Old School Rock

So last Saturday I went to see Siouxsie Sioux with Budgie doing a Creatures and Banshees set. I was really excited for this show. I had seen them 4 times previously since 1987. They are really good live for the most part and pull the music off seamlessly. This time was VERY different.

First off Siouxsie has been having throat problems so I heard it was her decision not to have the air on until they came out on stage. Well of course by the middle of the show everyone was sweating sheets of water. It was hot as hell in there! They started off the set well with a great percussive piece from the Creatures catalog. Along with them was a Koto drummer from Japan which added to the incredible beats going on. Off to a good start I thought.

As the show continued it went down hill from there. Siouxsie's voice just wasn't up to par. She had 2 back up singers with her and was having trouble hitting some of the notes. It seemed like a struggle at certain points of the show. With the absence of Steve Severin the guitar dept was definitely lacking. Knox Chandler, a well respected musician in his own right, had double duty of bass and guitar. He did well but I felt he was missing from the mix at integral times. Could be the fault of the sound engineers or could be, that it was Siouxsie and Budgie rearranging the songs. Who knows but I wasn't thrilled. I felt Happy House was a disaster although everyone around me seemed to love it.
So we left right before the final encore and didn't say much. Again this is only my opinion and a lot of others at the show seemed to enjoy it. I will add that from what I was hearing this was the first Siouxsie performance for a lot of people.

I saw the Bauhaus reunion in NYC and that was amazing. I was 150% satisfied with that show and was fully expecting Siouxsie to do the same. Oh well, at least she still looks good on stage and Budgie still has what it takes in the percussion dept!

Next show review should be The Chinese Stars @ Cotton Club. Atl GA. Oct 5 2004
Chinese Stars are Eric and Craig from Arab on Radar. An ex member of Six Finger Satellite and one other guy. Sorry I forgot their names. I do feel bad but just to lazy to go look them uo right now.
Until later...

Cool New Toy

So I did an interesting online survery last evening. Usually I find the surveys boring for the most part. Rarely do I get an interesting one sent my way. This one was different and I knew it right from the first question.
They wanted the person who had last traveled to Japan to do the survey. I have never been there except to the airport in Tokyo. I have been all over SE Asia so I felt qualified for the survey. Anyway it turned out to be a cool gadget for travelers. Essentially you point the thing at a road sign, menu, flyer, magazine or whatever. It translates it all for you. Some extra features allow for current maps of where you are when you enter cross streets. Lots of other neat extras as well. It never gave a price or a hint of who was making it. Great tool for people traveling especially for Japan! I will have to get one when they come out and give it a good testing.

First ever post

What to say, what to say. I thought I would give this blog thing a try. So it's Saturday afternoon Labor Day weekend. I planned ahead and had yesterday off as well. Slept till 1, hit the grocery store, mowed the back yard then did a few small cleanups around the house. Real Exciting! There is the Drive-In Explosion going on at the Starlight Drive-In on Moreland Ave. Could be fun although so much rockabilly music would drive me crazy. Maybe just relax all weekend.

So far my new temp roommate is working out well. He pretty much keeps to himself. Trying to talk him into finding an apt near East Atl or Little 5 Points but he is still undecided.

I can't stop looking up travel crap on SE Asia. I have taken a total of 4 trips to the region and can't stop thinking about when I can get back again. I have visited Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand 3 times now. I love the people, the food, the cultures, the excitement, the history and so much more.

Lately I have been getting the itch to play in a band again. I did it for 8 years from 92-2000. Lots of fun and met a lot of great people along the way. Not sure if I will scratch the itch or ignore it until the feeling passes.
All for Now...