All the Concerts Fit to Print

Three stick men - Tony Levin, Markus Reuter and Pat Mastelotto. They've done four albums, three with Reuter. Cindy and I have seen them twice, once after their first album.

For those of you keeping track, on earlier tours they stuck more to their newest material, but this time they played a wider variety of their pieces. They did "Soup" and "Firebird Suite" from the first Stick Men album (but rockiner). They played several King Crimson pieces, including "Vroom Vroom" and a "Larks' Tongues". They did "Breathless" from Fripp's Exposure.

Their show suffered from a bit of sameness. One of my favorites was an improvised piece. It started out with a bit of Halloween cheer - a creaky door, and some ooOOooo-ooooo spooky. Not sure that was intended, but it was fun. Then a lot of bass improvisation on a theme, and Reuter's flashy guitar soloing.

Oh, and the first time I ever saw anybody bow a Chapman Stick.









We talked Crimson for a while with the gentleman named Pat, who sat next to us. He had seen the band back in the day, so that was interesting. Plus he had seen their last show in Madison from up close, so he could fill us in on some things. Like the fact that Rieflin had put his foot through the bass drum, which was what prompted the techs to replace it during the song. And that Fripp seemed to have been enjoying himself, smiling and even laughing. And talking. Maybe calling out chord changes to Jakko?

There were around 30 people in the building when Faun Fables opened the show. More people filtered in through their set.

Faun Fables is... different. A pair of... different people doing different music. A guy who mostly played guitar, and woman who mostly played drums. I was impressed, at first, but by the third song the novelty had worn off. They sounded rather amateur, like, "wouldn't this sound different!"

Rasputina was... different. But they do it well, for the most part. The band was formed many years ago, by Melora Creager, and was intended to be cellos, girls and rock in Victorian trappings. They've gotten loose with that over the years, but they still appeal on that level. The cellists were classically trained, but also lean heavily on Led Zeppelin-style bombast. They covered Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me," Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here," and tossed in a little Ozzy. This was in addition the rough-edged Victoriana.

I was really impressed with Daniel De Jesus's playing. Much moreso than Creagers, but then she was doing lead vocals and generally being the show. Dawn Miceli played drums (no cymbals), sang backing, and appeared coy.

There are many bands I remember seeing, but don't remember when.

America and The Buckinghams at Marriott's (now Six Flags) Great America amusement park. Probably 1986, give or take a year. They just happened to be playing when out Boy Scout troop went to the park. Phil and I caught the show.

America again in the early nineties. One of the big Summerfest sponsors was having their "Big Barbecue" later in the summer. Food, beer and bands. Steve, Keith and I went down to see America. The bassist played one of my all-time favorite bass solos. I wish I knew who that was.

Mo Tucker at the Cactus Club, late nineties. Victor DeLorenzo's Ash Can School opened for Tucker's garage rock show.

I know the Violent Femmes played at Miller Maritime Days, one night. This was Guy Hoffman's debut with the band, just after the release of New Times, which would make it late summer, 1994. Were those festivals on Labor Day weekend?

The Tea party, The Rave/Eagles Ballroom.

Did I see Collective Soul at Summerfest on 7-7-99?

Mrs. Fun at the Miramar Theater, for a CD release party (1998's Groove?). I didn't think I got there very early, but when I arrived, there were less than a dozen people in the lobby, and no one in the theater. I went in and sat down. After a while, the two musicians came in and tinkered with their kits. Connie sat down in the seats, and I wanted to say, "hi, my name is Kevin, and I'll be your audience for tonight." There ended up being a good crowd, though.

Emo Phillips at the Comedy Cafe, in early 2001, with Cyn.

Saw Gravity Kills at least three times, opening for someone or other. At least once at Summerfest. Once opening for the Sex Pistols (see entry).

Fifteen year old phenomenon, Shannon Curfman at Shank Hall. With Doug. Probably 1999.

Reptile Palace Orchestra at the Harmony Bar in Madison.

Guitar slinger Chris Duarte, Shank Hall. 6/13/02, 5/29/03, 11/20/04 or 8/25/05. He was totally hard rocking. So much that everything ran together and turned dull.

Buddy Guy at Racine Harbor Fest, early aughts.

Edgar Winter, Port Washington Fish Day. Plus some blues-type bands there, including local band Dave Steffen Band, possibly that same year.

Mighty Blue Kings at River Rhythms, Pere Marquette park.

Indigenous at Summerfest, early aughts.

Joe Bonamassa, several times. Possibly 1/15/05 and/or 3/5/06. Twice at Shank and once at Summerfest? First time, he opened for Savoy Brown. We saw Savoy Brown once after that, about a year later.

American Standard, previously named The Chris Aaron Band. Shank Hall, possibly 2/1/01. And then the return of American Standard, minus Chris Aaron and Corey Sterling, which all viewed in disbelief. That would have been Summerfest '03. This band was soon renamed Reversr, and dissolved after the release of their CD.

Michael Manring at a south side bar, with The Danglers opening.

The Tony Levin Band twice at Shank Hall. Once for Pieces of the Sun (Spring 2002) and once for Resonator, if I recall correctly.

I saw The Mighty Blue Kings with Cyn at Summerfest one afternoon.

Cyn and I went to Linneman's with a friend of hers, to see Sam Llanas do some solo work. this was around the time of his Absinthe project, but it didn't feature that band. Probably 2001. Seems like it was cold outside.

We also saw The Mosleys at Linneman's, probably mid-2000's.

Chapman Stick player Drew Rittgers opened up for some prog artist at Shank.

Saw Adrian again. I was really less impressed this time. He and Julie (bassist) and Eric (drummer) are still very talented, but... I don't know. Adrian seemed a little more self-indulgent this time. His Side albums were declared to be experimental in nature, so he's gotten away from his songwriting, and leaning more towards just making wild shit. That's fun but a whole show of that is a little much.

Since he hooked up with the Slick siblings, it seems like he's found this outlet for further indulgence. It's like he's used them to tap into his own youth. His upcoming album is recorded with the Slicks, and seems like more of the same as what he's been doing, but less collaborative. He played three pieces from it, which may be a good portion of it, since they were kinda long.

Anyway, of the show, I recognized three Side tunes ("Ampersand" is the one I can name off the top of my head), and "Thela Hun Gingeet". What he played was good, but it was too much of "the same" for my taste. I need a little variety to keep the rock rocky. My favorite part was watching them play and interact. Like when Adrian tells Eric to play an intro, and then ignores him. So after a while Eric threatens to stop, and Adrian is, like, oh, were you waiting for me? Adrian really seems to dig drumming. Eric starts off all the songs, Adrian will let Eric play solo a lot, and he most often faces the drum set. Julie spent the entire first song trying to get her monitor turned down. I had to laugh when Eric had trouble with that too.

The Power Trio was only doing a five-show run, this time. Robin, are there plans to go back on the road later this summer?

A Madison musician, who has worked with Adrian (and Fripp) sat next to me for a bit. I was hoping to talk with him a little, but he wasn't nearby when the show ended. I e-communicated with him today, though. I was talking with his buddy Tom before the show. We had been to a few of the same shows, or at least the same bands - Crimson in Chicago and Madison (I didn't realize that was their only Madison show ever), Crafty Guitarists in Madison and CGT.

Petr Mac opened up. He sounds a lot like those tech-y fingerstyle guitar players, but he uses a pick. He was... not anyone I'd seek out again. He was really fast, but needs to work on some songcrafting and tunefulness, IMO.

Adrian is a guitar guy. Innovative and fun loving. He's a member of King Crimson, and plays with a lot of people. This time out, he's doing the Adrian Belew Power Trio. It's him with bassist Julie Slick and drummer Eric Slick. They're brother and sister, she's 22 and he's 20. They've been playing with Belew for a couple of years. Here's a bit of history: Julie Slick began taking bass lessons at age twelve at the Paul Green School of Rock as one of seventeen students Paul Green taught in his apartment in 1998 in order to help pay his tuition at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a philosophy major. Green had the students jam at venues around the city to give them real experience as musicians. For their first show, Green and his students performed Pink Floyd's The Wall at the Griffin Cafe in Philadelphia, PA. He didn't have a drummer so the owner of the restaurant sat in. Julie’s mother, Robin, suggested that Green consider her 11-year-old son, Eric Slick, who eventually became the house drummer. The Paul Green School of Rock was later born. Eric began studying drum lessons at the school and now teaches there.

Eric is pretty damn good. Adrian seemed to enjoy working with him, since he usually faced Eric, and interacted with him a lot. He only occasionally interacted with Julie. Julie and Eric, however, interacted with each other a lot. It was fun to watch the signals back and forth behind Adrian's back. Like the time Eric tricked Julie with a fake cue. She was like, thanks a lot! He was laughing his ass off. Julie was pretty damn good too. She doesn't look like a rock star, with her skirt and sweater (and bare feet), but man can she play. It was kinda wild watching these kids playing Bruford and Levin.

Adrian was having a good time. He could hardly contain himself during the first few songs. He's a madman. He actually kinda devolved into wankery a few times, but he was having fun. Most of the songs they played were either Crimson or from his latest Side albums. My favorite song of the night was "Three of a perfect Pair". Smokin!

The downside: really loud. Not good.

Steve Howe, Yes guitarist's solo show. He did a couple of his Yes tunes, and quite a bit from his solo albums. He even sang a bit.

The show was cool because this was the first time I've seen him play with a full band. It was nice to see him backed up by some talented musicians, even if he's talented enough that he doesn't need them. Willy was feeling kind of goofy, though, and tended toward some rambling attempts at humor. He was playing requests near the end of the show, and did his version of "Whip It," which he had done for a compilation album, about ten years ago. It took him quite a while to convince the bassist to do it. And then there was that kid on the saxophone, who was pretty good, but appeared in a lame Father Time costume, and later changed to Baby New Year. Nice diaper.

Shank Hall. He had Mike... uh, what's his name. The bassist who does the Rodney Dangerfield impersonation. Mike Gallaher. And drummer, Mike Hodges.

Cyn and seen CGT years before. We had picked up their album CGT+2, since, being fans of King Crimson, were fans of Tony Levin and Pat Matelotto. The band is three guitarists. Very talented and also fun. They first met in Robert Fripp's Guitar Craft workshop. The three play in different style, but the styles work well together.

They played Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor". Pretty much note for note.

Tony Levin, of course, is an amazing musician. He adds so much.

someone else's review

I'd swear I saw these guys (without Tony) again, at Shank, a year or so later. I can't find any record of that.

Cyn and I went to see One Drum play, last night. Great show. They're, um, World Music. But not a watered down pop approximation. It was a fusion of genuine musical traditions of the world - mostly Latin with a lot of African sounds. Quite a few aboriginal instruments which I didn't recognize. They even did a bit of capoeira. They started out with nine people on stage, and ended up with eleven.