People Who Died

DAMN!!! Sky Saxon, Bob Bogle, Michael Jackson, Ed McMahon, and Farrah Fawcett all in a week. I’m wondering if the ‘66 Revue will still go on.

R.I.P. Sky …

Leonard Cohen, Fox Theater, Detroit

I’ve spent the last 24 hours trying to find the words …

We got to the Fox Theater shortly before eight and bolted directly to our seats : front row, center of the Mezzanine. Looking upward, we were right about center of the theater, surrounded by opulent Burmese and Persian decor. It is the second largest in the country. It was breathtaking.

See? There’s me, still damp from a last minute shower, wide-eyed, and in awe. –>

The lights dimmed at just a moment after eight. The crowd roared as the band filed out on stage, and I stood, transfixed, and Cohen himself skipped out on stage. There was a collective gasp of breath, and then a silence. I felt my eyes well up, and as the band began Dance Me to the End of Love and as the first raspy syllable left his lips, tears poured out and flooded down my cheeks. Next, The Future, one of the first Cohen songs I had ever heard.

Give me back my broken night
my mirrored room, my secret life
it’s lonely here,
there’s no one left to torture

Give me absolute control
over every living soul
And lie beside me, baby,
that’s an order!

For the entire show I sat on the very edge of my seat, leaning back only once, in the moment I realized my chest was ablaze, and that I was no longer breathing … but rather hanging, anxiously awaiting each word, entranced. There wasn’t a person in the theater that didn’t feel the same. At the quieter moments of songs, you could have heard a pin drop. During the poem “Thousand Kisses Deep”, Cohen’s delivery of each verse was like hearing someone slyly tell you all the world’s secrets … toying, teasing, daring you to glance away even for a moment. But you couldn’t.

At 74, he sadly and half-jokingly referred to his old age several times … singing “If you want another kind of lover, I’ll wear an old man’s mask for you”, rather than the original “I’ll wear a mask for you”. He mentioned that it had been 14 years since he had toured and came through Detroit. When he was 60. “Just a young man with a dream”, he sighed. 14 years … Half my own life ago, and the year I heard my first Leonard Cohen song.

His band, his band … a collection of some of the most remarkable players in from around the world. A full 10 piece … drums, piano, organ, wind, stand up bass, pedal of steel, and laud. Throughout the show, he removed his hat and bowed his silvery head to them. His co-writer Sharon, sang Boogie Street, soulfully, beautifully, and he stood, in the shadows, in obvious awe. He dropped to his knees and sang to his laud player, Javier Mas.

While we have all heard it a thousand times, and having been covered so often, Hallelujah brought down the house. Throughout the show, the girls’ voices were so soft, controlled, but during the final verse, the three of them along with Cohen sang full force. Cohen, head thrown back to the heavens sang…

“I did my best, it wasn’t much
I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch
I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you
And even though
It all went wrong
I’ll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah”

… and as they reached their pitch together, and as the theater filled with the enormous sound, the stage flooded with a deep golden golden light making it appear that his heaven was singing back. The feeling was overwhelming, and while I outright burst into tears, a quick glance around showed wet eyes throughout the house. And again, on Tower of Song, with just Cohen on a small keyboard.

After playing for more than three hours, he graciously thanked the crowd, stating something to the effect of “I’m not sure when I may be back, if ever. Thank you for keeping my music alive. Go. Be with your family and your friends. May you be blessed with them. And if that’s not your bag, may you be blessed in your solitude”, the last lines delivered as if he were overwhelmed, almost choking on the words, before skipping back off stage.

If you’ve read other Cohen reviews, if you’ve heard that it’s a life changing experience, believe it. To say it was a spiritual enlightenment would be a gross understatement, a missive of the breadth of emotion felt. You are both exhausted and tireless … for those three hours, you are his. No one that attended last night’s show will ever be quite the same again.

The PHENOMENAL Setlist ::

Dance Me to the End of Love
The Future
Ain’t No Cure for Love
Bird on the Wire
Everybody Knows
In My Secret Life
Who by Fire
Chelsea Hotel No. 2
Waiting for the Miracle
Anthem

INTERMISSION

Tower of Song
Suzanne
The Gypsy’s Wife
The Partisan
Boogie Street [sung by Sharon Robinson]
Hallelujah
I’m Your Man
Take This Waltz

FIRST ENCORE
So Long, Marianne
First We Take Manhattan

SECOND ENCORE
Famous Blue Raincoat
If It Be Your Will [performed by the Webb sisters]
Democracy

THIRD & FINAL ENCORE
I Tried to Leave You
Whither Thou Goest

T. Rex “Children of the Revolution”

God, I love T. Rex. And Marc Bolan in general. Enjoy.

Serious Ramblings

I’m way behind … and I know it. I *assume* that something interesting has happened over the last couple of weeks (this statement based on the hangover from hell I had last Saturday), but nothing of significant interest is coming to mind. So … here are some random thoughts to tide over my very few readers ::

I’ve been vehemently denying the apparently likeness between Karen Allen and myself and then I came across this picture today. I am NOT conceding defeat, and am still quite likely to stab you or something if you bring it up, but, um, ok. I think it’s the eyebrows.

And also, since that photo is really small, those are my knees in my jammies.

We are heading to Detroit this weekend for Leonard Cohen … It’s been a huge distraction all week. I haven’t been to Detroit in many years … since pre-teen days, I think. Oh, no, wait. I went for a Tigers game once in my late teens, I think. I’m not a baseball fan, but a few drinks and an order of nachos usually contents me for the duration.

I *hate* American Idol. Mostly because it sucks once the bad try-outs are over, but also because it keeps running into Fringe, which we DVR, and therefore never see the end where it actually wraps up the episode. The fact that last night’s episode was especially good, and I was edge of seat when it abruptly ended was especially upsetting.

I went to visit a friend at the hospital last night, and we had to promise at the door that we didn’t have any symptoms of the H1N1 before we could actually enter the medical center. Once we promised, we were given a little sticker.

True Blood Season II starts in June … still best intro to any HBO series. The acting is really, truly awful … but the story is soooo good. And Anna Paquin is nice to look at, as is Stephen Moyer. I bought the books, which I haven’t read yet, as I’m midway through Atmospheric Disturbances, but I hear they’re pretty different.

On Atmostpheric Disturbances … read it. It’s good. Really good.

When the hell is Dexter Season III coming out?! Amazon just lists it as a pre-order, and I didn’t watch the season as it ran, as I would go batshit waiting a week between episodes. No, seasons of Dexter must be watched in as few sittings as possible.

Record Store Day rocked my world, even though I worked the whole thing. Got the limited Tom Waits, but nothing else, as I was stuck behind the counter non-stop for almost 6 hours. Bonus was that the store did so well, K paid me double. Even managed to keep my head, and not spend it then and there … although I did have $22 bucks in outstanding trade, with which I picked up a Slade and a Swingin’ Medallions. Score.

Mexican Coca Cola is WAY better than American Coke. It’s not nearly as sweet or syrupy. The only place I’ve been able to find it, though, is Weilands Market, and you can only buy it by the individual bottle, and it’s kind of expensive. If anyone knows a place to get it by the 6 or 12 affordably, please let me know.

::yawn:: Ok, I’m out…

Latest Flyer

I Missed This

Romeo Void’s “Never Say Never” … I must have been too young to pay any attention to it. But I’m rather amused by it now.

Wow. Just Wow.

I suppose I should give a little update, yeah? The house we were madly in love with fell through … the bank that owns it went bankrupt, and has left all of us with offers in hanging for a month now. Jerks. In the meantime, we continued to look and found another that we liked. (Not as much as the other, but what can you do?)

As it happened, the house we found was in a better location … right on Franklin Park. As in, if you stand on the porch the park would basically be our front yard. We’d be a minute’s walk from the conservatory. We put in an offer last week, and after going back and forth a couple of times, we were able to reach an agreement with the sellers. We had the inspection today – which we were pretty worried about, given the house is approximately 120 years old. The auditors site says it was built in 1920, but apparently there was a huge fire that destroyed a bunch of records, and when they recreated the records, they listed all existing properties as 1920. Now you know.

Anyway, the inspection went pretty well. There are a few issues, one or two of which may be a bit pricey (none of the outlets are grounded, the furnace is pretty ancient, some broken windows), but most of those things can be taken care of in time. With tax returns. Or a lottery win. But … we’re going to buy it.  We’re going to remodel / restore the kitchen and some stuff of the bathroom. We’re also going to try to slowly replace the woodwork that’s been painted white and pink. (WTF?!?!?!?)

Along with the park, there’s a seasonal outdoor market about 2 blocks up the street. Our inspector was a beekeeper who lives right up the street and promised us fresh honey. There’s a huge abandoned building out back that is in contract to become something like the North Market. It’s a cool building — it had been the storage facility for streetcars, back when Columbus had trolleys which is pretty nifty, and I’m certain will do wonders for property values. So that’s that. Ask me if I’m if so incredibly excited that I’m having trouble sleeping or focusing on much of anything else. (Yes). Ask me if I’m if so incredibly terrified that I’m having trouble sleeping or focusing on much of anything else. (Yes).

I feel so grown up. :: sigh ::

Help Me Save 3 Puppies!

I volunteer for a local doggy rescue …

Last week (April 6th) Cheryl found Collie puppies on the internet during her normal perusal of Petfinder in a shelter in WV. She immediately contacted the shelter and arranged to pull the pups. By Wednesday of that same week, they were out of the shelter and in a foster home. That Friday all three puppies broke with Parvo and were in the critical care unit at MedVet. Parvo is a very nasty, killer virus that is passed through stool, and there is no cure for it once it has attacked. It’s essential to keep the puppies from getting any secondary infection while they are so weak. They are catheterized, on IVs and being watched 24/7.

The last few days of their care has run more than $4,000 … we need help. Every donation, no matter how small helps … if you can donate even a couple bucks, we will be eternally grateful.

Go to almosthomeohio.org to help.

This Weekend’s To See List

Friday, April 3rd, 2009 … True Moves, Whoa Nellie, Beatdowns, and Thee Pistol Whips … at Circus (Formerly the High Five). Three of my current favorite local bands, and a new one from, um, somewhere else. All the cool kids are going to be there. Just sayin’.

Saturday, April 4th, also 2009 … The Sundresses and some other TBD bands … at Bourbon Street (or the Summit. This seems to be open to debate). They’re from Cinci, I’ve written a lot about them on this here blog, they’re one of my faves ever, and you should go.

Morrissey @ The Palace

:: swoon ::

For whatever reason, the boy agreed to go (he hates Morrissey) … Although we did have this conversation on a smoke break …
Me: You hanging in there?
D: They’re not as bad as I thought.
Me: Really?
D: But Morrissey still sounds like Kermit the Frog.
Me: …
D: [in Kermit voice] I am Kermit and I need to be loooooved. Just like every other frog dooooooes.
D: But the band is really talented.
Me: [shakes head and tries not to laugh] You’re an ass. But I love you.

The band WAS incredibly talented and mesmerizing to watch (when I could see around the tallest dude in the place, who just so happened to be seated right in front of me). The sound in the Palace is AMAZING (when I could hear over the obnoxious frat boy and his girlfriend who decided to hold social hour throughout the show, and who just happened to be seated right beside me). Morrissey’s voice was still crystal clear, and he still makes the cool straight girls swoon … We left a bit early, as I nearly passed out of heatstroke. But here’s the full set list ::

This Charming Man
Billy Budd
That’s How People Grow Up
Black Cloud
How Soon is Now?
Irish Blood, English Heart
I Keep Mine Hidden
How Could Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel?
Ask
I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris
Mama Lay Softly on the Riverbed
Best Friend on the Payroll
When I Last Spoke to Carol
Seasick But Still Docked
The Loop
Death of A Disco Dancer
Let Me Kiss You
Sorry Doesn’t Help Us
Something Is Squeezing My Skull
I’m OK By Myself
Encore: First of the Gang to Die

Also, check out the Courteeners. They opened, and I dug it.