dimand radio 4-14-18 show notes

Mom: No Update This Week

Mom is OK.

 

I guess that is an update. Oh, well.

I Made It Through That Top Ten List

After a little talk about a show that used to be on Z Talk Radio (it still cycles through the autoplay when no scheduled show is on), whose host believed he could talk to angels, I revisited the topic of my rant at the end of last week's show: WatchMojo's Top Ten list of the Most Electrifying Live Bands of All Time.

You will recall my two complaints about that list were the placement of my favorite band, The Who, at #10 and the voice-over child not knowing how to pronounce Pete Townshend's name.

Well, during the past week I mustered the courage and watched the entire video. On this week's show, I talk about that list and I try to look at it from the perspective of someone who isn't as big a Who fan as I am. (Apparently, there are people out there who don't even like the greatest band in the world. Go figure.)

These kinds of lists are subjective and I try to keep that in mind. But The Who at #10?!

 

Here's the video.

Tool Time Talk

No, I don't talk about Tim Allen and his manly man, tool-obsessed sit-com. This talk was about a band I know very little about. The band is Tool. They are a highly respected and acclaimed prog-metal or alt-metal band from California.

As I said, I know very little of them, but recently friend of the show Craig introduced to a couple of their songs. Metal was never a favorite musical form for me, but there are some songs I like. And I was impressed with the musicianship displayed in those two songs and the vocals did not put me off as is what usually happens when I listen to metal, especially 80s Hair Metal.

 

The two songs are Crawl Away and Forty Six & 2.

 

And Then There Are These Music Students

 

Craig also linked me to a video of some music students of Maineville Music Academy doing a cover of Forty Six & 2. The kids range in age (I'm guessing here) 9 to 18 or so. And they are pretty damn good.

 

You Take That Back, Travis!

 

Next I talked about a conversation I had with another friend of the show, Travis, about my learning about Tool. I think Tool is to Travis as The Who is to me. We also talked about the cover by those school kids.

 

Travis mentioned how there were nine of those kids (eight on instruments, one doing vocals) to do that song, while, when playing live, Tool consists of three on instruments and one on vocals and they pull it off.

 

Hmm. Three on instruments and one vocalist. WHO does that sound like, eh? Of course.

 

I know. I'm sick. I can't help bringing them up (Although I will try.) So, I brought The Who into the conservation. It was then that Travis suggested Townshend wasn't much of a musician.

 

...

 

Travis is still alive. When you listen to the show you'll learn how he managed to survive.

 

They Aren't All Playing All That Music?

 

I learned this from a recent Penn's Sunday School podcast. It's an industry secret that some of the major touring rock bands will hide additional musicians to fill in the sound, cover the mistakes, hit the high notes, etc. I guess I can understand when a band wants to reproduce the sound of their records, but they don't want to appear mortal not being able to do it all.

 

U2 is one a band that employs a keyboardist who is hidden away from the crowd, but they do introduce him to the audience. Aerosmith and The Rolling Stones aren't as open about it. At least, according to Penn Jillette and pianist Mike Jones.

 

You know, when The Who tours now and since the late 80s they have their additional musicians right on stage with them.

 

The Who are so great. They just... Sorry, I'll stop talking about them for a while, OK?

 

Three Cool Things

 

3) Well, it appears I can't stop talking about them for long, because there's this very cool video on YouTube that isolates Keith Moon's drum track on the song Won't Get Fooled Again.

 

2) There a very entertaining podcast that humorously focuses on American history. It's called The Dollop and there's a YouTube video of a live performance done on baseball's maverick owner Bill Veeck. The talk includes the infamous Death To Disco event held during a doubleheader at Comiskey Park.

 

1) As is most always the case on the second Thursday of the month, I met up with the Minnesota Skeptics and got all good and skeptical with them. Always a cool time.

 

Music heard on the show...

Dimland Radio opening theme song: 'Ram' by The Yoleus 
First ad break bumpers: 'Take It Away' by Paul McCartney & 'Walking & Falling' by Laurie Anderson

Second ad break bumpers: 'Infected' by The The & 'No Reply At All' by Genesis

Closing song: 'Angler's Treble Hook' by $5 Fiddle

That's it! See you next Saturday night for Dimland Radio 11 Central, midnight Eastern on www.ztalkradio.com you can also download my show from the z talk show archives page. You can email your questions and comments to drdim@dimland.com

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concert memoirs pt. 29 - cheap trick, cheap trick & cheap trick

Cheap Trick

11/5/98 First Avenue w/Dave Ticket Price: Unknown

This was the first night of three night concert event. Cheap Trick had rereleased their first three albums: “Cheap Trick”, “In Color” & “Heaven Tonight”. To promote the rereleases the band did this three night concert event with each night focusing on each album. They would play each song, in order, from that night’s featured LP. Then they would play a variety of their other songs afterward.

I had complained about Husker Du (First Avenue, 3/30/87) playing their latest release first song to last in order that last time John and I had seen them. It pissed us off when Husker Du did it, but when Cheap Trick did the same thing three nights in a row it was cool. The difference being that we knew going in what Cheap Trick would be doing and we know the material well. You know what they say about the time bands play their new material, “Time to get a beer.”

This being the first night, they played their first album the self-titled, black and white covered “Cheap Trick”. I really liked that album. It doesn’t have a hit, but it has some great rock tunes, such as, ‘Hot Love’, ‘He’s A Whore’, ‘Oh, Candy’ and ’ELO Kiddies’. They played all the songs with great intensity while still having a load of fun.

These guys are true, road-tested, rock’n’roll professionals. The show was a load of fun and we still had two more nights to go.

Cheap Trick
11/6/98 First Avenue w/Dave Ticket Price: Unknown

On this, the second night of the big event, the band showcased their second LP, “In Color”. This was the best of the three concerts with a big surprise finish.

Dave and I decided to stand farther back then we had the night before to avoid the crowd and still get a good view of the band. We were standing with some other friends, I’ve forgotten who, when Dave’s brother, John, excitedly approached. He was busting to tell Dave, “They’re here! They’re gonna play!”

They were the big surprise finish. There was another fairly noteworthy band in town. They would be playing a show at the Target Center, which is located across the street from First Avenue. There were rumors that they might join Cheap Trick on stage that night, but, until John had come in with his news, we weren’t sure they would. I don’t know where John got his information, but he was correct.

For the last song of Cheap Trick’s concert, Aerosmith took the stage to join Cheap Trick in an amazing, kick ass version of Aerosmith’s ‘Train Kept A’Rolling’! It was fantastic. With the exception of Aerosmith’s drummer, the entire band got up there with Cheap Trick and had a ball!

It was a fun unexpected treat for us and I had a far better view of Aerosmith then when John and I had seen them back in 1983. It was a lot of fun and I’m glad I was there.

Cheap Trick
11/7/98 First Avenue w/Dave Ticket Price: Unknown

Night three of the big Cheap Trick event. It was “Heaven Tonight” that night. It was also a night of technical difficulties.

Something went wrong with one of Rick’s guitars. It just zortched out and stopped playing. No problem. He just got one of his many, many other guitars. However, once he started playing it, he realized it wasn’t tuned right. And, if memory serves, the next guitar he grabbed was also improperly tuned. He was getting a little perturbed and told us that he preferred playing a guitar that was in tune.

Well, they are professionals and they soldiered on.

There was also a special guest for this night’s show, albeit not nearly as exciting as last night’s. The guest was some local Top 40 radio DJ, I can’t remember who he was or what station he was with. He was brought out to do the DJ patter heard at the end of the song ‘On The Radio’.

An interesting note on that song was how Rick introduced it. Let’s face it, if you know the album and the song, you know that it’s pretty much filler. It’s not one of Cheap Trick’s better songs, but they were featuring each album and they weren’t going to leave it out. Rick introduced the song as being “somewhat... shitty.” And he should know, he wrote it.

The show came to an end and I had the feeling that I had been a part of something special. Not quite on the level of The Screaming Blue Messiahs (First Avenue, 7/22/86) or Pete Shelley (First Avenue, 8/20/86), but I’m glad I was there.

concert memoirs pt. 3 - aerosmith, jefferson starship, willie nelson & kansas

Aerosmith w/Pat Travers
Early 1983 (?) Met Center w/John Ticket Price: $10.75

This one is pretty vague. I recall that we sat pretty far back, Pat Travers played his hit ‘Boom, Boom (Out Go the Lights)’, and Aerosmith kicked off their set with ‘Back in the Saddle’. This was also that era of Aerosmith in which Joe Perry wasn’t with the group. He was out doing his Project.

That’s it.

Jefferson Starship w/Shooting Star
Early 1983 (?) Orpheum Theater w/Paul Ticket Price: Unknown

This show was intended for the larger venue of the Met Center, but lack of ticket sales (that’s my guess) moved it to the smaller Orpheum Theater. Lack of interest was also the reason John didn’t go and I went with another friend, Paul.

I think I felt somewhat obligated to ask John to this show, because of the previous two we had seen. He wasn’t interested in Jefferson Starship. He was wise.

As I have said before, I liked a lot of crap music in those days and Jefferson Starship’s was some of the crappiest. They were in the midst of their slow descent from ‘White Rabbit’ to ‘We Built This City’. So they weren’t as bad as they would get, but they were pretty lame.

Think Spinal Tap.

Willie Nelson & Family
8/25/83 MN State Fair w/Paul Ticket Price: $3.00

My friend Paul and I were at the great Minnesota get together, checking out the sights and eating the food, when we decided to get tickets to the Willie Nelson show that would be later that night. For many years running, it was traditional for the MN State Fair to have Willie as the first of their Grandstand concerts. We bought bleacher seat tickets on a spur of the moment decision.

It was a fun show opening and closing with ‘Whiskey River’. Well worth the three bucks.

Kansas
9/3/83 MN State Fair w/group of high school friends Ticket Price: $8.00

Unlike the Willie Nelson Grandstand show, this was a show that we planned on seeing and purchased tickets before heading to the Fair. But, I don’t have much to tell of this Grandstand show. Let me think..... umm..... There were fireworks after the show.