Mr. Moderator

When not blogging Mr. Moderator enjoys baseball, cooking, and falconry.

Concert Review: Neil Young at the Academy of Music

Oct 102014

Last night my wife and I went to see Neil Young at Philadelphia’s Academy of Music. We got an invitation earlier this week from old friends. It was a great show: all acoustic, great sampling of all that’s great and even occasionally larger-than-life lousy about Neil (eg, a didactic, 2-song “Environmental Hymns” set that Neil of October 2014 clearly felt compelled to perform). His between-song banter was really funny. He played one of my favorite Buffalo Springfield songs (“On the Way Home”), surprisingly made a cover of Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind” (see clip, above, from his Boston show a few nights earlier) his own, and then some. The guy was all THERE: his songs, his performance of them, etc. We had some great laughs and bad pizza with our friends after the show. I went home feeling really good about the world.

Previously…

The Limits of Fandom

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Oct 092014

One of my close, personal Facebook friends posted this clip on his feed today. I watch this every other year or so, which indicates how often I watch Beatles- and Lennon-related documentaries, not just this clip in particular. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t particularly attracted to the cult-worshiping aspects of this scene:

This footage never fails to give me chills – on many levels. What’s really got me going now is the link I followed from the YouTube posting to a Dick Cavett appearance of, possibly, the same guy. If that’s in fact the same guy you’ve got to wonder what was going through his mind when Mark David Chapman completed his twisted act of fandom.

All-Star Jam

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Oct 022014

“When was the last time you saw a riot at the symphony?”

The All-Star Jam is the place to do your thing.

Musical Musts in London?

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Sep 152014

It looks like I might be making my first-ever trip to England this fall! I’m going to be in the Manchester area for a couple of days for work, then I’m going to take a few days to see some sights. At first I was going to go to Liverpool for a couple of days and make my long-awaited Beatles Mecca, but honestly, the more I thought about it, the more I began to dread getting caught up in tours full of guys my age in pathetic, dyed mop-top hairdos: middle-age white dudes in dyed mop-top hairdos, black guys with their hair straightened into bangs, Japanese guys with mop-tops, women with mop-tops…and women my age still longing to pee their pants in excitement over the thought of seeing the Fab Four in their performing prime. I love the Beatles like I love no other artists, but I fear getting caught in a sea of middle-age Beatles fanboys—and being identified too closely with them! Then a friend said that, beside Beatles tours, there’s probably not much to do in Liverpool. As my wife said to me a couple of days earlier, “Why don’t you visit London for a few days instead?!?!”

All-Star Jam

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Sep 112014

Not the Hot Yoga class I was seeking! In this week’s All-Star Jam, why don’t you see if you can stretch out topics of discussion for the rest of us?

A Most Unexpected Beard

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Sep 082014

A most unexpected beard.

I apologize for being pretty much out of the loop of late. I’ve been extremely busy with work stuff, and I’ve been honing some other creative pursuits in what little free time that’s been available. I do hope to catch up soon. Meanwhile, how about the above image, which existed only in my mind’s eye, since reading about The Buzzcocks‘ recent Philadelphia show last Friday. I didn’t make it out to the show for reasons I both regret and stand behind, but reports that Pete Shelley was sporting a “full mountain man beard,” as a friend put it, stuck with me until just now, when I went searching on Google for an image to verify this most unexpected beard.

Even seeing Pete Shelley in a beard, I can’t fathom it. I’m not sure than any musician has suddenly appeared bearded and shocked me more. A beard does not fit the music of The Buzzcocks at all, does it? Is there anything in their music to support the band’s leader wearing a full-on mountain man beard? Not that I can think of.

Please help me identify facets of the music of The Buzzcocks that might explain the appearance of this most unexpected beard. I’ve placed my prediction for Townsman BigSteve‘s response in a sealed envelope, but I will chuckle nonetheless when he delivers. I want to know what other fans of The Buzzcocks and/or beards make of this union.

As a follow-up question, which artist’s sudden development of a beard most challenged your view of the order of the universe?

I look forward to your thoughts.

All-Star Jam

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Aug 292014

Awesome stuff! Courtesy of Townsman hrrundivbakshi. Remember that guy?

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