We search the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and post them to the site weekly, come back every seven days to help us celebrate Full Show Friday's. These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still playing)...This week...Dire Straits!
Today we head to London's Wembley Arena back in 1985 for the Brothers In Arms Tour from Dire Straits.
Speaking of Wembley, Chelsea play Leicester City in the FA Cup final tomorrow and here's hoping the Blues trounce the Foxes and lift the first of possibly two cups this year. Back to Dire Straits...
This is the band in their prime. Pro Shot, Pro Sound, full set list below. Enjoy:
*** The Band: Mark Knopfler : lead guitar, lead vocals ; Jack Sonni : guitar ; John Illsley : bass ; Alan Clark : keyboards ; Guy Fletcher : keyboards ; Terry Williams : drums ; Chris White : saxophone.
*** Video containing the famous concert from Wembley 1985. Great show of the Brothers in arms tour, containing powerful versions. Nice to see the two guest players Nils Lofgren and Hank B. Marvin. Picture and sound quality are both very good. The picture is taken from probably one of the best preserved VHS tapes available and the sound is taken from the best sounding audio soundboard bootleg (Perfect Investigations), except for the songs Tunnel of Love, Solid rock and Going Home but which still have good sound.
It is of the Hold Steady's Friday Night show in London on March 8th 2019.
tHS are one of RtBE's Personal Favorites and getting to see them in London was such a blast. It helped they put on a killer show and I got to see it with very good friends. Below are a few pics of the night and some video and getting to combine this concert with some great Chelsea FC experiences made for a mega excursion across the pond.
It is of the recent Misfits reunion show at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ last Saturday night.
I wasn't very critical of the show in the review because quite frankly I had a fucking blast. Murphy's Law, Suicidal Tendencies and the Misfits, some of the silliest and best punk rock out there...mix that with some great friends, beer and Chelsea FA Cup victory in the morning and you got yourself one happy reviewer.
While friends in different seats did not have the best experience (sound issues being the major one) we had nothing but a good time from our seats.
Support the bandbandband, read the review and since phones weren't allowed in the venue, sneaky vid's are quickly disappearing from youtube so let's just hear some fun tunes from all three bands:
Woof the 80's were a rough time...don't believe me? Look at Bono's hair:
Enjoy New Years Day. We will be celebrating/thankful for lots of things as we enter 2015, but immediately we have the team we support on top of the Premier League,
Congrats Chelsea, now destroy Spurs later today and we will have even more to celebrate.
Big sports day here for RTBE. This morning we had our favorites Chelsea FC holding on for a narrow win in the quarterfinals over the hated Man U via an amazing goal from Demba Ba (with service from Juan Mata)
Bring on Man City at Wembley, the FA Cup will be staying at Stamford Bridge!
So we start the day off on a fantastic note, but things will get even better as the main event starts this afternoon...Opening Day is upon us!!
I
see great things in baseball. It's our game - the American game. It
will take our people out-of-doors, fill them with oxygen, give them a
larger physical stoicism. Tend to relieve us from being a nervous,
dyspeptic set. Repair these losses, and be a blessing to us. ~Walt
Whitman
Today's also a historic day in NYC as both the Mets and the Yanks open the season at home, the first time since 1956 that two teams from this city did that, then it was the Giants and Dodgers who play each other today at 4 on the left coast. I just wish the two NY C games were at staggered times because each game on opening day (hell the whole season) is special.
There are some other intriguing match-ups too, we will be amped for that Reds v Angels duel at 4 which could be a World Series preview and the Cubs v Pirates will have our personal attention for fantasy purposes (C'mon Samardzija!).
Since we often talk music here on the site, let's end the post with some tunes to get you in the mood for what SHOULD be a national holiday. See you at the ballpark!
John Fogerty with the E-Street Band "Center Field"
A couple of weeks back we had the chance to attend the opening of the Alan Uglow Exhibit being held in the David Zwirner Gallery on 19th Street in NYC.
In one of our most personal posts we have put on RTBE we talked about Alan's passing back in February 2011. He was a friend and someone we had the privilege to know, sure he was a world class artist, but he was also "Billy Idol" in the NY Blues realm and a real card of a character.
It was great seeing a whole bunch of the NY Blues at the opening (and I am sure more came after I had to leave). The main reason I got involved in the club was simply put, the people in the bar rooting for the team, not the players on the pitch. I have grown to love the squad and watch them non stop, but for someone entering this world fresh the vibe I felt from the supporters was my number one reason to support CFC.
This might sound sacrilegious to longtime fans but it is the truth, from my first match at the old Nevada Smith's I felt welcomed by the club (and Alan specifically) and I still do to this day. It is one of the things I try to help out new members with; NYC can be intimidating and one more place that you can call home helps. Our wide range of fans also makes for some incredibly interesting conversations. Just 2 weeks ago, after our Europa League match we had a heated conversation about manufacturing, workers rights, and globalization. Alan would have been all over that.
We as a club have moved with Jack to The Football Factory, but the feeling is the same and Alan would have enjoyed the new space and people had he lived a bit longer. He would have also loved winning the Champions League last year, but I am guessing he would have found one or two things to scream at the television about. We sang in his honor on that day and it was a joy to do so.
I have posted some pictures I took (poorly) of his work, but you should definitely make it out to Chelsea to see his exhibition as it runs until March 23rd. See the exhibit, then grab a few beers and argue about something you are passionate about in Alan's honor. I think he would have liked it that way.
After giving up a goal in the 83 minute things looked bleak, but this Chelsea squad is blessed, and RtBE's favorite Didier Drogba's explosive header tied things up in the 88th minute giving Chelsea life, and amping the excitement 10 fold.
Peter Cech's extra time Penalty save on Robben was just as important as the Blues held on and ended up winning on Penalty kicks after the extra 30 minutes ticked off. When Drogba sealed the final penalty to win 4-3 on penalties Legends Football Factory exploded with The New York Blues going nuts in celebration.
Yup, it was a hell of a victory, congrats to all the players, fans, staff and supporters around the globe. Congrats also to that Russian Owner who wanted this trophy over all the others, now he has it. KTBFFH!
The Barcelona match was amazing, and the facebook pages that popped up are hysterical, but this is where it all comes down too, on Munich's home pitch no less. We will be without 4 starters (at least) but their is no fear as the Boys in Blue are destined for this one, against all odds.
Passing the torch to Ramires
It may be the last game for one of my all time favorite players Didier Drogba, and hopefully he will go out on a high note. So enjoy the match wherever you are, I certainly will.
In this ongoing Monday
Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan
song's. Today's tune is a cover by Faces,"The Wicked Messenger"
This is RtBE's 2nd part of a "Best Of" for Dylan Covers, so strap on in.
Thoughts on Dylan Original: We talked about another cover version of this tune in August, so here are my thoughts then as they haven't changed:
A breezy musical number (only 2 minutes long) with some biblical lyrics
that actually would foreshadow Dylan's religious musical phase that
would arrive in the late 70's/early 80's "The Wicked Messenger" has a
cool bass line to match the acoustic guitar. Like most of John Wesley Harding
there is a mellow mood that tends to play down the lyrics, live versions certainly have improved the
tracks standing in my mind from the original.
Cover:
Thoughts on Cover Artist:
I have never been into the Faces at all, the bizarre deal with the rotating name (small faces? Faces?) and rotating members was one thing that always kept me at bay from the band, but in all honesty there was another more drastic hurdle I have never overcome: Rod Stewart.
Craig Finn, nailed it so hard on the head with his lyric in The Hold Steady's "Stevie Nix": "You remind me of Rod Stewart when he was young/you got passion, you think you're sexy, and all the punks think you are dumb!" Well color me a punk and I couldn't agree more. If Mick Jagger is the perfect front man, I always considered Rod Stewart one of the worst, because he always seemed to think he was the perfect front man. He just had an air to him I couldn't stand. The bigger issue then my perceived arrogance of him was I never liked his voice, his choice of songs, or his style. He sucked all over, and always has in my book.
Quick side story, I actually had a chance to meet him once, while I was at Nevada Smiths for the FA Cup Final in 2007 I was rooting for my Chelsea boys to strike down the dreaded Manchester United. The bar was packed and like always The New York Blues went to the backyard for a breather at the half. Well who should walk out but Rod Stewart in full Man U garb to pose for some pictures with the Man U fans in attendance.
Well if I didn't hate him before I certainly did now! He was actually very nice to the United fans, I didn't get a whiff of arrogance at all even if he was wearing a ton of makeup (which was really odd that early in the AM), so there's that but...fuck him! Here is a video of that game, and the bar that is going crazy when Didier Drogba scores is actually Nevada Smith's too bad you can't see myself or Rod in the darkness, but only one of us came out victorious that day...me:
Thoughts on Cover:
All that said this is a cracking cover. One for the ages. Rod's voice may have never sounded better with the organs and Ron Wood's snaking guitar lines, in fact this is my favorite thing Stewart has ever been apart of. The Faces take is a shining example as to how you do a cover of this song, and it blows The Black Keysversion off the map. A gutsy bluesy take with holy overtones and cryptic feelings, leave it to a bunch of limeys to get that style down pat. Whatever the country, this is a dynamite version ends up better then the original and a blueprint on how to dirty up the bard's sound.
Grade: A+
Wilson's Take:
Janasie's Take: Of the albums which were released in Dylan's first decade as an artist, John Wesley Harding is probably one of the ones that I listen to the least. I don't have a good explanation for that. It is a fine record. It is probably that some of the other albums from that era are just so f'in good. It gave us "All Along the Watchtower", so that alone is worthy of appreciation. And it provided the inspiration for this week's cover, which is a monster cut.
It is only my opinion, but I think Shawn should get over his Rod Stewart bias and listen to some more Faces. While his work with this group coincided with his ascension to super stardom, Stewart was by no means the lone talent nor the driving creative force in the collective. If you are looking for loose, fun, dirty rock (and we know Shawn is), this band is a great place to find some. To me, for a short period of time, the Faces were one of the few bands to capture some of that magic that The Stones seem to have cornered the market on. Consider grabbing a copy of Good Boys When They're Asleep and a bottle of your whiskey of choice. Your head will hurt the following morning, but you're likely to have a smile on your face.
This version of "Wicked Messenger" is simply one of my favorite Dylan covers ever. Those first strains on the organ and then guitar foreshadow a soon-to-come, rock-n-roll ass whoopin'. Every single player on the recording is fully invested in burning it down. I love listening to Kenney Jones beat the tar out of his drums on this track. While I have no patience for Rod the Mod's theatrics (nor, for that matter, did the other Faces) or much of his solo career, I do think he is one of the great rock vocalists, and I think the evidence is right here. Ian McLagan on that organ, Ronnie Lane all over the bass, Ronnie Wood with the wicked licks. This kind of sound is why rock and roll conquered the world.
In the past when I have done a RTBE RIP posts they have been about silly actors, funky musicians, and some slightlyforgotten rockers. Unfortunately this time the passing was a bit closer to home, as Alan Uglow passed away recently from complications of Lung Cancer, he was 69.
I never knew Alan as a world famous artist, or as a photographer, I just knew him as Alan from the New York Blues who I joined up with in January 2007. From that first match I met up with the crew down at Nevada Smith's (a shitty 2-0 loss at Anfield to Liverpool...fackers) on that frigid morning at the ass crack of dawn (7:30 if I remember correctly), Alan played a key part of me joining the squad full time. He came over an introduced himself, and immediately started bitching about Chelsea and their lack of pace....and this was before the match even started! He was a die-hard fanatical supporter and one of those who were never satisfied with the team until they reached their full potential.
Alan Uglow Backyard at Nevada Smiths Halftime during a Chelsea Match 4-26-08
As soon as the ball was in play he would be on the fellas from the front of the bar yelling "Wake Up Chelsea!" in full fighting spirit. It would always bring a smile to my face and would inevitably lead to his own song which the NY Blues would sing to him often: "There's only 1 Billy Idol!" the man's passion was through and through; bone solid. He was a fighter and even through his sickness he was a tough SOB.
There is no doubt he will be missed, when Chelsea won the double last year we were ecstatic and even though Alan was too ill to make it to the bar some of the Blues went down to watch the matches with him. The rest of us called him and sang up a storm over the phone...it was always a blast to know he was joyous with victory after often wanting so much more from the squad. When he was in good spirits, you knew it was a special day.
It is almost fitting that he passed away right at the end of the transfer season that saw his beloved team sign two new fixtures that will hopefully get us out of the doldrums of this horrific winter...David Luiz and "El Nino" himself Fernando Torres.
With rebirth on the horizon for the squad we bid Alan Uglow a fond fairwell...through his paintings he will be remembered by the world, but through his undying love of Chelsea FC he will be remembered by us NY Blues. You will be missed chap, but never forgotten...
This crew from Brooklyn has been gaining lots of hype and press and playing some pretty kick ass shows. Unfortuantly my schedule hasn't allowed me to catch them live yet which is a real shame because (confession time) I am actual friends with the mastero on keys.
Oliver and I are both NYBlues and huge Chelsea supporters (both there the first time Roman Abramovich came to Nevada's and both there for the clinching of the league this year.)
but besides the footie, we both love all kinds of music, from 20th century classical to hardcore metal. ArpLine is niether of those.
What you get with Travel Book is a thick soup of sound that swirls its electronica fingers around and around tightening the concoction with pulsing rhythm and dancey beats. Well I talked about that in the review... so lets give you some of their sound so you can decide, and def go see them live if you can:
On a technical Note, I will be playing with the look and feel of Rock the Body Electric over the next couple of days, and hope to spruce up the joint a bit over the holiday weekend. I should also have a few more Glide Reviews coming out soon so you can check out some new tunes at your 4th of July BBq. All the Best.
What is up y'all? No real fan fare today, let's jump into it...This monday's Grateful Dead excursion leaps way back in time to 1967, specifically 10-22-1967 You can listen to it via that link or stream it c'here:
This gem of a show was the Grateful Dead's set on an outstanding bill put together by Bill Graham at Winterland to raise money for the marijuana defense fund back in 1967...politics and drugs aside, just peep the poster and check out the amazing lineup:
That is some lineup....ahh to have been in San Fran in the late 60's....anyway I won't get all Hunter S high water mark on you,
but this must have been a killer night and the Dead's set is a major reason why. A quick and powerful "Morning Dew" opens up their set and it finds Jerry blasting away on riffs into the night. From the jump off the energy is sky fricking high. The boys motor and fire on all cylinders and you can tell it is going to be a hot set. "The New Potato Caboose" is mega, with the group branching out and exploring their jamming jones that would make them world famous in only a few years.
I mentioned I am not the biggest PigPen fan, but on this night his organs are ramped up and roll all over the tunes, adding a bit of a church feel to the proceedings. He was "on" this night back in '67 and takes center stage on the burning "It Hurts Me, Too". The next 3:20 seconds are some of the coolest I have heard in a while...the band simply BLAZE'S through the classic "Cold Rain & Snow". I have always loved this tune when the group does it, but this version is simply jump-up-and-down-goodness. They are amped and run through the classic with more energy then they sometimes put fourth in full shows during some of the later years. Don't skip this one.
I mentioned in another brief post on 1967 that Mickey Hart started jamming with the boys in September of that year and this is one of his first official shows with the group and you can hear the interplay with Billy that would make the Rhythm Devils a percussion institution. Unfortunately things just seem to get cooking for the group during "Turn On Your Lovelight" when this recording cuts out, this is a bummer, but really the only one present during this set. A super fast "Beat It On Down The Line" is ran through next and shows off Bobby's chops as a lead singer and pop music poster boy...
I keed...I just wanted to use this pic of him from 67...he nails "Beat It..." The group then falls into bombarding the ears with a "Cryptical Envelopment>That's It For The Other> Cryptical Envelopment" jaunt that rips through the speakers with vibrant energy...as it should because as far as I can tell, this is the first version ever played, and has some funky different lyrics that would never show up again:
1st verse:
When I woke up this morning my head was not attached
I asked my friends about it, try to find out where its at
[inaudible]...came up inside of me, blew the dust clouds all away
The heat came 'round & busted me for smiling on a cloudy day
2nd verse:
Well the heat down in jail they weren't very smart
They taught me how to read & write,they taught me the precious arts
When I was breaking out of jail I learned that right away
That they didn't need me telling them about smiling first and running _?_
This is an epic song in the Dead cannon, but like a lot of things about the group "exact facts" and "specifics" are hard to come by, in fact Dead.net doesn't even have this show listed on their site...However this version is an adventure, once the unique lyrics are out of the way the group simply explodes over the last 8+ minutes, scales are climbed and slid back down, bass lines bubble over, organ fills flow and drum marches push things along. What a movement of music, if anything it feels like it ends too soon. For more on the tune, check out the always great annotated dead page.
This is a hell of a show and hearkens back to a wild time in the country's history and the bands insane crazy days...I mentioned the vibrant energy...this is a show you can feel. Enjoy.
Edit...SIDE NOTE>
One more time I need to congratulate The Boys in Blue...Chelsea won the double for the first time in their history!!!!
Last week I was in heaven New Orleans so I couldn't post any Grateful Dead goodness...but now I am back in NYC and it is time to get up on that horse and ride...or at least listen. Over the course of this experiment with the Dead, I just realized I have not posted one show from their youth, the 1960's...shame on me, today's sonic adventure comes from 4-21-1969 and The Ark in Boston MA.
Click that link or listen here:
This is a great recording, actually shockingly good for 1969, so turn up your speakers to 11 to get the most out of it.
Pigpen gets things started with a fairly tame "Hard To Handle", and it is fun to hear Jerry barely make the notes that would make "Morning Dew" such a treat in later years. Where this show really gains steam is the "Cryptical Envelopment>Other One>Cryptical Envelopment" segue, a cowbell pops up and gets banged, and Garcia runs scales like he is out of his mind...which he probably was. "The Other One" is a peach of a listen, changing tones and flavor before it starts shuffling in a psychedelic way around the 8 minute mark, and the freaky-ness doesn't want to stop with a riff-tastic return to the "Cryptical". Some folksy fun with "Sitting On Top Of The World" before Pigpen comes back in and dusts it down with "Alligator"
I am not a huge Pigpen fan, he is a little too much white boy blues for me, if I want the blues I just usually take the real thing, but he has his moments. The first part of this tune, is not one of them, it feels forced before the drums come in. Jerry manages to resurrect the second half with a dope "And We Bid You Goodnight" run through over the marching drums of Bill Kreutzmann. Then the band plunges head long into an old time classic, "Doin' That Rag". I caught that song when Phil and Friends did it at the Beacon back in 00 but this is a lot of fun to hear Jerry sing, and then play a great solo after his vocal duties are done.
After that comes a very un-Dead like "Foxy Lady Jam" and I wish they had kept going with this one...wouldn't it have been a beast to see Jimi play with the boys? How did that never happen?
My brain might have exploded if those two axemen got together trading riffs on stage, we got Duane to play with the crew and we will get to that soon, but Jimi would have been a whole 'nother ball of wax.
After that playful bit, we get a highlight of 60's Dead, "Dark Star" while some of the decades "Star's" were short tight outings, this one explores the black holes of your mind. That note Jerry toys with starting around the 4:50 mark is straight up boosh, and leads to a whole world of sound. This version is light and airy (with what sounds like Sleigh bells around the 13 minute mark) as opposed to some of the mind numbing "Dark Stars" to come; not to be missed.
You also gotta love the "St. Stephen" just effortless as it crashes into "The Eleven" which is a joy to hear at 12 minutes. This second set really steps up the ju-ju with a mega "Turn On Your Lovelight" and a crushing "Viola Lee Blues", this is a monster of a song, I could say more, or you could just listen...this is the magic of this show.
From everything I can gather, and by the times of these songs, it looks like from "Feedback" on is a filler, but what good filling it is for this audio pie crust, the "spanish Jam" in particular if you are cherry picking. Ok, enjoy, and I hope this show makes Monday that much easier, I know it helped me.
(COMPLETE SIDE STEP)
I need to give much love out to my Chelsea Boys...no not that kind, Chelsea FC just won the Premiership yesterday which is a major accomplishment and it needs to be toasted,
.JPG)
