Eileen Ivers and the Cleveland Orchestra

Last night the wife and I ventured out to Severance Hall to see Eileen Ivers and the Cleveland Orchestra do an Irish Christmas concert. For those who may not know Eileen is a 9 time All-Ireland fiddle champion and she was the original fiddle player in Riverdance. She brought along her own band Immigrant Soul, which consists of Tommy McDonald on vocals and percussion, Greg Anderson on acoustic guitar, Buddy Connolly on accordion and Leo Traversa on bass.

I have not been to Severance Hall or seen the Cleveland Orchestra live since I was in elementary school. That was on a school field trip. Being so long ago I could not remember anything of how Severance Hall looked inside. We purchased box seats which turned out to be a great idea. We were practically dead center and had a perfect view. I definitely would buy those seats again. The show started out with just the Cleveland Orchestra playing a couple of numbers. They truly are one of the top orchestras in the world. Then Eileen and the rest of her band came on stage. It quickly turned into a pub atmosphere with some conversation and good music. I enjoyed watching the looks on the musicians in the orchestra as they watched Eileen play the violin and dance around with such enthusiasm. The crowd got into it too clapping along and singing in different parts. An amazing show!

But the night was not over after the crowd let out. It was only 10:30 so decided to venture to the Ohio City area for some food and drinks. We managed to find a parking spot right across from the Bier Market and Bar Cento. Bar Cento is one of the restaurants we have been meaning to go to for quite awhile. The pressure to go was really on since head chef Jonathan Sawyer is leaving soon to open up his new restaurant downtown. We wanted to stop before he left and sure enough he was in the house last night.

I had heard the pizzas there are really good so that was the first choice. We ordered the Margherita with fresh tomatoes, basil and local mozzarella. Our helpful bartender Joey asked how hungry we were and when we said very he suggested the Pomme Frites. As soon as he mentioned the fries are cooked in duck fat I knew we had to get them too. Both choices turned out to be excellent. I also had a Troegs Mad Elf and Rogue Morimoto on tap. The Troegs is a christmas ale and the Rogue an imperial pilsner. I loved the first one but was not that happy with the second. That is always a chance though when trying new beers. And it is not like the Rogue was undrinkable. It just was not for me. A last note about Bar Cento was the crowd. We must be getting old because it sure seemed like we were the oldest people there. That is not a bad thing but after dressing up for the concert we seemed a little out of place. I would not hesitate to go back though!

We then decide the night was not over so we ventured around the corner to the Flying Fig. They have a wine there my wife just loves. We thought it would be a good nightcap before heading home. I was a bit disappointed that they were having a problem with their tap beer system so I had to switch to bottles. I got a Pyramid Snow Cap. And then finished up the night with a Macallan 12 yr old single malt scotch. That hit the spot. Last call came and went so we decided to head home. On a bad note the staff were talking about someone had their car stolen that night. She went to leave while were there and the car was gone. You do have to watch were you park in that area. And there is a parking lot right there, but a lot of people don't like paying to park. To me that is part of the cost of going out. I will grab a spot on the street if it is close but otherwise I like to park in a lot with an attendant. I know you can still get your car stolen or broken into there and the attendant does leave after a certain time, but chances of any problems are still less.

Overall it was a fantastic night. Great music, great food, great drink and best of all great company!

Berea Irish Fest...

Yesterday Zen Librarian and I headed to the Irish Fest. We missed last year so figured it was time to check it out again. Especially since a band we have long wanted to see was playing. We decided to stop at one of our fav brewpubs for an early dinner and a couple of beers.I had the Sandstone Lager and the Angry Gorilla. Both get high marks for me. The bartender told us that later that night they were going to show the movie The Goonies outside. They were going to project it on the side of the local bank. We both would have liked to stay for that but the Irish Fest was calling.

Not sure if it was the heat or the threat of rain, but the parking lot for the fest was not that crowded. It was a short walk to the gate and then time to pay the $10 admission. This was one of those events that requires you to stand in line to buy tickets and then stand in line again to get your beer. I understand it consolidates where the money is handled but it is still annoying. And they need to fix the sign at the ticket booth. It says beers are 3 tickets ($3), but when you actually go to the beer stand you find that Guinness, Smithwicks, and Harp are 4 tickets. Bud and the other cheap stuff is 3 tickets. So that means my initial purchase was off since I budgeted our beers at the 3 ticket level. More standing in line to come...

A few text messages and we found our friend Jon and his brother Cliff at the main stage. We also saw our friend George and got to finally meet Gino. The band The Elders were playing. I had never heard them before and was pleasantly surprised by how good they were. After the Elders a short intermission and then the band Seven Nations took the stage. We have seen them before and it was good seeing them again. They put on a really good show. Unfortunately the rain started at this time and we were out in the open. We tried to stick it out since it was a light rain but we finally moved under the stands to wait it out since the covered area was all full. Another couple of beers and we headed back out after the rain ended. We found a spot with Jon and George to stand that had a really good view. Then came the final band of the night and the one we came to see--The Young Dubliners. We have been wanting to see them for a number of years so we were excited to finally be able to see them. I only recognised a couple of songs but it was still a high energy show. Towards the end the rain came back a bit harder so we moved to a covered spot to watch the rest of the show.

One of the fun things to do at an event like that is to people watch at the shows. I just don't get some of these people. I don't remember acting like some of these idiots at shows when I was that age. Am I getting that old? When did going out to see a band become an excuse to take pictures of each other? Do they need a reminder of how drunk they got? And how stupid they were acting? Watching these people hanging all over each other and spilling their beers everywhere is not my idea of a good time.

Overall it was a fun night. I had some good beers. I enjoyed meeting up with friends and seeing some good music. And that is what is important.

Tempest at the Beachland...

Last night was the Tempest concert at the Beachland Ballroom. Before the show the wife and I met our friends Jon and George for dinner at the Grovewood Tavern and Wine bar. The food was ok, but nothing spectacular and for the price I am not sure if I will go back there anytime soon to eat. They did have a very good wine and beer list. After dinner it was over to the Beachland for the show which was in the tavern side. It was a beautiful night out so I have no idea why there was not a better turn out for the show. I counted only 16 fans which included the 4 of us. The last time Tempest came through they played the same venue to about as small a crowd. I felt bad for the band, but they took it in stride and still put on a great show. Last night's lineup of Lief, Damien, Adolpho, Michael, and James was different from the one we saw last time. I am not sure how long this lineup has been together but they were as tight as any band I have seen. What a great show! Lief even came out into the audience again and sat on my wife's lap again during a song. He did the same thing last time! After the show the band hung out and chatted with the few fans that stuck around. They are some of the nicest guys you would want to meet and you can tell they really love what they do. The fiddle player Michael Mullen was wearing a Tull tour shirt and chatting with him we found out he is a big Tull fan. We promised to send him some cds in the mail. One down note from talking with him and then Lief was hearing how bad the music industry has got for smaller bands like them. It really is a struggle to make it now. As usual we bought a couple of their cds. We have to support the bands we like or else they will not be around anymore! And Cleveland needs to get out more and support the music scene! So much for the home of Rock 'n Roll...

British Invasion and is PBS still necessary?

Flipping channels tonight the wife and I saw PBS was showing a British Invasion special as part of their annual March pledge drive. We missed most of it, but still caught some great performances. Gerry and the Pacemakers doing Ferry Cross the Mersey, Procol Harum doing Whiter Shade of Pale, Denny Lane from the Moody Blues doing Go Now, and my favorite performance from Lulu doing To Sir With Love. She still looks hot and still sounds great! Why is it that a lot of these acts still look good and still sound as good as they did back then? Forty years from now will some of these rap and hip hop musicians still look and sound as good? Yeah right.

The other thing that was going on was the annual March Pledge drive on PBS. I couldn't help wondering while we were flipping back and forth between channels if PBS was still necessary. In the past with only the three main networks and the local channels PBS did have an important place. Now I am not so sure. True I do watch still. They have some good programming that I do enjoy. I wonder though if the programming they do would not find a home on one of the cable channels if PBS stopped broadcasting. There are niche channels now on cable so the programming found on PBS would easily find a spot on some of them. And I really do believe that some of the cable channels would pick up the best shows. So should we just move on and end this experiment in public financed broadcasting? Has their purpose come and gone? Does PBS still serve the public good? Me? I have to say as much as I enjoy the programming I think the time has come to move on. If the shows are really worth watching they will find a home on some cable channel. True we would have to watch with them with commericials, but I think we would survive.

More Ipod Musings...

I knew I had a lot of cds stored all over the house, but did not realize how many until I started looking. I am still slowly adding them into iTunes and then transferring them to my ipod. Even though it is a lot of work it also has been a lot of fun. I keep unearthing cds I completely forgot I owned. Some I wonder why the hell ever bought it and others are like an old friend I am reconnecting with. It always amazes me how I can pop a cd in and be transported back to a different time. Some cds I have added recently are:

Rush: Vapor Trails
Pixies: Pixies
The Band: The Last Waltz (all four discs)
Tragically Hip: In Violet Light
Peter Gabriel: Up
Beck: Sea Change
Beta Band: Heroes to Zeroes
Sheryl Crow: Globe Sessions
Vanessa Mae: Choreography
Roomful of Blues: Under One Roof

It makes an interesting mix when you hit shuffle. Which is how I prefer to listen right now. I have been trying to avoid making new playlists right now because I want to listen to as wide a variety as I can. I have not listened to a lot of these cds in years so I want to try and give as many of them a new chance as possible. Sometimes it can be rather jarring the mix of songs, but other times it amazes me how well the different artists blend from one to another. It has been a fun ride...

RIAA's greed shows no limit

Imagine you are the RIAA. You are losing money and looking for ways to increase profits. Hey let's sue people who are illegally downloading music. Despite constant lawsuits, many of which have been thrown out of court, illegal downloading continues at even higher rates. Ok, that didn't work. Well, we can't make less money so let's cut the royalty rates paid to artists. Right now artists get 13% on digital downloads. If the cuts go through they will only get 9%. And if the cuts Apple is asking for they will only get 4%. So either 91% or 96%, depending on which cuts go through, will actually go to the artist that created the work. We live in one messed up country...

Public Libraries and new materials

I have mentioned previously how one of my goals for the year is to listen to more music. Not only my old collection, but new artists too. This has got me thinking about how soon new music should appear in a public library. You can expand that out to include any new materials such as books and movies. Should a public library have items available as close to their street release date as possible? I work in one of the busiest library systems in the country. We circulated over 10 million items last year throughout all of our branches. Dealing with such a large volume it is not surprising that a large number of new items arrive in our branches well after their release date. We list them in our catalog so customers can place requests. The downside is by the time we get the actual items and it starts to circulate the holds on it can pass the 4 digit mark. This forces us to buy large numbers of each popular title which is fine for the initial run of holds but after a year or so when the demand dies down they take up precious shelf space. We do get some of the most popular books and dvds out in circulation close to the release date. This does alleviate some of the issues. The bastard stepchild item though is music. For some reason we are so behind in getting out new artists and cds. It is embarrassing when customers come in looking for a new cd they heard on the radio or the internet and I have to tell them we do not even have a listing yet in the catalog. For some unknown reason we wait for the cds to chart in Billboard before we can list them. And then unless they are very popular they languish in our Processing department awaiting labeling. I can't tell you how many times I had the only request on a cd or one of the few requests and had to wait months for the cd to make its way through our Acquisitions and Processing departments. The whole ordering and processing system has been changing as they try to streamline the process as much as possible to expedite things. Still, music continues to take a back seat to books and movies. Yes, books and movies circulate at a higher overall rate, but music holds its own too. Hopefully the next wave of changes will rectify things. I can always dream...

Ipods, music and why the hell did I buy that?

A couple years back I bought my first ipod. I got a 4 GB mini which I love. I figured 1000 songs would be more than enough and it would take me years to fill it. Little did I know how fast I would hit the limit. So I decided to upgrade. This past Christmas my wife and I both got new ipods—the 80 GB classic. I have been having fun adding my old cd collection into it. As a goal for this year I decided I wanted to listen to more music. In years past I would spend a lot of time listening, but lately not so much. I am nearing the 4000 song mark on my ipod now and still have a large amount of cds to go. It has been an interesting experience as I go through my music collection. I have found numerous cds that I totally forgot I owned. This is a good and bad thing. Good in that I forgot how much I enjoy listening to them. It is great hitting shuffle on my ipod and having some of these lost classics play. It really brings out the memories of past events and times. It is not all good though. I have also unearthed some cds that as I listen to them now I can’t help but wonder what the hell was I thinking about when I bought this. I have always been a fan of all types of music and admit to liking pop music too. The bad thing about that is a lot of pop music does not age very well. I put the cd onto my ipod and then quickly delete it when I realize how much I don’t like it anymore. Or at best I like one or two songs on the cd. Was most music really that bad back then? Like a lot of pop culture this music is disposable. Listen to it for a short time and then delete it from your collection and from your memory. I am trying to decide if this is a good or bad thing? How many artists and cds today will we look back on as disposable art? Things that had their 15 minutes of fame and then disappeared into the ether forever. Or until some oldies station decides it is time for a comeback…

Today's music listening and audiophiles...

Overcompression. I had not heard this term before as it applied to music. So this was an interesting post I read today. Maybe this is why a lot of the music you hear now all sounds the same. But there are enough good artists out there to make searching for new music worth it. I have to agree with the other part of the post about audiophiles. They are jackasses for the most part. If your sound system costs more than my car than you either have more money than you possibly can spend in a lifetime or you are an idiot. I don't need to mortgage my house just to be able to listen to music. I remember getting hooked on music as a child listening to AM radio. Then getting my first turn table, which was one of those little portable ones that you could turn up all the way and I don't think people in the other room would even hear it the sound was so poor. Even without the best equipment I still developed a love of music. And I still have it today. I learned back then that it is the music that matters. A good song is a good song. It does not matter if you are listening to it on the radio, cd, ipod, computer or a $50,000 stereo system. The best equipment in the world is not going to turn a bad song into a good one. That is the one true fact in all of this. Good music trumps all...

What's in a name...

Think of your favorite band's name. How much time do you suppose they took to come up with that name? As time goes by I guess most of the good names are taken. So what is left for new aspiring bands? Apparently not much by these choices...

Sellout Songs...

This is a few months old already, but I just saw it and thought it was amusing. It can be rather jarring to hear one of your favorite songs hawking a product. I know the money can be good, but do most of these artists really need it? And do we really believe that the artists actually own these products and are happy with them? Unless they got them for free as part of their deal of course. I like that the site lets you put in your own songs. Give it a look if you have not seen this already...

Musician/Group with the best longevity...

What musician or musical group has stayed relevant that longest? Or put out good music the longest? My first thought was Bruce Springsteen, but I quickly came to my senses. For me his best album still is Born to Run and it has been downhill since. Your choice is allowed to have a slow period in the middle--Mr. Dylan? I am talking about at least a 30 year run of music. So that leaves out a lot of bands/artists.

Ticket prices or concert attendance is irrelevant to the discussion. People paying big bucks to see the Rolling Stones means nothing except people have no clue who to see in concert. If I wanted to see oldies played over and over again I can go to the local bar or Holiday Inn and see a cover band. I want new fresh music that is as vibrant today as the old stuff was. We have a certain breed of people with cash to burn and no idea how to spend it. So they chase the cachet of old names and drive up the ticket prices. They also ruin other sectors of the market—namely collectibles. CCGs, Sports cards, Comic books, etc have be inundated by these people which is driving up the prices and causing companies to flood the market with inferior products to meet the demand. There are dozens and dozens of worthy musical acts to see that are unable to get the necessary exposure because radio stations and venues still think concert goers only want to see the old names.

So who is my choice? I vote for Richard Thompson. I have been listening to his latest cd Sweet Warrior again in the car. It is another outstanding effort by a great musician. I also have been listening to a mix cd my better half put together of his music. The man had it then and still has it now. See some musicians are able to put our great music over a long career. So who do you vote for?

5th Track is the Charm...

As per my usual drive into work this morning I was listening to a cd. Local radio sucks but that is a whole other issue. I was listening to A Fine Frenzy's One Cell in the Sea. Track 5 is Rangers and is my current fav on this cd. Which made me think of how many times this is true. I don't know why it is, but at least for me whatever song is track 5 is usually the one I like the most. This has been true for as long as I can remember. On an album track 5 is usually the last song on side one which is how I first noticed this phenomenon. Did artists purposely do this? Ok, I know it is just a coincidence and if I asked 10 people what their favorite song on a cd was I bet I would get 10 different tracks. Now I am wondering if other people have noticed they usually have a favorite track number on most cds. Does anyone?

To pay or not to pay...

Seeing your favorite band in concert. It is special. Times have changed though. Concert tickets are outrageous. Quality acts are fewer. Quality venues are harder to find. How do you decide to spend your hard earned dollars? Then there is the issue of bands/artists touring with missing members. Or whole missing bands except for one person. For example I admit I am a Jethro Tull fan. Long time fan late to seeing them in concert. Ian Anderson is Tull. Always has been. He is the only original member of the group. Which brings up my problem. Tull is currently touring. But Mr. Anderson for reasons of his own has jettisoned the rest of the band except for Martin Barre. And he even played some dates without Martin. So are fans seeing Tull? Ian had toured without the rest of Tull for some time now. At least he went just by his name on the bill. But now he feels he needs to put the Jethro Tull name on the tickets and yet he has decided the rest of the band is unnecessary now. As a long time fan this is highly disturbing. Tull, Ian Anderson, has refused to come out with new music for years now. But he continues to tour in one capacity or another. The only reason I can see is to milk the fans out of their money. And now to play shows as Tull without any members of the band--he has crossed the line. I will never give him one cent of my money again. It is obvious he is only doing this for the cash and to increase his profit margins he has fired the rest of the band. The sad thing is he does not realize that most of Tull's fans have long ago stopped caring about him. The last several shows I was at I spent the whole time watching the other members of the band. As most of the other people I talked to did as well. Way to go Ian alienating the few remaining fans you had. And it is not like anyone new goes to one of your shows.

As a side note what about other bands? I was a Guns and Roses fan. Do I see GnR in concert now? It is only Axel Rose with no names now. Or do I go see Velvet Revolver which is the rest of the band along with Scott Weiland? Rock and Roll bands have always been fluid with members coming and going. As ticket prices rise when do we say enough is enough? If we are expected to pay top dollar to see a group shouldn't we demand that the group perform? Not have backups or roadies or whomever sub for the members of the group. It is insulting for some bands/artists to think that one name or names is enough to justify paying top dollar to see a concert. And with concerts being the main source of income in the new world order of the music industry maybe it is time that the fans let the artists know what we expect. And if we don't get what we expect they might as well pack up their instruments and go home...

Taking a Trip Back to Thunder Road...

Flipping channels on cable before going to bed tonight. I came across a concert of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band from 1975 at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. The show was to support the Born to Run album. Talk about bringing back memories. Somewhere in the labyrinth of boxes in our basement I have that album on vinyl. 1975. I listened to that album so many times I cannot even try to count them. Funny how we forget things like that. It has been years since I have heard any song off of that album. I long ago lost interest in Springsteen's later music. When I turned on VH1 Classic and heard Thunder Road it brought chills to me. If you are old enough think back to 1975 and imagine your growing interest in the opposite sex. Hey, I was not quite a teenager yet so it was an important time. Then listen to Thunder Road again.

There were ghosts in the eyes of all the boys you sent away
They haunt this dusty beach road
In the skeleton frames of burned out Chevrolets
They scream your name at night in the street
Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet
And in the lonely cool before dawn
you hear their engines roaring on
But when you get to the porch they're gone
On the wind, so Mary climb in
It's a town full of losers and I'm pulling out of here to win.

I bet every person of a certain age did not just read those lyrics. They sang them and had the music playing in their head! Talk about putting an image in a young boys mind. Funny how I forgot all of this. Ok, it has been 32 years. A lot has happened since I first heard that song. Since I first heard that album. It always amazes me how music can resonate so deeply into our psyche. And then gets buried away for years. I wonder now what other classic albums I have stored away in my mind just waiting for the right moment to reappear...

Cost of Music...

What should be the cost of music today? Today's generation seems to think it should be freely available online. Should it? With the growth of broadband internet access it has become ridiculously easy for anyone to download a song or album for free. That does not even include all the people who burn copies of whatever music they are looking for without even going onto the internet. Radiohead embraced the new world order and released their latest album online only at whatever price fans are willing to pay for it. And I am sure there are fans that will pay them a fair amount. I know a lot of people who will never buy an cd at a store, but have no problem buying them directly from the artist at concerts or on their website. As a fan we realize if we want more music the artist has to be able to make a living. The problem for most of us is the high cost record companies insist on charging. In the age of digital downloads there is no justification for what record companies think we should pay.

I remember when cds first came out. The price was very high at the time. We were told that the price was high because it was a new technology and once more plants were built to meet demand the prices would fall. Well, they never did fall until big box retailers undercut the music stores. Even those prices are higher than fans and artists think they should be. Concerts and merchandising are where the money is now. That is the business model artists have to embrace. Fortunately more and more of them are seeing the light...