Herbie Hancock

Last minute jaunt down to Cork to catch Herbie Hancock in the Savoy. He's an absolute legend. Great band, great tunes, great jamming. I WANT one of those keyboard guitars or keytars!I only know the Headhunters album really well and his latest album of Joni Mitchell covers is straight-to-the-restaurant-playlist type stuff, but fucking hell when he plays a powerful solo piano improv with some major dramatics, and after rapturous applause simply drops into Canteloupe, you know you're in the prescence of a master. And so fucking cool.
Should also be noted, as the main man noted in his introduction - he's not used to introducing harmonica players - but just at the start of the solo, I was thinking to myself, harmonica? there's not much that can be done on a harmonica. Yeah, that was funny cause the harmonica dude was savage.

**rant warning** - the only complaint was these two old bags who came in about twenty minutes into the gig, pushed their way by me into a space that wasn't there, and one of them proceeded to close her eyes and girate her hips, rocking all over the place like, well, a spas. we were standing very close to the front, and this stupid bitch was making a right tit of herself. I mean I know you're old (mid 50's) and you like jazz but that doesn't give you free rein to act like a complete tosser. she tried to clap along to a tune that Herbie introduced as having seventeen beats in the bar, and was flopping around like she was trying to relive some long lost student days or something. I was thinking at the time, the only way you could be excused for that kind of shit is if you were on acid, and the wonderful prospect of being on acid at a Herbie Hancock gig notwithstanding, it was too depressing to think that she was tripping. at her age, it was just too pathetic, pissed me off no end. AND to boot, her hippie friend at one point stepped directly in front of me completely blocking my view, leaning her head in and peering around, as if there was something more to see. unbelievable idiots.

Belltable Session Tonight

The Driftwood Manor
Brendan Markham
Audrey Ryan
Seamus Fogarty

Doors 8pm, first act 8.3o.
Tickets €10

See u there!

Fleet Foxes (2 of 2): Dublin

Training it to Dublin, just not arsed to drive this time, roll on Iarnrod Eireann!
Did The Irish Times crossword in about 20 min apart from the one clue ["Of spherical, with flattened top and bottom" 6 letters, do you know it?] and was pretty chuffed with myself. I don't time myself or anything, and I'm not sure if that's good, but I was surprised to get so much done having only started it after Kildare.
A quick stroll around town, the obligatory look into Music Maker and Tower Records, a pint in the Shebeen Chic, then Enchiladas and Margaritas in Acapulco on George's Street - yum!
I was more or less keeping my mouth shut when people asked me about the London gig before we saw them in Vicar St, didn't want to pre-empt or spoil anything around the dodgy banter talk. Apparently it wasn't an issue for my mates anyway. In fairness, how could it ever be, playing to a Dublin crowd in Vicar St? They were even better than Shepherds Bush in my opinion, and Robin Pecknold going solo unplugged was pretty cool.
Ironically, I feel have to take responsibility for some of the strange but funny 'Obama being part Enya' talk. I was talking to Robin outside before the gig and we were chatting about London's gig, and I mentioned that they were talking quite a lot of politics. I then pointed out that Barack Obama has family in Moneygall. In fact I think I may have edged closer to claiming that he was Irish. They ran with it onstage, and it turned out being pretty funny, but I couldn't help feeling that I may have added fuel to the strange banter fire. No-one else really seemed too perturbed by it, so that was good.
All in all their music is amazing, and I would go to see them live again. It's strange to say, but they could probably do with taking themselves a little bit more seriously, I think their live shows would be all the more special with a bit of drama rather than chitchat. That said, twice in one week and still hooked.
www.myspace.com/fleetfoxes
[Of spherical, with flattened top and bottom - Oblate]

Fleet Foxes (1 of 2): London

Had a great day in London yesterday. Had bacon and eggs in a neat little 'Caf' down the road in Clapham. They had a picture on the wall of the titular dude from The Mummy movies, eating bacon and eggs I suspect. Waited for a bus for about ten minutes only to discover I was on the wrong side of the road. Got the tube up to Camden and strolled around, not in the mood (or the pocket) for shopping, even when the dude selling bowler hats dropped his price considerably when I walked away - sometimes you just couldn't be arsed haggling, or shopping.
Made it back to the gaff with enough time to hook up with Dave, get a few beers in and head to Shepherds Bush for pre-gig pints. Met Paula and had some good eats in a really cool pub across the green, then into the gig!

photo from guardian.co.uk

It was a bit of a funny gig, I think mainly because it was in a huge theatre and we were seated up on the second circle. We did sit at the front row, and as Dave put it, it was like peeking over a wall to look down at the gig. After being utterly bored by J Tillman, and dismayed that we weren't allowed outside for a smoke until after Fleet Foxes went on stage (which basically meant no smokes), we had a few pints in the bar while a nice Aussie couple promised to keep our seats (and some other wanker beside me said he 'couldn't promise anything').

The gig was quite excellent, really cool to see them live at last. Of course they didn't disappoint, particularly enjoyed Sun It Rises straight into Ragged Wood. Top class versions of Quiet Houses, He Doesn't Know Why and haunting Heard Them Stirring keeping attention in the auditorium. Mykonos and English House from the previous EP also impressed. There was even a mention of the quite disastrous version of White Winter Hymnal on Jools Holland the night before, which was funny. Lead singer Robin Pecknold claimed that it was his fault and he 'fucked it up', but there were no such problems tonight, a spine-tingling performance.

I suppose the thing that jarred me was the banter with the crowd. I can't put my finger on it exactly, but to put it simply, it wasn't the kind of chat I expected from the band, considering the type of music they make. Admittedly it was quite a momentous day, and plenty of talk about Obama and 'hot' Sarah Palin were entertaining, but just didn't fit the music they were playing. There was something odd and unsettling about performing a soft and haunting folk tune such as Heard Them Stirring and immediately proceeding to stand around the stage with a kind of cabaret style banter. Not once did they think to enlighten us as to what the songs were about, not even the sniff of an amusing anecdote, more in line with 'so what's your guy like?' in reference to Gordon Brown. It was one stray comment away from 'So, how about that Man United team, huh?'

It's a strange complaint, but the music is still top notch. It just tainted the experience somewhat. I reckon I was right to have avoided YouTube clips or interviews. At least I'll always have that album to lock away with headphones on. Won't be rushing out to buy Fleet Foxes Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire though.

Obama Wins

I stayed up as late as I could, saw McCain's concession speech, and somehow dozed off for Obama's victory speech, but the result was in. I think it's fecking great anyway. Was fairly nauseated by some of the early early election coverage, but of course I got quite into it. I watched all the debates, including the VP debate with that fucking clown Sarah Palin, and I really do believe Obama/Biden was a much better ticket.

Did you see the fancy-ass touch screen that CNN had to analyse some of the 'data'? And the dude from Black Eyed Peas being interviewed via Hologram?! Fucking hell Minority Report here we go. It was like
"Look at us, first; kick ass futuristic touch screen and hologram 3D imaging, next; elect black president."
It'll be self-drying jackets and hoverboards before we know it.
point of order - I remember clearly in 6th class ca. 1993 everyone was talking about how hoverboards were real and the only reason we hadn't seen them because a 'parents group' in the States had banned them. I remember I was the only kid in my class who knew that story was bullshit and they couldn't possibly exist, and I was ridiculed for my wisdom. Oh what a tortured childhood I had.

- So, where were you when Barack Obama was elected the first Black President of the USA?
- I was baked on Demery's sofa-bed in London

It's probably the best of the 'Where were you when X happened?' moments in my lifetime so far, the other two being Lady Di's death (yeah I know) and 9/11. Though I do remember seeing the first tower fall, in a crowd watching SkyNews in the window of a stockbrokers on Dawson St. Then the student bar in UCD waiting for World War III to start.
I'll take Obama anyday.

Off we go!

Going to London tomorrow to see Fleet Foxes on Wed. Very excited! Also seeing them again in Dublin on Friday, also excited.
Just realised that I don't know anything about them, what they look like, haven't heard any interviews or watched any YouTube ckips or anything. I think the album is too good and I don't want to spoil it, in a strange kind of way. Know what I mean?
Gonna stay with my mate Demo (no its not some strange indie nickname, he's nothing to do with music) and probably going to drink plenty of beers and walk lots, and look very confident and natural when using the Tube. Just finished reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, and feeling inspired!

Halloween=Scary! (as it should be)

As usual, I wait until the last minute to get all excited about the scariness of Halloween! Wooooo!
Spent a fortune (in pound shop or '€2 shop' terms) on last minute costumes, had a few mojitos and went down to Red Cross Hall to see 3epkano performing a live original soundtrack to The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari! Scary!

[3epkano's soundtrack was so much better than that shite]
It was really cool gig/film, and SCARY!! There was even a jump in it!
The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari is credited with being the first horror movie, and I even read a YouTube comment that said it was the first movie to feature "a twist at the end, like Fight Club" - yes, exactly like Fight Club you moron. (YouTube comments are the grazing ground for some real idiots.)
Its my second time seeing 3epkano soundtrack a film, the first being Metropolis in the Dublin Film Festival last year, and that was fucking amazing.
Metropolis is credited with being the first science fiction movie, as well as having some pretty cool concepts of the future and touching on some fairly crazy issues, for example, the social crisis between workers and owners in capitalism (Wikipedia)
3epkano's Metropolis was one of the best cinema experiences and one of the best gig experiences I've ever had. Powerful stuff. So, much kudos to 3epkano! You should have a listen to their MySpace. I'd love to give it a go sometime - soundtracking silent film that is. Looks like fun.
Of course, after that highly cultural and enjoyable experience, we ended up getting fairly tanked in Mickey's (at one point I was taking a piss with The Phantom of the Opera and an eerily detailed Adolf Hitler on either side of me at the urinal). Back for more mojitos, cigars and late night begrudgery.
A fine All Hallows Eve.

http://www.myspace.com/3epkano