Go Forth

I'm more than a bit envious of people who got to see Jimi perform live. I'm sitting here listening to The Verve's "Forth" that came out yesterday marvelling at the studio production. This is the first time I've gotten to hear new songs from an epic band live before they were released on a studio album. My wife and I got lucky enough to see them in London and Vegas. They played the first song on the album, "Sit and Wonder", at both shows and the second song in Vegas. There are differences, refinements, on the album, but I feel most privileged to have witnessed firsthand the evolution of great music.

I think that's the deal with stories. That's why legally you need 1st person accounts to consider an event fact. A human can only convey their interpretation of an experience in their life, pieces thereof really. To put stock in a story degraded by the filtering through a second human, forget about it.

So, "you had to be there" isn't poppycock. Being front row in London to see a band you thought was broken up for good is ineffable. The emotional connection I somehow feel to The Verve now is non-transferable. My spine tingles and tears obscure my sight listening to "Love Is Noise".

Yes that happens with other music, of course, but hearing this album makes me feel something all-encompassing. All senses have memories of this. You can recount in detail events of your life, but it is nigh impossible to cause another to feel what you felt.

That's why I tear up when narrator Emma Thompson says Will Ferrell "lived his life" in "Stranger Than Fiction".

I hope you live yours.

Peace.

The Kings

I'm starting to get some really good feedback from the exposure started by Josh Spear! It's exciting to have some genuine interest coming from online! Primitive Kool in San Diego, CA received the blues portraits and should have them up soon. Janis is off to SoCal as a commission. How do you think it turned out?

The Kings of Leon were excellent at the Marquee last night. Their "show" is getting more exciting and they rocked it! Such good music, so talented. Great venue too. I would highly recommend it for Phoenix area concert-goers. The only thing about the place is the perhaps overly high-strung security. It's about like the airport, just without the actual metal detector! I don't understand the need, just not the level to which they take it. Once inside though, it's sweet.

I haven't been to an overwhelming number of concerts. I only started going with my wife when she showed me bootlegs of Black Crowes shows she'd been to as a teenager. We've seen some pretty nice ones. We're making it a priority and like planning trips around shows. The best so far for me was seeing the Crowes reunite in Atlanta. We could see the tour bus from the window of our hotel room! Beautiful city and fun venue, The Tabernacle. We also just saw Marc Ford at the Rhythm Room here in Phoenix. A little dive club, we got to sit stage left right in front of him! Sweet merciful crap, that was incredible seeing him jam for like over 3 hours.

What's your most recent concert and how did it rank with others you've seen? I wish I had been around during the 60's to see some of the people I've painted:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

Now where's that Otis Redding record...

Concerts, Concerts, Concerts!

Today starts a string of concerts my wife and I get to see. First is the Kings of Leon in Tempe, AZ. We saw them in New Orleans at the House of Blues and were excited they were going to come to the Phoenix area. Then the White Stripes in Albuquerque and in San Diego. Yes, we're seeing both concerts! They put on such great live performances we couldn't resist. "Anywhere within a 6 hour drive," my wife said. Then the Arctic Monkeys back in Tempe.

This won't be cutting down on my painting much, though. I've got commissions to work on and several I want to do because I know they'll make great pieces. I'll keep posting pics as I get them done too. Oh, that Dylan wasn't at Raw Style, it was at Wild About Music in Austin, TX. I had done 2 Dylans and didn't remember which was where. But now my brother-in-law has it!

I'm trying to decide who to show at Rockzone Records. So far I've got Jim Morrison, Ozzy Osbourne, Bob Marley and Lou Reed. I'm thinking for the DJ crowd to throw up Rick James "Street Songs" with Superfreak and Isaac Hayes "Shaft" dance mixes to make'em chuckle and think. Or Queen and Kiss. What do you think? I'll post the pics after I get them framed and hung, so who do you want to see? If you need examples:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE AT: WWW.VINYLART.INFO

and take a look at the gallery.