Virgin Festival: Part II

Eventually the hardest rocking band hit the stage, The Who! They opened up with the fun and up-tempo "Can't Explain." They sounded great 95% of the time but as expected Daltrey's voice faded and was nearly non existent. It was either Daltrey would hit his respected notes spot on or he would sound like a long time smoker barely being able to speak. With all due respect to Daltrey he sounded better than I think most people would have anticipated so there is no way that anyone could complain. Townshend on the other hand was perfect, his windmill was just as fast and wild as it's ever been and he played just like the veteran he is. Their set was filled with the classics along with a few new songs; their set lasted an hour and fifteen minutes and will stand as one of the greatest memories I will ever keep.When The Who left the stage I had the choice of seeing either The Chili Peppers on the main stage which I was currently located or going across the field to see The Flaming Lips. I made the decission which I initially wanted to make which was to see The Flaming Lips, so I hopped over the security bar to avoid navigating my way through a crowd of over 35,000. My first instinct was to stop and get a much needed drink to cure my dehydration and after refreshing my liquid deprived body I hurried to see The Flaming Lips.

The decision to see The Lips was one of the best decisions of my life, when I arrived at the stage there was already a decent crowd there but still nowhere near the crowd that was at the main stage to see The Chili Peppers. When the band took the stage Singer Wayne Coyne went straight into his giant inflatable bubble and rolled over the crowd for around a minute and came back to put on what was easily one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. As one stoned guy next to me said “I’m not ready to see The Flaming Lips, I’m ready to get happy.” While that may sound like idiotic intoxicated nonsense the guy was actually spot on. Seeing The Flaming Lips isn’t just a visual and ear pleasing event, the show is more of a hands on experience unlike anything ever done before. The show wouldn’t be made possible without the participation of the fans; Wayne Coyne implores the fans to sing along during every song and uses great humor and imagery to really get the crowd into it. During the satire filled “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song” I’ve never heard a crowd get so loud screaming the answer to Wayne’s questions such as “If you could blow up the world with the flick of a switch /Would you do it?” and the crowd would fire back with “YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH!” Also visually the show was unlike I’ve ever witnessed before with tons of twenty foot balloons bouncing around on the crowd, dancing Santas/Aliens/Super Heroes/Girls, twenty or so confetti cannons, leaf blowers blowing up fifty foot confetti filled balloons, and so much more. There really is no way to fully describe a Flaming Lips show without being there yourself so if there is one band you must see before you die put The Flaming Lips near the top because regardless of what you think of their music the show is just as much of a party as a concert.

Leaving the festival I felt physical pain but that paled in comparison to the mental joy which came from all these great bands.

Virgin Festival: Part I

I could easily write a huge post on just this festival I attended on Sat. the 23rd, but there is a point where it becomes boring chatter so I will try to limit what I write to the best of my ability. In fact, what I will do is divide it into two parts, the first part will be of the first half of the show and the second part will be the second half of the show. Anyway, I went to the show with my roommate and two of his friends and we arrived at The Pimlico Racetrack in Maryland where the show was held around an hour before the first band went on. We were extremely close to the stage and refused to leave our position for basically the whole night. The bands which I saw were:

Kasabian
Wolfmother
The Racoontuers
Gnarls Barkley
The Killers
The Who
The Flaming Lips

All in all every band put on a fantastic show and being so close to the stage only emphasized the enjoyment which I had. The only issue which plagued the festival was the heat, the only description I can really give is the conditions were like being stuck in a very tight closet with no air conditioning in the summer. What made the atmosphere even worse was not exactly a problem due in part to the people who ran the festival but was a problem created by myself. As I stated earlier I refused to leave my position which was around twenty feet from the stage and I stood there for nine straight hours with no food or water. I would have most definitely left if I didn't have any bands to look forward to later in the night but I could not pass up being that close to The Who.

Enough bickering about the conditions, now lets get on to a little review of the bands. The bands which put on the best performances were Wolfmother, The Racoontuers, The Who, and The Flaming Lips. I was extremely excited to see Wolfmother although I'm going to see them again in a few months. The whole band was amazing, not only was their sound extremely tight but they really displayed some exciting raw intensity on stage. Singer/Guitarist Andrew Stockdale was rolling around on the floor, doing high kicks, and capped it off by throwing his guitar up in the air at the end of their set. The fans were really into their performance and it really heightened the energy of their show. Following Wolfmother was The Racoontuers which sounded great. Jack White is truly one of the best artist in the past decade pulling off some fantastic solos and tossing around his unique vocals. I will post Part II tomorrow afternoon so make sure you check in for a review of two of the best performances I've ever seen.

Just Got Back

I just returned back to school from the Virgin Festival and I will try to write up a review by tonight. Right now I'm still trying to regroup from it because it was very draining. Hopefully after a solid power nap I'll be ready to write.

Stagnant Music: How Exciting!

Since I've been in college I've felt some extreme disconnection from my blog, I've been posting very little and the posts which I have been creating have been anything but thought provoking. I'm hoping I can change that. Today I have a post which I feel will actually make you think and answer a very intersting question. My question today is what do you listen for when you listen to music? Or what do you want to hear when purchasing a CD? Not why do you like music but what exactly do you hope to hear?

For me when I listen to music there is one very important thing that I listen for, that one thing is innovation and originiality. If you look on my other blog Imagine Echoes: The Review you will notice that one of the ratings at the bottom of each review is originality. I feel that it is one aspect of music that goes terribly overlooked, especially in the current era of music. Most music played on the radio is just a rehased sound of every other song that comes before it. It seems so rare to hear something unqiue and different. This is the reason why I love progressive rock, these bands are willing to push the envelope and explore new territories by incorperating varities of different sounds and styles. The long compositions telling extravegant stories with both their lyrics and instruments make it such a unique genre. Bands like Pink Floyd, Yes, King Crimson, and Genesis did phenomenal things creating album after album that sounded different than the previous.

I believe the art of orginiality has drifted far away from music which is certainly a sad thing, and an important factor why musical fads come and go. Some modern bands do utilize their creative spirit such as The Mars Volta and Tool but unfortunately most bands now and days are unwilling to make the bold step towards non-conforming music.

The Problems With Festivals

On Saturday I will be going to see the Virgin Mobile Festival in Baltimore and I'm extremely excited about it but there is one huge issue looming over my head. The schedule for the times each band takes the stage came out along with what stage they're playing on. Basically every band I want to see is on the main stage except The Flaming Lips who are closing on the second stage. The dilemma I'm facing is that while The Flaming Lips are playing on the second stage The Red Hot Chili Peppers will be playing on the main stage. I would definitely love to see them both but it appears as if I'm going to have to miss the Chili Peppers in favor of The Flaming Lips because one I think their music is better and two The Flaming Lips put on one of the most unique shows in the world based on what I've seen. Singer Wayne Coyne during all of his shows even goes out into the crowd in a huge inflatable bubble.

Another thing which I feel I need to add is that The Who isn't even closing the festival! A band which has solidified themselves as the hardest rocking band in the world since 1964 is getting overshadowed by a band (The Red Hot Chili Peppers) which had their fair share of success but nowhere near the credentials of The Who. I don't even know how The Chili Peppers could accept that job, all I know is if I were them I wouldn't allow that to happen just out of courtesy.

The last thing I would like to mention on the topic of talking about The Who is that they just obtained their own station on Sirius. The channel will premier on September 21st which is a Thursday so all who have Sirius make sure you tune in to that great station, I sure know that I will be. This is a brief description Sirius gave on the channel "SIRIUS will also broadcast selected shows from The Who's massive archives, including some never before-heard shows and backstage conversations with the band, some with the late Keith Moon and John Entwistle." Now Sirius will have two of the biggest bands in history having their own 24 hour channel, the other band being The Rolling Stones.

New Releases for Tuesday 9/12

The fifth year anniversary of 9/11 has come to a close and no matter how much I want to talk about it there is really nothing I can say. The events speak for themselves and I feel there is nothing that I can really say besides God Bless all the families and friends who have lost loved ones.

Although 9/11/06 was a fairly somber day ending on what I feel was a very distasteful speech by our president Tuesday 9/12/06 will mark a great day for music. There are two releases that I am personally looking foward to. The one which I'm sure most of you can connect with is Bob Seger's first release in over a decade "Face the Promise" which is looking to be a very promising album recieving some very positive reviews from critics. The second of which I am extremely excited for is The Mars Volta's third full length album "Amputechture." The Mars Volta has certainly been one of the most promising bands in the past few years with their modern day progressive sound. Although The Volta lost what Lars Ulrich of Metallica called the best drummer around I have no doubt that this new release will be a fantastic one.

For those who would like to hear the first single off of Seger's "Face the Promise" called "Wait for Me" here are some links:

Windows Media Player Version

Real Player Version

Are There any Conservatives in the Theater Tonight? Put Them Up Against the Wall!

That's what many right wingers must have felt last night by their reaction to some of Waters' songs. Waters received a plethora of boo's after performing his solo song "Leaving Beirut" which contains lyrics attacking the war in Iraq and right wing politics for instance: " Don't let the might, the Christian right, fuck it all up / For you and the rest of the world" and " Oh George! Oh George! / That Texas education must have fucked you up when you were very small." Waters did not make any outright offensive statements throughout the show but the crowd was still very bothered by the song. I was rather upset by this because it is not like Waters went out of his way to preach his views by speech, what he was doing was playing his songs and if you don't like his songs then don't go. Luckily for Roger there were no hard feelings between him and the crowd and the fans continued to support him and Waters looked like he was having a blast. Now with that out of the way I will go on to review the rest of the show.

Before Waters took the stage there was a giant screen which projected a video of a radio which was constantly being switched to find some good stations. After about fifteen minutes of getting the crowd itching with suspense he came out and performed "In the Flesh" flawlessly, even utilizing the spotlight to point out individuals in the crowd when asking the questions of if certain ethnicities and such are present. It was probably the best song of the whole show. He followed it up with a great rendition of "Mother" and then "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" which featured images of Syd in the background and even a bubble machine placed above the stage. He went on to perform three songs from the classic "Wish You Were Here" which were a shortened version of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts I-V", "Have a Cigar" and "Wish You Were Here." He also did two songs from "The Final Cut" and then two solo songs which led to the booing which I noted earlier. He ended the first set on "Sheep" and the famous flying pig came out to do a round of the theater. The picture that you see on the top right is one I took with my phone when the pig flew over my head. The pig eventually made its way to the outdoor area of the theater and I'm not quite sure what happened but the pig flew away into the sky. I'm not quite sure where it ended it up but if you happen to live anywhere in Jersey or around Jersey take a look into the sky to see if you can see a giant flying pig.

After a fifteen minute intermission Waters came out to perform the much anticipated "Dark Side of the Moon" set. With the giant moon in the background he came back out and played the beginning of Dark Side. When the vocals began on "Breathe" my stomach dropped, all my fears had come true. This just wasn't meant to be played without Gilmour! The band sounded great but the vocals just weren't even close. Guitarist Dave Kilminster performed the vocals in replace of Gilmour and his voice wasn't terrible but no where near as great as Gilmour's. It sounded more or less like a sub par cover band. When "On the Run" came on my expectations were lifted a bit due to the quadrophonic sound, the pulsating and fury just circled around the listeners for one of the best listening experiences in the world. One recommendation I have is that if you have a SACD player go and purchase the SACD version of "Dark Side of the Moon" immediately! The vocals on "The Great Gig in the Sky" sounded phenomenal, not quite as good as Clare Torry's but then again who's voice is that great? During the whole set I felt a bit robbed but it didn't come as much of a surprise, it was indeed what I was expecting. My final wish was that "Eclipse" would sound great but unfortunately the band failed to do that. When performing "Eclipse" the amps should have been turned to eleven (Curtsy of "Spinal Tap") but instead what it sounded like was a quiet rendition of the song with no emotion.

The encore consisted of songs from "The Wall" which certainly made me happy because I went to see Roger perform his songs and not to see some random guitarist trying to copy Gilmour's vocals. "Another Brick In the Wall, Part II" was great because the crowd was really into it and Waters was as well slashing his arms around to emphasize the song. "Comfortably Numb" was the closer and my only grudge against this was the solo didn't sound like the recording, maybe it's just me but nobody is able to re-create that Gilmour sound.

In the end my review may sound like a lot of bickering but the first set was phenomenal. My only advice to Waters is if you are going to tour a full Floyd album, make it "The Wall" or "Animals", one where you actually sing. The stage performance was fantastic, just may be one of the best stage shows I've ever seen with thundering pyro-technics and flying pigs. If this were a battle between Gilmour's tour and Waters' I would have to give the edge to Gilmour because only he can re-create that classic Floyd sound. I guess that was why Floyd was so great, you had one of the best song writers in the history of Rock and one of the best guitarists to put them in action.

A Review of Roger Waters Live at the PNC Banks Arts Center, NJ 9/6/06

Roger Waters Live Tomorrow Night

Roger Waters is kicking off his North American tour tomorrow September 6th in New Jersey at the PNC Bank Arts Center. I will be attending this show and the excitement is slowly building. For this show Waters will be performing "Dark Side of the Moon" in its entirety. Supposably we are going to recieve some nice surprises with this show such as quadrophonic sound and some terrific stage design.

While I am very excited there is a part of me that is a bit cynical about the show for several reasons. Awhile back I posted something about my reservations regarding this show and in case you didn't read it I will post it right here. Before you read my previous post I just want to note two things, one, by Thursday or Friday I should finally have a review of Bad Company's "Run With the Pack" requested by Layla, and secondly, by Thursday I should have a review of the Waters concert. Here is what I had to say in my previous post:

Well yesterday I purchased tickets to see Roger Waters at the PNC Bank Arts Center in September. I'm not a huge Waters fan but he is playing "Dark Side of the Moon" in its entirety and I just can't pass that up. Today I was listening to my bootleg of the Gilmour show I saw and was thinking that Roger Waters will never be able to live up to that show. What could be even worse is the question of "How can Roger Waters really replay "Dark Side of the Moon"?" Nearly the whole album is Gilmour on vocals and also some Wright who will not be present with Waters but was with Gilmour on tour, I'm not quite sure if anybody can re-create the incredible guitar work of Gilmour due to the fact that his solos are unique and I've never heard anybody sound quite like him. The only two songs on "Dark Side of the Moon" where Waters is actually on vocals is "Brain Damage" and "Eclipse" and even though he is on vocals he is sharing the vocals with Gilmour, they are both doing the harmonies. I will never take away the artistic and creative talent of Roger Waters because he is the man that creates this incredible music, but I do not think that he himself can re-create it without David Gilmour. Of course I hope that it sounds great but I'm finding it hard to believe that it will sound anything like the actual recording. All I can hope is that this show will be great and one that it will live up to the Gilmour show.

And The School Year Begins

This is my last night home for the summer, so I will reflect on this summer's music for myself.


-Most Listened to Album: Wolfmother: Wolfmother

-Favorite Album Release: Gran Bel Fisher: Full Moon Cigarette

-Most Listened to Song: Wolfmother: White Unicorn

-Favorite Concert: Tool

-Most Listened to Classic Rock Band: King Crimson or Jimi Hendrix


This summer just flew by and I am quite a bit upset that it is over but I'm sure it will come right back again before I know it. If anyone else wants to give their answers to those questions I would love to hear them.