3 posts tagged “gorillaz”

We went to see Crowded House last night at the Somerville Theater. My wife is a huge fan, me not so much. But hey, I'll go anywhere for a night out. They put on a good show, and seemed to be having fun up there. The crowd was a little laid back, at least until the encores.

It's unfortunate the cell phone pictures and videos didn't come out. A bad cell phone camera combined with the challenging atmosphere of a concert make for some pretty unusable media.

The coolest thing happened during dinner before the show. We went to an Indian restaurant in Davis Square and as the drinks came, I noticed that G wasn't paying any attention to me, preferring instead to stare at the table behind me. Turns out, two of the band members, Nick Seymour and Mark Hart (much older looking these days!), were having dinner. She couldn't get over it and I took a couple of pictures of her with them after they were done. Made for a pretty exciting evening.

Personally, I've still been playing the heck out of the Gorillaz Demon Days CD. Just can't get enough of it. I see where the Harlem film version of it is playing on MHD, I think, May 15. I think I like the mixing on that better than the CD version. A friend loaned me Guster's Lost and Gone Forever, which I enjoyed. A group formed locally, it's good jangly pop stuff.

I actually crawled out of my cave and went out to see Bess Rogers at a local dive. She was great and I really enjoyed the show. Picked up a CD and even got it signed, my third such CD (Lui Collins and Sleepy LaBeef being my previous two). Once again, big thanks to W♥M for the heads up on Ms. Rogers.

Now I'm looking forward to seeing El Perro Del Mar locally later this week. I should just grab her latest CD and give it a listen, although if I wait until the show, maybe I can get it signed!

Unusual week this week in the Loathe and Love lists - I don't usually have some many things to Loathe.

Things I Loathe

• Having to fix badly written source code. How hard could it be to use an 'else if'?
• The often long hard battle getting the kids to bed. We're all tired enough as it is, why can't they just brush their teeth and go to bed nicely when asked?
• Rainy days with highs near 40F (4C)
• Getting micromanaged
• People who give me their email address and then never check it
• Having my favorite coffee bean (Ethiopian Yirgacheffe) be out of stock for the first time in years
  

Things I Love

• Calling home while driving home and talking to the girls. They continue to amaze me.
• Beautiful spring days, perfect for Opening Day and a World Series ring ceremony
• Turning rainy spring days into boardgaming days
• Lotus cars, even before Bond blew up a Lotus Esprit, breaking my heart
  
• Demon Days by Gorillaz

My movie for the weekend was Good Night, and Good Luck, a very well received move from 2005 which told the story of Edward R. Murrow's battle to expose Joseph McCarthy's "Commie Witch hunt" as nothing but Constitutionally challenged paranoia. This black and white film was nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor, although it did not win any.

David Strathairn as Edward R. Murrow and George Clooney as his producer Fred Friendly are excellent in showing their growing resolve to butt heads against the growing paranoia of Joe McCarthy (played quite ably by himself via newsclips). They get some flak from CBS President William Paley (Frank Langella) but are ultimately allowed to expose McCarthy's hypocrisy.

This very earnest movie tells a story well worth telling, especially in today's atmosphere of spineless "me-too" journalism, but it lacks drama. My father complained that Day of the Jackal lacked suspense, because everyone knew that DeGaulle wasn't going to be assassinated, and I felt the same way while watching Good Night. We all know that finally McCarthy will be knocked over. It does have some resonance today, because the spineless media coverage of current attacks on the US Constitution and habeas corpus have allowed too much to happen already.

But the movie itself, while well told and solidly acted, didn't really resonate. The sub-plot of the "hidden" romance between two CBS co-workers seemed to be merely filler. So I can't really recommend the movie, although the story is important.

My other visual media experience for the weekend was the MHD On Demand free showing of the Gorillaz concert at the Apollo Theater. A friend recently sent along a lyric he liked:

  There's a monkey in the jungle,
  Watchin' a vapour trail.
  Caught up in the conflict
  Between his Brain and his Tail.
   - Gorillaz, "19-2000"

So as I was puttering about downstairs cleaning up, I noticed there was a Gorillazconcert available, so I put it on. I honestly knew nothing about Gorillaz, so unlike my friend, I didn't find it odd that this "virtual" band was shown in concert! But I really enjoyed the show. It was a multimedia extravaganza and so I was distracted more than I wanted while I was supposed to be cleaning up. But it was some great music, with some excellent guest spots by people like Neneh Cherry and a reading by Dennis Hopper. The show at the Apollo Theater is of the Demon Days album, so that goes to the top of my want list now. I really liked how the band was shown mostly in silhouette, against a changing background of solid colors, at least until frontman Damon Albarn came forward for the last song, Hong Kong, accompanied by a beautiful woman playing the Chinese zither. Great stuff! Here's Happy Mondays/Black Graper Shaun Ryder singing DARE along with Martina Topley-Bird (I think) in a highlight for me: