Similar Bits: Giraffe + Genesis: TIRED OLD MAN/PUPPET SUITE + RIPPLES

I love Tired Old Man/The Puppet Suite; The 3 or 4 variations from Kevin Gilbert and Giraffe (and NRG?), but I CANNOT DENY how the intro/theme/melody is more or less borrowing from the Genesis tune RIPPLES.

I bet Kevin Gilbert himself would in no way argue or deny this.

It just kind of bugs me.

And I love RIPPLES of course, especially the Annie Haslam cover.

Also the song "Undertow" I hear some, but not as many similarities in TOM/PS from Kevin/Giraffe

Chris Squire Tribute "A Life in Yes": Todd Rundgren + others "Roundabout"

This is from an upcoming Chris Squire tribute album A Life in Yes, being released on November 9th,

The Steve Hogarth and Annie Haslam contributions probably have me the most curious.

But here's Todd Rundgren with John Wesley and Tony Kaye (oddly) doing "Roundabout"




Amazon



1. Jon Davison and Patrick Moraz - on the Silent Wings of Freedom
2. Steve Hogarth and Larry Fast - Hold Out Your Hand
3. Annie Haslam - Onward
4. David Sancious and Steve Stevens - South Side of the Sky
5. Sonja Kristina - the Fish
6. Steve Porcaro and Steve Hackett - the More We Live - Let Go
7. Jon Davison and Tony Kaye - Parallels
8. Nikki Squire and Dweezil Zappa - Owner of a Lonely Heart
9. Todd Rundgren, John Wesley and Tony Kaye - Roundabout
10. Candice Night and Brian Auger - Don't Kill the Whale
11. The Prog Collective - the Technical Divide - Bonus Track
12. Chris Squire - Comfortably Numb - Bonus Track

The Gritty Gals of Rock'n Blues (WDGY Radio)

The Gritty Gals of Rock'n Blues On Facebook

So I wanted to post something about this show/podcast? that WDGY ("WEDGE-Y" to me, even though they say it "WEE-JEE" like a "OUIJA Board"), airs every Sunday morning at 9:30AM.

I've been tuning into their show since late June (25th I think, as I had it on when I was moving)

These 2 ladies, Cindy Mack and Leslie McKee aka The EFFENHEIMER SISTERS make a neat little 25-30 minute show each week telling the history/story about 1 female musician.

From memory the episodes I've heard

Blondie
Miss Piggy (from The Muppets)
Patsy Cline
Karen Carpenter
Carly Simon
Linda Ronstadt
Heart (2-Parts)
Dolly Parton

edit: Lydia Pence (of Cold Blood)

I want to guess they also featured maybe some if not all of:
Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Janis Joplin.

And I know they mentioned a couple of weeks back at the end of the Linda Ronstadt episode, they have 1 coming up featuring Carole Kaye (of The Wrecking Crew).

This kind of got me thinking about
the Entry I posted with NPR 150 Female Musician Albums and MY OWN HERE
and their show now, which I suppose it was purely coincidence the 2 female-music aficionados started a show around the time of that NPR list (actually their show began before it was published in fact per the NPR list came out on July 24th, 2017).

But as far as specialty shows and podcasts of late, this has been 1 of my favorites, and I could see more people enjoying their shows. It's just at 9:30AM every Sunday morning, both in the Twin Cities (multiple frequencies: 92.1, 103.7, 740AM and 107.1 in HD) and on WDGY's Website which streams live.

I'm not clear if their shows are podcasted/stream or downloadable at this point (although they should, maybe even just on archive.org).

And in fact I am likely to call-in to their hotline 855-851-2440 (a440 studios) and leave them a message. Maybe a request or 2 (Annie Haslam of Renaissance namely among others).

What I'm not certain is, are they strictly only featuring women whose music careers go back to the 50's, 60's and 70's? or might they include some from the 80's and even 90's? 

I guess partially per it seems there are a lot of women who have flourished in the last couple of decades compared to previous times..Lilith Fair? 

Artist Review: Renaissance

Renaissance, like Crimson, I just decided to make 1 longer video.

I swear I own a copy of Azure D'Or on Vinyl, but maybe I misplaced it.

Patrick Moraz with Annie Haslam: 'Soon" (Live)

wow, as one of my favorite pieces of music played by the guy who wrote and played the original, and sung by my favorite female singer, this is very nice.

Renaissance - Grandine il Vento (2012)

3/26/13 4:53PM

From the Kickstarter Update. Hopefully I'll check this out tomorrow and maybe re-read Annie's below descriptions. I'm really stoked to finally get to hear this tho!




1 Symphony of Light 12:09
2 Waterfall 4:45
3 Grandine il Vento 6:30
4 Porcelain 6:42
5 Cry to the World 5:45
6 Air of Drama 5:21
7 Blood Silver Like Moonlight 5:16
8 The Mystic and The Muse 7:48

Annie Haslam describes the tracks:

Symphony of Light
A tribute to the genius Leonardo Da Vinci.

Waterfall
About the rainforests in Brazil… I have been there many times and love it!

Grandine il Vento
A love song that transcends life itself.

Porcelain
About an African village and the people who live there.

Cry to the World
Our ‘World Song’ in honour of Mother Earth and all who are part of her.

Air of DramaA love song about two people who come together again later in their lives in Paris, where they had first met.

Blood Silver Like MoonlightThis is a duet with John Wetton. He has been a friend for many years and I always felt our voices were similar in their timbre and range. I was told once by a ‘spiritual’ energy friend that John and I sang in the Angels choir together. That is what this song is about. Remembering the choir!

The Mystic and The MuseI was inspired to write this by two of my paintings The Mystic and The Muse. Although it is a fantasy in a way, I see Michael as The Muse and me as The Mystic.

The digital download links will be emailed to backers today - Tuesday March 26. The physical CDs will ship in early April.

9/28/12 1:38AM
UPDATE

I wish I could see them on this tour, but these samples sound rather promising, even if the record doesn't come out until 2013.

New Album Samples and More

Thank you for your continuing support and positive energy. This has been a summer of intense focus on the composing and recording of our new album, Grandine il Vento. We've barely had time to come up for air, let alone enjoy the summer. That said, the journey has been magnificent and we're now in the final stages of production; weaving in a couple of fantastic guest appearances before starting the process of mixing. To say we're multi-tasking is an understatement!

With this said, completion of Grandine il Vento is taking longer than we had originally anticipated. In order to keep you and your ears in the loop, here is a sampler of several songs from the album. The songs in the sampler are:

Symphony of Light
Waterfall
Grandine il Vento
Cry to the World
For those of you that missed the deadline for our Kickstarter pre-purchase album campaign earlier this year, you can visit our website and review some of the few packages that we are making available.

We are looking forward to seeing you on tour. If you haven't purchased tickets please do so and be sure to let your friends know. For those fans in the Philadelphia and New Jersey area, the Scottish Rite Auditorium is sold-out, but there are good seats still left for the Keswick Theater.

Once again, many thanks for your loyalty.

Love,

Annie, Michael, Rave, David, Jason, and Frank



3/30/12 11:56AM



Facebook



kickstarter link (the EMBED isn't showing up for me here on Internet Explorer for some reason)

About this project
We cherish our fans, the music we have created, and the place we have earned in the history of progressive rock music. It is painful and disappointing that the very record labels who still happily profit from selling our extensive catalog of albums (from which we receive little if any royalties) have turned their backs and closed their doors to us in favor of working with quick-selling pre-packaged pop.

We have been composing a what we think will be the best album of our career. Thanks to KickStarter, social media, lovers of music and our own loyal fans, we are able to reach out directly to you in order to help us finance the recording and promotion of this first studio album in nearly twelve years: Grandine il Vento.

For your pledges you will receive an album we're sure you'll love, as well as enable us to record and distribute our music with pride and independence from the world of corporatized record companies.

We appreciate the role you will play in helping to make this endeavor a reality.

Thank you...

Renaissance

I'm pretty excited to hear this, although $40,000 via Kickstarter, while likely not impossible, is a little ambitious. By May 29th, and they're already at nearly $8600. I hope it goes through, and I shall be contributing of course. Hopefully others who may find this, will as well.

Michael Dunford (Renaissance) RIP

http://www.facebook.com/notes/renaissance/michael-dunford-of-renaissance-passes-away/431595216896389

I just saw this on Facebook, what a sad start to Thanksgiving Weekend. And Renaissance have a new album coming soon, which also makes this sting even more. I will never forget finally getting to see them June of 2010 in Chicago.
 

R.I.P. :(

Michael Dunford of Renaissance Passes Away 
by Renaissance on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 3:40pm · 


Michael Dunford, musical composer and guitarist of the progressive rock band Renaissance passed away on Tuesday, November 20, 2012. He had just returned home from the first leg of the band’s North American tour and suffered a massive Instantaneous Cerebral Hemorrhage while dining at his home in Surrey, England Monday night. He was rushed to hospital where doctors declared his condition irreversible and terminal. He passed away at 11:06 pm GMT, surrounded by his family without having regained consciousness. 
  
The fairly reclusive and soft-spoken composer, a mainstay in the world of progressive rock, was born, raised and educated in Surrey. His first job was selling clothing in a local shop followed by a stint as an airside driver at Heathrow Airport which enabled him to form a “skiffle” group which lead to his first rock band called Nashville Teens in the early 1960s. Nashville Teens reached #6 on U.K. singles charts with their version of Tobacco Road. On leaving them, he formed several other bands including The Pentad and The Plebes. One night he went to see the original band Renaissance perform locally and ended up joining them in the early 1970s. The original band members were Jim McCarty, Louis Cennamo, John Hawken, Keith Relf and Jane Relf. 
  
Dunford and vocalist Annie Haslam took over Renaissance’s reins in 1971 and soon had established the group as a world class recording and touring act, selling out venues like New York’s Carnegie Hall and The Royal Albert Hall in London. They would go on to release over a dozen albums before eventually parting ways in the mid-1980s. However, they would continue to write new material together and in 2001 reunited the band to record a new studio album, tour the following year, and release a live album. After another sabbatical, the refreshed line-up was introduced to the world and captured for posterity on Turn of the Cards and Scheherazade and Other Stories Live 2011. 
  
Earlier this fall, Dunford and the band completed recording their first new studio album in twelve years. Grandine il Vento was recorded at Studio X in Ridgewood NJ, USA. All the music on the new album except for one track was composed and arranged by Dunford and features him on acoustic guitars and backing vocals. 
  
Michael Dunford is survived by his wife Clare, two sons William (13) and Oliver (10), and sister Judy Kendall. Services will be held at Woking Crematorium at a date to be announced. 
  
For more information and materials contact:Howard Wuelfing at Howlin’ Wuelf Media, Inc. 215-428-9119, howlingwuelf@aol.com

Anneke van Giersbergen/The Gathering

This is I guess a few notes about both of them.

I recall around 10 or 11 years ago, maybe even going back to the late 90's, knowing-of The Gathering, and their beautiful lead singer Anneke van Giersbergen aka "Anneke." I think they had their share of fans among the Dream Theater fans even back then. But I know around the time I started listening to "The Root of All Evil" and then volunteering/dj-ing at KFAI, I got to know their name. And eventually I purchased a copy of their 1st album with Anneke 1995's Mandylion




Soon after, I recall James Bickers both telling me about some of their fans at the initial ProgPowerUSA festival in 2001, saying they don't like them anymore because "they're not metal anymore."

And I recall he also wrote about their latest album in his impressive yet short-lived music zine Sea of Tranquility. In fact, it may have been reading about them in there that motivated me to purchase a copy of Mandylion soon after.

And while I liked some of that album, it never really grabbed me to the point of addiction. I probably listened to it 4 or 5 times, and have since not gone back to revisit it sadly.



The other really sad thing about The Gathering for me is, I still to this day, regret missing them live, with what I believe was on their tour during the Summer of 1999 with King's X, at what was known as "The Lab" or "4th Street Station." in St.Paul.

Now I'm not certain in terms of evidence they were on that tour, the Summer of 1999. On Wikipedia though, it does mention

Positive reactions came from all over the world, including the United States, where they played 14 shows during the summer of 1999.

But I do distinctly remember not too long after that show, seeing something online about those 2 bands on tour that Summer. And for King's X, I had never missed seeing them (since becoming a fan in 1996), since I probably had seen them 4 times during the 3 years or more, before that show took place. But the Summer of 1999 was not an easy one for me, as I lost my job at Best Buy and had just moved into my 1st apartment. When I became unemployed, I had to be as careful with my money as I could be.

Fortunately, I did find a job a few months later, but at the time, little did I know I missed the chance to see this band I would grow to become at least curious about. And to add, Anneke being there would have been a big reason to go, as I'll admit, she's as pretty a musician as I've ever seen, even just in photographs. I won't lie, getting to see and hopefully meet her, was probably as big a reason why I felt and still feel sad/bad about missing that show as anything.

But after that period of time, I knew they were still active, and recall wanting to see them live if given the chance. But I don't recall any other tour dates coming to Minnesota, at least for many years. And their studio work, I never spent much time checking out, for whatever reason, likely mostly due to listening to so many other things. Plus, it wasn't like they were a very buzzed-about band in the 2000's. At least not much on the forums I read and posted on.

But I do recall reading about Anneke's departure from The Gathering in 2007. Although I'll admit reading about Tarja Turunen's departure from Nightwish as much, if not more so around that same period of time. Maybe even mixing up the 2 lead female vocalist departures from European Metal bands. And for whatever reason, I wondered if Anneke leaving The Gathering was possibly a good thing.

But it still didn't end up motivating me to check out her music or more of The Gathering's. But now, some 12 years of more later, I stumbled upon her releasing her 3rd in-effect solo (studio) record Everything Is Changing, which was released a little over a week ago, and I streamed it a little while ago here.







Now what I heard on that album didn't really blow me away. A lot of it is gothic hard rock, not that different from my memory of her music with The Gathering. Although a bit also seems to be leaning in the pop and college rock vein. But I'll admit, I am interested to check it out again, with headphones. I also am curious enough about her other solo records, Pure Air, Air and In Your Room.(the latter two under the name Agua de Annique).



I guess the music on those is more acoustic, more stripped down, poppy, folky and singer/songwriter. Which for fans of The Gathering, is a big departure. Although part of what I remember about The Gathering's history, was an interest to change, evolve, not do the same kind of music each time around, etc. At least I recall James Bickers talking about his appreciation for them, for that reason. And in that sense, they were/are progressive. Maybe Anneke could be described in that way too.

And The Gathering themselves, given I have not heard really, more than a few songs beyond Mandylion, I am curious enough to check out their work, especially the albums from the last decade. With Anneke and the one since her departure, The West Pole. A lot of reviews suggest Souvenirs to be their best since Mandylion, but a few others like Home and the heavily layered How To Measure a Planet? may very well be worth the time to take in soon.








And they also have a new album expected in September I guess. The 2nd with new lead vocalist Silje Wergeland, who came from the The Gathering-influenced Norwegian band Octavia Sperati. They released a new single and video last May for the song "Heroes for Ghosts" and I must say, the 1st part of the song starts off a little slow, but by the middle of this track I became more impressed/mesmerized than I expected.



So I'm thinking I will be checking out a lot more of The Gathering and Anneke's work. Anneke has appeared on many albums as a guest and done some collaborations too. Maybe most notably for me, her appearing on Anathema's 2011 release Falling Deeper, on the track "Everawake"





She also performed with Anathema's Danny Cavanagh on a live disc from 2009 titled In Parallel, which I guess is mostly tunes from both Anathema and her work, re-arranged. I found 1 video earlier which was pleasant enough.



Perhaps I may find a new appreciation for both The Gathering and Anneke, in some ways like Anathema the last few years. I guess the biggest issue I have found with Anneke is her voice and vocal-lines seem to be limited to a certain range; which the songs end up sounding a lot alike. But maybe that was partially just a product of The Gathering's music. She does have a very good voice tonally/technically. She does remind me in some ways of Annie Haslam of Renaissance, or rather, my being drawn to her beauty, both outward and inward. She has an angelic voice like Annie. And I can see why many others have called upon her to sing on their albums. Even artists like November's Doom, Moonspell, Giant Squid, Napalm Death and Devin Townsend Project have. In fact I found a video of Anneke with Devin's band from last year live.



That tune is from Devin Townsend Project's Addicted LP. I may have to revisit it now, just for the fact she's on it.

Warpaint - live videos

Yourstru.ly Presents: Warpaint "Undertow" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

Yourstru.ly Presents: Warpaint "Bees" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

God sometimes I wish I could watch or even listen to their music without having any lustful ideas in my mind. It's-too-fucking-hard. At least at this point.

I mean I give up. They're all incredibly beautiful, and the fact their music is so good makes them even more attractive. Maybe this crush will fade over time, but I still hold a candle for Annie Haslam after all these years. Imogen Heap? I suppose so, although not as much on a physical level as I once did. Chloe Alper? yeah, she's still at times overwhelmingly beautiful. But the Warpaint girls are all flowers to me, and also I wish I could just be best friends with them as well. At this point I'd be happy to just have them book a concert in Minneapolis and be given 10 minutes to say hello, etc. Hopefully in 2011. Hopefully the fucking local radio stations (yeah you, 89.3 and Radio K) will start playing "Undertow" or any of their other songs off either The Fool or Exquisite Corpse.

Hot Prog Chics make me melt and I have no choice. I would marry Emily Kokal if she'd have me. Or for that matter probably any of them.

Back from 5 Days in Chicago..Renaissance Concert

I spent most of the time there in Chicago the past 5 days, living life and getting to know my 2 young nieces and of course my brother and sister in law. That was for the most part, all well and good. Perhaps I will elaborate more about that here or in another blog.

I also ventured down to Chicago to finally see Renaissance and Annie Haslam perform. I am just guessing here, but I think it was close 14 if not close to 15 years ago when I 1st heard Annie sing the Yes song "Turn of the Century" and I was blown away by her voice (and that song of course!). I then purchased a solo album of hers Still Life which I don't think was the next best thing to pickup, but so be it. Soon after I found Renaissance.

Moving along, I always wanted to see her sing live and even meet her. But it was around 2001 or 2002 I remember hearing she was doing more artwork and not singing so much. That status, from memory, remained until maybe 2 years ago or a little less. I always hoped Nearfest or some other festival would get them with her, or even a tour that would hopefully come to Minnesota.

Well not Minnesota, but Chicago was close enough, I couldn't pass up the chance to see them perform.

So it was last night. Like some other almost Murphy's fucking law situations on trips (LTE and Jordan Rudess keyboard breaking, ProgPower, Enchant's new cds at Nearfest), when I got to the Park West after 6:30pm, there still was a line (the doors were supposed to open at 6:30pm). I then found out Renaissance's van broke down on the way from the airport.

So I'm a little paranoid, especially after getting inside and noticing Steve Hackett hit the stage 1st. Now mind you, I am a fan of his solo work and Genesis of course, but I have seen Steve 3 previous times (and wouldn't be making a priority to travel to see necessarily given those facts). So I was getting a little more worried at that point.

Thankfully due to time constraints and a curfew, Steve announced that the order of bands would be reversed than normal and Renaissance would be going on after his band, given they only arrived to the club 5 minutes before his band took the stage.

Hackett's set was actually maybe a bit more enjoyable than I expected. And it wasn't so extensive that it didn't eat up some of Renaissance's time on stage like I feared. The set from what I recall.

Every Day
New Song
Ace of Wands
New Song
Spectral Mornings
Los Endos
Chicago Blues song?

Encore
Firth of Fifth

I have a feeling some of the set lists that are published here show the missing songs/song titles. I know his set list was altered a bit, and he didn't do "Horizons" which I would have liked to have seen, but so be it.

(from prologue.ning.com)



So then I moved up to about 5 or 5 rows/tables in front of the stage (thanks to a nice fella who I met there with a Kevin Gilbert Shaming shirt on, giving me his seat since he didn't desire to stay for Renaissance). And Renaissance took the stage.

Set list:
Prologue
Carpet of the Sun
Midas Man
Running Hard
The Mystic and the Muse
Things I Don't Understand
Mother Russia

Encore
Ashes Are Burning


(from prologue.ning.com)



The performance was definitely as good or probably better than I expected. Annie was good to perform again finally when her voice allows now. She was going WAYYY UP at times. Some of those falsettos she pulled off were very operatic and powerful. The new piece "The Mystic and the Muse" which comes from their brand new 3-track ep, really shows the shape she is in again vocally. I honestly do not recall more than 1 or perhaps 2 moments where I was even the tiny bit suspicious if she was off. Frankly, I was almost worried she might be exceeding her limits (see the difference that Ray Alder of Fates Warning has to go through now live). So all in all, it was rather special and lived up to my hopes/dreams of seeing her sing.

The rest of the band definitely pulled all that great stuff off as well. Michael Dunford, other longtime member along with Annie, was modest but still great to see bang out the old tunes, as well co-write the new piece they did. Even with the limited/selective use of guitar, their music includes or even features.

Tom Brislin pulled off many of the classic stuff. The intricate piano melodies. Running Hard and Ashes Are Burning namely. Great to see him help out (and now record) with another classic prog band. He's played live with Yes and Camel among others, and his own original group Spiraling.

Rave Tesar the other keyboardist currently with them. He took many of those classic John Tout leads. I guess he's been playing with Dunford for almost 20 years or something. You can tell he knows this stuff well.

David J. Keyes the bassist who played a rather big role given how much their music uses a lead bass that John Camp got somewhat known for. They remind me in a way of Weather Report, or even take bass lines from bands like The Who, Yes or even Rush. Really it's just a tuned-down guitar not using chords. He was faithful and upfront enough for their work.

Frank Pagano definitely fit will with the band and pulled off their stripped down, tribal at-times drum parts.

The set list: while they did as expected, do a lot of the classic-period songs. Having waited so many years, I still couldn't avoid hoping they might play some of my favorites. Carpet of the Sun and Running Hard are certainly up there. But a song like "A Trip to the Fair," "Song of Scheherazade" or even "A Song For All Seasons" certainly would have made the evening even more memorable. But I really don't feel much if any issue with it. The new song they did was nice, and Ashes Are Burning is a great epic closing/encore track. Just as it is on their much praised live double-disc Live at Carnegie Hall which actually was recorded in 3 nights, the last being exactly 1 year before I was born in fact in 1975.

(from prologue.ning.com)



Now on to the difficult part. I have always loved her voice, and came to learn about her as a person. She supported many thoughtful ideas, including animal rights? or something involving helping animals, namely dogs. I signed up to "The Annie Haslam Appreciation Society" in 2000 I think it was. 1 year she even sent me an autographed photo I think.

I have always wanted to see her perform and MEET Annie Haslam. Some rather unusual images or dreams (fantasies) of mine crossed my mind. Sort of wanting to pour out my heart to her (spill my guts) about how her voice and the band made think of when I was a little kid, going to music class. Living in the 70's, the ole hippie era, and the romantic, even innocent element to it. I often listen to their music and get terribly sad or just feel like it is the 1970's, I'm at times a little boy and she sings at a concert for me that I'm with either a class or my parents. And even sings me a lullaby to sleep.

And other times, more recently, I wish and almost feel like I was in my early 20's in the mid 1970's. Annie totally seduces and hypnotizes me and my desire for her. I'm not meaning in a purely sexual way. That line in "I Think of You" "I love you, like a friend" actually almost fits. But it's still romantic in some ways. She's just so kind- heart-ed, gentle, soft, warm, thoughtful. Her voice mesmerizes me like no other. Especially at the time I got into them, where 97% or more of the music I listened to (prog, prog metal, classic rock, etc) was from all-male musicians. She totally stood out, and gave me that female to admire and even lust after.

Even if the music was decades old and she was much older then. It didn't matter to me and in some ways, my naive self. I even registered a screen name online "Mr.AnnieHaslam" after seeing 1 for Dream Theater's guitarist "Ms.Petrucci"

It wasn't fair how so many girls got to drool over so many male musicians, and I didn't have a girlfriend of course, nor even a female musician to do the same with. But Annie was that for me.

So all that in mind (and at least in recent years, the ability to find female musicians to admire/lust after has increased at least. My taste expanding helps I think), getting to finally meet her ended up a little too rushed and compartmentalized. She wasn't exactly rude, but I was at the end of the line and the band had had some hurdles to get by to even be there last night. But on the surface, I got to mention 1 or 2 things to her, but not everything I would have liked.

I even bought 1 of her not exactly cheap pieces of art, mostly with the hope that she would notice or even remember me a bit more. I mean part of it was to just SUPPORT HER and even buying some other merch as well for her and the band. They have a new full-length disc in the works for 2011. And with the work on the new ep, I am rather optimistic and excited to hear it. But with that digression, I really hoped she might make an impression on me, and vice-versa in some ways. Pretty much how in Chicago in 2006 with Jimmy Gnecco (and ever since), and also especially with Steve Hogarth of Marillion in 2004.

Both of those concerts in Chicago were a rather big deal to me. Ours was a short time thing of course, but it was special finally meeting Jimmy. And the experiences since have only added to that. And Steve Hogarth, I mean for one, HE KISSED ME on my forehead when I confessed to him about how important Brave was to me. It was, and always will be something I'll never forget. It was like I stood out somehow; like what he made, or what his muse/art created made a significant difference in someone's life.

Now both of those experiences were more extensive, although not incredibly long. They were CASUAL and IN-PERSON ONE-ON-ONE. Outside too. The table the band were sitting at wasn't really like that.

But after wards, my thoughts went to celebrity and encountering fans in person. Maybe had I met her at Nearfest when she was showing and selling her art, very CASUALLY, I might not have come away so lacking what I hoped for. It was late last night. Like 11:40 or something.

But it made me think about the in-person, before or after concert meets should be brief with most musicians. I thought about Ian Anderson, lol. He's totally funny and great on stage, but he won't give you the time of day (night) after wards. Neil Peart of Rush is sort of like that I guess too.

But then I have been fortunate to spend pretty extensive non-show time hanging with some great, albeit somewhat accessible musicians/people. Doug Pinnick of King's X and most of the Fair to Midland guys come to mind among dozens and dozens of others.

So what is Annie's approach? Was she more or less fan-friendly since the 70's? (or even in the 70's?). Just because she comes across incredibly thoughtful and kind in her music and in public forums, doesn't mean she isn't very private. And so I did fear I might come across potentially as creepy, even asking for a hug. St.Vincent was nice enough, but maybe the fact she's younger and newer, and not into the whole celebrity thing.

I dunno. I just know 13-15 years of dreaming came true last night, but I also know part of me wishes I had never wished for the brief encounter with my favorite female singer to be more than a quick thanks for the music, I'd love to see you again sometime, instead of bonding or spilling my guts confessional that could ultimately give the exact opposite reaction to what I'd ever want to leave on her about me.

And ya know, I'm hardly the 1st guy to admire or have a thing for her, given some of the accounts I've read about young men holding candles for her when the band were at their peak. So maybe asking to shake her hand was even too forward, although she ultimately did shake my hand. But it was still a little awkward and unclear if it was her being funny or sort of out of tired obligation. I have no clue.

So, after babbling about what has crossed my mind after this, and over-analyzing it to death as I tend to do. I can still hope that they will tour again soon, probably in 2011, and even come to Minneapolis. And perhaps have a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression..or make a new impression on her again soon.

But in the mean time, I am still very thankful I got to see them finally and meet her however unclear the overall experience was in that. And perhaps I'll be able to be more careful with meeting these musicians I admire. Imogen Heap perhaps 1 day certainly comes to mind. And even my next encounter seeing Warpaint, although at least those girls HUGGED ME. So, go figure why I might hope Annie might even consider shaking my hand. But women are and probably always will be far too confusing to understand their approach to physical touching. Some love it, or are touchy-feely, but others are not crazy for it, especially from potentially creepy fans in this case. But how am I supposed to know? I'm not sadly =\

Laura Veirs - July Flame (2010) plus upcoming concert

I really enjoy her new record. She stands out some from her role with The Decemberists. The vocal doubling on the title track I think it is, and a couple of others, of course I am won over by how her voice reminds me of, probably still my favorite female singer of all-time, in Renaissance's ANNIE HASLAM.



Laura probably doesn't know Renaissance or Annie, but if given the chance, I will have to ask her about her/them at the concert on Tuesday. As I can now claim to have won 2 tickets from Radio K to see Laura Veirs @ The Cedar Cultural Center on Tuesday March 2nd.

I suppose I'll try and add a review, with words about the openers and/or The Cedar sometime soon after the show.