If Music Could Talk

The Damned and Rancid in Oakland a week ago today:

I never thought I could say "Tim Armstrong looks even more ridiculous than usual."

That's a fairly decent fist of Ruby Soho compared to some live versions I've heard.

I've got Spear of Destiny next week in Newcastle, playing the full "One Eyed Jacks" album, my favourite LP by them.

Hello,

Tim Armstrong looks like a pro wrestling jobber. I'm kind of happy I only saw two phones in the air - that's still two too many. You might have thought at a Rancid show, people would have smacked them out of their owners' hands.

Saw Brian Wilson last night. Tenth time I've seen him live and it was a troubling experience. Lots of mixed emotions, but I'll write about that later.

I wanted to give a shout out to The Zombies. Wow! They were absolutely fantastic!!

They started out with a mini set by the current "active" band lineup of Rod Argent, Colin Blunstone, Steve Rodford (son of Jim Rodford) on drums, Tom Toomey on guitar, and Søren Koch on bass. First song was "Tell Her No" and I was blown away by how good Blunstone's voice was. His voice has seriously not aged a year. He can still easily hit every note he hit back in the 60's and if anything - his voice is now even more powerful. The rest of the band was really solid. A very hip sounding and looking group of old dudes. They played a couple of new songs and ended with a powerful version of "She's Not There".

They then expanded the lineup - bringing out original bass player Chris White and drummer Hugh Grundy. Darian Sahanaja from Brian Wilson's band played Mellotron. They played the entire Odessey and Oracle album and it sounded spectacular. They looked and sounded like they were having a blast. The songs did not sound dated and dusty - they sounded fresh. Tons of energy and when they played the final note of "Time of the Season" I didn't want it to be over.

Gonna see Fontaines D.C. on Tuesday (tomorrow).

Heston wrote: ↑

19 Sep 2019, 8:16pm

That's a fairly decent fist of Ruby Soho compared to some live versions I've heard.

I've got Spear of Destiny next week in Newcastle, playing the full "One Eyed Jacks" album, my favourite LP by them.

I was tempted by Manchester or Newcastle but it too big a round trip. Have a blast mate.

gkbill wrote: ↑

19 Sep 2019, 10:53pm

Hello,

Tim Armstrong looks like a pro wrestling jobber. I'm kind of happy I only saw two phones in the air - that's still two too many. You might have thought at a Rancid show, people would have smacked them out of their owners' hands.

Tim looks a right prat with that stupid beard. Decent version of Ruby Soho as Heston stated.

Marky Dread wrote: ↑

24 Sep 2019, 5:53am

gkbill wrote: ↑

19 Sep 2019, 10:53pm

Hello,

Tim Armstrong looks like a pro wrestling jobber. I'm kind of happy I only saw two phones in the air - that's still two too many. You might have thought at a Rancid show, people would have smacked them out of their owners' hands.

Tim looks a right prat with that stupid beard. Decent version of Ruby Soho as Heston stated.

Don't forget the completely daft scalp tattoo.

Is there actually anything wrong with Tim? He lumbers about like a man of about 70 on stage.

WestwayKid wrote: ↑

23 Sep 2019, 9:16am

Saw Brian Wilson last night. Tenth time I've seen him live and it was a troubling experience. Lots of mixed emotions, but I'll write about that later.

I wanted to give a shout out to The Zombies. Wow! They were absolutely fantastic!!

They started out with a mini set by the current "active" band lineup of Rod Argent, Colin Blunstone, Steve Rodford (son of Jim Rodford) on drums, Tom Toomey on guitar, and Søren Koch on bass. First song was "Tell Her No" and I was blown away by how good Blunstone's voice was. His voice has seriously not aged a year. He can still easily hit every note he hit back in the 60's and if anything - his voice is now even more powerful. The rest of the band was really solid. A very hip sounding and looking group of old dudes. They played a couple of new songs and ended with a powerful version of "She's Not There".

They then expanded the lineup - bringing out original bass player Chris White and drummer Hugh Grundy. Darian Sahanaja from Brian Wilson's band played Mellotron. They played the entire Odessey and Oracle album and it sounded spectacular. They looked and sounded like they were having a blast. The songs did not sound dated and dusty - they sounded fresh. Tons of energy and when they played the final note of "Time of the Season" I didn't want it to be over.

I had to miss the concert as I was traveling back to New England, but from the sounds of it I may have been better off Brian-wise. Bummed to miss The Zombies tho, your report sounds like everything else I've heard.

Heston wrote: ↑

24 Sep 2019, 7:26pm

Is there actually anything wrong with Tim? He lumbers about like a man of about 70 on stage.

Couldn't find any info.

Flex wrote: ↑

24 Sep 2019, 9:01pm

WestwayKid wrote: ↑

23 Sep 2019, 9:16am

Saw Brian Wilson last night. Tenth time I've seen him live and it was a troubling experience. Lots of mixed emotions, but I'll write about that later.

I wanted to give a shout out to The Zombies. Wow! They were absolutely fantastic!!

They started out with a mini set by the current "active" band lineup of Rod Argent, Colin Blunstone, Steve Rodford (son of Jim Rodford) on drums, Tom Toomey on guitar, and Søren Koch on bass. First song was "Tell Her No" and I was blown away by how good Blunstone's voice was. His voice has seriously not aged a year. He can still easily hit every note he hit back in the 60's and if anything - his voice is now even more powerful. The rest of the band was really solid. A very hip sounding and looking group of old dudes. They played a couple of new songs and ended with a powerful version of "She's Not There".

They then expanded the lineup - bringing out original bass player Chris White and drummer Hugh Grundy. Darian Sahanaja from Brian Wilson's band played Mellotron. They played the entire Odessey and Oracle album and it sounded spectacular. They looked and sounded like they were having a blast. The songs did not sound dated and dusty - they sounded fresh. Tons of energy and when they played the final note of "Time of the Season" I didn't want it to be over.

I had to miss the concert as I was traveling back to New England, but from the sounds of it I may have been better off Brian-wise. Bummed to miss The Zombies tho, your report sounds like everything else I've heard.

Yeah, I’ve had some time to reflect on the Brian show and I feel better about what I saw on Sunday night. It was definitely not one of Brian’s better shows – he (at times) looked very uncomfortable. I think his back is still giving him a lot of trouble. His vocals were all over the place: he sounded great on tracks like Little Bird and Heroes and Villains, but he struggled with God Only Knows (he kept rushing the lyrics) and Busy Doin’ Nothing (he had a bad coughing fit and missed most of a verse). His pitch was spot on all night, but he missed a lot of cues.

That all being said, he gamely hung in there for the 90-minute set. He played quite a bit of piano (hearing him kick off Sail On, Sailor was a highlight) and there was a lot of awkward Brian arm waving. He was definitely “there” if not completely as engaged as I’ve seen him in the past.

His band was awesome per the usual. I really love the addition of Matt Jardine. He comes across as very warm and energetic and his falsetto is fantastic. I did not miss Jeff Foskett at all. Al was classic Al. The guy is ageless. His voice sounded great and he took a few leads on guitar, but I think his most important role was to be both moral support for Brian (I imagine it must be comforting to look over and see a familiar face) and to really be the front man for the group. Al did 95% of the between song banter.

Blondie was eccentrically fantastic. He didn’t come out until just before the middle point of the set and then knocked 3 tracks out of the park: Feel Flows, Long Promised Road, and Sail On, Sailor. His voice was great, he played some blistering solos, and man – the guy is a snappy dresser (he left the stage after those 3 songs and when he eventually came back out, he was in a different – but equally snappy looking outfit). He also did this moving (and haunting) chant that went something along the lines of “Where are you Brother Carl?”

I liked the setlist. The show began and ended with a run through some classics, but the heart was from the 1968-1971 period and they dusted off some real gems. It was very cool watching them bring Diamond Head to life (as well as Passing By). They did a good chunk of the Friends LP. It was refreshing not to hear too much Pet Sounds (as crazy as that might sound).

On the way out – I heard people sounding absolutely shocked by what they saw. My girlfriend was actually pretty disturbed and I had warned her beforehand that it could be rough. I think for those of us Brian Wilson veterans it wasn’t surprising. Personally, it’s an honor to get to spend 90 minutes with Brian Wilson. The guy is a true survivor and his music has meant more to me than I could ever express.

I do wonder how much longer he continues to tour. I think at this point I’d prefer to see a show where Brian isn’t front and center. He has some great vocalists in his band. Darian is absolutely incredible – he killed his leads. Matt Jardine is fantastic. Al sounds great. Brian looks like he’s very happy/content to play the piano and contribute the occasional vocal and maybe that’s what they should do if he continues to tour.

Anyway, I did struggle with processing the experience, but a little time and perspective has helped me see it more clearly and I’m okay with what I saw and heard. As I mentioned earlier – I got to spent 90 minutes listening to the music of Brian Wilson with Brian Wilson and that will always be very special.

cool, I saw the Zombies give a free summer show at the Santa Monica pier about 5 or 6 years ago. There were 1000s upon 1000s there, the word "free" brings out everyone.

gkbill wrote: ↑

19 Sep 2019, 10:53pm

Hello,

Tim Armstrong looks like a pro wrestling jobber. I'm kind of happy I only saw two phones in the air - that's still two too many. You might have thought at a Rancid show, people would have smacked them out of their owners' hands.

Lars looks like the lady from Walking Dead