Celebrity Concert Review

One of our not so frequent contributors, the ubiquitous TT has submitted the following. In an attempt to pander to the masses:

Be Good Tanya’s Belly Up Tavern,
May 18, 2007 Solana Beach, CA.

I first heard the BGT’s on NPR’s “All things considered” about 6 months ago; NPR will occasionally feature artists with a distinctive sound and try to give them broader exposure. To be sure, they have a distinctive acoustic sound using guitars, harmonica, violin, bass, and mandolin to their most clever advantage. But when combined with the blended harmonies and thoughtful lyrics, the female trio really sets themselves apart and above most other artists in this category. I suppose the best categorization is alternative country, but give a listen and decide for yourself.


Now, I am not a music snob by any means; I represent the mainstream of middle-aged, middle-class, middle-America. Artists like.Norah Jones and Jack Johnson have done very well with this, my segment, because their acoustic sounds are comforting, but still retain personality. The industry intelligentsia may rail against such artists because they are not sufficiently edgy or arcane, but this music scratches an itch for a customer segment that is still comfortable paying $15 for a CD rather than downloading mp3’s of dubious origin. I was hopeful the BGT’s would show me something to keep me hooked.


The Belly Up is a great bar venue to see a band; located 2 blocks from the beach in a laid-back southern California beach town, the Belly Up has good food, cheap tickets, and better than average selections of bourbon, beer and tequilia. In California, smoking isn’t permitted in such venues, so you can see the stage without the filter of cigarette haze, and not have blood-shot eyes the entire next day.


The ladies were fairly reserved for the first several songs. I became nervous for them as they stuck to standard versions of their albums with little or no improvisation. I’d hoped to see some personality, some spark, or some of the back-porch feel that is so evident in their music come through in the concert performance. Still, maybe it is too early in the life cycle of the band to play games with the music’s essence, at least until more people become acquainted with them. Because the music is so dependent on the strength of their vocals and harmonies, and they don’t hide behind electronics, the ladies hydrated frequently. It was then that hope-for-personality assertively raised its head; two of the Tanya’s were hydrating with red wine. I relaxed a bit. They were artists who were trying to strike a balance between enjoying themselves, cultivating a following, and respecting the casual listener. And they were doing a fine job.

As the set went on, they engaged each other and the crowd in conversation. At one point, the ladies were in animated agreement as to their unrequited attraction to Jeff Tweedy. They were showing some personality and were getting closer to the back-porch feel. I enjoyed the remainder of the show with a tumbler full of good tequilia in bare feet.

The band is touring to support their third indie album. They have published and performed enough original material so that the performances can each have its own flavor. I’d encourage you to catch them while they’re still playing smaller venues like the Belly Up as the setting is a natural complement to their music. But, once the fans of Norah Jones, John Meyer, and Jack Johnson catch on to the BGT’s, the ticket prices will jump and the venues will be far more up-scale.

Diner Review III: River Side Diner

Sometimes I fall in love again with St. Louis. Not often but sometimes. One of the fabulous things about having a passion for Diners is that I am always trying new places I find, stumble upon or have know about for a long time but have never gotten to. Such was the case today when I visited the River Side Diner on south...south Broadway. Do NOT confuse this with the faux hip City Diner on Grand (not a Diner).

I first saw the River Side Diner a number of years ago on a morning driving tour. It is on Broadway south of the brewery by about 4 miles...almost to Lemay...just down the hill from Alexian Brothers which is up on the bluff. This is a hard scrabble part of Broadway right on the river with barge traffic and oil storage tanks, metal salvage yards, pawn shops and bars. It is definitely an area where people work, live, eat and drink and some never leave in part because their cars are broken down and..well...with a few DWI’s driving does not make a lot of sense anymore. It is right down the street from the bar “Slo Toms” with which I have had an epic fascination for at least 10 years. It is a part of town which although sketchy at best, I have never felt unsafe in.

This is a REAL diner with REAL people who have jobs and work or...are just living off their disability or social security checks. I walked in at 7:00 on a Saturday and the small place was absolutely packed with all the 7 or 8 tables were full. There are no booths but they did have a nice counter which was more then adequate. Linda was the only waitress and after she wiped the counter she asked what I wanted and i did not have the balls to ask for a menu. I ordered hash browns, (shredded as God inteded), a couple of sausage patties and toast. She also got me an iced tea (brewed).She wrote my order down on a simple notebook pad instead of any tyoe of ordering pad.
There were 20 people in the place and most all of them new each other as well as Linda and indeed even Scott the cook. Scott was a 6’ 4” 315 pound doo ragged white guy who...cooked really well but you would not want to fuck with him under any circumstances. Scott was the ONLY person in the place other then me who was not smoking. It was yet another place that proved the socio-economic arguments about cigarette companies praying on the poor and the stupid. Every table had an ashtray and every ash tray was being fully utilized.
I got a menu to look at as I watched my food cooked about three feet away from me on a hot griddle. The pancakes look awesome and Scott was man who clearly knew his way around an egg mixing up some excellent omlettes as well as some delicate over easy and over mediums that would have made my wife’s heart beat faster. The menu was excellent with VERY low prices and all the breakfast stapes including biscuits and gravy and the dreaded and much discussed, analyzed and treasured “slinger”.

Regulars as I said were everywhere and the obligatory older loud mouthed guy (Bill) came in and started trading sexual inuendos with Linda and was told by Scott to “shut the fuck up” several times. Local color. You wonder if every good diner has regulars like this who just come out to have someone to talk to but are so poorly socialized that they stir it up wherever they are. Bill and Scott made plans to go down the street later that night for a beer and you did get a feeling that most of the people in the place walked there. The place did not sport a juke box but did indeed have one of those “shifty” free standing video poker machines where it is never spoken outloud about whether they pay in cash or not. It looked poorly used but..who knows. The coffee looked strong, the tea was good and fresh. It looked relatively clean and in most cases was probably cleaner then most of the patrons who frankly looked lijke people who worked hard every day. I think the most expensive thing on the menu was biscuits and gravy with sausage and hash browns for $5.00. My bill came to $3.50 after I went to the counter and cash register and she added it up. Being used to paying twice that much at the Courtesy or Chile Parlor I was able to tip generously and work my way out of the smoke out to the morning on Broadway.

River Side is probably only 100 yards off the river but the view is blocked by buildings and tanks but a short drive north on Broadway provides access to the river and you can drive your car to the edge and take in the morning and watching that deceptively slow river as it swirls and eddies south never knowing your there.
The River Side Diner is a 9 Slinger Rating out of 10. It is worth the trip.

Return of the Silver Surfer!

Soooo...the new Fantastic 4 movie will be coming out soon...this summer or something like that. I assume the perennially hot Jessica Alba will be in it as Sue Storm and hopefully consumate her relationship and become Mrs. Reed Richards and have babies... BECAUSE that is what happened in the comic book. I was never that big a Fantastic 4 fan but there was some very good stuff in the old Fantastic 4. It was written and drawn by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. Geniuses both. The Lennon and Mc Cartney of comics. Comics dealt with big issues....love, death, cosmic nothingness...serious stuff that helped get me through adolescence. There was something about the way they were drawn...the way they were inked...and the overly dramatic story lines...it was all good.


Never DC Comics. DC was the bastion of the stodgy and poorly drawn classic comics like Batman and the droning and annoying Superman. DC Comics were like my parents comics and even though Kirby did things like Captain America, Marvel was edgy, sexy, hot...and really violent. The Fantastic 4 was really boring I thought. Ben Grim was not a compelling character. he was a pile of orange stones who had clever lines like...”It’s Clobbering Time!” Johnny “The Human Torch” was good looking and there was an air of Greek tragedy to his obsession with his sister. Reed Richards and Sue Storm? I never got it. Still the first movie was not disasterously bad and it looks like there might b e some more drama this next time around. But for all the boredome the Fantastic 4 engendered they were part of the Marvel universe as such part of the mythology...cosmology...idiotology of that Universe.

They introduced som very complex characters, villians and plot threads. Dr. Doom was dark and unhappy and...very steel covered. Galactus was...God and then there was... The Silver Surfer! There was never a comic book character like The Silver Surfer. The Silver Surfer had...issues. The Silver Surfer is the sad Norin Radd from the planet Zenn-La. Galactus was about to destroy his planet and he negotiated with Galactus to find other planets for him to destroy and be his emmissary. Eventually that lead him to earth where he was setting it up to be destroyed by Galactus when he was so moved by the nobility of the earth people he battled Galactus, lost and was banished from the Universe to Earth....very, very sad story. The Silver Surfer is a metaphor for..everything. He was well intended, he got corrupted by power and used and... broke free and had his own cosmic morality but paid a price for it and was banned forever to our little planet...harsh punishment indeed.

And somehow...in a comic book form for a late blooming teen ager...it worked. All of this huge morality play worked in the form 05 twenty five cent and thirty cent comics which came out on a monthly basis bringing along fantastic story and plot lines. I could feel empathy with the shiny, well drawn surfer and it will be interesting to see whether with all the fabulous computer tricks and graphics whether they can turn a Quarter comic book into a 30,000,000 dollar franchise. Stay tuned.

Do not poke With fork...I am not done.

The Haitus Ends! I have been taking a break to deal with all the stupid self invented trauma in my life but...gosh there is just way too much bull shit going in the world right now to lay off. Sooooo....lets begin at the beginin.
***
Don’t Pump Gas On May 15th? What the hell? Who thinks this stuff up? I know it is a big Facebook and MySpace event so it is dominated by well intentioned High School and College students but does anyone really think that an industry which can take over the most powerful country in the world (not just the free world but THE WORLD), dramatically raise oil prices when there is no new threat to supplies and in between the Winter heating oil season and the summer driving season and has innoculated us to the point where we shrug off $3.00 a gallon for our 80 gallon Escalade tanks cannot figure out how to deal with one day where their captive constituents do not buy gas? (That was an awesome sentence). As a counter balance I have launched a Facebook event called “Don’t Pump Gas On May 15th AND Stop Whining and Go Give Blood.” How about we...do something? For once? Please?
***
Barack Obama. I am ready to jump on the bandwagon. How great would it be to have a President with command of the english language and an ability to use it to inspire people...hell...to inspire me to want to do something better, to want to be something better, to ...God forbid...expect something better? The rap on him and there are many that he is unexperienced, green in the gills, an uncle tom, someone without substance, no proven track record, no serious governmental experience.... PLEASE! Is that all they got? With the numb nut we elected and God have mercy on all of our souls, re-elected, can we do any worse. People say that he is nothing but a canvas on which people like me can paint their dreams. Is that supposed to be bad? How much better is having a canvas to paint my dreams then the FOX covered technicolor nightmare that our current President brings into our lives every day and night? The other candidates, Republican and Democrat all seem more of the same. Rich kids from political families. Think about this nightmare. Hilary Clinton (who has briliantly reinvented herself) can be elected for four or eight years just to get us ready for another four or eight years of Jeb Bush? This is America and although we have a lot of Anglophiles we do not have dynasties and these people have all just become inbred and nasty. We can do better. And Obama is better. He is smart, hard working and he speaks in a manner which makes me want more for my country, my children and the world. Get on the band wagon now. You will thank me later.
***
Ben Stein was on the radio the other day. “Bueller?....Bueller?...has anyone seen Ferris Bueller?” Stein is one of the best, smartest observers of our time. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. had nothing on his pithy review of our nation and it’s foibles. Stein wrote a great book directed at teens called “How To Ruin Your Life” which gives on instructions on being selfish and stupid and ruining their life. But...I digress. Stein was on the radio talking about what a bad situation the country was in while at “war” in Iraq. He stated that on the same day, within the same hour when he heard 7 more American soldiers were dead he got to watch a group of brokers on Wall Street stand around and and clap regarding the new high for the Dow. He was saddened and he told us that as long as we are at “War” and we are more worried about our investments then the lives of Americans who are dying for that privelege...we will lose, and it will devestate us. He is right. When the war started the President told us that the best thing we could do to support the troops was to spend more. Once again, God forgive us for re-electing him. If we are at war...lets do something as a country to share the suffering rather then sending other peoples children to fight for our freedom. If people of my age and education were asked to send their children on this failed clause we would have a revolution in a minute and not just against the President but against the Democratic congress who does not have the backbone to reign in this misguided atrocity that we were lied into for reasons I cannot even speculate on. If you want this “war on terror” support it and send your child. I do not have the heart or the stomach and I am embarrassed that I have not done more...done anything sooner.