Thursday, March 28, 2013

he was trying to eat my guitar

Not long ago my kids went on a tour of a chocolate factory. As a souveneir they brought me a chocolate guitar. I thanked them and set it aside. I knew that if I opened it, I would eat the wghole thing in very short order. Just a bite. Just another bite. Just a little bit more. And before you know it, it's gone. A couple days later, I still hadn't opened it. I came home to the news (courtesy of my daughter) that her younger brother was trying to eat my guitar. I ran upstairs, with visions of him prying my guitar case open -- wondering why he would want to eat a musical instrument. But all was well. He was trying to eat the chocolate guitar.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

amy and eric -- the actual concert

I wrote about the social scene at Eric and Amy's concert. And about planning to talk with them about recording. But I didn't actually say a word about the music itself.

To a large extent it was the same stuff I've seen them play a couple of times in recent months -- at a club in Manhattan, and at their house after Hurricane Sandy. But they did throw in a twist. They noted that this concert would emphasize Eric's album, The Donovan of Trash, and her album, Diary of a Mod Housewife. They didn't play the whole albums. But they did play selections from them.

Being a bigger fan of Eric's than of Amy's, I'll talk about the stuff from DoT. Hearing a live version of "Joe Meek," and one of "Birthday Blues" were highlights. I can't help sounding lioke a little fanboy because -- well, I am. That's part of why I, a year plus ago -- explicitly gave up on the idea of doing "reviews" in the traditional sense.

One thing I can do without, though, is their penchant for getting into noise. They do this kind of wall of feedback that I just can't get into. I love seeing them in concert, and that's a price I pay for a show that I generally love. But when Eric starts fiddling with the knobs and they build this, this noise... Welll, at those times I wish i had earplugs.

I was surprised by their choice of closing song -- "Leaving on a Jet Plane." Where the heck did that come from?