music – Page 3 – The Boring Old Man

Concert Review: Polyphia at The Warfield Theater- San Francisco- CA

So tonight I did something I haven’t done in a long, long time – go to a show solo!

Back in the day, I used to do this all the time but its been decades. So I felt a little out of sorts, if I’m being honest.

I got there late due to the sucktastic San Francisco parking, and the opening act was already underway when I got to my seat. It was an usual act, a duo comprised of a keyboardist and a drummer, by the names of Domi and DJ Beck, respectively. I will say they both clearly spent time on their instruments and were obviously talented. That being said, their frantic jazz fusion music wasn’t my cup of tea. I was a little glad I got there late honestly, 3 songs was enough to get the gist and that type of jam just isn’t my thing.

I don’t know if it was the unexpected heat wave we were experiencing out here in the Bay Area or if the Warfield’s mechanical systems were on the fritz, but it was BLAZIN’ hot in there, which made the wait between the opening act and the headliner grueling!

Polyphia finally hit the stage about 9:20 The opening song started off with a slow burn, but quickly built up and they were off to the races!

I’ve been waiting a couple years now to see these guys live, and sat on the tickets for a few months in anticipation but to be honest, the show was a mixed bag.

On the positive side, the guys played great. Their guitarists outshine pretty much every modern fusion/prog player I’ve heard in the last decade. They really are phenomenal, especially when playing harmonized parts in unison. It is really something to behold.

That being said, the sound, the actual mixed sound from the PA system was horrendous. The bass guitar was so heavy in the mix that when things got really going with all the players, the sound just devolved into a rumbling, distorted mess. The drums too, we’re just completely buried – you could hear the back beat just fine, but ZERO of the finesse of his complex drum parts. He was also using very “dry” cymbals with little to no sustain – which can sound great recorded or in a small club, but here they were utterly lost in the mix.

Long story short, between the immense heat (along with some disturbingly rank body odor from someone seated in my general vicinity!) and the auditory assault from the bad mix through the PA, after 45 minutes, I’d had enough. I made for the exits before the set was over, not to mention any encore tunes.

I was glad that I got to see them, even if it was mildly disappointing. Knowing these guys CAN pull it off live was highly encouraging in this age of backing tracks and fake performances. That being said, I doubt I’d rush out to see them again any time soon.

As for the venue, I’ve decided to avoid the Warfield for a while, unless one of my “bucket list” performers comes through. Not that there is anything “wrong” with the venue (air conditioning aside, which was the first time I’ve experienced that there, and I saw my first Warfield show in 1982!), but the neighborhood has become so unbelievably bad I just want to stay out of it. Oddly, it’s not that I feel unsafe (thought truth be told, the Tenderloin District, where it is, happens to be either #1 or #2 of the most dangerous places in San Francisco according to crime stats) it’s just that it is really depressing. I’ve hung out in that area since my early teen years and I don’t even recognize it anymore. One “sidewalk shantytown” after another, up and down every block. Crazy people walking around screaming at nobody or everybody, drugged out zombies wandering aimlessly, and the non-stop, overwhelmed stench of urine and general filth. It really drags you down, being in the environment, even when nothing “bad” happens. It’s a real shame. San Francisco used to be THE place to be in Nor Cal, but over the last few years it is increasingly becoming the place to AVOID.

The best part of the ride out of town was this handsome devil

So like I said, a mixed bag. Keep up the good work Polyphia, and maybe find a different sound man to run your boards – it would make a world of difference!

Thanks for stopping by!

Concert Review: Qveen Herby at the Rickshaw Stop, SF, CA.

I debated writing this review due to being raised with the ethos of “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all”… But after some reflection I figured honesty is the best policy so I’ll tell it like it was in my not so humble (musical) opinion.

First off, I’m a huge fan of Qveen Herby and have been for several years now. The Mrs. and our daughter are too. There is literally NOBODY like her. We’ve been waiting a LONG time for her to finally hit the road and do some live music, so when she finally announced a limited tour, we JUMPED! We were so excited for this show, more than many others we’ve been to recently. Seeing an artist you love for the first time can be such a thrill!

My daughter and I been to the Rickshaw once before and loved it. We were really looking forward to getting out there again. But something was really outta whack this time and we did not have the excellent experience that we did the last time around.

Things got off to a rocky start, right off the bat. The show was listed as “doors open at 7pm, show starts at 8pm. We got the venue at 8:02, and there was a line of people down the street and around the block… Not a good sign.

We didn’t actually step foot into the club until 8:45. Pretty bad for a show scheduled to start at 8! Anyhow, once we get in, I’m immediately drawn to the fact that there is essentially NO musical gear on stage. Just a table, center stage, and I can see some sort of device with a few protruding knobs and that’s it.

We stand around in the room that is getting increasingly packed and the next thing you know the “opening act” comes out at 9:15 – and it’s a freakin’ DJ. <Insert MASSIVE eye-roll here>. Good grief. The DJ proceeds to “perform” a 30-40 minute “set” of the most inane, generic disco night club crap you can imagine. About halfway through I commented to the Mrs.,”I find it odd that someone who clearly doesn’t like music chose to become a DJ…” It was absurd. As boring as watching paint dry. And certainly not something I’d ever expect to see at a concert.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, it was over.

Then we wait. Then we wait some more. Then we wait a little longer. And after just a little more waiting, the main attraction hits the stage at 10:10 with…no band. What. The. Hell?

Qveen Herby looked great and her voice sounded fantastic. Her singing is great and her rapping is as good as any rapper I’ve ever heard. BUT! There is only so much one person can do to fill a stage, no matter how talented.

Long story short, we ended up leaving early – we’d seen enough. Frankly, it was kinda like watching a music video. All the music, all the background vocals and harmonies were simply play-back tracks. Essentially the “band” is a laptop. That does not make for an exciting show.

All that being said, we’re still glad we went to see her. I was really happy to see her get a packed house on her first gig in SF and it was cool to see/hear darn near everyone in the building singing along, word for word. I’m happy that she’s getting the recognition and love she clearly deserves. She is very entertaining and unlike so many other performers these days actually has a great voice – it’s not studio gimmicks and trickery. She’s the real deal. But for my money, if you’re doing a LIVE show, you better have some musicians on that stage! Otherwise, you’re just selling tickets to a Karaoke night.

Qveen, we still love you and your songs, but you need to go back to the drawing board when it comes to a live show. Costumes and lighting and props are great for plays and musicals, but live MUSIC needs live MUSICIANS!! If you put the care and feeding into the live act that you do for your videos, you’ll be unstoppable! I hope to see you continue to grow as an artist, and I hope this won’t be the one and only time we get the Qveen Herby experience IRL!

And to the Rickshaw staff…I’m willing to give y’all the benefit of the doubt due to my initial visit to your venue, but last night was a DISASTER. Y’all need to get your shizz together to make these events more successful. Just sayin’…

Thanks for stopping by!

Unearthing Treasure…

Lately I’ve been on a bit of a trip down Memory Lane musically, rediscovering a lot of music from my youth. The stuff I was into before I discovered college radio and got weird in the early 80’s. The staples of FM rock radio, what would be deemed “classic rock” these days.

My very first album as a kid was Aerosmith’s “Toys in the Attic”, followed up by Cheap Trick, Boston, Foreigner, Styx and the like and for the past few weeks I’ve been digging back into those oldies but goodies.

In the course of doing this I got to thinking about how amazing it is these days that you can hear a new song or read about a new band and within minutes (seconds?!?!) have their entire catalog of work at your fingertips. It is phenomenal when you stop to think about it.

For any youngsters out there reading this, you may not know, but up until 25 years ago music acquisition was a LOT different!

Every mall had one, or one just like it!

Up through the 1980s, pretty much the only way to hear new music was either on the radio or weekly TV shows like American Bandstand or Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert, maybe Saturday Night Live. MTV was around, but not everyone had it (nor cable TV!) and they were terribly guilty of HEAVY ROTATION, so it was like the same 8 -10 songs on repeat, for weeks on end. Radio was not quite as bad but new music was slow to break and you might only hear a song you were interested in once a week, if that. From time to time you’d hear a song that grabbed you, but have no idea who it was or what it was called unless the DJ happened to come on and announce the song, which was hit or miss. I probably heard “Walk on the Wild Side” 20 times before I ever heard the name Lou Reed. Which reminds me of another thing about the “old days”…

Every once in a while you’d hear a song that just knocked you out, and you’d save up your money and head down to the record store in hopes they’d have the record. If you were lucky, they would have it and you’d plunk down your hard earned cash and rush home to the turntable to listen to the album. If you weren’t so lucky, you might have to hit 2 or 3 different shops to find it. (No small feat when you’re a kid on a bicycle and the shops are miles away from each other!) Then you’d make the horrible discovery that while the ONE song was great, the rest of the album was trash. THAT was a heartbreaker! Especially if there were two records you wanted, but could only afford one! If you picked the dud it might be a couple weeks before you could scratch together enough coin for the other one.

Between the ages of 10 and say, 23 or so I surely spent in excess of a thousand hours in record stores, pouring through the stacks, trying to whittle it down to which few records I could actually purchase at any given time. And unless you’d already heard the entire record through a friend, every single time it was a crap shoot! Sometimes you get burned – like with that Lou Reed album I mentioned, sometimes you strike solid gold, say London Calling by the Clash.

Now, thanks to the wonders of technology, you can overhear a snippet of a tune, whip out the Shazam app and know what the song is and who’s doing it within about 10 seconds, click a link to Spotify and have their entire catalog right there. Then head over to YouTube and see every video they’ve ever done. Then hit Wikipedia and learn all the details and history of the artist. Nothing could be easier. It really is like having the entire world of music at your fingertips, practically for free!

Now of course, all this awesomeness is a double edged sword. For one thing, it has basically destroyed the music industry. Ironic but true. Unfettered access and free music everywhere has made it so musicians can’t actually make any money with record sales. Well, a few still do I suppose, but most bands these days make more money from t-shirt sales than records. It still costs money to make a record – studio time, engineers and producers, art work and pressing costs for physical product all get paid up front before a band sees a penny. And of course the musicians still need a roof over their heads and a meal every now and again, but I digress.

I might also add that frankly it takes a bit of the mystery out if it all, which was also part of the fun.

But what really inspired me to write all this in the first place was the discovery aspect. While hearing new bands or songs that turn you on is fantastic, recently I’ve been doing that with OLD stuff and that never would have happened without access to all this technology. Even a dinosaur such as myself that still listens to terrestrial radio from time to time will only hear so much “classic rock” – basically every hit song from 1964 to 1990 on an endless loop. There are no more “deep cuts” picked out by DJs, no full side plays like they used to do on Sunday nights (for the kids – late Sunday nights my local station would play Side A of an album straight through, do a commercial break and a station ID, then play Side B of the record all the way through),there is no discovery. Lately, I’ll read an article about somebody Im interested in and they’ll mention an influential musician they grew up with and I’ll go head down that rabbit hole. Or maybe someone will mention someone I’ve heard of, but have never heard. It’s been really cool to learn of new music, even if it’s 30-40 years old. If I’ve never heard it, it’s good as new to me! Just in the last few month I’ve “discovered” half a dozen artists that have been making records nearly my entire life that I’d never laid ears on, it’s been spectacular!

I’ve been lamenting these last few years on the sad state of music and how you must wade through mountains of garbage to find a gem these days, but recognizing that there is a boatload of as yet unheard music waiting for me has been invigorating! Not that I’ll ever stop looking for new, new stuff (honestly there have been a few “new” artists that have given me some hope for the future of music – looking at you Magic City Hippies, Qveen Herby, DesRocs, KFlay and others!) but discovering something 20, 30, 40 years old that resonates with your soul? That is treasure my friends. Go out and find some for yourself!

Thanks for stopping by!