That and this
An excellent Fringe pimping post, on why one should watch the show.
Lord of the Rings:
The World is Changing, a wonderful vid using all three film versions. Reminds me of when the films started during this time of the year, each was a just before Christmas premiere, and how despite minor nitpicks and some disagreements with the source material I was swept away every time.
Two days ago Paul McCartney did a lunchtime gig to support the 100 Club in Oxford Street which is threatened by closure and, I hear, something of a London musical landmark. The internet being what it is various of of the songs he sang are online already, which is great since the club atmosphere is very different from the big stadium concerts. (Also because while the recent Saturday Night Live thing was funny, he wasn't at his vocal best there; he's definitely in fine form here.) A lot of banter with the audience, and below the cut are choice samples.
The opening number was a Carl Perkins song, Matchbox:
(Less quality recording but a complete version is here.)
Jet. Incidentally the second McCartney song named after a dog.
Blackbird:
The One After 909, aka the one John and he wrote when they were teenagers and resurrected for Let It Be. LOL about the opening.
Drive My Car. I take back what I said about this being a song for young singers!
Band on the Run: did you know that this one has one of the more hilarious entries at wikipedia? " The singer complains about being stuck in one room forever alone, unable to see any nice people, like his mother." Personally I always loved Carlin's description: " Stuck inside these four walls....lord, it's every dead-end room you've ever inhabited, at home, in school, at some crappy job you thought you'd never escape, and just when you least expect it, even at the height of fame. If I ever get out of here.... the guitars turn crunchy, the percussion cracks like a pistol shot as the dead-end becomes fame itself; e.g., straight-up memories of the Beatlemania days, the endless hours of being cooped up in dressing rooms while the world surged madly at their door. Then....that breathttaking symphonic leap up to the central verse and chorus of the song and the point where...The rain exploded with a mighty crash/as we fell into the sun.... and the band is back on the run, soaring above the clouds and far from the grasp of any number of antagonists."
And I love her: Aka "the first ballad I impressed myself with". Spot the Lennon middle eight, if you can. At this point their styles just flowed into each other.
1985: One of the more excentric Wings numbers. I love the piano there.
Eleanor Rigby: you know, I'm always ambivalent about Eleanor Rigby in concert because it's such a studio song, but it really works here. Given the theme of age, the fact his voice isn't that of a young man anymore even adds to the song.
Hey Jude: hear the audience in the tiny club nah-nah-nahing. Arguably the quintessential McCartney song, and definitely the containing the line which you could call his motto: Take a sad song and make it better. I think the magic of Hey Jude is that while it might say different things to different people you always feel personally addressed and uplifted. (No wonder John insisted till his dying day that he might sound "like one of those fans" but the song was subconsciously written for him, damn it.)
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band: Reprise/The End: Obvious medley to cap the gig was obvious, and very effective.
Someone did a best of clip collection of the club gig already:
Lastly, hilarious bonus vid: 1968 newsclip of the Beatles plus significant others at the Yellow Submarine premiere. Swinging London fashion extravaganza on everyone ahoy!
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/639430.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.
Lord of the Rings:
The World is Changing, a wonderful vid using all three film versions. Reminds me of when the films started during this time of the year, each was a just before Christmas premiere, and how despite minor nitpicks and some disagreements with the source material I was swept away every time.
Two days ago Paul McCartney did a lunchtime gig to support the 100 Club in Oxford Street which is threatened by closure and, I hear, something of a London musical landmark. The internet being what it is various of of the songs he sang are online already, which is great since the club atmosphere is very different from the big stadium concerts. (Also because while the recent Saturday Night Live thing was funny, he wasn't at his vocal best there; he's definitely in fine form here.) A lot of banter with the audience, and below the cut are choice samples.
The opening number was a Carl Perkins song, Matchbox:
Click to view(Less quality recording but a complete version is here.)
Jet. Incidentally the second McCartney song named after a dog.
Blackbird:
The One After 909, aka the one John and he wrote when they were teenagers and resurrected for Let It Be. LOL about the opening.
Drive My Car. I take back what I said about this being a song for young singers!
Band on the Run: did you know that this one has one of the more hilarious entries at wikipedia? " The singer complains about being stuck in one room forever alone, unable to see any nice people, like his mother." Personally I always loved Carlin's description: " Stuck inside these four walls....lord, it's every dead-end room you've ever inhabited, at home, in school, at some crappy job you thought you'd never escape, and just when you least expect it, even at the height of fame. If I ever get out of here.... the guitars turn crunchy, the percussion cracks like a pistol shot as the dead-end becomes fame itself; e.g., straight-up memories of the Beatlemania days, the endless hours of being cooped up in dressing rooms while the world surged madly at their door. Then....that breathttaking symphonic leap up to the central verse and chorus of the song and the point where...The rain exploded with a mighty crash/as we fell into the sun.... and the band is back on the run, soaring above the clouds and far from the grasp of any number of antagonists."
And I love her: Aka "the first ballad I impressed myself with". Spot the Lennon middle eight, if you can. At this point their styles just flowed into each other.
1985: One of the more excentric Wings numbers. I love the piano there.
Eleanor Rigby: you know, I'm always ambivalent about Eleanor Rigby in concert because it's such a studio song, but it really works here. Given the theme of age, the fact his voice isn't that of a young man anymore even adds to the song.
Hey Jude: hear the audience in the tiny club nah-nah-nahing. Arguably the quintessential McCartney song, and definitely the containing the line which you could call his motto: Take a sad song and make it better. I think the magic of Hey Jude is that while it might say different things to different people you always feel personally addressed and uplifted. (No wonder John insisted till his dying day that he might sound "like one of those fans" but the song was subconsciously written for him, damn it.)
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band: Reprise/The End: Obvious medley to cap the gig was obvious, and very effective.
Someone did a best of clip collection of the club gig already:
Lastly, hilarious bonus vid: 1968 newsclip of the Beatles plus significant others at the Yellow Submarine premiere. Swinging London fashion extravaganza on everyone ahoy!
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/639430.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.