Good morning! I apologize again for abandoning this diary of musical insight from a somewhat well trained amateur musician. It is funny that starting a new blog for work has brought me back to this blog today. Life, again, swept me away from my musical musings, yet life has deposited me again along its soft, sandy shores to write to you, loyal and undaunted reader, my inconsequential and lackluster opinions and experiences in music.

Since last writing, my non-musical schedule has increased, causing me to relax my role in the ever-improving UMBC Symphony. They really are a great bunch of young players and I am excited for my alma mater as they grow better and better musicians and prepare to move into a new facility. The spring concert is approaching and I am only playing on one piece and playing second trumpet, which is just fine with me. I will be performing on Parade by Erik Satie. This was one of my favorite pieces from college when everyday was filled with analyzing the fascinating works of the late romantic, impressionist, and modern music eras. Parade is a ballet with caricatures of different circus acts. The original performance had its sets and costumes designed by Pablo Picasso, concept written by Jean Cocteau, and was written for Diaghilev's ballet, and the choreography by Leonide Massine. It truly was all the mediums of the time merging into one.

To perform the piece is just plain fun. There are typewriters, a lottery wheel, milk bottles, a little ragtime, and of course the siren. The siren poses the only difficulty, which is to not smile and giggle during those sections when playing. The piece, in my opinion, is very successful in recreating the fun atmosphere and transporting the listener to the mood of a circus. Check it out on May 5th at UMBC Recital Hall.

In other musical news, a friend and I attended the Bond and Beyond concert by the BSO. I am a huge James Bond fan (I will not bore you trying to justify my statement). The pieces selected for the concert were quite nice overall. I was happy to hear the main themes from You Only Live Twice, and From Russia With Love, and the guest vocalist did well with the theme from Goldfinger. After intermission, the program strayed to Secret Agent Man, the Soul Bossa Nova (Austin Powers theme), and Concerto for Cellphone, before returning to Bond for the theme from Skyfall, and then a medley of themes they missed to close the concert. The Concerto for Cellphone, which is a charming piece, and not really written to be a mockery, was performed as such. The guest vocalist didn't have the pipes to hold up to Adele with the Skyfall theme, and in my opinion, the orchestra was not putting its full effort into the surprisingly challenging music from the James Bond films. I was also irritated that the orchestra used a synthesizer for the trademark low range electric guitar solos in the principle James Bond theme. The keyboard didn't sound like a guitar, nor did the attack of the notes sound clean or edgy. The intent of the concert was billed to honor the music, while it felt like the concert was made to mock. I understand it was a pops concert, but as a James Bond fan, I felt as if the group was humiliating one of the key characters: the soundtrack. You can't separate the image of Sean Connery riding along the romantic Orient Express without hearing those sweeping strings, or Daniel Craig running through the streets of a city in Madagascar without the flairing brass behind him. The concert left me somewhat heartbroken, to be honest.

Thanks to graduate school and being a grown up, I had to be more selective of my summer music ticket purchases. I chose two shows. Fun and the Lumineers. I will do my best to write about those shows in the near future. Until then, my loyal, loving, doting, reader, I bid you a good afternoon. 

Musical Catch-22

Hello my friend(s - I hope). I write to you tonight on the edge of my seat with nerves. This Sunday at 7:30pm is the UMBC Symphony Fall concert. It's featuring a performance of Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony. This piece has been brutal to my face every rehearsal and I am quite nervous about being able to sustain through it and survive. It's ironic that I would use the word survive with this piece. Shostakovich was trying to do just that when he composed the work. He was trapped in the most outrageous story of a musical catch-22 of which I have ever heard.

I guess I should explain what I mean by a musical catch-22. Musicians, especially those who make a career of it, are always in an on-going battle between playing or writing what they like against playing or writing what will make them money. So you can be happy and broke, or miserable, and not quite as broke. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. For example, I hate playing church services normally because the music is drab, the directors tend to take themselves and their choir of ten old people way too seriously, and the pay is then low because they try to make you feel guilt for charging a church for their services. But it's pay. (To churches like that, remember you hired me, not vice-versa. You'd pay my brother to fix a clogged toilet so you pay me to make people not sleep during your sermons. Anyways, this is about to break my rule of no personal feelings so I better stop.) Last Christmas, I had come close to finding that happy medium. We had decent pay, a cool director and we got to play some of our own arrangements. That was a bit of luck on our part. Shostakovich fixed his musical catch-22 with with a stroke of genius, and a slight shot of luck. Here's the brief background to this piece.

Shostakovich's previous composition, an opera, was a real stinker to the Soviet officials. See, even the arts were monitored in Communist Russia. If a piece was seen as insulting to the Russian people, it was struck down, and sometimes even the composer would vanish. So Shostakovich had a major patron, a guy paying him to write music. After the opera, they tagged a leaky treason charge on the guy, and before he knew it, he was in front of the firing squad. Shostakovich's friends had also started to disappear after meeting with some government officials. So, here is Shostakovich, who loves to write cynical parodies of Nationist marches and incorporate them into his work and insult the Stalin regime. He needs to write a piece that doesn't do that so he doesn't find himself in Siberia, but he can't compromise his artistic integrity and feeling that as a human, he has the right to speak out. He also has to write to make money, but also to not just disappear. So he now has the granddaddy of all musical catch-22's.

Shostakovich at this point, even has fellow composers watching over his compositions and assisting him. This is where he demonstrates his genius (besides when you hear the performance this Sunday at the UMBC Recital Hall). He starts looking back at the music of one of his heroes, Gustav Mahler. Shostakovich was being told to simplify his music. Mahler was the master of taking something extremely simplistic and growing it into a massive work of majestic proportions. So, Shostakovich takes this concept, and mixes it with ambiguity. He establishes a simple theme of minor sixths that even reduces itself in a few bars, to three short repeated notes, reminiscent of Beethoven's Fifth. This simple motif of repeated notes carries you through the whole symphony. Shostakovich works in his march parodies, but they are more subtle. The Communist regime hails them as great Nationalist marches while the audience hears a march that is almost childish. The Communists heard Shostakovich rebuilding himself as a "Soviet Composer" while the public heard his rebirth as a more subtle satirist and related to the pain the government had put him through. He had done it. Not only did he write a successful piece that both sides liked, he didn't find himself in the goulag after writing it.

In no ways do I think any of us could ever relate to Shostakovich's amazing tale of thumbing his nose at Stalin and making Stalin like it. But I feel his pain. This performance leaves me in a catch-22 of sorts. Every other day, while on the treadmill, I burn calories to this amazing piece. I listen to a recording I got from the library of Leopold Stokowski pounding the London Philharmonic through this piece of ambiguous satire. I listen to their brass and strings both duel the incredibly challenging parts. I almost think Shostakovich wanted to put the performers through the strife that he was facing. But I listen, and I hear the big money maker pros make mistakes. This piece, in itself, asks the performer to make a deadly choice. Do you go for perfection, or do you go for energy? The piece is forty-five minutes long and the brass gets the third movement off. But the demands when playing are very high. The parts are intense, and normally extremely important. I know a lot of you would be asking, "Well Rich, all orchestra trumpet parts are like that, why is this one so critical?" My answer isn't going to be clear. Just know that it is very different. When looking at the part, and listening to the piece as much as I have, you can tell Shostakovich knew exactly what he wanted. How do I sound triumphant, yet mocking, but precise, bold, and chilling? This piece, unlike the marathon that is Tchaikovsky's 5th, or Howard Hanson's virtual horn and trumpet concerto that is his 2nd symphony, it requires a trumpet player to play with almost reckless abandon. You need to just put your sound out there. You can't take a single second of this symphony off. My stand-partner and I are trading some parts back and forth to avoid complete exhaustion, but this piece was written to exhaust. When I'm not playing I still have to follow along as if I am playing otherwise the ideal of the piece is lost. This is the first piece I've played in symphony that I learned more about from listening, than rehearsing. The London Philharmonic didn't get all the right notes. Neither did the New York Philharmonic with Leonard Bernstein conducting. But this is the great catch-22 that Shostakovich created when he wrote the piece that solved his own problem. And it makes you ask yourself as a musician, what do you hope to achieve in your playing when posed with the choice? Right notes or the right feeling? All the recordings I could find of this piece are live. None of them made in a studio. What does that portray to you? That the audience is needed? The energy required to convey this piece can only be captured in the concert hall? One music critic said that the piece unifies the audience and then takes them on a collective emotional wave. I think it does that for the performer as well. In this case, what do you really do? You can only rehearse the tough parts so much before they kill you. The rehearsals have the brass section frothing at the mouth for the conductor to not stop us in rehearsal. I think this means we're ready to make our choice. You may ask what my choice is in this situation? Well, for the struggle that Shostakovich endured to give the world this magnificent piece, I'm going to give him everything I've got. I'll meet the rest of you on the lower right hand side of the page.

Bring the Boys Back Home

Hello my strong, devoted, loyal reader. I am writing to you yet again. As my previous blog entry had mentioned, Melanie and I were attending the 10/10/10 performance of "The Wall: Live" tour with Roger Waters. This is quite a ceremonious entry as it is my 50th. It is also the 30th anniversary of my favorite album, "The Wall" and I am extremely tickled I get to write about a live performance of the album in this historic (only for myself) entry.

I must immediately start off with "WOWEEE OH MY GOD THAT CONCERT WAS AWESOME, I NEVER WANT TO GO TO ANOTHER SHOW IN MY LIFE" kind of statement. At straight face value, this concert was a spectacle of epic proportion. The backing band for Mr Waters was quite proficient and talented. My only real gripe with them was the lead guitar tone was a bit too harsh, as I am used to Mr Gilmour's more mellow tone. The stage effects and projections upon the 200 foot wall were dazzling and enthralling. The real thing that made the concert so moving though, was the deep, personal connection the performer has with the material. Roger was sharing with us his childhood, his political and social beliefs, and his struggle. It is rare to find a musician to be so blunt with his expression and truly wear his emotions on his musical sleeve. He smacks you in the face with the realities of being a child of a soldier and his battles with social pressures and authority, and his conflict with his fame. This piece is about nothing but anti-establishment. To imagine an artist with the courage to perform such an anti-government, anti-commercialism work in the nation's capital is quite courageous.

With that said, I of course have to call Mr Waters out. I spend $70 for a tour program and a tour t-shirt. Mr Waters was selling his tour shirts for $45 and the program for $25. Live Nation is selling these items on their website for $10 less. If I knew he was using this money to feed the starving Africans projected on his wall, or to put the poor crying child reunited with their G.I. father through college, I'd have no issue paying these prices. I stood in line to purchase these items with the rest of Mr Waters' "iSheep", clamoring to get my hands on one of the five male t-shirt patterns. Mr Waters also was selling three female shirt patters, a hoodie, a demin shirt, coffee mugs, two styles of hats, a music CD, a tour program, and a book on the making of the tour. Also, key-chains and metal pins were available. These items being sold by the man who hated the commercialism of music and fame. Who, in the films shown, placed iPod earbuds on dictators and victims with terms such as "iHate" and the previously mentioned "iSheep" on the screen.

Along these lines, but in a deeper sense, the basic concept of the concert and album is the band building a barrier between it and the audience. The lyrics have issues with fame and fortune and glitz of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle. The group spends one hour of music building a wall to shield themselves from us. Then after intermission they do two numbers from behind the wall, and suddenly there's Mr Waters before us, walking in front of the wall. It seems to me now, that Roger has come to terms with his fame and fortune and cannot pull himself away now from his crowd. Why else would one build such a large wall, bash the concept behind fans spending money to see him in the first place, just to then stand in front of the wall as if now one is proud of their creation, and sell outrageously priced, yet very diverse tour merchandise? I feel now that Roger Waters is a changed man. In no way is this a criticism of the musicianship or the showmanship demonstrated in this performance, but just a moral dilemma that plagued me on the long metro ride home, and all this following Monday. If he truly hated the stuff he preached against in his music, why would he present it? Why would he charge for it? Why would he make such a production of it? Why would he create it to begin with? My humble opinion is he simply created a monster that took control of him, and he felt presenting it would help.

These things could be the root cause of the divide between him and David Gilmour. This album was really the starting source of contention between them. With Roger now taking "The Wall" on tour again, and presenting it in such a way, I am left with several questions. Has Roger woken up and accepted his fame or is he trying to live both sides of the fence, and is it possible he always has tried to live with both teams of being anti-establishment but in reality is a big part of the establishment? And if Roger has changed and is doing this tour just to celebrate the wonderful music, gripping story, and fantastic concept, why can't he admit David was so important to it, and reunite with him and Nick Mason? At this point why keep the quibble going? Why not tour together? Who would be hurt by a simple mutual apology around some coffee, get the managers talking and plot out a mega tour? Would Gilmour possibly feel like he's submitting by playing "The Wall" again? This concert had such energy, I literally teared up about 5 times during it, and actually lost control and began to cry a little during "Tear Down the Wall" and "Outside the Wall". Why can't these two men of incredible talent tear down their wall? I am in no means saying that it is a fan's right to have their band together at all times. I'm a musician, I know what it is like to professionally disagree with someone so badly that you can no longer stand playing with them, yet you drink a beer with them after. I am simply posing the question of who wouldn't benefit? The fans get one of the most influential art rock bands of all time back together. The agents and merchandising people make millions. Roger Waters finally has his music performed exactly how he wants. Don't forget he credits himself as writing "The Wall" and "The Final Cut" and having it performed by Pink Floyd. As a fan you see that as pretentious but musically, that means he chose them for his piece. He wanted them to perform it. As a composer I can see Roger's point. I can't see what is in it for David Gilmour except for maybe coming out of the decision as the bigger man, willing to forgive Roger for his actions, and play the music of which so many of us fans just can't get enough. So for us, music history, and yourselves, bring down the wall, end the war, and bring the boys back home.

In The Flesh

Greetings, my loyal reader. I won't insult you with an apology for not writing. I write tonight because I finally feel inspired to write again. A bunch of things have happened to me in my musical universe that should be shared, and my opinions are blossoming into fertile flower beds of statements that don't really matter, nor will anyone really care about, but this comes with the territory of having a blog.

So, some major things have changed in my life. I have lost a significant amount of weight. I know in the manifesto of this blog I said I would never mention personal life issues, but this has affected me musically. Mainly, my trumpet playing, I feel, has improved dramatically. I have less resistance and my upper register doesn't sound so strained. My endurance has increased as well. I have dropped 135 pounds of weight off my lungs, torso and upper body. Before, holding the trumpet up was enough of a stress. This has led me to successful performances of Tchaikovsky's 5th symphony, a long production of "The Secret Garden" and currently great rehearsals of Shostakovich's 5th symphony.

The weight loss has also made attending concerts and performances much more bearable. I was able to attend my first Broadway show. Melanie and I saw "The Addams Family" starring Nathan Lane, Bebe Neuwirth, and Kevin Chamberlin. All three we spectacular, and although catchy, the musical was a bit cliche. With such a great and flexible and outlandish medium as the Addams Family, I thought it could have been a bit more "out there".

Also, with comfortable seating, Melanie and I (noticing a theme? She has become quite the little concert goer herself) attended two symphonic multimedia concerts. First, we saw "Planet Earth Live". The Baltimore Symphony partnered up with George Fenton, who composed the soundtrack to the amazing documentary series, to present clips of the show, with their accompaniment played live. Mr. Fenton conducted and narrated the program, explaining how he was moved by certain footage to inspire the music that he composed. We definitely enjoyed the polar bear segment. His music at times would make you laugh, or just well up with tears. The second multimedia symphonic concert we attended was "Star Wars: In Concert". This concert we straight up didn't like. Narrated by Anthony Daniels of C3PO fame, this concert didn't really teach you anything of the inspirations for the soundtrack but merely retold the story of all 6 movies with a series of movie trailer footage mash-ups and selected medleys from the soundtrack. It would have been much better if they took direct full scenes from the films and played the soundtrack to that scene. We only became interested at the end when they began showing behind the scenes footage from making the films, such as artist sketches for different character concepts. Frankly, the subway ride with Boba Fett and Obi-Wan was more fun. Also, I was pretty amused by the line that had a solid 200 people in it, just to get an autograph from "Darth Vader".

Now, also during this time off from the blog, I attended concerts of previously two of my favorite live bands to see: AC/DC and Iron Maiden. We revisited AC/DC on their second stop to the Verizon Center in Washington, DC simply because I had the money and Ticketmaster offered me seats up close, almost floor level. They are a totally different experience up close, as opposed to in the rafters. Melanie and I of course donned the flashing red devil horns and screamed our heads off. AC/DC this time sounded a bit more fresh, and played more classics and less from their new album, which was definitely welcomed. Sadly, though, when seeing Iron Maiden this past time, they did the exact opposite. I barely recognized anything from their setlist. They perfomed songs from their new album, which at the time hadn't been released. Dream Theater opened for them. Little did I know that it would be the last time to see Dream Theater play with Mike Portnoy for quite awhile as he has now left the band. The saving grace of this show was my weight loss, as the Wicker Man Iron Maiden tour shirt I purchased fits me.

Just a few weeks ago, I had an experience that really refreshed my musical spirit. I participated in the Rusty Musicians program with the Baltimore Symphony. I won't make this sound impressive, as all I had to do was be one of the first like 30 trumpet players to e-mail the symphony, but I will say that it was immensely rewarding. I got to have 40 minutes on stage in a rehearsal atmosphere with two trumpet players of the BSO, and conductor Marin Alsop leading a group rehearsal of Brahm's "Academic Overture". The only way I can explain this experience to non-musicians is that imagine your boss at work acted as if they were a partner and was in the situation with you, but also could clearly in one sentence, tell you exactly what they want you to do, how to do it, and make you feel like you're the office hero for doing it. It was so rewarding, and I got a nice compliment from one of the pro's to "play louder". In trumpet speak that's a compliment. It invigorated me to want to play more, and for a second made me think I could actually play in a symphony orchestra of that level. Again, without the weight loss, I would have never even taken the initiative to send the e-mail to get to have this amazing chance.

Melanie has also gotten me to loosen up about pop music as I have now become an official fan of Lady gaga and Florence + the Machine after watching the Video Music Awards on MTV a few weeks ago. I have to admit Lady Gaga's character, plus catchy hooks could make her a big landmark on American music if she can keep the creativity up. Though, I do still hate Auto-Tune. I'm looking at you Justin Bieber. And as a quick note, thanks to Melanie, I have began listening to the Beatles after a 18 year hiatus. Happy Steve?

To wrap up this very lengthy, and self gratifying blog entry, I predict that this weekend I will see a concert that will change my life. This weekend, Melanie and I are seeing Roger Waters' "The Wall: Live" concert at the Verizon Center. This is as close as Mel and I will ever get to see Pink Floyd. Though, I am sad that him and David Gilmour couldn't have buried the hatchet for this tour, my wallet thanks them for not doing so, because I'm sure the ticket price would have been double. "The Wall" is my favorite album by my favorite band. The tension between the band mates rings through in the album as the album deals with the band's inability to handle fame, yet also has a deeper message with hatred and war. This show should be unbelievable as they construct the wall.

This blog entry itself has been about me tearing down my wall of sorts and shedding the barrier that has been keeping me from enjoying life and music for so long. I have my regrets of not doing this in college when I was still competitive in my music and could have gone to grad school. But at the same time, it took help to tear it down. I needed the accomplice to help break a hole in the wall so I could escape the prison my own thoughts and weight had formed. A few years ago, I was saying Good Bye Cruel World, and that I was Comfortably Numb. But now, after The Trial, I'm Outside the Wall.

Crazy Concerts

As I drove my girlfriend home tonight and daydreamed (at night) of the upcoming vacation to Maine and Boston, I thought of all the crazy stuff I've witnessed. Though I'm virtually a noob still at concert attending, I've seen a decent share of crazy fans, and crazy performers. So without further ado, here's the top 10 crazy things I've seen.

10. The Smoker - AC/DC
During "Back in Black", while everyone is going crazy, this dude just came up and sat next to me, lit a Marlboro and just sat on the step and just nodded along, like all is right in the world. Security didn't care because too much insanity was going on down on the floor.

9. The misguided Drunk - Rush
So Rush is wrapping up their second set at Nissan Pavilion with their famous instrumental, "YYZ". This drunk guy wandered over towards us and we all learned that apparently, there are lyrics to this wonderful song. Then proceeded to try and become our friend, and flirt with Beth.

8. King Kong guitarist - Airborne
I was hypnotized by the volume and power these guys brought, but somewhere between the hippy girl's seizure like dancing and the beer being sprayed on the audience, the lead singer and guitarist climbs the 9ft tall speaker tower on the side of the stage at the Recher and released a hellish solo on to the masses.

7. The Nazi in a trench coat - The Killers
There we are, an icy night in Fairfax, Virgina, rocking out in the Patriot Center. In the middle of a song, this guy climbed on stage wearing shorts, a trench coat, and to finish of the insanity plea, a black Nazi combat helmet. He takes the stage and begins dancing. Since no one acted on it we assumed it was some abstract weird happening the Killers put together, since they tend to be a more of a European phenom than American. Brandon Flowers stops singing to say "Do we have security in this place? Anyone know who this is?" Security promptly sweeped in, landing a devastating shoulder block and dragging the guy off stage.

6. The Monster Mosh - Motorhead
So to make a long story short, during Motorhead's set at the Metal Master's Tour at the Nissan Pavilion, about 1/3 of the lawn area turned into a massive mosh pit, involving what looked to be up to 300 people at one point. It was a breath taking scene, that was scary, yet fun to witness.

5. Body Count - Metal Masters Tour
Long story short again, Beth and I were keeping a count of the people being thrown out by security from the pavilion. We stopped counting around 30 or so. An all around insane show. Never mind the two friends who were on the blanket next to us who were hugging and laughing during Motorhead, but by the time Heaven and Hell hit the stage, they were throwing punches at each other. MMmmm Alcohol.

4. Dude in the Diaper calls the shots - George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic
My girlfriend and I attended this show, which was incredibly long, and incredibly awesome. But something magical was going on. We were watching a Jam band with just a leader calling what to play. This leader was not George, but a dude wearing nothing but a diaper and some Nike's. Mel and I had both scoped him out on youtube, but never realized how important he was. The music was so groovalicious, I could barely walk out.

3. Boob Cam - Ozzy Osbourne
So while Zakk Wylde was soloing away at the Verizon Center, the camera for the big screen basically panned and scanned the audience for bare chests of women to broadcast on the big screen. They would zoom in on a hot chick until she would expose her self. According to one innocent soul I told of this, "Thats illegal".

2. Pot Chimney - Aerosmith
So the blanket in front of us on the lawn at Nissan never really seemed to be paying attention to the show, having never stood, or anything. They just sat in a circle, and as the show went on, a thicker and thicker plume of smoke came from the "stew pot" of hippies. Before I knew it, I had a heavy duty contact high and felt as if I was 10 feet tall, and I was pretty hungry.

1. Get off my boyfriend - Iron Maiden
After the show, walking out amongst the bikers and metal heads, a fist flew past my face, and into the back of the neck of the guy in front of me. He then turns and looks at me, but I quickly duck as the dude behind me admits to throwing the punch. But, before the guy can retaliate, this thick, butch woman jumps on the dude's back and puts him in a sleeper hold, better known as by old school WWF fans as, The Million Dollar Dream. She then begins screaming "Get off him! Don't you touch him, Back off!" But it didn't much matter as the dude was turning red, then purple, as his eyes closed. From the dialogue, it was obvious that it was the dude's own girlfriend beating up her boyfriend to spare him an "ass whoopin'". We rolled out quick after that, as we watched drunk and stoned headbangers try to find their car in the field. I did overhear this nugget of a line "Why don't we just call the police and ask if they have seen your car?" "Yeah, that's a great idea, I'll tell them I can't find my green Dodge Neon with the Deceptacon logo sticker on the trunk. You're a genius."

Well folks, that's my list, I hope you enjoyed it. It felt good to write such a light-hearted entry for once. I didn't feel compelled to write about Michael Jackson, being that about 6 months ago or so, I had wrote, almost forecasting his death, how he would be this generations great loss to music.

This list is why I go to these shows. Its all about the music and the people and sharing it with them. Good night. Thanks for reading.

Somewhere Everybody Should Be

Hello my great and loyal reader(s)! I hope this entry finds you well. I am writing with the world blocked out by some lovely AC/DC vinyl plugging my ears from the outside world and a decent sized grin on my face. This past weekend and week has been pretty spectacular so far. There was a broad spectrum of performers and yet another wonderful shopping experience.

Friday night, I attended the stand-up comedy show of Louis CK. I know that this blog is about music but I feel stand-up comedy, whether clean or dirty, is all about the proper delivery and timing, much like music. Louis is a master of this. He starts the show with material you wouldn't think would be good to open. He avoids the tacky "How are you guys tonight?" start. He opens with an awkward joke that forces you into his world right away. Much like an established rock band will start with a song the fans know, but not the big hit that you would close with. Louis works the audience into a frenzy of laughter driven tears by the end by just piling on the pressure with more and more outrageous stream of thoughts. Unlike older comedians, you have to pay attention to Louis to tell really when one joke ends and another begins. Before I move on though, I must thank him for stopping the show and checking on my safety when the folding chair I was in gave way and I hit the floor. I was still laughing, for the win.

Sunday, I made my way to Pier Six Pavilion in Baltimore to see the Wilson sisters: Heart. After having fun in the Hard Rock Cafe looking on John Lee Hooker's guitar, and complaining about how more mainstream, modern metal groups turn their bass up too high to appeal to those who like Hip-Hop, we got our prime spot on the lawn in the front, dead center to hear the opening act, Danielia Cotton. I really wish I had not heard her. Her band was mediocre at best, and her singing a bit too over the top. A bit too screaming for me. I call it "fake" pipes. Screaming is different than the high note you're going for and frankly, it was the first time at any rock concert I had wished for ear plugs. My ear drums were ringing quite bad. I was quite glad when she was done.

I should mention this is my dad's first rock concert without it being a cover band. He was in awe watching the roadies switch the stage in minutes for Heart. But his real look of awe came when Heart actually came out and brought the house down. They didn't sound quite as good as they did last summer, but I chalk it up to three factors:
1. Saturday night they did a show in Niagara Fall, NY, so they were on the road for 8 hours the night before to get to Baltimore.
2. Pier Six does not have the sound system that Nissan Pavilion has.
3. Cheap Trick is a much better opening act and removes some of the pressure.
So with that said, Heart still tore it up. They did a bit of a set I didn't expect, with them doing a few Led Zeppelin covers, including "Angels of Avalon", "Going to California" and "Immigrant Song". Fear not though, Heart still hammered home "Magic Man", "Barracuda", and "Crazy on You". This was pretty much the craziest I had seen Pier Six. I feel though that a lot of people who wanted to go were scared by the cheapest seat being $30. They didn't consider that Pier Six isn't a stadium, its not big. Its an intimate venue and can provide some gems by allowing you to see your favorite groups up close and personal.

Tuesday began with a lovely lunch and then a second trip to Trax on Wax. The owner, Gary, was again friendly and very welcoming and thanked me in person for my blog entry. No need to thank me though, its my obligation to write and share my experiences in the music world. Since it was before pay day and there was a concert that night, I had to be a little tight on the wallet, but still walked out with the previously mentioned AC/DC record. a very nice, practically mint condition original pressing of "High Voltage", which is my second favorite AC/DC album and my favorite with Bon Scott. This album though definitely was remixed when moved to CD. The album is rough, and sounds like it was recorded in a bar, which just adds to the flair of AC/DC being your bad-ass bar band. I also grabbed "Sabotage" by Black Sabbath. This is the sixth album by Black Sabbath. This album is a bit softer than the usual Black Sabbath/Ozzy Osbourne fare. I feel lucky though that I got a version of it from the early pressings that included a 23 second secret track at the end of Ozzy goofing around in the studio. Quite entertaining!

The second half of Tuesday included taking the subway into DC with my pal Beth to see Keane. Keane is one of the very few modern pop groups that I like. I am not fond of them no longer being a trio, but I cannot complain. They bring a prime show to you. Keane's lead singer, Tom Chaplin, has a killer voice, and is the only singer I've seen that could possibly fill Freddie Mercury's shoes, vocally. This band brought a wave of positive energy over the crowd I've never seen. Keane was accompanied by two opening acts, Helio Sequence and Mat Kearney. Helio Sequence is a duo of drums and guitar. They didn't really introduce themselves, and kind of assumed everyone already knew who they were. They also seemed hung up in having lots of synth backing tracks which took away from what skills they were presenting to us. It also caused their songs to sound identical to me, at least in a live setting. Mat Kearney followed them and he really wowed me. Hes not my type of music but he brought a stage presence which was quite nice. My only gripe is that he has a 4-piece band backing him. Come up with a band name and give them credit, considering you're playing rhythm guitar 3 and singing. There were two other guitarists there, both with nice voices, bass and drums. Let them in and come up with a name. Other than that, dude you are golden and going to make lots of money.

Keane though really rocked Constitution Hall, which is not suited for this kind of show at all. Kean brought a simple stage set up with no screens or anything like that. They didn't need it, the whole band is charismatic. They were just straight up fun to watch. I was transfixed much like my father was during Heart. In 72 hours I went from seeing a band a bit past its prime, just doing shows for fun, to seeing bands that are still fresh, young, and having to fight for fans. Might I add that initially at the Keane show, I felt old and out of place. Then I noticed a 40-something man singing his heart out the next section over, and below me a 40-something woman basically doing her impression of Joan of Arc from "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" throughout the whole show. This made me feel better.

Nothing against my friend Beth at all, but the tickets were initially to be for my girlfriend and I to attend, with Keane being one of her favorite bands. I did find myself enjoying this concert a little differently due to company. Beth is a great concert partner and always will be. This was to be my girlfriends second concert; her first was the George Clinton mega-show. I think I would have seen this show through fresher eyes, had I been with a concert noobie and a really big Keane fan. Beth found herself enjoying the groups and discovering them the same way I did. The concert really isn't just about who is playing, but with whom you are sharing. The music is an experience and Keane was one of the first things my darling girlfriend and I shared. It would be a slight if I didn't mention this point in this blog entry. I'm truly grateful Beth came along, as it would have killed me to waste a ticket and Beth is always a lot of fun, and open minded and flexible to whatever we're going to see. But I cannot deny that I was thinking how the show might have been different to me if Melanie had attended.

With that, I sign off for the night. "High Voltage" has played out and the arm on the old Pioneer phonograph has retracted. I leave you tonight with a video of Keane from DAR Constitution Hall, doing my favorite song by them, "Somewhere Only We Know". Have a good night. This one's for you ;-) Enjoy the girl singing terribly out of tune at the start, but who cares, everyone in the building was on cloud nine by this point.

Trax on Wax

hello all. This is just going to be a quick plug for the new vinyl record store that has opened in Catonsville. I Just visited this place and give it a full endorsement. With an incredible selection of used vinyl available for extremely reasonable prices, this place was a breath of fresh air to me. I now have a new place to continue my vinyl collecting. For $20, I was able to get "Odds and Sods" and "Who's Next" by The Who, "Magical Mystery Tour", and "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" by The Beatles, Steve Perry's solo album, "Escape" by Journey, and "Spirit" by Spirit. Clearly a great mix of stuff for great prices. There was no hassle from staff, and plenty of space to browse. The entire collection is alphabetical order, to where you feel like you must put an album right back in its place. The best part is a turntable available for public use, so you can test the albums before you buy, but unlike Record and Tape Traders, everything looked to be at least in playable condition. They will also convert vinyl to CD for you, I'm sure for a charge though. This is also to announce that I am going to give the Beatles another chance, thus why I bought those two albums. I will keep you posted on the result!

I beg you in the area to give this place a check. Buy something too, the owner is nice as anything!

On another note, this week, I will be taking Mom to go see Heart. Lets hope they're as spectacular as they were last summer!

Good night friends!