Marianne Faithful – Cancels Tour 2006

I was really looking forward to November 1, 2006, Dave A and I had purchased tickets to see Marianne Faithful at the House of Blues. It would be our third time to see Ms. Fiathful in concert and we had enjoyed her so much the first two times we were sure the smaller venue would be a great place to see her perform her many beautifully written songs. Unfortunately Ms. Faithful announced that she had to cancel the concert due to her diagnosis of breast cancer, with great panache she has declared she will be back with a passion and a tour in 2007. We will be there. It often saddens me that these great female singers, Marianne Faithful, Ricki Lee Jones, Patti Smith, Lucinda Williams, Joni Mitchell, PJ Harvey are relagated to the back of the list of great stars while those that were great rock stars some time ago march out on the world with much aclaim from the record industry bought criticsm huge stadium sellouts and audiences clamouring to see them, like the Rolling Stones (sorry they haven’t made good music since the 70s), the Who – there’s only two of them left and it’s still the Tommy show, Tom Petty claiming he is not going to perform anymore – and yet greats like Marianne, Patti, Lucinda, Ricki continue to make good well written music, full of emotion and love. Not one of Marianne’s CDs is without a gem and well worth a long rotation on the CD list. Our last encounter with Ms. Faithful was at the Henry Fonda Theater on Hollywood Blvd.

As you can see from the ticket it was supposed to be GA – which we thought meant would enable us to be close to the stage to see and be near Marianne. Instead we found that the concert was going to be recorded for posterity on DVD and we ended up in the balcony seats right in front of the sound board – it was a good location, the sound was perfect, but we had hoped for up, close and personal. At least this time the crowd we were seeing her with was adoring, when we saw her with friends, David and Cameron at the Royce Hall we were surrounded by the blue rinse ticket holder crowd that blanched when Ms. Faithful started singing her famous and startling song at least for the over the hill gang, “Why D’ya Do It”.

When we found out the concert was being recorded we were excited to purchase the DVD – but I have to say the production quality of the DVD is wanting and doesn’t show the greatness of the chanteuse nor the banter that she had going with the crowd during the whole show. At least it is a recording, myself I find her “Blazing Away” live concert on CD a better example of her power and beauty. The CD covers all of the songs she sang which are listed below.
1. Trouble In Mind 2. Falling From Grace 3. Mystery Of Love 4. Ballad Of Lucy Jordan 5. She 6. No Child Of Mine 7. Last Song 8. Kissin’ Time 9. Times Square 10. Working Class Hero 11. Incarceration Of A Flower Child 12. Strange Weather 13. Guilt 14. As Tears Go By 15. Sister Morphine 16. Crazy Love 17. Broken English 18. Why D’ya Do It Get strong Marianne we can’t wait to see you again. d

Murakami Wins Franz Kafka Award

From: ceskenoviny Czech Happenings – Congratulations Haruki Murakami – incredible book – Why were you shocked?

Japanese writer Murakami arrives in Prague Prague- Japanese author Haruki Murakami, which will be awarded the Franz Kafka Prize at the Old Town Hall on Monday, arrived in Prague today. The renowned writer, one of the candidates for the Nobel Prize for Literature this year, only rarely travels. He came to Prague because he highly esteemed the prize bearing the name of his favourite author. Murakami said that he greatly esteemed Franz Kafka and having been awarded the literary prize named after him. This attracted him to Prague, he added. Murakami said that he had never been to the country in which Kafka had lived. He said that it was intriguing for him to be here. Murakami said that he had started reading Kafka’s work at the age of 15 and was deeply touched by it. He said that he had read almost all of his books and that Kafka was one of his most favourite writers he had come across during his life. Kafka’s work has been translated into Japan in its entirety. Murakami said that the popularity of the German-writing author from Prague from the early 20th century was not unusual in Japan. Kafka is respected and liked by many in Japan, he added. The protagonist of Murakami’s latest novel Kafka on the Shore is called Kafka Tamura. Murakami said that there was a connection between the 15-year-old main hero and him when he read Kafka for the first time at this age. He escapes the home and his parents in order to be independent and gets into a very unusual world, Murakami said. It is symbolical that his name is Kafka, Murakami said, adding that he remembered Kafka’s world all the time he had written the novel. Murakami said that when he had learnt that he received the Franz Kafka Prize, he was absolutely shocked. Haruki Murakami, 57, is one of the outstanding contemporary Japanese writers. He gained popularity inside and outside Japan with his novel Norwegian Wood. Author: ÄŒTK.

New Music To Listen To

Chelsea Hotel No. 2 – Rufus Wainwright – Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man (Soundtrack various artist) okay it’s not new but it sure is great You Are Free – Joseph Arthur – Nuclear Daydream- Damn I like this song and the whole CD is hot. Peace and Hate – The Submarines Dead Meat – Sean Lennon Sold-Motel – John Cale Moon River – Dr. John The Kill – 30 Seconds To Mars I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ – Scissor Sisters One Of Us Is Gonna Die Young – The Ark The Rejection – Dangerous Muse Meds – Placebo Minimal – Pet Shop Boys Bang Bang You Are Dead – Dirty Pretty Things Standing in the way of control – The Gossip Don Gon Do It – The Rapture – the video on rotation at Logo is a fun spin through a skating rink

Shakespeare and Company, Houellebecq, Murakami(again) and my summer of leisure July 2006 part 2

Shakespeare and Company for many sparks a sense of literary history, for others memories of Before Sunset with Ethan Hawke – the movie made the little cavern of books seem grandly large, when in fact it is a cramped, jam packed nest of books in disorder. Walking through the entrance one is easily transported back into an earlier incarnation of City Lights in San Francisco, Lawrence Ferlinghetti most assuredly spent time here, before opening his store on Columbus Ave. And yet it was different, tighter, compact, steamy, of course it was mid-June and we had finally found the place. Hunting for Shakespeare and Company seemed to take on gargantuan proportions, maps were studied, web addresses were checked out, and walking down streets for two afternoons led us to believe it was an aberration of literary myth.

We did in the meantime during these wonderings find a small vegetarian restaurant – it was packed outside – inside though it was dark and sweaty – it being a very hot day – and we found Gilbert Juene – a mecca we continued to go back to once found – they have the most exciting array of maps of all of France – it would be incredible to find something of this type here in the US, bicycle path maps, road maps, broken down by county/states, we bought tons of maps – a special group of maps of the southern French area where we are planning another bicycle outing in the near future. When we did finally find the bookstore we were a bit surprised at the location, how many times had we passed by this area, the name of the store above the entrance, poem by the owner on one of the open shutters


It was here I was looking for a new book to read after finishing Murakami’s “Hard-Boiled Wonderland”, and of course in English, my last attempt to buy a book in French – Henry Miller’s “Rosy Crucifixion” panned out – still haven’t found the time to translate one of my all time favorite pieces of writing, so it had to be English and I was sure I would find something to read at Shakespeare and Company, – actually I was looking for more Murikami – obsessive compulsion I guess. There was none to be found except Kafka on the Shore which I already had, so I picked up a copy of Luis Cernuda’s Poems “written in WATER”, translated into English, one of my favorite poets. We have a copy of his homoerotic poem books from when we first met and Palm Springs still had a decent bookstore on the main street, which of course was along time ago before the Modernist Nazis and the no growth morons moved into the town. Book in hand I went to the front of the store, hoping to purchase this book without too much difficulty English wise, but still didn’t feel I had found the book I wanted to read. Nobody was at the cash register, so I stood back and looked at the books in front of the buying station, English translations of French Novels, there were all the Balzac’s, and Genet’s Dave A purchased Quereelle even though I had a copy at home, and I picked out a book, Atomised by Michel Houellebecq, the cover of course wasn’t very appealing, some emaciated blond chic, bikini clad, black and white photo, and some notes from critics saying it was a fabulous story. Ignoring the quotes, marketing is a fucking bother when it comes to choosing a book, I kept tossing it about in my head, I knew I had read somewhere about the writer but couldn’t remember where, I liked the heft of the book. I liked the first few sentences on the first page. I liked the size of the type. I was looking for something light to read. I figured since the cover had such a sexual look to it, that it might be just the right type of vacation novel to tackle, light, easy read. Wrong. This is some powerful, dark writing. More later on the writing, as I have just finished four of Monsieur Houellebecq’s novels, and I can unqualifiedly say he is one great writer, even though he is sexist, racist and a bit of a misogynist. Politics and fiction have their discomforts. I finally decided to buy Atomised and “written in WATER”_. The girl who sold me the book opened the books and stamped them with the Shakespeare and Company logo, kind of a nice souvenir, plus she slid in between the pages this handy bookmark reminding me where I had purchased the books.


We were damned hungry after trying to find the bookstore and it was the night when France was going for the second slot of the World Cup and the streets and restaurants were filled with people, many places had video screens of the game on and people were congregating outside of these restaurants 10 and 20 people deep while the game played on – luckily the place next to Shakespeare and Company was not completely full and we were able to get a table, Le Petite Chateau.

Where we had this absolutely incredible meal, the air was perfect, the sounds of the city was lively, the escargot was delivered in a puff pastry bowl, the wine was magnificent, the company was delightful, we just had a grand time. I think it was one of our favorite nights actually.

Afterwards we walked across to Notre Dame while the cars raced by us with flag waving, horn honking Parisians chanted about their success in the World Cup, there was such an exuberance in the crowds of people. We ended up on the plaza in front of the Hotel De Ville where they were showing on an inflatable movie screen our number one favorite animation film “The Triplets of Belleville”, families, couples, tourists all gathered in the warm evening air, were chuckling at the antics of the three triplets, the grandmother, the dog and the gangsters. What a great way for us to get ready for our trip to Strasbourg and the opening of the Tour de France – another story of course.

Two Great Shows Back to Back – Joseph Arthur El Rey, The Pogues The Wiltern

Update: Joseph Arthur and the Lonely Astronauts at the Troubadour November 9, 2006.

Made it over to LA in good time both nights, arriving at 7:30 in front of the El Rey

to see Joseph Arthur. Doors were supposed to be open at 7 so figured we wouldn’t be standing up at the stage, but doors didn’t open until 8:30 and David while talking to our friend Jack captured incredibly the spot right at the stage, where Joseph chose later that night to stand right above us. Gotta say I felt a bit uncomfortable being up so close – my ears were still ringing from our experience with Mew and Bloc Party. Ages varied around us, some seemed as old as us, but most of the people around us were definitely younger. Doesn’t matter if you love someone’s music. We both really have a thing for Joseph’s music and lyrics, incredibly touching brooding optimistic sounds. The vantage point we had gave us a different perspective of the stage, my initial scan of the stage was fascinated with the cords and assorted pieces of instruments scattered about the stage, some of them decorated by Joseph’s alien art, and attached to the organ to the right of the stage an album cover from the 60’s Miss Pat Collins the Hip Hypnotist “

taking me down a nostalgic road of seeing her on Mike Douglas, the Lucy Show, etc.“ that crazy hair, and hypnotism, what did it have to do with Joseph was my question? The opening act Annie Stela wasn’t my cup of tea, not that she and her band weren’t good, I just couldn’t get into her music, I was struck by these absurd thoughts from my vantage point I could see her shoes stomping out the beat as she sat in front of the Roland 3000 she was playing, and I could see her upper torso from about mid upper arm and my head kept thinking she was without arms, just singing in front of the organ – it wasn’t until she stood up to sing next to last song did I notice she had hands to play the organ – great song though – the drummer and bass player really were excellent musicians – just couldn’t get into the music/lyrics and the kind of folksy moved here from Michigan, wrote this wedding song for a friend thing – even to point where some unattached voice from behind us asked the singer if the couple were still married. Curtain closes, polite applause.

Sat around waiting for Joseph until 10 when he finally came out with his band that we had seen a few nights before on David Letterman. Of course David and I and probably everybody else thought they were going to have a nostalgic performance of all of our favorite songs by Joseph but from the very start you knew you were going to be treated to a whole set of music, hard rocking ballads with a hard edged band backing him up, some of the band members as well as Joseph were dressed up in particularly funky costumes, Joseph had this great orange looked like leisure suit thing with embroidery of some of his art, going well with his acoustic guitar that was covered with his drawings and small plastic dinosaurs glued onto the front panel of the guitar, and at the top of the fret board a plastic worm or snake, the guitarist behind him dressed in an aerobics suit from the seventies, fish net stockings fashionably torn at the buttocks, sweat band and impish smile, the drummer had the throwback look of a young Monkeys look alike and the organ player/guitarist to our right was dressed rather plainly – but he could play that guitar. Joseph was in fine form – up close we lost some of the finer points of the music, but it was great having him stand right above us, Dave A was a bit intimidated by having him stand directly over him, but no matter he really enjoyed the entire performance. Josephs and crew were recording the concert and sold Cds of the live performance after the show. The third piece of music Enough To Get Away/Slide Away was very evocative, Joseph towards the end of the song climbed above the drums and sang a howling dirge that was highlighted by the lights and smoke in the theater – really sent chills down my spine. At the end of the concert Dave A jumped up on to the stage and grabbed the set list off the floor of the stage:

Of course this is not the set list he actually played: here is the set list as far as I can tell from listening over and over to the live recording we bought
Too Much To Hide
Black Lexus
Enough To Get Away/Slide Away
Cocaine Feet
Electrical Storm
Devil’s Broom
September Song
Precious One
Good Life
Honey and the Moon
Famous Friends Along The Coast
Mercedes
In The Sun
Miss You

The new CD Nuclear Daydream is definitely worth purchasing. Joseph is supposed to play the Troubadour Nov. 9th.

Friday we raced over to the Wiltern so see The Pogues with Dirty Pretty Things, instead of Dirty Pretty Things, we got to see two unknown groups to us, Angel City Outlaws and Ollin, Angel City Outlaws were incredibly loud for an empty hall – it was early and LA audiences being who they are didn’t really show up until late into the Ollin set, but ACO were very good, kind of Clash meets up with 50s rock, lively set, enjoyed it a lot, and then the boys from East LA Ollin came out and did an incredible set, their Mexican Irish bent on the music was exciting and fun, everybody around us was rocking to their sound and they had the entire audience by the end of their performance in their hands – these guys are up and comers. The Pogues have not aged well looks wise, of course so have we – Shawn and crew had lost their hair, grown heavy or wiry, but boy did they put on a show, good solid Irish rock, lots of emotions, unfortunately I haven’t listened to them enough as of late, so words were not in my head to remember during the songs so I felt a bit off in keeping up with the emotions those around me were feeling. There was a lot of booze flowing around, lots of beer and whiskey, and there was shoving going on around us, as the show progressed everybody was feeling the emotions, by the time they went off the first time, the crowd had been banging around, pushing us up against the rail, by the time Fairytale in New York happened it was a full on jump dancing enjoyment, it isn’t often you get the crowd so wound up, last time we saw it was Bloc Party at the Palladium. Had a great sweaty time and I spent all day yesterday listening once again to Peace and Love and Hell’s Ditch.

Nouvelle Vague and The Submarines Hollywood September 2006

Had an incredibly great time last September 8th in Hollywood. Drove in from Palm Springs at 5 and got to the Henry Fonda at 7 – time to spare. The line was incredibly short for this great band only an hour out. But the concert hall did fill up fast once 8 oclock wound round.

Surprise of the evening was the group The Submarines – whom we thought were incredible. They really rocked. Loved the daisies. Bought their newest cd and picked up their promo and met them after the concert – very nice couple. Hope to see them again soon. Posted at their site that they are playing at the Glass House in Pomona – a great venue – we saw the Kills there last fall.

Get this video and more at MySpace.com
Nouvelle Vague was incredible from the very start – starting off with Killing Moon – and it was well orchestrated. Simple tunes, incredible female singers, great musicians, we were totally blown away, and we were only one row from the front. Wow the singing was great. Lucky for us we bought their newest CD in Paris this last july. Have had it on our playlist for the last 3 months. Met Oliver after the concert and he was incredibly nice and signed out CD covers. Thanks for an incredible evening.