Last night I did something I haven’t done in quite some time - I went to a SC Philharmonic concert. I don’t listen to classical music much, though I do enjoy from time to time. Last night was a bit different than usual for the orchestra as well.
This past Sunday I drove up to Charlotte to see Mark Knopfler in concert. Although the band he assembled, sang, played guitar, and wrote for broke up following the tour for their last cd, On Every Street, (have you heard of DIre Straits?), Mark Knopfler has continued to write some of the best music to which I’ve had the pleasure of listening.
Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted anything, life happens, as it were. I’ll be posting more often, though it may be sparse for a while still.
Last night I had the good fortune to see one of rock’s last remaining big name acts - the Canadian power trio better known as Rush. I can’t even begin to tell you how awesome the show was unless you’ve seen, because it’s not something you can understand through words alone. No opening act and 3 hours of solid, power rock and roll. I went with a friend of mine from work, though I know at least one other guy from work that went as well, though his seats were elsewhere.
The set covered music from their current cd, Snakes and Arrows, all the way back to the quintessential Rush album, 2112, and skipped only a handful of albums in between. Having been together 33 years, 3 hours is not enough time to cover everything they’ve done, and something has to be cut. I think my biggest disappointment from the night was the fact that they led off with my favorite song, Limelight, which I had hoped would be farther in the concert, maybe even the encore, so they could turn loose Neil Peart.
Towards the end of the concert they turned Neil loose on his own anyway. That was the most kick ass drum solo I’ve ever seen in my life - it’s such a pleasure to watch someone who is so good and so professional and so evidently loves what he is doing. It’s so awesome to watch these guys, now into their 50’s, just totally rock the place. Sure, Geddy Lee has lost some of his vocal range, and they’re a bit older, with some wear and tear, but make no mistake, these guys can still bring it with the best of them.
I was pretty tired today, having to drive a couple hours up and a couple hours back to see them, but I tell you, it was worth every moment.
I was driving to work yesterday, listening to a cd I haven’t listened to in a few months. I found myself thinking, gee, this sounds like something I would have heard on KHIH, and getting all nostalgic. Don’t bother searching Google for it - KHIH ceased operation several years ago.
This post is about more than Samhain, but it seemed an appropriate way to start… Tomorrow night I’ll be getting out the Halloween decorations and putting them up, as time permits. I love Halloween, it’s become my favorite holiday.
Anyone who knows me well can tell you that my favorite musical artist, hands down, is one of rock’s greatest female vocalists, Stevie Nicks. Lately I’ve been revisiting her work with Fleetwood Mac from the 70’s. Anyone who knows pop from that period knows about the music from the Rumours album, and from their self-titled album, but I’ve been listening to Tusk, the next effort after Rumours. In particular, I’ve been listening to this song.
I don’t plan on making a regular habit of talking about music in my column, unless I talk about drumming. I’m looking for a good drum circle around here, although a couple of people lately have given me some good leads. Anyway, I want to talk a little bit about two recent arrivals to my music collection: Ageless, the first release from Nitza, and Smash Mouth’s 7th collection, Summer Girl.