Monday, January 07, 2008
Old-fashioned
As I look into the future, I wonder how my son will perceive me as he gets older. I wonder if he'll think I'm old-fashioned, if he'll think the music I listen to is old and out-dated. Or perhaps he'll think the way I bought music at the turn of the century to be old and out-dated...I just picked up a copy of Radiohead's In Rainbows on CD. This may not seem special in any way, but the album was available at a pay what you want price for download back in October stretching the limits of how mainstream music is distributed. But I still prefer to have the physical CD, the art work and the plastic disc.
Sure, the first thing I did was rip it into MP3 format but there is something about having the physical CD; perhaps something I can pass down to my son someday. And when I do, he'll probably look at it in the same way we look at 8-trac or cassette tapes and wonder about his strange, old-fashioned Dad.
Labels: music
posted by Wayne at 11:44 AM |
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Monday, July 23, 2007
The Police in Toronto (without the pepper spray or tasers)
Last night I had the pleasure of witnessing Sting, Andy Summers, and Stewart Copeland rock the Air Canada Centre. The Police Reunion Tour drew out a capacity crowd of more mature music lovers (in our 30s and above for the most part) allowing us relive a little of our past.
While the band was up to the task, the crowd was showing its age with everyone in my section staying seated, except when two young 20-somethings (can they really know who The Police are?) decided to stand and dance (well really sway a bit with beers in hand). Some concert-goers behind me were clearly annoyed and asked me if the two guys up front were "bothering me"? I replied "sort of..." but then remembered that I was at a rock concert and I figured people should stand and dance if they want to. I guess we really are getting old.
The band opened with "Message In A Bottle" and covered most of their big hits in their 2-hour set. Sure there was some fiddling with the arrangements, but nothing became horribly unrecognizable. I still have "King of Pain" and "So Lonely" in my head.
The band had energy, played fairly tight, and sounded good. Perhaps a bit more energy from the crowd would have made the concert all that much more memorable. In the end, I'm glad I had an opportunity to see this trio perform on stage.
While the band was up to the task, the crowd was showing its age with everyone in my section staying seated, except when two young 20-somethings (can they really know who The Police are?) decided to stand and dance (well really sway a bit with beers in hand). Some concert-goers behind me were clearly annoyed and asked me if the two guys up front were "bothering me"? I replied "sort of..." but then remembered that I was at a rock concert and I figured people should stand and dance if they want to. I guess we really are getting old.
The band opened with "Message In A Bottle" and covered most of their big hits in their 2-hour set. Sure there was some fiddling with the arrangements, but nothing became horribly unrecognizable. I still have "King of Pain" and "So Lonely" in my head.
The band had energy, played fairly tight, and sounded good. Perhaps a bit more energy from the crowd would have made the concert all that much more memorable. In the end, I'm glad I had an opportunity to see this trio perform on stage.
Labels: music
posted by Wayne at 12:56 PM |
0 comments
Friday, July 06, 2007
A little music on a Thursday
Steve found a fantastic deal on RedFlagDeals for free Van Morrison tickets at the Hummingbird Centre Thursday evening. The tickets were priced at $172.88 each for balcony seating, so paying a mere $4.75 for two tickets (for a service charge) was an incredible bargain.
The 90-minute set was excellent. The arrangements were blues-inspired including a rendition of "Have I Told You Lately". It was thoroughly entertaining, although I must admit I was hoping he'd break out into the version of "Moondance" I remember from The Best of Van Morrison CD I once owned (but lost while living in Ottawa).
After the concert, we made our way to C'est What? where we were fortunate to hear singer/songwriter Kate Schutt perform live. Kate plays a Novax 8-string guitar/base hybrid instrument while singing wonderfully melodic jazz songs (she has a fantastic voice that reminded me a little of Jewel and Norah Jones). After an enjoyable evening, I picked up her "No Love Lost" album on the way out the door. She's playing at the Beaches Int'l Jazz Festival in Toronto on Sunday, July 22nd from 5-7pm... try to catch her if you can.
The 90-minute set was excellent. The arrangements were blues-inspired including a rendition of "Have I Told You Lately". It was thoroughly entertaining, although I must admit I was hoping he'd break out into the version of "Moondance" I remember from The Best of Van Morrison CD I once owned (but lost while living in Ottawa).
After the concert, we made our way to C'est What? where we were fortunate to hear singer/songwriter Kate Schutt perform live. Kate plays a Novax 8-string guitar/base hybrid instrument while singing wonderfully melodic jazz songs (she has a fantastic voice that reminded me a little of Jewel and Norah Jones). After an enjoyable evening, I picked up her "No Love Lost" album on the way out the door. She's playing at the Beaches Int'l Jazz Festival in Toronto on Sunday, July 22nd from 5-7pm... try to catch her if you can.
Labels: music
posted by Wayne at 12:17 AM |
0 comments
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Reliving my youth with The Police
Pre-order tickets for The Police concert at the Air Canada Centre went on sale today and Steve and I picked up a couple of tickets. My earliest memory of The Police is recording "Don't Stand So Close to Me" on the tape recorder of my mono Panasonic radio while pretending to be a radio DJ (I was 8 or 9 years old at the time and it was a lot of fun).Tickets to the general public go on sale this Saturday at 10am, but people are already scalping similar tickets as mine for over $300 each on sites like StubHub. My initial try on TicketMaster netted me a pair of $225 tickets (the best seats available). The thought of scalping them did ever-so-briefly cross my mind, but then I remembered how much I hate scalpers, so I gave them up and just bought a cheaper ticket. These $225 tickets are now listing on eBay for around $1000 for a pair.
So... wrong...
posted by Wayne at 3:26 PM |
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