Last night’s sing-and-act-along performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Arlington’s Capitol Theater was a major success for the brand new Starlington Productions production company, selling out the theater. The gathered audience was enchanted by the singing of the two principal stars, Susan as the Narrator and Zachary as Joseph. There were also some very entertaining cameos by Matt as Pharaoh, Clara as the Baker, Cori as Reuben, Sara as the Butler, Parke as Jacob, Tyler as Benjamin, and many others.
Susan’s performance as the Narrator was captivating — she clearly had learned all her lines, and had worked with a vocal coach to bring her A game to the show. She performed her costume changes with amazing fluidity, and her positive energy was infectious.
Zachary’s vibrant tenor was well suited for the role of Joseph. His performance of Close Every Door in particular was hauntingly beautiful. Zachary brought a wonderfully collaborative and positive vibe to the production.
I would highly recommend that you go see this production, but sadly, if you missed it, it was a one night only engagement.
Last night, I went with a friend to go see the BEAT Tour on their stop in Lynn, MA. The band is Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Steve Vai, and Danny Carey. The first two were members of King Crimson in their mid-1980’s incarnation. Steve Vai is a well known guitarist taking on the role of Robert Fripp, the creative genius and only consistent member of the band from its founding in the late 1960’s. I sort of assume that’s why the tour was billed as “Performing the Music of 80’s King Crimson,” in deference to Mr. Fripp, rather than being listed as King Crimson.
The show, which was scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m., began at 8:02! I don’t think I’ve ever been to a show that started so promptly! The first thought that occurred to me was that these guys are old and don’t want to be up too late! But that shouldn’t be read to mean that they lacked energy in any way. Levin, at 78, is the oldest of the crew, with Belew, the front man, not far behind at 74. Steve Vai at 64 and Carey, 63, are the youngsters.
The music the band played was all from their three 1980’s albums: Discipline, Beat, and Three of a Perfect Pair. I am not terribly familiar with the music, but I wanted to see the band because they are such an icon of progressive rock, and the musicians are so accomplished. The show was filled with great energy, and they all appeared to be having a great time, and playing off each other. I had a great time, and was glad I had gone.
Here are three songs from the evening, if you’re interested:
Early in my life, my exposure to music was almost exclusively classical music and opera. At home, we had a semi-portable stereo phonograph, and a kitchen radio. The record collection was, with the exception of a handful of children’s records, classical and opera. The kitchen radio mostly played news from the local NPR station, but also classical. On Saturdays, sometimes my dad listened to latin jazz while doing house cleaning chores. Below is an image (not mine) of a similar player.
ours was, believe it or not, slightly fancier
My exposure to popular music essentially began in third grade when we moved from Hamden to North Haven, both in Connecticut. My new best friend there essentially introduced me to popular music. He had a much older brother who no longer lived at home, but some of his records did — Beatles and such. But also their family’s radio was more often tuned to popular music stations. And they had a radio in their car!! My dad was so against the added complexity of having a radio in the car, he seemed ready to pay extra to have it removed when finally it came standard with their next new car (a VW Rabbit). He also was suspicious of the rear wiper, fearing it was just something else that could break. I tried to argue with him based on the number of times he had to have the front wipers repaired (zero, aside from replacing blades…), but he remained dubious.
Anyway, back to music. While I can’t honestly remember it ever being explicitly stated, I definitely grew up with the sense of popular music, or really modern music of any sort, as being somehow inferior to classical music. And while I feel that the older music that has survived over centuries is the work of genius, I have come to feel less apologetic about finding real musical creativity and perhaps genius in more modern compositions. It’s easy to think of orchestral music as something well-defined, and never changing, but in reality, things changed all the time. The piano was a recent invention at some point. New instruments have always been added, and gradually accepted into more formal settings.
I remember reading about the creation of the Theremin, named after its creator, Leon Theremin. He saw his invention as a novel and serious musical instrument, incorporating new technology, rather than a tool for creating the spooky, alien sounds that came to fill the soundtracks of 1950’s sci-fi horror movies. Here it is in a more light-hearted setting:
So if we can accept that the tools for making music must be allowed to evolve, then that allows us (or at least me) to accept modern music as being the work of artists, and in some cases genius.
Back to my personal history with music. The first record I ever purchased was the Eagles’ Hotel California, in 1976. Or it might have been a Christmas present. However it was that it came into my possession, it was my first. I don’t have all the records I ever purchased, but I do still have that one
I of course listened to it over, and over, and over. Apologies to my family — it was before headphones were an option for me.
I did not have much money then (who did?), but a lot of what I did have went into buying records. And when, eventually, I earned more money by raking leaves, shoveling driveways, delivering papers, etc., I was able to save up for a “stereo system” with a built-in 8-track tape player, from Radio Shack (of course). It was something like this:
not exactly, but a lot like
Eventually, I saved up for a turntable (not Radio Shack, but I honestly don’t remember the brand. I do remember it had a ceramic cartridge, rather than the preferred magnetic one, because that was what the input on the receiver was built for.) And finally, headphones (definitely from Radio Shack, with two volume sliders on one of the cups.)
But again, let’s get back to the music. One of my favorite bands of all time was, and continues to be, Pink Floyd. They combined powerful songwriting with a profound ability to push the envelope in terms of what sounds could be incorporated into music. In the days of recording on analog tapes, they would splice tape into precise loops for certain sounds, and incorporate recordings from the field into their music. Their albums as well tended to constructed as a singular, thematic whole, rather than a collection of unrelated songs.
But don’t trust me on the music — listen to Doug, an admitted Classical Composer:
I am inclined to believe that if the composers of classical music had the tools available to them that we do today, they would not advocate for limiting the definition of music to the sounds that could be made from a collection of 20-30 different instruments. They would, as they did, allow themselves to bring their artistic vision to reality using all the tools available.
It would be a lie to say that I’m not biased, or that I’m not opinionated. We watched a streaming concert tonight from The Decemberists, one of my all time favorite bands. And watching and listening, I’m reminded of the distinction between art and product. The Decemberists are a band made from the traditional mold, with a relatively small number of members, who’ve been together for a good long time, who’ve worked together, toured together, and written together for that time. As in most cases, there is not a perfect creative balance there, as Colin Meloy is decidedly the lyrical genius behind the band. I remember an interview on Fresh Air with Colin shortly after the release of their album The Crane Wife in 2006, which is how I came to hear of them, and when asked about some of the more obscure language he used in his lyrics, he spoke of a desire not to be limited by the fraction of the language that was in common use.
Their songs spring from the mind of this super creative artist, and the band puts together inspired music, with a mix of traditional rock instruments and other less common ones as well. This sits in stark contrast to much of pop music today, which is often written by committee and composed by computer. It strikes me very much as akin to the difference between junk food, which is manufactured of highly processed food-like substances, and which is designed by committee to please a very broad palate, (so lots of sugar and/or salt), with very little that’s unusual or likely to offend. It is designed to be consumed by a large audience, and be inexpensive to produce, so that those who produce it can become wealthy on the razor thin profit margin by producing and selling billions of units. This kind of food, and/or music, provides you only with the basic needs for survival, and nourishes (barely…) only the body, and not the soul. Contrast this with eating a meal at a gourmet restaurant, where the meals are crafted by a chef, who is inspired to find unique and intriguing combinations of flavors, using fresh and local ingredients where possible, and where each serving is created with the care and attention of a professional, in an atmosphere designed to help you relax and enjoy the art.
Anyway, while it is a poor substitute for the in-person concert we were first supposed to attend in 2020, then 2021, then never; seeing them perform is always a treat. They appear to genuinely enjoy each other, and play off each other musically. They play their instruments live, the tempo varies, there is no backing track. Bravo to them, and we will look forward to seeing them perform in person next time around. Here is a sample from a couple of weeks ago:
There were still patches of snow on the ground from the weekend’s Ocsnowber Nor’easter, but it was a nice night for trick-or-treating, at about 45 degrees. I had our light on from 6-9 but still only served 10 kids, and 6 of them were in one group! I do my best to be a welcoming house: porch light on, jack-o-lantern out, and I always play some “appropriate” music, but very few kids come through our neighborhood for some reason. My “All Hallows Eve” playlist includes:
Bad Moon Rising — CCR
Bela Lugosi’s Dead — Bauhaus
Black Magic Woman — Santana
Bright Yellow Gun — Throwing Muses
Burnin’ For You — Blue Oyster Cult
Culling of the Fold — Decemberists
Don’t Fear the Reaper — Blue Oyster Cult
Everyday is Halloween — Ministry
Gallows Pole — Led Zeppelin
Hell — Squirrel Nut Zippers
Highway to Hell — AC/DC
Institutionalized — Suicidal Tendencies
The Mariner’s Revenge Song — Decemberists
Monster Mash — Bobby Pickett
Monsters in the Bathroom — Bill Harley
One Halloween Night — SteveSongs
People Who Died — Jim Carroll
Prince Nez — Squirrel Nut Zippers
Psycho Killer — Talking Heads
Run Like Hell — Pink Floyd
Shankill Butchers — Decemberists
Werewolf — SteveSongs
Werewolves of London — Warren Zevon
Zombie — Cranberries
In the afterlife
You could be headed for the serious strife
Now you make the scene all day
But tomorrow there’ll be Hell to pay
–Squirrel Nut Zippers, Hell
For my recent (45th, but who’s counting…) birthday, I received a gift that I specifically requested — a deluxe box set of the Decemberists’ latest release, The King is Dead.
Among other items, it features a pressing on “180 gram white vinyl” which is very cool. Records are making something of a comeback, among audiophiles and a younger crowd to whom they have that coveted “retro chic.” One of the nicest things about records is that the album covers are BIG and therefore the artwork on them is that much more enjoyable than the little CD’s we’ve grown accustomed to. Or worse yet, the thumbnails available on downloaded music. In this case, it’s just a photo of the band (a nice one, though), so perhaps the canvas wasn’t used to best effect, but it’s a pleasure to hold and see nonetheless.
Ironically, I may never get to hear the album this way. The last turntable I owned was also the first I bought, back when I was in high school. We just got rid of it when my parents moved out of their house, and I forget exactly what brand/model it was. But I do remember that it was a “changer” (meaning you could stack records on it to play in turn), and that it had a ceramic cartridge (as opposed to the preferred magnetic). It played 33’s (LP’s), 45’s (singles), and 78’s (oldies — had to flip to the other needle in the cartridge)! I remember that some multi-record sets (dad’s set of Beethoven symphonies, for example) were pressed specifically for record changers, so that you could stack up sides 1,2,3,4 and then flip over the stack for 5,6,7,8, for example. So 8 would be on the back of 1, and 5 on the back of 4, etc. Anyway, records were much more tangible than the recordings we have today. There were people who could look at the grooves on a record and recognize the recording just from that! I still have my collection of old records (somewhere…), so perhaps someday I will buy a turntable. But for now, the record will remain a conversation piece.
I was introduced to The Decemberists back in early 2007, around the time of the release of their Crane Wife album by an interview on NPR’s Fresh Air. The lyrics were so different from most pop music, and so refreshing, that I felt intrigued by a band for the first time in perhaps a decade. Colin Meloy, lead singer and songwriter for the Decemberists, has a unique voice; and while he may throw around “10 dollar words” like they’re going out of style, I prefer his perspective, which to paraphrase, is a desire not to be constrained to using the limited vocabulary currently in vogue. But it’s not just the words, it’s the stories. While it seems to me much of today’s music (and to be fair, not just today’s) can be characterized as regurgitated love songs, the Decemberists explore a much greater range of the human experience, and draw from a wide variety of source material and ideas. Give them a listen, if you haven’t.
On a winter’s Sunday I go,
To clear away the snow,
And green the ground below.
On Friday night, Susan and I went with friends to see our favorite band, the Decemberists, play at the House of Blues in Boston. It was a fun night, which started with dinner at the H.o.B. The opening act was a band called Wye Oak, who were interesting in part due to their configuration: a female lead singer/guitarist, with a male drummer/backup singer. And the drummer only used 3 limbs for drumming — his left hand was playing keyboard and/or twiddling knobs. So they had a surprisingly rich sound for a two person band. His drumming looked rather frenetic as well, as he tried to do two arms worth of drumming with one. So they were intruguing, and I even sort of liked the vocalist’s voice, but you (I) could hardly understand any of her lyrics. And she was quite the shredder on guitar; not my particular favorite style. Anyway, curious enough.
The D’s came on at shortly after 9:00, and played until about 10:15 with a brief break. Disappointingly short set, but we learned later that Colin apparently was suffering from a stomach flu. Sorry, Colin. Last time we had tickets to see them, someone in the band got rather sick, and they had to cancel the remainder of their tour. That one was called The Long and Short of It, and it was two nights: one for their long songs, and another for their short ones. We had tickets to both nights, which was quite extravagant for us, and so very disappointing to have it canceled. But again, our feelings were with the band (mostly). We missed them when they came around for the Hazards of Love tour, which certainly would have been fun. Anyway, I can’t claim to be much of a music critic, but we certainly enjoyed the show — it was a good mix of material from their new album, and older tunes. And on the bright side, it saved us some baby-sitting money 🙂
