Who is David Bowie?
A chameleon? Sure. A pop star? Definitely! As much as we may look back on the career of the Thin White Duke and characterize him as a visionary, as a trendsetter, as a trailblazer, as a man creating music ahead of his time? He was a pop star. Still is.
Getting his start in the late 60s, he has a britpop queen (king) who made the older ladies blush and the younger ladies faint. Never much of a team player, he stayed solo for his career with the exception of a few collaborations with notable stars (Mick Jagger and Queen among the most notable). And a short stint with Soupy Sales' sons, Hunt and Tony Sales and Reeves Gabrels in Tin Machine, producing only two studio albums and one live effort. The first studio album is worth your money.
Tonight is about the glamorous life. By the early seventies, Bowie had become fabulous. With albums like Space Oddity, Ziggy Stardust, and Young Americans, Bowie blurred the lines of sexuality and male-appropriate makeup to a magnificent degree.
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is the final show of Bowie's Ziggy persona. Filmed July 3, 1973.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Good Eats: Festival Express
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| On the menu - Optimus' Pork and Beans, Master of Meat Curtain's pasta and sausage, R'lyeh's tomato smothered stuffed burgers, and host Grand Phantom's Doritos Locos tacos. Not pictured - Rabbi's Cherry Garcia ice cream (bonus points to him for thematic use of food) |
Festival Express
The second MMN of the summer commenced at the Grand Phantom's house on June 12, 2012 for a viewing of Festival Express.
Festival Express offers a look into an ill-fated tour of classic rock artists across Canada in 1970. Notable artists include the Grateful Dead, The Band, Buddy Guy, Janis Joplin and Sha Na Na (Traffic was also included in the tour but was not in the movie due to contractual obligations).
The tour was plagued with bad vibes almost from the beginning, as Canadian youth protested the "outrageous" ticket price of 10-12 dollars. Gatecrashing and empty seats were rampant. Finally, it seemed the artists began having more fun on the train rides between stops than actually performing in the concerts. Some highlights for me included an impromptu jam session between several artists in route to one show, as well as a drunken, improvisational performance between Joplin and the Band's Rick Danko, accompanied by Jerry Garcia on guitar. Also entertaining was the train's emergency stop after running out of booze, the artists consolidating their money and literally buying the place out.
Oddly enough, in this viewer's opinion, the film concentrated more on the concert performances (which, while good, were nothing that haven't been seen before) and less on the party taking place on the train ride. As a group, discussion centered on the merits of sleeping with Janis Joplin, the entitlement of hippies / Canadian youths / Baby boomers, the "good ol days" of festivals free of massive corporate involvement, the coolness of the Dead, and the relative obscurity of this event - all of us music fans had either not heard of this tour or just barely heard of it in passing.
Gentlemen, feel free to add your thoughts in the comments.
Excelsior!
The tour was plagued with bad vibes almost from the beginning, as Canadian youth protested the "outrageous" ticket price of 10-12 dollars. Gatecrashing and empty seats were rampant. Finally, it seemed the artists began having more fun on the train rides between stops than actually performing in the concerts. Some highlights for me included an impromptu jam session between several artists in route to one show, as well as a drunken, improvisational performance between Joplin and the Band's Rick Danko, accompanied by Jerry Garcia on guitar. Also entertaining was the train's emergency stop after running out of booze, the artists consolidating their money and literally buying the place out.
Oddly enough, in this viewer's opinion, the film concentrated more on the concert performances (which, while good, were nothing that haven't been seen before) and less on the party taking place on the train ride. As a group, discussion centered on the merits of sleeping with Janis Joplin, the entitlement of hippies / Canadian youths / Baby boomers, the "good ol days" of festivals free of massive corporate involvement, the coolness of the Dead, and the relative obscurity of this event - all of us music fans had either not heard of this tour or just barely heard of it in passing.
Gentlemen, feel free to add your thoughts in the comments.
Excelsior!
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