I Can't Stand it!!

Well I couldn't take it anymore....

This week I am in the bizarre "Twin Peeks"-like town of Ocala, Florida staying somewhere without a computer. As I type this to you, I am sitting in the public library catching up on my web surfing. I feel much better now, thank you. After the third day of no Internet access, I began to twitch and get dizzy. I haven't been addicted to many things in my life, but apparently I am now full blown Internet addict. Wow, that felt good to get out of my system. "My name is David Connell and I am addicted to the Internets". Anyway, you don't come here to read my personal BS. You want some pop culture content right? Since my library access has a countdown clock expiring in 15 minutes, I have to type fast!

Without access to a computer lately I don't have much to report, but I did have a nice surprise waiting for me when I checked my email today. The fine folks at Wilco HQ have sent a message saying that not only is tonight's Wilco show being streamed on NPR.org, but the best band in the land will be appearing on Saturday Night Live this week. Having been a Wilco fan since the beginning, I am not sure how I feel about this. This week will be hosted by the rising star Ellen Page(Juno), so I would imagine the show will have good ratings. I guess if it gets one more person to realize how great Wilco is, then more power to them. The selfish side of me misses the days when I would rant about this great band called Wilco and people would have no clue who I was talking about. Part of growing up is learning to share. I guess we now have to share Wilco too. I can live with that...

See you soon when I get back to the frozen tundra of Wisconsin. Until then, greetings from Florida.

See you soon....

So this week I will be out of town with no access to the Internet. That alone is a totally frightening thought for me. Like, what the hell am I going to do frightening! I figure it can only be a good thing not to stare at a computer for a week, no? Maybe I will actually finish the "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" book I have been reading for about a year. Well, I promise I will keep posting when I get back so please keep checking in for my rants. In the meantime, I leave you with some great things to watch. Enjoy!

This is from the film "Festival Express", which documents a 1970 train tour through Canada which included The Band, The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Buddy Guy among others. You think they partied?! Oh to be a fly on the wall but this is close. Watch a VERY messed up Rick Danko, Janis Joplin, and Jerry Garcia with friends have a blast singing the classic "Ain't no More Cain".


This is a very hairy My Morning Jacket blowing the doors off of the Conan O"Brien set. I resisted getting into this band until I saw this performance. Just a total wow TV performance. Below it is a very dapper performance from Letterman kicking it with The Boston Pops.




This is one of my favorite performances of all time. I still get goosebumps and I've seen it over 100 times. Sinead O'Conner live performing "Troy from 1987.


Another one of my all time favorites. David Bowie and Sonic Youth performing "I'm Afraid of Americans" during his 50'Th B-day concert.


As if there was any doubt, here is proof that The Clash were one of the best bands of all time.

The bus came by and I got on......

Everyone remembers their first time. Their one true love. Well, this post is about the first time I ever heard The Grateful Dead. Corny as this post may seem, their music changed my life. Let me start by saying that since that fateful day, I have not gone more than a week or two without listening to their music in some fashion. Jerry and the boys opened up for me a whole different way of listening to music and their music was instrumental in opening my mind to the likes of Ornette Coleman, Johnny Cash, Howling Wolf. and Bill Monroe.

I can't remember the first time I heard most of my favorite artists; The Beatles, The Stones, Dylan, Husker Du, or Bowie but I sure remember the sheer joy of hearing The Dead sing "Box of Rain" for the first time. Unlike most kids with cool older siblings, this only child did not hear a note of Grateful Dead music until 1987; my freshman year in college. I can honestly say that as much of a music fan as I thought I was, I didn't even know The Grateful Dead existed. They were never played on radio stations and none of my friends seem to be into that world. All the more shocking considering my parents were progressive music listeners whose collection contained everything from Ritchie Havens to Captain Beefheart. Years later my mom told me she thought only bikers listened to The Dead. Classic!

Anyway, back to 1987...

So I'm hanging out in my new-found hippie friend's smoky dorm room. While staring at his wall of Dead tapes, I reveal to him that I have never heard The Dead. This blew his mind (it didn't take much) and he asked where I was from. I told him Chicago. So he gets right up, goes to the wall of tapes, and pulls out 04-10-1987-UIC Pavilion, Chicago, IL-Set II.

SET TWO
Iko Iko, Looks Like Rain, Box Of Rain, He's Gone>Drums > Space > The Other One > Black Peter > Around And Around > Turn On Your Lovelight
Encore It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

From the moment I heard Jerry Garcia's joyful guitar and the crowd reaction when the he gives the first "HEY NOW" in "Iko Iko"; I was hooked for life. The music just seemed to be everything I was searching for but never knew. Happy, sad, progressive, beautiful, angry, classic sounds all rolled into one unique package. I sat there for the next 90 minutes with a huge grin in my face feeling I'd just discovered the key to divine joy and enlightenment. From that moment on, I saw them live whenever I got the chance (40 + shows) until the sad, final show on 7-9-1995. I'm sure some of those stories are to come in future posts.

I now own thousands of shows on video, hard drive, CD, and cassette; but my copy of 4-10-1987 is still the crown jewel in the collection. I would say it is the perfect show to initiate any virgin to The Dead's music. It isn't one of their far-out jammy shows by any means. It has an amazing amount of band/crowd energy and is one of those nights where the band and crowd seemed to be completely in sync. A bonus is the playing is top notch throughout. It's the kind of Dead show that kept people coming back any chance they could. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have and just maybe it will change someone's life like it changed mine....

Some Highlights from Set 2:
Iko Iko: The shear joy you can hear in the audience during this tune is unlike anything I'd ever heard before.
Looks Like Rain: Jerry's mournful guitar lines are just heartbreaking along side Bob Weir's passionate singing.
Box Of Rain: Hearing them sing the "A Box of Rain will ease the pain and love will see you through" part is still spine tingling for me.
He's Gone: "Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile!
The Other One: Phil's thunderous bass and Garcia's propelling guitar riffs rock as hard and any heavy metal band. Dig the interplay between keyboardist Brent Midland and Jerry Garcia before the first verse.
Black Peter: Jerry sings the hell out of one of my favorites. If this doesn't get you then you have no soul.
Turn On Your Lovelight: The joy is simply contagious.
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue: Hearing Jerry sing Dylan is always a treat. The perfect end to a perfect set.

Wilco Storms Chicago

The best band on the planet (WILCO) continues its 5 night residency in Chicago this week. Apparently, the goal is to cover all of their 81 album tracks over the course of the 5 days plus other rarities. This should really be something special for the fans in attendance and proves that Wilco is one of the kindest bands to their fans. During the first two nights, the band had musical comrade Andrew Bird join on violin for a few and treated fans to the rarities "Candyfloss", the Mermaid Ave outtake "When the Roses Bloom Again", and the A.M. classics "It's just That Simple", "Dash 7, and "Too Far Apart". You can read about all the shows on Chicago Tribune writer Greg Kot's blog page. And for those who do the download thing; great recordings of the shows are already up on the bt.etree download site.

As a bonus, enjoy this awesome video of the rarely played "Pot Kettle Black" from the 2/15/08 show.

Politics Rock!

I always find the use of music in political campaigns very interesting. Remember when Ronald Reagan thought using "Born in the USA" was a good idea to show how wonderfully patriotic he was? Talk about missing the point. Sometimes the choices are inspired; like John Edwards using the uplifting Ryan Adams song "Firecracker" this year during a stop in North Carolina (Adams' home town). And how perfect was Bill Clinton's use of Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop" in the 90's Even I caught the optimistic fever of his campaign.

Of course, the melding of politics and music doesn't always go so well. The fact that Hillary is currently using a Celine Dion song in her campaign may just cost her my vote in Wisconsin next week (among other reasons).

My favorite melding of politics and music is when the candidates use an artist's song without their permission. Last week, John Mellencamp told John McCain to stop using his tune "Pink Houses"(how unoriginal can you get McCain?) and yesterday Boston frontman Tom Scholz told Mike Huckabee to quit using "More than a Feeling"("Don't Look Back" would have been SO much cooler). By the way, when Huckabee isn't using Boston, he's cranking up the Nascar vote with "Sweet Home Alabama". Yee-haw!

Here is the "OH SNAP" quote from Scholz:
"Boston has never endorsed a political candidate, and with all due respect, would not start by endorsing a candidate who is the polar opposite of most everything Boston stands for," wrote Scholz, adding that he is supporting Democratic senator Barack Obama."

By the way, Barack is currently using U2's "City of Blinding Lights" for his campaign. Is there anything Bono can't make perfect?

Tunes Under the Radar

How many great songs has Bob Dylan written? Far too many for me to count. In fact, Bob means so much to me that I am almost unable to be objective about his craft. For example; I love his album "Self-Portrait" that according to Dylan fanatics and critics, I am supposed to hate. I think "New Morning" is one of his best albums and no one agrees with me on that one either. So anything you ever read on this site about Bob Dylan has to be taken with a grain of salt. For the record, I am that far gone as to enjoy 1988's "Down in the Groove". That one was truly shit.

This bring us to the song called "Cross the Green Mountain". The song is a 12 verse, 8 minute masterpiece that Bob contributed to the civil war film "Gods and Generals" soundtrack in 2003. Unfortunately many people, Dylan fans included; have never heard the track. Full of biblical imagery; the song is a dying soldier's lament and it's as haunting and beautiful as anything Dylan has done. It was recorded with Dylan's touring band at the time, and has a sleepy atmosphere similar to the "Time Out of Mind" record. Like that album, this song has a timeless quality to it where you aren't sure if it's from the early 1900's or the 21'st century. I would post the lyrics, but you have to listen to the track to truly appreciate them. I hope you enjoy this under heard Dylan treasure as much as I do.

Bob Dylan-Cross the Green Mountain

"Supernatural Superserious"

Woohoo!

Behold a new REM single and video. It's really the song I'm excited about, which is called "Supernatural Superserious". This tune is a breath of fresh 'rock and roll' air from a band I was worried forgot how to do it. After the downbeat and dreary sound on REM's last 3 discs, I cannot tell how great it is for me to hear Stipe's voice along with some electric guitar and pounding drums. Dare I say this sounds like something from their 1987 masterpiece, "Document"? Ok, I will. This sounds like it could have been pulled right off that album and I couldn't be happier. Enjoy!