Wednesday, February 9, 2005

...old home week As contrived and train-wrecky as most made for TV conglomerations are, it is often interesting to see musicians from the same generation and genre gather for these things. In my case, I grew up playing these songs on my tape player and in my bands. As often as I've heard original artists play their own songs (over and over again), the first time is always surreal. When you've heard everyone on the planet cover a tune or cop a lick, hearing the originator play it can be illuminating. Where I grew up was not southern but it was in the country. It doesn't matter. This is American music, a part of my personal history, even if my accent is funny and my hair too short. It is as much a part of me as jazz, fusion, blues and Indian music I was exposed to while I was young. It remains to be seen if this will be something longer term but it hits a note tonight, beyond all the jokes and the drunken hoots and hollers. It's a nice surprise. 8:06:21 PM    comment []

... ... last words on the Bowl As these things usually go, the game is a bit of a let down though my New England roots were pleased to see the Pats rack another one up. The halftime show was a sight to see; the video screen crew had plenty of pressure as far as I can tell. Those things don't work on a good day, let alone driving across a football field in a hurry on it's back. At least if you had to work on it you could lie on the ground! I spoke with someone involved with that performance and found out some of the details in the how it was done. I bet the average viewer at home doen't know and doesn't care. For an event like that there is much planning, many rehearsals, too many meetings and the wide spread of territorial pissing that comes with the cross section of music, sports, TV and corporate presentation. The guy in charge of the grass can be a putz and cost the show thousands of dollars out of his need to make sure no one yells at him about divots. I was involved in a show at Texas Stadium which occured after a Cowboys game that was going to be broadcast for Thanksgiving. As a backline guy, it was odd to be affected by so many different layers of concern. The building guy was a control freak; the event manager was in over his head; the set was built out of box truss, plywood and bailing wire; the Cowboy cheerleaders at one point had us remove the entire show off the field so they could practice a routine for 45 minutes; did I mention that most of these events are staffed by volunteers to keep costs down? Believe me, most major problems will go unnoticed unless your clothes fall off or the sound of you crashing to the ground would effect the mix adversely (Bitterman?) I personally cringe when I hear a guitar out of tune or see fingerprints all over a glossy ax, but most folks go "Isn't that the guy who dates that girl from the OC?" The Ashlee Simpson thing was such an exception to the rule. There were e-mails flying around before 1:00 am on whether they needed a new crew guy, a new drummer or if everyone on that project was looking for a gig because her career was OVER... One of my road friends (semi-retired) called and said that it was typical for the finger pointing to begin because they were too cheap to hire qualified professionals to insure them from looking like idiots. I guess paying someone a decent wage would seem like a bargan compaired to the loss of revenue from pimping your other daughter out like a Bankok karioke whore. Actually, we're both pretty sure that Dad would still not get it. At least she still has a source of gigs from the acid reflux convention folks... "Don't let acid reflux ruin your career; use Gagamet! Here's a medley of our greatest hit..." 9:26:40 AM    comment []