Summer is….baseball, blockbusters and the beach. While I only hit the waves once this season (what’s up with THAT?!), baseball and blockbusters certainly made up for it, as The Dark Knight seems destined to topple Titanic as the biggest money-maker of all time, and my beloved Red Sox and my hometown Dodgers both made it to the postseason.
But, for me, this summer was one more thing—concerts. I experienced four months of such wide-ranging musical bliss that I started to believe I had multiple personalities. I traveled such far ends of the spectrum and back again, I’m surprised I don’t have whiplash. But, mostly, I was reminded why I put up with this urban jungle in the first place (Hollywood Bowl, anyone?) and why my iPod means more to me than my car.
So, with your indulgence, I’d like to travel back through my musical journey of Summer of 2008. It was filled with dark, light, ancient, new, classical, contemporary, tender, rough, wicked, sweet, rousing, gentle, moody, somber, uplifting and mesmerizing. And every bit the soul-catching spirit-chaser music should, is and lives to be.
June 5, House of Blues Hollywood: Peter Murphy
The summer was appropriately kicked off on the Sunset Strip, on a night when the LA Lakers were playing my Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Familiar with the House of Blues routine, we had dinner at the House of Blues restaurant so we could grab front-of-line privileges. We weren’t interested in catapulting ourselves to a prime spot in front of the stage, but the best spot in front of the rail instead, above the floor and the fracas that we had outgrown in our advanced years. But, upon leaving the restaurant and winding our way down the steps, past the “regular” line to the “special” line, we saw just one person sitting there. Not sure we were in the right place, we asked her, “is this the front-of-line?” When we were assured it was, we re-evaluated our plan. Were we going to give in to our late-thirties and pass up the chance for perhaps our last opportunity to be front and center stage at a concert? Yeah, it can be miserable up there, all the pushing, shoving, reaching, drunken strangers sweating on you, screaming in your ear, elbowing you for position…..BUT….on the other hand….FRONT AND CENTER. Should we do it, we asked each other? It’s now or never. We had promised ourselves long ago that we would abandon that whole scene, the shoving-for-position thing…it just was too taxing, too miserable. But, this time….we had the golden pass to the prime spot and we decided it was too good to pass up. So, we did it. When the doors opened, we marched right in, walked across the empty floor and grabbed our spots against the stage, dead center, ready for the onslaught, bracing ourselves for the mass of humanity to crowd behind us, ready for the true concert experience. Hell, if you’re going to kick off a summer of concerts, this is the way to do it, right?
The House of Blues had a giant screen dropped from the ceiling in front of the stage, on which they were projecting the game, so, while we were holding our ground as the crowd swelled in behind us, we were able to watch it, which made for quite a surreal experience. House of Blues, a crowd of black-clad hipsters and thirty-somethings coming to see the former lead singer of Bauhaus—known as the ultimate purveyors of Goth music in the early 80s—and the NBA Finals. Random. But perfect.
The concert finally begins and Peter, who I’ve seen several times before, comes out looking grand and sounding even better. His Goth days are behind him, but he still knows how to mesmerize a crowd and is still every bit the rock god, even in this small venue. And even though we do feel the crush and the elbows and the knees, it didn’t matter one bit, because there was nobody between us and him. And, let’s face it, when you can see the design on their shoes….that’s cool.
Movie connection (because this is a film blog, after all): Peter Murphy can be seen, as the lead singer of Bauhaus, performing their song Bela Lugosi’s Dead, in the opening credits of The Hunger. (awesome)
June 22, Hollywood Bowl: Thievery Corporation
Our first of many trips to the Hollywood Bowl this summer. If you aren’t familiar with Thievery Corporation, you’re missing out. They are two former D.J.s from Washington D.C. who blend genres and artists together to create music that can best be described in one word: groovy. Under the stars, letting the rhythms and the beats infect me—pure rejuvenation. Seriously, get these guys in your iPod. You won’t regret it.
Movie connection: Thievery Corporation’s “Lebanese Blonde” can be found on the Garden State soundtrack.
July 3, Hollywood Bowl: Fireworks Spectacular, A Ball at the Bowl with the LA Dodgers, featuring the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Randy Newman
Not knowing, halfway through the season, that the Dodgers would actually win the NL West title and make their way into the playoffs (and to the NLCS), this evening was simply a nice trip back in time, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Dodgers in Los Angeles. The highlight, for me, was hearing the LA Phil play, but the crowd seemed more excited to see Tommy Lasorda and to hear Randy Newman play “I Love L.A.” Forget that, hearing the Phil play Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue was worth the price of admission alone. Most of the crowd, however, couldn’t even care less about the music, as they were there just for the fireworks, which were spectacular, but I almost would have rather just listened to the orchestra playing Sousa without all that exploding noise above them.
Movie connection: Randy Newman has been nominated for 17 Oscars and won for Best Song for Monsters Inc.
July 10, The Orpheum Theatre: Yaz
The highlight of the summer. Hands down. One of the highlights of my concert-going life. And, looking back, ranks second only to seeing Depeche Mode from the second row at Staples Center as the greatest concert experience of my life. Why, you ask? Well, this duo, who existed in the early 80s, only produced 2 albums, and then split up. They never toured the United States. Vince Clarke, the male member of Yaz, and the key songwriter and musician, was also one of the founding members of my favorite group, Depeche Mode. After leaving Depeche Mode, he went on to form Yaz, with singer Alison Moyet. After making two brilliant albums, they went their separate ways, Moyet to a solo career, and Clarke to form the band Erasure (who I also love). But, to any fan of the 80s synth-pop alternative music scene, Yaz was a meteor that shot across the sky, shining brightly and then disappearing, teasing us with what could have been. For me, the ultimate fan of synth-pop, those two albums are in my blood and have been since I was an early teenager. When I stumbled across a news item that Yaz was re-forming for a special 25th anniversary tour (25 years—egads I’m old), I nearly fell off my chair. Unlike most other groups that reunite to tour, these two weren’t getting together to sell a new album (like Duran Duran has done), they were instead getting together just to play their old stuff. And that’s it. I can easily tell you I had never been so excited for a concert in my entire life. Even when I go to see Depeche Mode, I know two things are going to happen: I’m going to have to sit through new songs, and I know I’m not going to hear all of my favorites. But with Yaz, since they were not getting together to promote a new album, and only had two albums of material to even perform (just 20 songs total), the audience knew what they were going to get. FINALLY, a concert was going to give the audience EXACTLY what it wanted to hear. And not only that, but we were starved to see it and hear it LIVE. For anyone of my ilk, 30-something alt music fans, these concerts (they played three nights in L.A.) were EVENTS.
And the concert didn’t disappoint. When Alison Moyet (those of us who love her just refer to her as The Voice) opened her mouth and sang the first lines of Nobody’s Diary, I literally started to weep and then my heart leapt with joy, it was such sheer ecstacy. I won’t bore you with any more details, because if you are a Yaz fan, you were there, but Alison and Vince were amazing, the crowd was perfect, and the concert was everything I had hoped and wished it could have been. Was there a moment of sorrow when it sunk in that it was never going to happen again? Well, life is about appreciating the moments when they come and all I know is I appreciated the hell out of that one. And some.
Movie connection: Yaz’s “Situation” is on the Rules of Attraction soundtrack
August 2, Hollywood Bowl: Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy) with Eric Idle
Eric Idle, one of the members of Monty Python, has written a musical/opera version of the Python film Life of Brian, and has based the music on Handel’s Messiah. Sound interesting? It is. And it makes for quite an interesting evening at the Hollywood Bowl, especially when you have the LA Philharmonic as your backing orchestra and Idle himself as one of the baritones. Makes you look on the bright side of life.
Movie connection: Come on.
August 19, Hollywood Bowl: Joshua Bell a la Francaise
The night at the Bowl I was really looking forward to. The night I could experience classical music and the Los Angeles Philharmonic without fireworks, gimmicks or opera. Just music. The LA Phil opened the evening with the Hungarian March from Berlioz and then Joshua Bell, arguably the best violinist on the planet, took center stage with three pieces by Chausson, Saint-Saens and Stravinsky. Classic. What a setting, what a performer, what a night.
Movie connection: Joshua Bell can be found on the soundtrack for the film The Red Violin and he makes an uncredited appearance in the film.
August 29, The Canyon Club: Toad the Wet Sprocket
From the Hollywood Bowl to a tiny club in Agoura Hills, my journey continued to take me to my favorite band of the 90s, now occasionally playing clubs in the Valley (like sands through the hourglass…). The option to be front and center wasn’t offered here, since The Canyon Club serves a full dinner to its patrons before the show, and, apparently, is still serving dessert during the show, making the concert feel almost like a glorified dinner theatre or awards banquet. For me, the idea of being forced to sit at a table during a rock concert would be this side of torture. Thank goodness we got to stand at the back, but it still seemed odd, looking out at this sea of people sitting, barely even into the music. No matter, we were into it, and the boys were great, as usual. This was one of those unique nights where we got to discover a treat of an opening act. The performer, Paul Freeman, was fantastic, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for him on the horizon.
Movie connection: Toad the Wet Sprocket’s “Windmills” is on the Latter Days soundtrack.
September 6, The Forum: Nine Inch Nails
The big one. Boy, Trent Reznor can put on a show. The passion. The anger. The aggression. The decibels. A Nine Inch Nails concert is not for the faint of heart. But Trent is also a consummate showman and he knows how to give you your money’s worth. It’s more than just the music, it’s a visual spectacular, with a light show and the use of giant LED screens that interact with the performers and react to the music in such a way that it literally morphs to the beat. Nine Inch Nails concerts are legendary for a reason. I’ll even put up with the dilapidated Forum for Trent the God.
Movie connection: Reznor composed the original music for The Crow
September 17, Hollywood Bowl: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Back to the Bowl, but the LA Phil is far away from this one. This is classic, but classic Nick Cave, the quintessential dark genius of rock and his band the Bad Seeds. It seemed an odd fit, Cave seems more at home in dark smoky venues rather than open air amphitheatres, but he still prowled the stage, stomped and story-told, and delivered his unique blend of blues, rock and goth to the crowd of misfits, malcontents and outcasts that he preaches to. And we ate it up.
Movie connection: Nick Cave wrote the screenplay and composed the original music for The Proposition.
September 27, Hollywood Bowl: A Celebration of Rumi: The Sights & Sounds of Mystic Persia
From Australian contemporary Nick Cave to the music of ancient Persia ten days later, our Bowl experience couldn’t have run the gamut more. A program inspired by the writings of ancient poet/prophet Rumi, the evening brought together a wide range of musicians and performers, including The Silk Road Ensemble featuring Yo-Yo Ma, Iranian lute player Nour Mohammad Dorpour, making his debut performance outside of his home country, and, the highlights of the evening, two memorable performances by troupes of dervishes, The Whirling Dervishes of Damascus and The Qaderi Dervishes of Kurdistan. While the Dervishes of Damascus are the more famous of the two, with their spiritual spinning sending their white robes flying into the air in a beautiful prayer dance, I found the Dervishes of Kurdistan to be the more hypnotic and captivating act of the evening, as their rhythmic incantations were thoroughly entrancing. However, the planners of the evening tried to jam way too much into one night and, no matter how captivating music can be, nobody can stay mesmerized for 3 ½ hours. Phew.
Movie connection: Yo-Yo Ma performs Bach’s “Prelude (From the Unaccompanied Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007)” on the Master and Commander: Far Side of the World soundtrack
October 2, Hollywood Bowl: Neil Diamond
If there could be a yin to Trent Reznor’s yang, Neil Diamond would be it. But one thing they have in common is passionate fans. How appropriate that my summer of concerts would wrap up with the king himself, the man who I saw in my very first concert of my life, exactly twenty-five years ago. I loved his music then, and I still love his music now. Neil Diamond is timeless and ageless. At 67, he’s still got it. Yes, he’s got a new album that he’s on tour to promote, but, as usual, it’s the classics that we all came to hear, and he didn’t disappoint. Yes, I was up on my feet, along with all the grandmas, singing at the top of my lungs to Holly Holy, America and Sweet Caroline (go Sox!), and you could have heard a pin drop during his flawless renditions of his still-perfect ballads Love on the Rocks, You Don’t Bring Me Flowers, Play Me and I Am I Said. Just like my love of ABBA, I hold my love of Neil Diamond close to my heart, I wear it proudly and I am not ashamed. And, this night, I got to bask in it. And the next time you knock Neil Diamond, you think about how he’s selling out the Hollywood Bowl and the Staples Center for three nights when he’s 67 and he’s still rocking the house and you wish you had that kind of energy, talent, longevity and bank account. He is and always will be the Man.
Movie connection: Diamond starred in and composed original songs for The Jazz Singer.