Thursday, July 29, 2010

John Wetton & Geoffrey Downes - Icon II: Rubicon with rare bonus track!

Icon II cover

Links to download main album:
Part 1
Part 2

Rare bonus track "The Harbour Wall" here! ("Sleep Angel" from the first one with new lyrics).

Icon 3 with "Live Another Day" is on the way! I'm all set with the original Icon.

Monday, July 12, 2010

The Moody Blues at Stanley Centre for the Arts - Review

Moody Blues Wikipedia collage

Since no one else is gonna do it, it's up to me. Haven't done this in a while.
Last night, I finally got to see the Moody Blues at the Stanley in Utica, NY. Had to get a ride there. Well worth the trip. No meet and greet though. Maybe if I waited outside the tour bus (small town), but I had to get home to bed.
Before show time, fans of three to four generations flooded into the theatre. Not 100% sold out (economy I suppose), but still a sizable crowd nonetheless. The PA played tracks not in the setlist such as those from 1983's The Present. The show started with "The Voice" (though the keyboards couldn't be heard as clearly as on the album Long Distance Voyager. The last number was, as always, "Ride My See-Saw". Messrs Hayward, Lodge, and Edge were in top form, as if they weren't ageing at all. On that note, Graeme Edge did some stand-up comedy about being over-60s in Florida taking Viagara. He's been in the band since day one.
As always with these shows, I memorise the numbers by original release:

Tuesday Afternoon
Peak Hour
Late Lament
Nights in White Satin
Ride My See-Saw
Voices in the Sky (I think)
Lovely to See You
Never Comes the Day
Are You Sitting Comfortably?
Higher and Higher
Gypsy (Of a Strange and Distant Time)
Question
The Story in Your Eyes
I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock 'n Roll Band)
Isn't Life Strange?
Steppin' in a Slide Zone
Driftwood
The Day We Meet Again
The Voice
Your Wildest Dreams
The Other Side of Life
I Know You're Out There Somewhere
Lean on Me (Tonight)

Almost every vintage of the band is covered here. I couldn't find one thing wrong. I guess after doing this for over two generations, you know all the ropes! Just wish I could have met the band. Now I just await YouTube videos, mp3s and a DVD. As it wasn't a big area, I'm sure someone managed to manoeuvre recording the show. I could do audio, but I was too high up to do a decent video. I couldn't get away with such a thing.
I regret missing last year's show across Oneida County at the Turning Stone, and maybe NYC exurb Montclair, NJ (the closest place before Utica was announced), but better late than never!

Friday, July 9, 2010

In Defence of Boris

Couldn't come up with anything better.

No article on my blog has gotten more response than the one I did on Boris Ignatov. a music lover in Omsk, Siberia, Russia. Nearly everybody he asked for CDs thought he was a flim-flam man out to make a fast ruble. I can tell you hes not much different from any of us. Its just things are more limited where he is. He cares about the music enough that he wants authorised releases. Is that too much to ask? I don't mind getting pirate releases in return, as they go great in my collection and I have a few already (see earlier post).
As for Boris, please give him a chance to prove himself before lashing out on him. Eric, the debt he owes you, I'll pay it when I win the lottery. I'm sure there was a misunderstanding.
Even though I spent a bit getting CDs off that list, I am getting something in return. Its just tied up at "Origin Post" right now. I have less trouble doing this with someone in Ukraine! I hope recent events have nothing to do with the delay. I try not to get political with people. Too much vitriol.
I am considering putting an end to this trade thread eventually as I'm no Rockefeller myself! Some albums cost more than others. It just makes going to the same shops less boring.
If you hear from Boris for the first time, you can take it or leave it really. I don't regret taking it as it hasn't open my eyes a bit more.