No Age at Newcastle Cluny
Newcastle, England, October 7, 2010
Tag Archives: Features
Live: The Black Keys in Portland
The Black Keys at Crystal Ballroom
Portland, Oregon, October 5, 2010
Keith Richards has said that, “Everyone talks about rock these days; the problem is they forget about the roll,” which might be more true today than ever before. With bands racing to be louder and harder than the guy next door, too many forget that rock and roll is supposed to be SEXY.
Mad Men – The Suitcase
Every decade marks a changing of the guard. The previous generation finally reaches the peak and holds on for dear life as the upstarts claw and climb their way up and over, usually ignoring how their predecessors carved a path. It’s a maddening exercise for all parties as the old guys aren’t ready to pack it in, which infuriates the youngsters. And yet this ritual is as unavoidable as that in which the sun and moon partake every day.
When a young Cassius Clay won a gold medal in the 1960 Olympics he was nothing more than a talented fighter with a flair for dramatics. Nobody knew then that he would revolutionize boxing and stand as a figure for a new kind of politics, a new kind of pride, a new kind of attitude … nobody knew he would be The Greatest and use that stature to change the way people thought about race, the war, and justice. No, in 1965 the newly renamed Muhammad Ali was an upstart who taunted and teased his way into a fight against “the unbeatable” Sonny Liston.
Mad Men – The Chrysanthemum and the Sword
I often have the same thought when watching war films, especially those that strive to make the horror of war as realistic as possible: How does anyone return from that and conduct a normal life? I’m often reminded of when I went to see The Memphis Belle with my grandfather, himself a retired Air Force man who was a B-17 turret gunner over North Africa. He told me how hard one scene in particular was for him to watch. The squadron encountered German fighter planes and the crew of the Belle watched as planes around them were cut in half by flak, machine gun bullets and crashing German planes that refused to go down alone. These were bombers that carried their friends. My grandpa lived through the exact same experience and saw that very thing happen to his friends. And yet, somehow he was able to go on with his life. It couldn’t have been easy and it certainly isn’t easy for Roger Sterling.
It’s March 1965 and the Japanese surrender is nearly 20 years in the past but for Roger the war is still too close, still too vivid and still too painful for him to simply shake hands and do business with people he was trained to kill and who so many of his friends died fighting. Life goes on and business is part of life but when Pete arranges a meeting with Honda motorcycle company, a company looking to expand to automobiles in the very near future, Roger is simply not ready.
Mad Men – The Rejected
It was a pivotal year, 1965. The initial shock and euphoria of the Beatles landing on our shores hadn’t yet faded but we were all getting used to basking in it. Our year of mourning over the Kennedy assassination was officially over even if the ramifications of that deep, deep wound were yet to be fully realized. It was a point when people of a certain generation had to make choices and had to decide who they were, where they were going, and what they stood for. It was also when the first cracks of the generation gap were truly being felt, and it was more than just in musical tastes. One generation was struggling to define itself while another was struggling just to get a foothold before the whole shithouse went up in flames.
Because I am in marketing and advertising, I love the scenes that involve the business of being a Mad Man…er, that is…an ad man. Don and Roger are caught on an excruciating call with their top client, Lucky Strike’s Lee Garner Jr., and trying like hell to get off the phone. But this is what you do when the majority of your business is with one client: you treat him like the king he is. Lee knows his importance to Sterling Cooper Price & Draper and is probably calling them on a daily basis to cry about the latest tobacco legislation or advertising restrictions on “sin” products. Agencies are more than service providers for clients, they’re often whipping boys, psychiatrists, and shoulders to cry on. Client services are rarely limited to what’s on your rate card.
Something’s Burning
That summer was my own personal season in Hell. I’d just finished my freshman year of college and found myself back in my hometown not for another summer hurrah, but working third-shift at a soap factory while my friends were playing lifeguard at the local pools or hustling ice cream to suburban moms. To top it off my girlfriend had just dumped me…again.
The first time could be forgiven since we’d never broached the subject of exclusivity. I guess that was because I assumed she was as enamored with me as I was with her and simply couldn’t contemplate another person in the mix. I was wrong.
I first found out about it at a bonfire party out by the gravel pits on the outskirts of town. Someone had a boombox that was blaring “Life is a Highway” while the Coors Light and wine coolers took hold. Some people tried to feign horror that such a song would even get air-time but the truth was that song and so many others like it were the life blood of the radio dials. It was awful, yes, but it also held a supreme position on the soundtrack of that summer despite not even being a new song. It was inescapable.
Photos: Adam Green Live in Sheffield
Adam Green at Sheffield Academy
Sheffield, England, July 12, 2010
One of three UK dates this summer on his European Tour, Adam Green started the gig tentatively, announcing he was nursing a foot injury. It did not take long for him to forget about this as the adrenalin took over and he was his normal self interacting with the audience, crowd surfing (much to the disdain of the security), and leaving the stage to sing along from the floor.
The 75 minute set kept the crowd mesmerised. With Adam Green it is never dull. His new album, Minor Love, is his strongest to date, and we’re all looking forward to him returning to the UK in 2011.
Photos: Carl Barat Live at the 100 Club
Carl Barat at the 100 Club
London, England, July 22, 2010
Carl started his twelve-song set with three new songs, including “Run The Boys,” and followed them up with familiar Libertines and Dirty Pretty Things favorites. He spent much of the evening mingling with the crowd and the whole night had a friendly vibe in the legendary venue in the heart of London. The gig was arranged by Little Episodes who raise awareness for those suffering with addiction and depression.
The next time I will see Carl will be at Leeds where he will be reuniting with the Libertines…
Photos: Jesse Malin Live in Newcastle
Jesse Malin And St Mark’s Social at Newcastle Academy
Newcastle, England, June 29, 2010
Glorious Noise Interview with Boy Crisis
In July 2008, the Guardian hailed Brooklyn-based quintet Boy Crisis as, “the hottest electronic pop group to emerge from America since, ooh, MGMT at least.” In the next year, largely on the strength of the playful single “Dressed to Digress,” the group signed a high-profile record deal with B-Unique, recorded an album, and went on tour in the UK.
In the next year, however, something happened. The anticipated Tulipomania never came out. They were seemingly dropped from their label. The quintet turned into a trio. Concomitantly, frontman Victor Vasquez’s side project, Das Racist (a rap trio comprised of Vazquez, Himanshu Suri, and Ashok Kondabolou), began gaining momentum. But there may be light at the end of the tunnel for Boy Crisis. We met up with the band after their show at Bonnaroo and discussed their past, their present, and their plans for the future.