Yes Without Jon Anderson On The Road In 2013

I was excited to see that Yes was coming to the Wisconsin State Fair this summer. Would this be the time that I finally see them perform live? After all, they aren't getting any younger.  Most of the band was born in the 1940's.  In fact, Jon Anderson will be 70 years old next year.  But wait, Jon Anderson isn't in the current lineup.  How could that be? The voice of Yes is sitting out this current tour? Is this another case of the band waiting for the singer to get around to playing live, like Journey did with Steve Perry? No, this is not the case. Let's take a moment to see why the band is on the road with another "Jon." This time it's Jon Davison taking the role of lead vocalist.

Davison is 41, and was singing in a Yes tribute band back in 2005. He has the vocal chops to pull off those high notes, and found his way into the "real" band without a true "tryout."  That was 2012, and the touring members of Yes were a hodgepodge of accomplished musicians, but only one true original member was on the list.  That was Chris Squire. This go round, Steve Howe and Alan White make up part of the band.  Having three original members on this tour will certainly bring out a few more die hard fans. Will they warm up to Mr. Davison?  Here is a clip of his handiwork. You decide.

 What happened to Jon Anderson?  Anderson suffered from a pretty serious respiratory illness starting in 2008.  The band just couldn't wait for Anderson to get well.  In their defense, Anderson was out of commission for nearly four years. Prior to that, Yes was on the road more than one would think.  Those aged rockers were keeping up a tour schedule better suited for musicians 25 years younger.  Anderson wasn't really thrilled with that.  His last project was a duo affair, featuring Rick Wakeman on keyboard. That was back in 2012.  Anderson hasn't completely shut the door on future reunions.  He would love to be standing on stage with Yes when (or if) they ever get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Until then, we Yes fans will have to make due with guys like Jon Davison, a man who can certainly hit the high notes.

Vintage Ludwig Snare Drums | Painted Interiors And Dating The Drum

For a few years, I got caught up in the vintage drum craze. Acquiring old Ludwig snare drums was my thing. It took me some time to learn about them, mostly through trial and error.  I should have gone right to this vintage drums book for starters. 

The book gives the reader a solid base of information on most of the larger or more popular drum companies of the 20^th century. It was in that book where I found out about the WFL Symphonic snare, a drum that has been in my possession for nearly 20 years now.  I love that drum, and I try to take great care of it. When I took it on tour in 2000, I made sure to bring it in from the van every night. 

I have found just one other Symphonic, and that one was a couple years younger than my first, with extra holes drilled into it.  Someone had replaced the Ludwig Classic snare throw off with a cheap Japanese throw. The interior of that “newer” snare has a coat of interior paint. That was a common thing to see on the early 1960’s models. It was done at the factory. Some say that they were painted to hide the lower quality of wood in use at the time.   They sound very different from each other.  The painted snare produces fewer overall tones when compared to the 1959 Model.

I feel that I was one of the lucky ones who got into Ebay early enough to grab some pretty nice snare drums and parts before things got out of hand, and opening bids went through the roof.  Finding a good deal on a vintage drum on EBay seems to be a thing of the past. Prior to that change, it wasn’t unusual to find a Ludwig Supraphonic available for just over $100. At one point, I managed to snag a pair of vintage Supraphonics for $75 each. When I log on to an auction site now, it’s easy to see that the public at large has been educated. At least I made my splash early.

Gogol Bordello With Bombino At The Pabst Theater | A Bit Of World and Gypsy Punk Music At Its Finest

What can I say about Gogol Bordello that hasn't already been said. Are they a Gypsy, punk, reggae-dub band? Yes, the band is a mix of all three. One thing that they certainly convey is pure musical energy. Just when you think that you have the band pegged, they riff in a direction that you just didn't expect. Last Saturday was my first time seeing the band, and I was not disappointed. I can appreciate them on so many levels. Let me take the next few paragraphs to describe that in better detail.

It's fitting that the band formed on the East Coast.  I'm certain that it helped. With NYC hosting a large Ukrainian and Russian population, it's not hard to fathom that there were plenty of musicians to choose from. If you watch an early Gogol Bordello documentary, you can see that the band was first made up of Russians and other so called "immigrants" who played a rough version of Gypsy pop/punk with Ukrainian twists. As the years have passed, it seems that the sound has become more polished, but still has a driving edge that maintains the punk and Gypsy origins.

I can also appreciate the fact that the band has members from many parts of the world.  Starting with Elizabeth Sun, who is of Chinese descent, but raised in Scotland.  Sun sings, dances, and plays the bass drum. Sergey Ryabtsev is a key member of the band, providing violin and vocals.  He's quite the Russian performer. Add performers from Ethiopia, The United States, and Ecuador, and you have a true melting pot of musicians.

Last but not least, these musicians are truly talented.  They dance and sing at the same time. That can't be said for modern pop stars who just dance to a prerecorded vocal track. Does that mean the vocals are a bit sloppy at times? Yes, it does.  Does that matter to the fans? Not at all.  When you watch them perform, it's like the wheels are just a few mistakes away from coming off, but the group has been through that so many times before.  The wheels managed to stay on at the Pabst last weekend.

If I was to say anything about the founding member Eugine Hutz, I would say that he seems like a man who's always looking to the horizon, while standing right in front of you. He has a pure energy about himself. It comes across in the way that he performs on stage. He might riff off the members playing right next to him, but it surely seems that he's in his own world. If I learned anything from reading about Hutz, it's that he's turned his travels into an opportunity to bring odd music to the masses. Some folks might not understand or appreciate those odd sounds. He once said in an interview that Americans tend to have an "imaginary barrier" to being open minded about all forms of music.  If Gogol Bordello continues to perform here, that barrier will be broken down.

Bombino opened the show.  Bombino is well known in his country, and his world music album has touched the hearts of many. The volume for Bombino's show was too low.  He has a way with the guitar, but next time they have to turn up the volume!

 

David Bowie Top Ten Singles And A Bit Of History

David Bowie surprised his fans with the release of The Next Day. It had been ten years since they had seen any new material and the recording process for this disk was done quietly over three years time. What I found to be unusual was that the song he released early was the mellowest on the disk. Still, it is a great song, and I can’t think that anyone would have been put off enough by the nature of that song to write off the entire disk before they had the chance to hear it.
Looking back at his 40+ years, Bowie’s highest chart topping album was Station to Station. It reached the top five. He’s never and an album hit number one, but many of his singles have reached the top spot. At the time of this posting, his new album is charting at 35.
The song Space Oddity hit number one in November of 1975.  Ashes to Ashes made the top spot five years later.  Under Pressure was also a number one song, along with Let’s Dance, and Dancing in the Street. He’s had 23 top ten hit songs, if you include Where Are We Now. 
Bowie had over ten years of solid tours, and hit songs before musical tastes had changed.  Dancing in the Street was his last top ten hit song for many years to follow. He released three truly bad albums between the years 1986 and 1988, and acted in three just as awful movies in that same time period.
When he created the band Tin Machine in the late 1980’s, those of us who find every Bowie effort a “must listen,” would have to agree that this was not one of those times where the project clicked in like a puzzle piece. Personally, I had completely forgotten about the Tin Machine years. When I watch those old Tin Machine videos, it looks as if he’s trying to capture a bit of that late 1980’s punk momentum. You just can’t “un-class” a guy like Bowie. It didn’t work.   
His 1993 release of Black Tie White Noise was hailed as his glorious return to the music that he’s best known for. While I agree that songs such as Night Flights and You’ve Been Around certainly sound like the old Bowie, it’s hard for me to say that the album was any better than some of his marginal works.

Nine Inch Nails And David Bowie

He tried his hand at appealing to a younger audience when he hooked up with Nine Inch Nails in 1995.  That tour failed to bring new listeners to Bowie’s music.  Fans of Nine Inch Nails just didn’t get it.  In fact, there was a bit of backlash from those who felt that he was trying to wedge his way into a fully matured musical culture that had no need for old farts like David. It’s funny to see that Trent Reznor’s fans love Gary Numan, a band that came to fame 15 years before Reznor became a household name, but they passed on Mr. Bowie outright. But then, Reznor owes his musical career to guys like Numan.
If I’m allowed to fast forward to his 2003 release of Reality, I would say that the first song on the disk is quite strong, but the remaining songs seem to drift. David Bowie had a serious heart issue while supporting that disk, and it was scary enough to force him to retreat from the stage. Bowie took a ten year break, but the wait was worth it. The Next Day is a strong effort, and I find nary a “clunker” on the CD.  I hope he doesn’t take another ten year break. If he tours to support the new album, I’m certainly going to check him out.

Bikini Kill Had Something To Say Back In 1990 | It Still Rings True In 2013

I stumbled upon an old Bikini Kill video the other day.  They were performing live outside some state capitol building.  If they weren’t dressed in 1990’s clothing, I would have guessed by the musical style that it was a recording from 1979.  Was this a band that had been playing these songs for a dozen years? No, they were too young to have played back when so many other bands played this same style.  So why did this band gain the attention that they did?  This version of stripped down, repetitive, less musically inclined style of music has been done so many times before.   

So I took a look at the lyrics.  Maybe that’s where I would find the lure of this band. Yep, that’s where the band hits a nerve. They speak of being a strong woman, being yourself, feminism, and so much more. They might have sounded like old school punk rockers, but their lyrics were “new school.”   

Bikini Kill’s second album contains the song Alien She.  The words that ring out in that song speak of someone who is two women.  One is pulled towards the stereotypical way “girls” are supposed to be. The other tries to understand that other side. What I pull from that song is that it’s about someone who struggles to be herself.  Someone is trying to understand why they think the way that they do.

The band wrote more focused lyrics as they gained a better knowledge of song writing.  Take the song Double Dare Ya.  The song challenges women to speak out, to fight for their rights, to stand up for themselves. The song Feels Blind starts off slow, and almost melodic.  Is it an anthem? It could be. It has one great line, but the words leading up to it are very important. “As a woman I was taught to always be hungry. Women are well acquainted with thirst. Yeah, we could eat just about anything. We'd even eat your hate up like love.” 

Give Bikini Kill a try.  You might enjoy the mix of old school punk music set to lyrics that are so important, even 23 years after they first came out.  Keep in mind that the members of the band went on to work on women’s rights.  That’s more punk rock than so many other musicians who talked the talk, but never walked the walk.