Annie Leibovitz and The Rolling Stones

I visited the ICA in London Saturday afternoon to watch the documentary Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens. I absolutely love her work and wish I could spend a day with her hearing the backstory on some of my favorite pictures. If I could have someone’s career, it would be hers, a woman photographer traveling with the Stones on their world tour at the height of their decadence, I can't imagine anything better. Annie is also famous for taking the photograph of a naked John Lennon curled up to a clothed Yoko Ono just hours before he would be killed.

I was moved to tears a few times during the documentary, and also to laughing out loud a few times. Watching Keith look at pictures of himself was priceless. I love that man! --J

Switches

Tonight I was typing away on my laptop when a song came on a show called October Road that was on in the background. I didn't know who sang it or what the song was called, so I took one line of the song and googled it. It turns out the song is called Killer Karma by an English band called Switches. Of course,this lead to a full-on You Tube search for other songs and a discovery that this band is not too shabby. Unfortunately, U.S. iTunes doesn't have much beyond their EPs for Drama Queen and Lay Down the Law, so I'll have to play the waiting game for their new album Heart Tuned to D.E.A.D. when it's released here in the States next year. It was supposed to drop in October, but was inexplicably delayed. Ah well. This happens.

Switches reminds me of Franz Ferdinand and Jet, who remind me of the Stones, Bowie and a little bit of Sweet. While I wouldn't necessarily say that they will save rock n roll or that they're doing something terribly original, I think their music is perfect party fare. Check them out. -K

Lay Down the Law


Message from Yuz


Lyrics to Killer Karma

Its funny how as time goes, its funny how the pain grows
It's funny how the guilt snows, on your mind
Its funny how as time goes, its funny how your world slows
It's funny how god knows, I will take my time

Well we'd all like to know what our lives have yet to show
But there's one place we can go, and that's our minds
And we'd all like to be, with who our eyes have yet to see
But there's no-one foolin me, cus that's a lie

It's funny when your plane leaves, its funny how your soul grieves
It's funny how the light weaves through the blinds
It's funny how your heart rules, the feelings that your head cools
It's funny how the hate pools, creepin up the side

Well we'd all like to know what our lives have yet to show
But there's one place we can go, and that's our minds
And we'd all like to be, with who our eyes have yet to see
But there's no-one foolin me, cus that's a lie

Cus I got Killer Karma now, I got Killer Karma now, I got Killer Karma now (x2)

Yea we'd all like to know what our lives have yet to know
But there's one place we can go, and that's our minds
And we'd all like to see, with who our lives have yet to be
But there's no-one foolin me, cus that's a lie

One Part Bar Band, One Part Balladeer

K and I, with another work colleague, had a very stressful customer meeting from 6 to 7:30 pm Tuesday night. We had basically worked on and off for about three days preparing. The only thing that was getting me through was knowing that as soon as the meeting was over, we were going to run out of the building straight for The Pageant to see Pete Yorn.

We missed most of the opening band, Minibar, and arrived in time to grab a drink and get comfy to watch the next opener, Aqualung. Aqualung is kind of like the poor man’s Coldplay. Even though I like their single Brighter Than Sunshine, I was unmoved.

Pete took the stage and launched into a set of fast and slow songs, covers and originals. Here’s the setlist.

· Black
· For Us
· Atlantic City (Bruce Springsteen) > Murray
· Long Way Down
· Just Another
· Maybe I'm Right
· Closet
· The Man
· Undercover
· Splendid Isolation (Warren Zevon)
· Ice Age
· Life on a Chain
· Dead Flowers (The Rolling Stones)
· For Nancy
Encore:
· Policies
· How Do You Go On
· Strange Condition
· Crystal Village

My one disappointment was that I really didn’t like the live arrangement for the song The Man. It is my favorite on his new album but it sounded different. I think someone was playing steel guitar or there was some weird keyboard effect. At the time I had an obstructed view and couldn’t see the entire stage to figure it out. Everything else sounded great and he played many of my favorites like Strange Condition, For Nancy, and I loved the Rolling Stones cover. We sat in the balcony of The Pageant for most of the performance watching the super mellow crowd below. For most of the shows that we attend, K and I are usually scared to get into the pit because we don’t want to have to lift a crowd surfer over our head. At this show, there were lots of couples spooning and people gently swaying from side to side in front of the stage. I went downstairs to take some pics and easily walked through the pit area and never got kicked in the head doing it. Very unusual!

Pete provided great witty banter ranging from a kid in St. Louis hounding him over MySpace to do the Springsteen cover, to learning a new pop chord years ago on the guitar which prompted him to write Life on a Chain. I think that every town on a tour stop wants to be remembered by the artist. I’ve heard from a number of fans how they like for the artist to say “Hello Chicago!” when in Chicago, etc. Pete took it to the next level. I have read that since the late 90’s he has pretty much toured non-stop so I was really impressed that not only did he tell the audience that he ate a hamburger down the street at Blueberry Hill that afternoon, which is where he had played a gig back in the summertime, but he also told the audience that the first time he played in St. Louis was at Mississippi Nights and went on to tell some stories about the night. He also knew that Mississippi Nights had recently closed. He also said hello to Beatle Bob, a local fixture on the St. Louis music scene who was standing right up at the front barrier. Of course K and I were fixated on the fact that if we weren’t so stressed out at work, WE probably would have had lunch at Blueberry Hill in hopes of running into him!

We went and stood in the pit for the encore and thoroughly enjoyed it. I told K when it was over that I didn’t want to go home because then I would just go to bed and have to wake up and go to work and I wasn’t ready to face it. It’s been pretty stressful with lots of changes. On the way to work on Wednesday I played For Nancy on repeat and sang along with Pete, “Convince yourself that everything is alright, ‘cos it already is” and prepared myself for another rollercoaster ride. --J

Mick and Me

I am never alone in my house. Tonight is an exception, and much to my delight, I found myself spending the evening with Mick Jagger. A few years ago, my brother S. had mentioned a Mick Jagger documentary that chronicled Mick’s recording of Goddess in the Doorway, his last solo effort. About a week later, my friend M. mentioned the same documentary. How had I missed this? Years later, I find Being Mick: You Would if You Could, available on Netflix and it came in the mail today. I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially with no interruptions.

H. got me Goddess in the Doorway for Christmas when it was released. I believe I gave it at least two listens but not much more. As far as solo work, I think Keith wins that contest, not that there is one. However, after watching this, I may go back and give it another listen.

Now it could all be for the cameras, but Mick comes off as witty and quite a family man. My favorite scene takes place when Mick flies to Cologne, Germany so that Bono can record some vocals for a track. Bono, Mick, and the album’s producer are sitting there eating lunch and the producer asks Mick if he ever started that magazine that he talked about years ago. Mick says no, that it was going to be called The Trouser. He says that guitarists have a ton of magazines, as do drummers, etc. so this magazine was going to be for the lead singer since style is so important for a lead singer. It’s nice to see he has a sense of humor about himself. He was also very gracious even to autograph seekers who were obviously just getting the autograph to sell it.

If you are a fan of Mick, this is a must watch. --J

Hail! Hail! Rock 'N Roll

As I sat at home in my pajamas last night watching the season finale of Project Runway, a most exciting musical event was taking place in St. Louis. Chuck Berry celebrated his 80th birthday with a standing room only performance at Blueberry Hill in University City. Chuck plays once a month at Blueberry Hill. I guess I need to stop taking it for granted that he plays every month and go see him. When I saw that last night’s show was being billed as a birthday celebration, I immediately went to the Rolling Stones website to see where they were playing, anticipating a possible Keith appearance. Keith didn’t make an appearance, but Aerosmith’s Joe Perry did. If you would like to read the local newspaper’s coverage of the event, click here. Also, if you can't get to Blueberry Hill to see Chuck perform in person, a four-disc DVD set of the documentary, Hail! Hail! Rock 'N Roll, was recently released. It is pretty amazing to think that someone who is 80 years old is still putting on one hell of a show. –J

The Rolling Stones Mystique

For those of you as intrigued as I am by The Rolling Stones of the late 60’s/early 70’s there are a few things you may want to check out. I just watched a movie last night called Stoned, which is a loosely factual story of Brian Jones’ last days. Was he murdered as his model girlfriend at the time claims? Was there a deathbed confession by the murderer? We will never know I suppose, but the possibility is brought to life in this film. It reminded me quite a bit of The Talented Mr. Ripley with a lot more drugs and full frontal nudity. Don’t see it though if you are looking for a Rolling Stones biopic. The rest of the band is barely in it. The only truly clichéd soundtrack moment in the film is when Brian is dropping acid with Anita Pallenberg to Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit. Is there a law that says that if someone is taking acid on a movie screen, it must be done to this song?

Also, I read an excerpt from a new book in Rolling Stone last month. It’s called Exile on Main Street: A Season in Hell with the Rolling Stones by Robert Greenfield. From what I read in the excerpt and a review, it's the behind the music filled with drama, drugs, and sex. I can’t wait to read it! --J