Given our low opinion of Rocket and Light of Doom, we were disappointed to see them go through to torture our ears and aesthetics for another week at the cost of The Likes of You and Hatch. On the other hand, I lost some of that disappointment when Hatch was given an exiting word and…
Category: music
Philip Glass and Leonard Cohen at Stanford
On Monday, Peter, Neil and I went to see a “conversation with Philip Glass and Leonard Cohen” at Stanford. The next night, a performance of selections from Cohen’s poetry The Book of Longing set to Philip Glass’ composition was scheduled to be performed in the same theatre. Amazing, the tickets to the talk were free….
San Jose Culture Vultures Devour the San Francisco Symphony
The San Francisco Symphony came to play a free outdoor concert at noontime in downtown San Jose, and I was absolutely thrilled about it. I can’t afford even a stuck-in-the-rafters ticket to the San Francisco Symphony. Heck, I can’t even afford a decent ticket to the Symphony Silicon Valley, Ballet San Jose, or even the…
The Golden Gate Park Band
I’ve been wanting to see the Golden Gate Park Band with Peter for several years now. It’s the only brass band I know of in the entire Bay Area that gives public concerts, and they play in the Spreckels Temple of Music, a wonderful acoustic shell in the park’s main concourse surrounded by statues of…
Matt Dusk’s Journal Entries
I love jazzy singer Matt Dusk’s vocals. He has fabulous diction, pitch and phrasing. He’s often compared to Michael Bublé, but if you listen to Matt Dusk, Michael Bublé sounds like a drunken karaoke singer, IMHO. If Matt Dusk sounds like anyone, he sounds a carefree cross between Frank Sinatra and Shirley Bassey. Since I…
Gimme Shelter
I recently watched Gimme Shelter, the documentary about the 1969 concert at Altamont (near Livermore) where a member of the audience was fatally stabbed by a Hell’s Angels member/security guard while the Rolling Stones were playing. Certainly, if you have any interest in popular music or the 1960s, you’ve heard about it. Gimme Shelter does…
Brand New at The Warfield
Brand New is one of the more complex modern bands I like listening to. I got hooked to their dancey angst songs on their first album, “Your Favorite Weapon.” So when their second album, “Deja Entendu,” came out, I happily bought it and found out they’d changed. It took a few listens for the album…
Teeny Bopper Bands
I first realized I was too old for some bands when I went to see the Norwegian band a-ha in San Diego. As an MTV addict, I loved their video for “Take On Me” as well as their album I’d consequently bought. But when I took my place in the theatre , I really did…