I'm currently very annoyed with Blogger. Why? Well, I've written two or three entries over as many days that the stupid program has eaten up and shown no signs of (the original write-up on Dylan's Empire Burlesque and a spiel about my inability to find Toad the Wet Sprocket's new live album, Welcome Home). The whole point of using this site for the blogging thing is that it's supposed to be easy and all, which I don't see as the case when two out of every three posts I write end up disappearing.
Anyway, just got done practicing the guitar a little bit. I can get the fingering for G, C, and D right without having to look at my hands too much now, but my changes between chords are still really, really slow (I'm sure if I practiced an hour or two every day, this would change). The problem I'm encountering now is that my guitar is horribly out of tune, and even chords I know how to play competently (like G, the only chord I've actually totally memorized from the first time I tried to learn the guitar a decade and a half ago) sound awful. Need to have my dad or my uncle help me tune it again (I used to be able to tune by ear, but alas, this is no longer the case). That means I have to deal with an out of tune guitar until at least Friday or Saturday. Guess I can always work on just changing chords, even if they sound bad.
Got tickets for dad and I to go see 1964 the Tribute this coming Saturday. They're probably the best Beatles tribute band out there (which is saying a lot more than you think, honest. These guys are a blast and do a phenomenal job). I've seen them probably six or seven times since I was in high school, and I love it every time. Dad has seen them at least a couple of times, including once two years ago with Scott and me. He was enthusiastic about seeing them when I brought up the idea Sunday night, so I went and got tickets before going back into work Monday night. The nice thing about taking dad is that I'll probably get (1) dinner out of the deal and (2) my ticket gets paid for by the folks. Dinner and show is a pretty good deal, and dad and I don't get to go to nearly as many concerts together anymore as I'd like (last one we attended was Dylan/Nelson back in September, and Clapton in June before that. Before Clapton, it was probably...REO Speedwagon/Styx back in summer of 2001. Used to be, we hit a concert every few months--Tom Petty, Doobie Brothers, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, ZZ Top, Van Halen, Genesis, and the Rolling Stones are just some of the shows we've seen since I was in the 5th grade. And that's not counting the shows I've seen without him--Dylan in 2001, Styx/Frampton, Jars of Clay, Green Day, Aerosmith, and a few others. Hey, my dad and I really like music, what can I say?). Anyway, it'll be a busy but fulfilling weekend, that's for sure.
~chuck
Song of the Moment: Toad the Wet Sprocket, "Fall Down"
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
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2 comments:
I'm not a big fan of concerts (and I've only been to about half a dozen), but the best one I've attended was "The Who" with my own father a few years ago. They played Quadrophenia, which was one of the first times I got to hear it in its entirely. Excellent album, and fun day. :)
-Dav-
To be honest, I should absolutely hate concerts--I'm not a real big fan of large crowds, especially of strangers. I don't like people I don't know pressing in around me on all sides. It's about the only phobia I really have (aside from a slight and mostly overcome fear of heights, but I think there's nothing irrational about fearing falling from a great height and liquifying as your body hits the ground. Seems ration to fear that to me). But I've always liked going to concerts, even despite the crowds.
I think it's because it's a way my father and I bonded. I've never been a car guy, I've never really cared much about sports, and I went into the humanities instead of something practical and financially pliable like accounting. But we have music in common. Always have. He took me to my first concert when I was in the fifth grade for my birthday. The Doobie Brothers. If you can picture a naive fifth grade kid sitting in the stands with his father at a Doobie Brothers concert...the fact that some guy offered me a joint at some point during the proceedings only makes it more laughable.
Anyway, I guess concerts served as a bonding experience for the two of us. I know he was always a little disappointed in the past that I didn't actually learn to play an instrument (something I'm in the middle of rectifying). But we've always loved going to see our favorite bands.
The other aspect, of course, is getting to see some of my favorite bands up close and in person. It's different than on a CD, y'know. Live shows capture a certain energy, a power and a rough edge that's usually missing in recordings (even of live shows). Besides, I once got Tom Petty's guitar pick (from Mr. Petty himself) at the end of a particularly memorable show (we had tickets front row center), and you can't really do something like that when you listen to the CD. It's an incomparable experience for me.
And damn, I didn't mean to ramble for that long. Ah well.
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