we did. Enjoy, and maybe we’ll see you there next year…

Wednesday August 31

We flew to Seattle (Southwest Airlines) and arrived in the afternoon. Seattle has a great light rail train system that took us from the airport (nowhere near the actual city) all the way up to three blocks from our hotel. For just a few bucks! We checked in at The Camlin and then walked about five blokcs or so to the nearby Whole Foods Market, to get some supplies. You know, chips, salsa, cereal, fruit, soy milk, bottled water, wine, just the necessities. We lugged all that back to the hotel and then we were truly ready for anything. Well, pretty much. But we were hungry too! We were walking the block or so to Cyber-Dogs, a great vegetarian hot dog place, when we bumped into a couple of our fellow Sacramento friends, Mama O and Liz. We chatted a bit on the street (sidewalk actually) and then went to Cyber-Dogs for our meal (menu). This place gives you a lot of food, not just a measly hot dog. Next it was back to the room to plan out the event of the next couple days. Yes, I love Seattle!

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Mixmasters Round 17

August 22, 2011
MixmastersMusicMy Life

Hey music lovers!

Check out the liner notes and song list for my Round 17 mix? It’s here along with some previous rounds as well. Check it out and let me know what you think in the comments below.

What is it? Well, Mixmasters is a long-running mix tape (now mix CD) exchange. It is currently at seven members and in it’s seventeenth round. Here’s how it works: each person makes a mix CD (up to about 80 minutes) and sends a copy of it to each of the other people. Emphasis is on artists that have not been used in Mixmasters before, so a lot of new music is discovered, good and not quite so good. After all these rounds, most popular artists have been used but there is an amazing amount of great music by lesser-known artists.

Then each person writes a song by song review of everyone else’s mix. Yes, we all review every song on every CD except our own. The results are complied in a publication called The Wheel, a large and fascinating collection.

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Shout: The Beatles In Their Generation

August 19, 2011
BooksMusicMy Life

Shout!

Have you read this book? It’s by Philip Norman and I finished it recently. I’m a pretty big Beatles fan but I still learned a lot from this book. It starts with when they first met each other and goes chronologically through the breakup and a little after. It’s divided into sections of their career as a group: Wishing, Getting, Having, and Wasting.

The four of them are not saints and all of them did things they might want to take back, and of course the strain of their huge fame took a toll on their relationships within the group and also without. The author has some biases and opinions that are not hidden. As with most biographies, you can tell fact from opinion and disregard the opinion if you want to.  He does have an interesting writing style and the sheer amount of information makes it well worthwhile. There’s John the caustic but gifted one, Paul the sometimes sappy but melodic one, George the decent guitarist who comes into his own as the group begins to fall apart, and Ringo the good time guy who was everyone’s pal and had a fun ride. Is this the definitive book about the Beatles? Maybe not but it’s got a lot. Is it unbiased? Not all the time. Is it a fun and entertaining read with a LOT of great stuff about the fabs? Yes!

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I Saw Jimi Hendrix And He Was Amazing

August 11, 2011
MusicMy Life

I went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last week. What a great museum. Seven floors of musical goodness, we spent nearly the whole day there and saw SO much cool stuff. And I don’t mean just Lady Gaga’s meat dress (yes, seriously, it was there). No, the coolest thing was this flier/handbill for the Jimi Hendrix show that I actually went to here in Sacramento some forty-one years ago!!

Yes, you read that right. He died later that same year so I am really glad I got to see him. And he was awesome, as you no doubt already know from seeing him on DVDs or YouTube. Yes, he played guitar with his teeth, but his hands were what was really impressive. He had a style and technique like no one else and got some sounds out of the guitar that are still brilliant even to this day.

After all these years the memory of the show has faded a bit but I can still see the stage with him playing that guitar. It was a truly beautiful thing.  Best guitarist ever? Maybe so…

Anyway, imagine my surprise to see the flier/handbill in a museum back in Ohio. It brought back the concert and I wish it could have brought back Jimi too (RIP).

Here’s a review of the show that I found on the web. I can’t say for sure if everything is correct but you get the idea.

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Neon Trees At The California State Fair

July 22, 2011
MusicMy Life

I am mostly a casual fan of the band. They are good but I would not say great. But I will say that their show the other night at the State Fair was really pretty good. They are a tight unit of good musicians and played together like they had been doing it for a long time. The singer might have been a bit melodramatic but the show was good and the band rocked. Sure, the crowd was preteen and teen (and us, of course), but that’s ok. As far as I know, it was all original material except for a cover of INXS’ “Never Tear Us Apart”. The set list:

Your Surrender, Love and Affection, Calling My Name, Alarm, Helpless, In The Next Room, 1983, Phones, Farther Down, Animal, Our War, Attraction, Girls & Boys In School, Sins of my Youth, Never Tear Us Apart, Habits.

Here is some cheesy cell-phone video of the show, sorry for the quality (or lack of…)!

What do you think? Leave me a comment!

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Music We Own: The S Stuff (As Of Today)

July 16, 2011
MusicMy Life

Hi there again music fans…

This is the nineteenth in a series of posts about the music we own. We sort-of collect items by certain artists, as you may notice. And yes, we are both still obsessed with music!

Artists are listed as last name, comma, first name. If it is a band then it is just the band name. Anyway, check it out and see what you think. Leave me a comment below the list!

Name – Title – Format – Size – Country – Comments

S Club 7 – Don’t Stop Movin’ CD 5 UK

S.B.B.L. – Purple Mix vinl 12 HOL

Sakamoto, Riuichi – B2 Unit CD 5 FRA With Andy Partridge.

Sakamoto, Ryuichi – You Do Me vinl 12 US With Jill Jones.

Sakamoto, Ryuichi – You Do Me cass na US Featuring Jill Jones.

Santana – Supernatural CD 5 US

Santana – Shaman CD 5 US

Sarducci, Father Guido – Live From The Vatican cass na US

Savage Garden – Affirmation CD 5 US

Savage Garden – Savage Garden CD 5 US

Save Ferris – Modified CD 5 US

Scaggs, Boz – Silk Degrees CD 5 US

Scarlatti – Gifted Guitar Of Barbosa-Lima vinl 12 US Guitar sonatas.

Schmitt, Adam – World So Bright cd 5 US

Schneider, Bob – Lovely Creatures CD 5 US

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Music We Own: The R Stuff (As Of Today)

June 6, 2011
MusicMy Life

Hi there music maniacs…

This is the eighteenth in a series of posts about the music we own. We sort-of collect items by certain artists, as you may notice. And yes, we are both still obsessed with music!

Artists are listed as last name, comma, first name. If it is a band then it is just the band name. Anyway, check it out and see what you think. Leave me a comment below the list!

Name – Title – Format – Size – Country – Comments

R.E.M.  – Reckoning CD 5 US

R.E.M.  – Fables Of The Reconstruction vinl 12 US

R.E.M.  – Wolves, Lower vinl 7 US Flexi-disk. Flip side has Lords Of The New Church.

R.E.M.  – Drive cass na US

R.E.M.  – Automatic For The People CD 5 US

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The Latest 21 Music Items We Got

May 30, 2011
MusicMy Life

Here is the latest update. Some we bought, some were gifts, a few we burned. Do you love any of these? Hate any of them? Or are you just confused? Of course I’ll blame a few items on Petra (James Blunt, Bruno Mars, etc). 🙂

Read all the way to the end and then leave me a comment!

ARTIST – TITLE – FORMAT – SIZE – COMMENTS

First the vinyl, then the  CDs afterwards…

Spektor, Regina – Four From Far vinyl 7 Blue vinyl

Death Cab For Cutie – In Living Stereo vinyl 7

JP, Chrissie, & The Fairground Boys – If You Let Me vinyl 7

Hendrix, Jimi – Fire vinyl 7

Bush, Kate – Hounds Of Love vinyl 10 Four song EP, pink vinyl

Costello, Elvis – Secret, Profane, & Sugarcane vinyl 12

Gorillaz – The Fall vinyl 12 Limited, numbered 4203

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100 Best Beatles Songs

May 22, 2011
BooksMusicMy Life

Have you read this book? It’s “100 Best Beatles Songs – A Passionate Fan’s Guide“.

I know. How can you possibly pick the top 100 songs by the greatest group ever? Well, the authors do it, and most of the picks are pretty good. One thing I really liked about the book, they devote about three full pages to each of the top 100 songs. That includes detailed notes about the recording of the songs and the different studio takes. Also, they detail “who played what instrument(s)” for each song. Some of those may surprise you. There are also trivia items about each song, which a true Beatles fan will find fascinating.

As for their rankings,

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Elvis Is King In Reno

May 8, 2011
Cover SongsMusicMy LifeTravel
2 Comments

Last Saturday night we traveled to Reno to see Elvis Costello and the first night of his “Spectacular Spinning Songbook” tour. First a bit of history: about twenty-five years ago Elvis toured with a big spinning wheel with names of songs on it. We saw that tour but it was a l-o-n-g time ago. And now, all these years later, he is doing a short tour again with a new, huge, updated wheel. The photo on the right gives you an idea of the size of the wheel. He gets people from the audience to come up and spin the wheel. Then he and the band play the song that is chosen by the wheel spin. Meanwhile, the audience member(s) get to relax with a beverage in some chairs on stage, or also have the option of dancing in the metal go-go cage at the left side of the stage. Yep, big fun!

To start, Elvis and his band, The Imposters, came out and played a few songs, starting with

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A Night In Reno With Elvis

May 8, 2011
AlcoholFoodMusicMy LifeTravelVegetarian

imageThis weekend we drove up to Reno, Nevada to see Elvis Costello at the Grand Sierra Resort and Hotel. I’ll blog about the Elvis show soon, this post is a recap of the trip.

First off, the road (I-80) is terrible, at least on the California side! It needs paving really badly, especially through the Sierra Nevada mountains. But we made it to Reno, arriving in the late afternoon. We got a free room upgrade, to a pretty nice and roomy room, because they didn’t have exactly what we reserved. Sweet. So I got some much needed coffee and we decide to gamble a little since we had a few hours until the show. Petra had some luck. Me, well, not so much. Easy come easy go?

We had some dinner at a very ordinary casino cafe. On the plus side, free or cheap drinks were easy to find. 😉

As I mentioned, I’ll blog more about the Elvis show soon so be patient! After the show we gambled a little more and quench our wicked thirst too. Then sleep. Crisp white hotel sheets and zzzzzzz…..

And then it was morning. Mother’s Day too! So we went in search of the only all vegetarian restaurant in Reno. You guessed it, closed. We wandered into a nearby casino for a few minutes to ponder. Then we went to a nearby pizza place that offers vegan pizza options. We had a really good vegan pizza (dead serious) at Pie Face Pizza. They do regular pizzas too. And then we hit the road, full and happy. On our way home after a heck of a nice weekend.

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