I just happened to be checking the official Yes website last week (I put it on my favorites list a while back) when I saw the announcement regarding their upcoming tour. Yes was supposed to have toured this summer when lead singer Jon Anderson suffered acute respiratory failure, and was told to rest for at least six months. ‘Jon must have made a miraculous recovery,’ I thought to myself until I read the official press release. The tour would not include Anderson, but in his place would be a Canadian by the name of Benoit David, who had performed in several Yes tribute bands and was found by “the band” on the Internet.
I quickly jumped over to Jon Anderson’s site, hoping to hear he had somehow blessed this decision, only to find a post that said he felt “disappointed and very disrespected” by the decision of Yes to tour without him, one of the two remaining original members of the band.
Now, Yes had toured once before without Anderson (the Drama tour with Trevor Horn of the Buggles as lead singer), and Anderson has done solo shows in between Yes tours. There was even that “law firm” tour of Anderson, Wakeman, Bruford and Howe (with the excellent Tony Levin filling in on bass where Chris Squire would usually be). I just never thought Yes would stoop so low as to blow off Anderson and pluck someone off MySpace or YouTube to fill in for one of the most unique front men in rock history.
I know other bands have gone down this path (and that’s a column for another day) - I just never thought Yes would go down this path without Anderson having agreed to it. I don’t care how good this David guy is - he’s not Jon Anderson and I have zero interest in seeing Squire, Howe, Alan White and Rick Wakeman’s kid Oliver without Anderson handling the vocals.
I never saw Genesis with Peter Gabriel (although I did see Gabriel in a solo show when he was still playing clubs), but vocally Phil Collins was so similar to Gabriel that he could handle the old material and was already part of the band, such that you had no problem staying a Genesis fan, especially for the first few albums after the transition. I’d have to say, though, that I would have had no interest in the Genesis with Ray Wilson as lead singer, especially if they planned to do older material. He couldn’t possibly do justice to the songs, even with original band members playing the music. To me, that’s karaoke, something you might do with friends in a local bar with a couple of drinks in you, not something you’d pay big money to go see in a theater or arena.
Just in case anyone wasn’t clear, I won’t be buying tickets for Yes’ “In the Present” tour. Anderson said it best at the end of his post - “This is not Yes on tour.” Amen, Jon!
Some of the “benefits” of riding mass transit into Manhattan during the work week are the things you see that you would never imagine seeing otherwise … and this is during rush hour. I don’t even want to think about what I could see late at night or in the wee hours of the morning. I could do a whole column just on the music you get to hear in the NYC subway system, but I’ll save that for another day. For this column, I’ll just focus on some of the other interesting sights and sounds.
Remember in the first Airplane movie where Robert Stack strides through the airport and is accosted by representatives from a bunch of religious groups? Well, they don’t line up like that in the subways, but they are still around. Some, like Jews for Jesus and the Maryknoll folks, just try to hand you material as you’re walking by. On Fridays, if I end up in the right part of GCT, I get to see a handful of people saying the rosary. My favorite is the lady who “testifies” for all to hear just after going through the turnstile at Grand Central. She usually doesn’t quote scripture - she just lets you know you have no chance of being saved without accepting Jesus as your lord and savior in a voice that can be heard all the way to Times Square.
And speaking of being heard all the way to Times Square, I don’t know what was up with the woman who was cursing out the MetroCard machine yesterday. I swear she thought someone was actually in the machine, purposely making her life miserable. All I know is I didn’t want to find out what she would do next if the machine didn’t comply.
Panhandlers are also a source of amusement, some because they are really funny and others because they are really sad. There’s one guy who travels the Lexington line, “trying to be funny” so he can “bring home some milk and honey” for his two daughters and one son. How do I know that? Well, he tells us everytime while singing (OK), making jokes (”I can speak French - French fries, French bread”), or imitating the sound of the subway bell that rings before the doors close, and he can do both the old style trains and the newer models.
Not so funny is Teddy, who rides the PATH train “collecting food … for the homeless”. He pauses between saying “food” and “for the homeless” as if to add more weight. If you’ve heard him often enough, though, it’s just funny in a sad way.
A few weeks ago, I saw a new way of panhandling - gymnastics! Yes, on a thankfully empty L train car, three young men proceeded to flip, tumble and vault without injuring any passengers. After applauding themselves, they started asking for money.
Come to think of it, it was right before the Olympics. Maybe they just caught the Olympic spirit.
Just got back from this show. I have never at any point in my life said to myself, “Man I really want to see the Meat Puppets live.” and tonight i found out why. Alright is my review of the puppets. Just ok. nothing great but not really poor either just ok. Built to Spill on the other hand was phenomenal. They are playing Perfect from Now On beginning to end. I was weeping during the 11 minute Velvet Waltz. The Fly was tremendous and they closed with some newer stuff, a righteously intense Going Against Your Mind. One of the last great american rock bands i would say. Just fantastic. And Toads dropped their beer prices so for once in a great long while i had a drink while enjoying a show at Toads. Twas a rare and wonderful night.
In case some of you havent heard I have once again joined the ranks of the employed. It happened just about a month ago. I am working at a sign shop in Orange. I make and sell signs. while it isnt exactly what I want to be doing I dont hate it by any stretch of the imagination. I like the two people i work with the job is interesting and I really enjoy the process of actually making the signs. Im not crazy about the salesman aspects of it but we are doing well enough for a new business that i can fake making cold calls. So while i am happy that i am working again and relieved I do some times wish i was still not working. except for the soul crushing anxiety of not knowing where the money was going to come from to pay my bills i got a lot of things done while i wasnt working. I read several books, caught a Mets game, listened to a lot of tunes, wrote a bunch of tunes and I recorded a rough version of an album on my four track. I did a lot of wedding planning, became an expert in efficient apartment cleaning, bonded with my cat Buddy and ransacked my possessions to pull in almost $3,000 selling them on eBay. The thing not having a job is best for though is going to the movies. between May and August I saw 14 movies in theatres. that is a lot of movies. I wanted to see more but often times job hunting and interviews got in the way, which was a bummer. Still, I have no regrets, I feel like it was a healthy use of my time to see the following films: Batman: The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Hellboy 2, Indiana Jones, Hancock, Wall E, Step Brothers, Pineapple Express, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Tropic Thunder, Mongol, Gonzo: The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson, The Fall, and The Visitor. Just for the fun of it i think the best movie I saw this summer was Iron Man and the worst was Pineapple Express which was so unbearably awful if i had paid for it I would have left the theatre furious. Oh yes, i neglected to mention that the only way to see this many movies without having a job is to a) go to matinees and b) know the manager of the Showcase Cinemas at the mall who will let you see any movie you want whenever you want for free. In closing, i had a good run. like i said before I have no regrets. I was talking to a friend yesterday who still works at Gartner and she reminded me of how smart I was to get out when i did. I thought it was bad before but apparently things have only gotten worse. I like my new job. I had an interesting summer. I am getting married in two months and hopefully i get to watch Barack Obama and Joe Biden gather around the writhing corpse of John McCain’s campaign and $#!+ stomp it into the ground. to quote Bob Dylan from one of my top 30 favorite songs, “…things should start to get interesting right about now,” and like I said before, no regrets.
I wonder if she is aware of what John McCain and the Republicans are doing to her? They are going to let her embarrass herself for 3 months and then throw her back to Alaska as a laughing stock and pardon my language kind of a bitch. I personally dont remember Barack Obama or Joe Biden criticizing John McCain as a person just his record as a senator. I suppose this is the crap we are going to have to listen to for 3 months. The debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin is going to be awful. Joe Biden has no opening to win because Sarah Palin has no soul. You cannot out argue someone that has no soul because it will never occur to them that they are wrong or that they dont know what they are talking about. Do you know the difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull? Pitbulls can be civil members of society while hockey moms apparently are just crazy morons. And now the media is in love with her. They were disgusted by her yesterday and now because she got a room full of equally crazy blood thirsty new born consuming conservative vampires to laugh at her ‘jokes’ they are no longer going to talk about whether or not she has not only enough experience to be president but whether or not she has an experience at all. Does she have enough experience to be the governor of any other state besides Alaska? I tend to doubt it. Im sorry if I am being mean but i really just cannot stand the sight, sound or idea of this woman. She is making seriously wish that he had picked Mitt Romney. If that were then case i wouldnt have to worry about anyone, republicans or democrats taking him seriously. Ugh.
Is this supposed to be a joke? Are we as a nation supposed to ignore the fact that everything this f***ing fool just said about everything is a borderline lie? What great accomplishments did John McCain ever do for America besides being a POW? Did everyone in America forget that there used to be a draft and now there isnt one? That the rest of the people involved in the presidential campaign are not old enough to have to have been required to serve in the military? Sarah Palin is only 2 years younger than Barack Obama, if it is such a big problem that he didnt serve why isnt it a problem that she didnt? i feel like puking my brains out. perhaps its because i have been drinking and jumping around during an amazingly awesome band practice but i think its because the thought of Sarah Palin being the vice president of my country makes me want to vomit. Wolf Blitzer just called her speech historic. I think he meant to say historicley stupid. what a huge embarrassing failure the republican party is. i just cant believe it.
I went to BAR in New Haven last night to see the North Hampton Wools which includes Thurston Moore and some other guy. The show consisted of about an hour of feedback and random noises created by running their guitars through various dozens of pedals, kicking them and stabbing them with knitting needles. It was a surprisingly intense experience. My friend Chris said it best when he said, “some times you just have to listen to this stuff.” I agree, does anybody else?
