#bucketlist – The Boring Old Man

Concert Review: BEAT at the Quarry Amphitheatre, Santa Cruz, CA

Ok kids, this one was a show for the ages. I don’t even know where to start… I suppose a little background is in order, to explain my pre-conceived expectations and bias!

If you’ve never heard of BEAT, you’re not alone. And it was a curious choice of a name, considering we have The English Beat, aka The Beat AND The Paul Collins Beat, aka The Beat… and then along comes a Supergroup to end all supergroups, calling themselves BEAT. Whatever, they could have called themselves anything, and still outshine any 4 piece band on the planet.

BEAT is the brainchild(?) of guitar maestro Adrian Belew and bass virtuoso Tony Levin. As they describe it on their website BEAT is “a creative reinterpretation of the music of KING CRIMSON including the iconic albums, Discipline, Beat, and Three Of A Perfect Pair, and beyond.“

When I was a young’in coming up, I first heard King Crimson around 1982 and I was absolutely blown away. They were so completely weird, yet technical and futuristic that I couldn’t help but go bananas for them. At the time, I had NO idea of their pedigree, I didn’t know they’d already been around my entire life, I had no idea they had released half a dozen albums before I ever heard of them… I just thought they were another New Wave band and I was all in. (Remember, this was more than a decade before the interwebs, and being able to find out everything about anything with a couple mouse clicks…) Their drummer at the time, Bill Bruford, became a big influence on me and I was totally obsessed by Tony Levin on this new fangled instrument called the Chapman Stick. They were like aliens compared to the music that was on the radio in the day, and if you met somebody that was into King Crimson, you knew you had found one of your kind. They were undoubtedly NOT for everyone.

Long story short, I’ve gone down the King Crimson rabbit hole, discovered the many variations of the band and their music, the lineup changes, etc., and for me that Classic 80s lineup of Belew, Levin, Robert Fripp and Bill Bruford was the pinnacle of the group. But sadly, I was too young in this era to have seen them play live and figured that ship had sailed.

Then a couple years ago I found out about BEAT, a group put together by Adrian and Tony featuring Steve Vai in place of Robert Fripp and Danny Carey (from TOOL) on drums, playing my favorite generation of King Crimson music. Unfortunately when I found out about them, I couldn’t make the show. I don’t recall why, I’d either already missed them coming through my area or I didn’t have the scratch for the tickets or maybe had tickets to another show that same week…I don’t recall. Nonetheless, I was bummed. Again, I figured that ship had also sailed, it would be a one-off, and I’d missed my chance to see Adrian Belew, one of my “bucket list” artists.

But a few weeks ago, much to my joy and amazement, I heard they were making another round, only this time with my all time drumming hero, Terry Bozzio, on the drum throne! So this time, there was NO WAY I was missing the show!

I have seen Terry Bozzio play a few times and he’s mesmerizing. I also met him a number of years ago, and he was just a fantastic guy. And I couldn’t wait to see how one of my heroes interpreted the work of another one of my heroes, Mr. Bruford! I’ve seen Steve Vai live before and he too was out of this world. If anyone can fill in for the genius of Robert Fripp, Steve is the guy. And I once saw Tony Levin when he was playing bass for Peter Gabriel many moons ago, but the bass in Gabriel’s music is nowhere near as tantalizing as his work with King Crimson. And as I mentioned, Adrian Belew has been a bucket list artist for me for decades. Between his work with King Crimson, Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Talking Heads, Nine Inch Nails and The Bears, he’s been a favorite of mine as a guitarist for 4 decades. The very idea of these four together on stage gave me a level of fevered anticipation that I haven’t felt since I was a teenager just discovering live music.

The Quarry Amphitheatre is a new venue for me, despite being around some 50 years. Evidently they did a major renovation of the place in 2017 and started hosting rock shows there, but honestly I’d never heard of the place until this show came along. Located on the UC Santa Cruz campus, which is only about 20 miles from home. It’s been dubbed “Red Rocks in the Redwoods”, but since I’ve never had the pleasure of attending a show at Red Rocks, I can’t compare it myself. (A Red Rocks show is another Bucket List item for me though!).

The venue was cool. Parking was a bit of a walk, but I’ve had worse. (Looking at you, Shoreline Amphitheatre!). But the staff was pretty easy going and once I found the entrance, it was a breeze. Nothing but Porta Potties though, so the ladies might be less than thrilled. But generally speaking, not too shabby. It’s definitely got a vibe to it. Kinda like the Greek Theater at UC Berkeley, but more natural and a bit smaller.

A beautiful venue on a beautiful Fall night.

No opening band tonight, it was straight to business. And let’s be honest, who could open for this collection of living legends?!?

The band came on stage (promptly at 8pm, like true professionals) and right off the bat, they were firing on all cylinders. To be honest, it was a little overwhelming. So many awesome things happening at once, it was hard to decide where to look! Adrian, Tony and Steve were all in suits, like the old days, and they just ripped out one barn burner after another for about 25 minutes straight. And Terry? My goodness. I haven’t seen him play with such power and intensity since I last saw him play with Missing Persons. It was, to put it mildly, awesome.

They slowed things down at the 25 minute mark, with a newly written song, performed for the first time evidently. Then into an unhinged instrumental section , that started with what sounded like sound effects from an old Sci-Fi movie – played on guitar, mind you which somehow turned into a wild, syncopated guitar jam that I simply don’t have the vocabulary to describe. And then at the 48 minute mark, they broke for an intermission. Thank goodness for that, my brain needed some time to catch up with what it has just witnessed. It’s times like this I wish I were a better writer, as I have no words…

After the intermission they came back for another hour of non-stop, master class level virtuosity that was mind boggling. They played a selection of classics, some improvisational instrumentals and next to last, played my absolute favorite King Crimson song Elephant Talk. And then an encore on top of everything else. What a night! I’ve now seen things I can’t even describe. I’ve heard sounds from guitars that have no business coming from a guitar. I’m flabbergasted. Awestruck. Bewildered. And I couldn’t be happier.

Upright bass, electric bass, Chapman Stick and Synthesizer, Tony covered a LOT of ground

I started seeing “real” bands play shows at the ripe old age of 14, and in the years between then and now, I estimate I’ve seen between 450-500 concerts, from small clubs to massive arenas and I can say without hesitation that from a strictly musical standpoint, tonight was the best concert I’ve ever witnessed. It wasn’t flashy, there wasn’t some crazy light show, no video screens, no pyrotechnics. Just pure mastery from each and every musician on stage. It was a night I’ll not soon forget. As it turns out, tonight was the very first night of the tour, which means not only will it continue to get better (which I can’t really even fathom) but it means you still have a chance to see them! They are on the road through December 3rd, traveling Coast-to-Coast. If you love music, if you appreciate true mastery of instruments at the highest level, you owe it to yourself to see BEAT. Let’s face it, these guys are no Spring Chickens – Steve Vai is the youngest of the group and he’s eligible to collect Social Security benefits! These guys won’t be around forever, and while I’m not gonna say there are no up-and-comers that may be great players, there is nobody that matches the caliber of these guys when they are together in a group. It’s literally a once in a lifetime experience.

Mr. Belew, Mr. Levin, Mr. Vai and last but certainly not least Mr. Bozzio, THANK YOU for an absolutely unforgettable night of auditory magic. It was beyond delightful and a dream come true for this music lover.

And to my readers, thanks for stopping by!

Concert Review: Public Image Limited at The Rio Theater, Santa Cruz, CA

This one was a long time coming folks. As a youth, a tender Freshman in High School, I was introduced to the Sex Pistols and it was one of those musical events that absolutely changed my life. I had already been turned onto College Radio by that time, but the Pistols’ Never Mind the Bollocks album was unlike anything I’d ever heard in my life and I was forever changed.

Unfortunately for me, the year was 1982 and the Pistols had already imploded and were no more…

A year later I came into possession of a book titled The British Invasion: From the First Wave to the New Wave by Nicholas Schaffer (thanks Dad!) and it was there that I discovered Johnny Rotten of Sex Pistols fame had shed his Rotten moniker, gone back to his given name of John Lydon and started a new band by the name of Public Image Limited. Naturally, I was thrilled, and I set out to find their records. Ha!

Now keep in mind, this was way before the interwebs. The days of record stores like Music Land and Rainbow records and of course Tower Records. And we also had a great used record store in town in an old converted house called Streetlight Records that specialized in punk and New Wave records, European imports and the like, and it STILL took me TWO YEARS to get my hands on the Public Image Limited debut record!

And let me tell you, it was NOT what I expected! Nonetheless, I took my time absorbing it and came to appreciate it in a totally different way than the Pistols’ album.

Over the years I was there for every subsequent album release, and I grew to love the “band” – really a constantly revolving cast of characters – including Steve Vai at one point – with Mr. Lydon at the helm. And the records just kept getting better and better over the years.

But, for whatever reason, I was never able to see them on stage. So they became one of those bucket list bands for me and honestly I never thought I’d get the opportunity as Mr. Lydon hit 70 years old this year and subsequently just went through the passing of his long time wife Nora. The odds seemed insurmountable.

But much to my surprise I caught wind of a new tour coming this year and the minute I confirmed it was true I snatched up tickets. And here I am!

The Rio Theater was a new venue for me, not only my first visit, but the first I’d even heard of it! Which is weird considering I live only about 20 miles from Santa Cruz and come over the hill all the time… But it’s a cool venue, an old converted movie theater, which still has a bunch of seats, for which my old, worn out knees were grateful! The staff was super friendly – generally a given in Santa Cruz, but nice nonetheless. The crowd was a good mix – LOTS of old heads like myself, but a smattering of many generations altogether. Lots of Doc Martens, lots of old punk band T- shirts…my kinda people! Then again, most of the crowd was surprisingly “normal” looking. I suppose growing up in the 70s and 80s in the punk scene, if we’ve made it this far, we’ve got nothing else to prove and can leave the leather jackets at home.

The opening band was Plague Vendor from LA. They are kind of throwback punk band, with a bit of a modernized sound. Not really my thing, but I would have loved them when I was 16… What I will say though is their guitarist was great. He was ripping it up on a hollow body guitar through a tube amp, so for me he automatically gets bonus points! And their frontman was really giving it his all. He was a bit of Iggy Pop mixed with Lux Interior from the Cramps, with the occasional James Brown dance moves thrown in for good measure. He was definitely there to put on a good show for the audience. So, overall, I’d say they were pretty good for what they were, it just wasn’t my kinda jam.

The stars of their band. Not to diminish the rhythm section, but these two were blazing!

When it came to the main event I wasn’t sure what to expect. I figured it would be awesome or a train wreck quite honestly.

Well, the jury is in, and let me tell you they were AWESOME! The band was really sparse – guitar, bass and drums (though both the guitarist and bassist played some keyboards here and there), and they just killed it! They played songs from every era, even pulling out World Destruction, the dance club staple that John did with Afrika Bambaattaa back in the late 80s, and it was absolutely fantastic. Honestly, I had kinda forgotten just how deep their discography goes. They covered a lot of ground and didn’t miss a beat the entire time. That band was on fire! They played a number of their “hits” (LOL) and some deep cuts and just really wowed me quite honestly.

I wish I knew who this guy is, he was AMAZING!

Then John did something I’ve NEVER seen in a live show – he told us he was going to take a smoke break! “Gimme three minutes, and I’ll be right back” he said! He even flashed a pack of Marlboro Reds, just so we’d know he was serious. Only in California!

After the smoke break the band came back on, he thanked the audience for their patience, then promptly tore into the song Public Image. What a re-entry! Truly it was their encore, but it was different, I’ll tell ya that!

If I’m being completely honest, there were a number of songs I was hoping they’d play that they didn’t. But overall I really couldn’t have asked for more. They absolutely surpassed any expectations I might have had going in and I left on the kind of musical “high” that frankly is a bit rare these days.

And I not only got to discover a new venue but I got to cross a band off my bucket list that frankly I never thought I’d have the chance to see. An absolute win for the Boring Old Man!

Thank you Mr. Lydon and much thanks to your stellar band, I took me well over 40 years to see you, but it was undoubtedly worth the wait! I wish you continued success on the rest of your tour.

And to my readers, thank you for stopping by!

Here, there and everywhere…a quick catch-up

I’m feeling a bit neglectful of the ol’ blog these days and I just got back to town, so I figured I’d re-cap the last 10 days or so…

The first week of October was not unlike a big punch in the face. Work was ridiculous and on top of the ridiculousness of the day-to-day stuff, we were also hammering out the operational budget for next year. Now, I wear many, MANY hats in this gig, and do a lot of different things, but accounting is something I simply despise. I recognize that it’s a necessary evil, but I just really loathe that part of the job. A week of eyes glazing over and constant, recurring headaches, it was unpleasant to say the least. The Polyphia show was supposed to be the highlight of the week, but that was a bit of a bust too, so the week was just grueling. There was a light at the end of the tunnel though, an impending road trip, kicking off on Sunday, October 8th.

Sunday, October 8th we hit the road to Anaheim, CA for an out of the ordinary trip. For the last 25 or so years, the Mrs. and I have wanted to experience a Disneyland Halloween, and this year we finally did it. We tried to make this trip last year but our planning started only 3 months ahead of when we wanted to go and there was NOTHING available. Seriously, nothing. So this Halloween excursion had been on the books now for 10 months – a long time to wait! And to be honest, I’ve kinda lost my appreciation for Disney over the last few years, between them gobbling up so many other companies and intellectual properties, putting out crap movies and all their “woke” nonsense, I had considerations of calling the whole thing off. Nonetheless, a Disney Halloween was a bucket-list thing since I wanted to go long before the company started going down hill…

The last time we’d been to Disneyland was for our daughter’s 5th birthday – she’ll be 30 this coming February – it’s been a while!

We were expecting long lines and exorbitant costs for everything, and we grossly underestimated both. I’m a maniac for roller coasters, but waiting 2 hours (no, I’m NOT exaggerating!) for a 2 minute ride takes a lot of the fun out of it. Honestly, I have mixed feelings about the entire thing. When we first got there I found myself grinning ear-to-ear at the “magical” aspect of the place. Part of that was nostalgia, but really if you take in the architecture and the design and the special little touches everywhere, it really is unlike anything else in the world.

But the crowds! Good grief! It was just a non-stop, undulating sea of people everywhere you turned. And let me tell you, after seeing thousands upon thousands of these folks doing their best to make it an awesome day for themselves, I started to lose what little faith I had left in humanity.

This is not to say that no fun was had, there were some fun moments…just hours of waiting in “cattle chutes” in between those moments of fun. The Mrs. and I decided upon our departure that we won’t be back unless we end up with grandkids to take. Even then, it would be a tough sell…

On the bright side, we did get to ride the “Incredicoaster” at the California Adventure park on our last day, and I just gotta say WOW!!! Hands down the best roller coaster I’ve ever ridden – by a country mile!

As for the Halloween aspect, the main reason we went, it was underwhelming. There were a lot of decorations put up for it, some pretty stunning in fact, but overall it wasn’t all that different. Maybe the 80 degrees and sunny weather kept the Fall spirit at bay, I dunno. All I can say is Halloween didn’t seem to make it any more magical than it already is, it just brought in a ton of extra people.

After roughly 48 hours in Disneyland across 3 calendar days, it was back home for a layover/re-pack/car swap and a single work day for the Mrs. (and I got to put in some volunteer time at the school too, while she was working). On the 12th we set out again for one of our favorite destinations, Pismo Beach, CA.

I’ve said before that Half Moon Bay is our “home away from home”, but Pismo is a close second. The fact that one of my oldest friends lives there AND I can always count on him to head out into the surf with me, makes Pismo a very welcoming destination indeed.

This time around we tried out a few new places – the new food destinations were awesome, the outdoor hot tubs at Sycamore Hot Springs, eh, not so much… Nonetheless, we had a really relaxing time and I got to surf two days in a row, which almost never happens!

Pablo (right) and the B.O.M. (left) heading into the Pacific!

The whole reason for this trip was in celebration of the Mrs. and I hitting our 32nd (!!!) anniversary. Still having a hard time wrapping my head around that one… Add to that another 3 years together before we got married and we’re approaching double the years together than years we’d lived up to that point. It is staggering. Heck, our daughter is nearly 10 years older then we were when we got together, how time flies, eh?!?

We got back home late Sunday afternoon and the girls had a spa appointment to go to, so I headed out to my studio for some much needed drum time. I decided before I left on this trip that I wanted to change things up with my kit, and started tearing it down before I left. Last night I got a new, much smaller configuration set up and took it for a test drive. It’s pretty close to a “standard” set up now, which kinda rubs me the wrong way, but I’ll keep messing with it ’til I find a set up I love…Or I’ll go back to the “everything but the kitchen sink” set up, cuz I’m weird that way…

Monday was back to the grind, sadly. Morning commute traffic, 444 emails waiting and back to trying to solve everybody’s problems “yesterday”. Thank goodness for the recharge!!

All in all it was a great week, in spite of the hiccups, and I’m feeling invigorated and ready to seize Fall – my favorite season!

Thanks for stopping by!

Concert Review: Steve Vai at the Golden State Theater, Monterey CA

What can I say about Steve Vai? If you know him, you know. If you don’t know him, words will never, and I do mean never, describe him sufficiently.

There are a lot of great musicians out there, but every now and again one comes along that changes the way music is made, the way an instrument is played…the guys that inspire countless others to pick up an instrument for the first time. Or to completely change the way they play if they’ve already picked up an instrument. Steve Vai is one of those musicians. He does things with a guitar that seem humanly impossible. And he does it with a fluidity that is unmatched in my not so humble opinion. Part Wizard, part alien, I dunno…

For me personally, this was a “bucket list” show. Thankfully the Mrs. was willing to indulge me and accompany me . While she acknowledges his genius and appreciates the skill, this one was strictly for me. That’s how you know you got a great one – when they will not only be open minded about the weird stuff you want to listen to, they’ll even sit through a concert of it!

We’ve been to Monterey a hundred times (it was our daughter’s favorite place as a kid!) but this was the first time at the Golden State Theater, in fact I’d never even heard of it until I saw this show coming up. It was nice enough, though nothing particularly noteworthy. I’d take a show there over San Francisco any day though.

The show opened with an onslaught and I was mesmerized.

I’ll be honest, I’m mostly familiar with his work with Public Image Ltd. and David Lee Roth and have had only 2 of his solo albums, so I couldn’t give you a breakdown of what songs he played, from which albums. Nonetheless, it was phenomenal playing from start to finish. His band, as you might expect was really top notch. His drummer in particular was very impressive and had a great sounding kit. (The crew obviously had a part in that, so hats off to them too!)

They played for a good two hours (!!!), which at that level of complexity is almost unbelievable. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I’d have a hard time believing it! And seeing Mr. Vai play the “Hydra” – the 3-neck monstrosity pictured above – in a live setting? Worth every penny of the tickets AND the hour and a half drive, and then some!!

All in all, it was a spectacular experience and not one I’m soon to forget. And one more of my musical heros I get to cross off the list for seeing while I can. Thankfully I don’t have many left on that list – I’ve been fortunate to have seen most of them. Some I missed have sadly passed too soon (Stevie Ray, Eddy and Joe Strummer to name a few…) so now I’m taking every chance to see the greats before it’s too late and I’m very, very happy I finally got a chance to experience Steve Vai in the real world, I’ve never seen anything like it, and it was beyond exceptional!

Thanks for stopping by!