Man, It's been a while since I last wrote. A few exciting things have happened. I went on vacation to Norris Lake up in Northern Tennessee. I didn't really do too much boating this year, but I did get a lot of relaxation, book reading, and drinking in. Last week I went to see Return To Forever IV with Zappa Plays Zappa at the LC Pavillon in Columbus, OH which is one of my favorite venues to go see a concert at. Zappa plays Zappa was fantastic! It was the 2nd time I saw them live, and I previously saw them as a headline act at the same venue 4 years ago. They had a good variety in their setlist and good improv on where it needed to be.
Return To Forever IV was a different beast altogether. They did good, but they had a few things against them. For one, their drummer has been having problems with his hands the last couple of years, so many of the songs were played a lot simpler and didn't have the drive like they did on the record. Another problem, was that the guitarist they had to replace Al Di Meola, came off what he sounded like, a replacement. And the third problem was, it seemed like everybody and their mom just had to have a solo in every song. It's alright if you do that for a couple of songs, or just have a couple of good solos for each song. But when you everybody has a solo for every song, the solos will seemed to blend into one and they can really drag down the songs. But for the good points, they did have a good selection of songs, Chick Corea was extremely good on the keyboards, and Stanley Clarke is a fucking beast on the bass and all his solos were interesting and exciting and did some very good interplay with Chick.
All in all, it was a good concert, but I think Zappa Plays Zappa should have headlined.
Friday, I saw my bandmate Brad play a solo gig at a local bar. Even though I hear him all the time, since I do play with him all the time, he never ceases to amaze me with his musical abilities. Even though we do have problems sometimes with the band, he is a excellent musician and it is a pleasure to play in a band with him.
Return To Forever IV was a different beast altogether. They did good, but they had a few things against them. For one, their drummer has been having problems with his hands the last couple of years, so many of the songs were played a lot simpler and didn't have the drive like they did on the record. Another problem, was that the guitarist they had to replace Al Di Meola, came off what he sounded like, a replacement. And the third problem was, it seemed like everybody and their mom just had to have a solo in every song. It's alright if you do that for a couple of songs, or just have a couple of good solos for each song. But when you everybody has a solo for every song, the solos will seemed to blend into one and they can really drag down the songs. But for the good points, they did have a good selection of songs, Chick Corea was extremely good on the keyboards, and Stanley Clarke is a fucking beast on the bass and all his solos were interesting and exciting and did some very good interplay with Chick.
All in all, it was a good concert, but I think Zappa Plays Zappa should have headlined.
Friday, I saw my bandmate Brad play a solo gig at a local bar. Even though I hear him all the time, since I do play with him all the time, he never ceases to amaze me with his musical abilities. Even though we do have problems sometimes with the band, he is a excellent musician and it is a pleasure to play in a band with him.