Mega Music Talent

Posts Tagged ‘Beatles’

Third eye review of a live performance in Calgary, Alberta, from a local 60′s, 70′s and 80′s rock band. This three person group is called ShadowBeat. If going to Calgary and you appreciate older music, you might just enjoy this combo. Do so if you get a chance.

“Get your motor running” That’s what this band will do to you. I managed to catch this three person combo by accident Friday night in Calgary. They were shaking the walls in some lost eastside pub called Chelsea’s, and though the crowd was not huge, we were on fire with this performance. And so was ShadowBeat.

As the night went on I found myself losing time but not wasting it. It was an experience worth living. The little place was a-happenin’, as they might say and we all enjoyed many familiar oldies (think John Paul George and Mick) and a few NotHeardThatinAge’s.

And then they hit us with a sharp left hook. A few great wing-ding’s from the 1990′s country line dancing and hat head era. Personally, I don’t two-step, but plenty were stompin’ their runners to this classic string of hits that included an Alan Jackson favorite of mine and that old Grundy County Auction song. I could tell by the wall posters that country bands frequented this establishment. But this was a rock outfit with a bit of creative dabble.

The first set I saw opened with Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf and by the third or fourth selection we were convinced this group knew their stuff. They weren’t much to look at, not having a drummer on stage with them or the heavy-metal concert trappings seen in bar bands of years gone by. It was just the three of them. Dying to have a voice. They were just there. Authentic. In your face. They were good.

I like it when a cover band tries to make the well-known piece their own and have fun with it. Granted, ShadowBeat did not do this with every composition on the setlist but when they did, it shone through, and the effort became worthwhile. You might want to check out the original versions of these songs. I did some Googling and found out that they have their own mini internet broadcast station easily found by entering “Shadowbeat radio”. That’s where you can hear those originals. Handy. It’s at http://www.live365.com/stations/radiosonde1?play

Who would have thought a stage keyboard could be played like that? Not me, that’s for sure. Somebody sprinkled this guy with magic dust, or maybe a few extra recorded tracks. It’s hard to tell. Wait for “Time of the Season” by the Zombies. It’s worth it.

In general, the band takes full advantage of the highs and lows (tempo, dynamics etc.) in the material. When they were tight, it was as good as it gets and the loose rambling between songs kept the feeling quite casual. Nobody was intimidated. With the old stuff I heard that night, you’ll go back to your younger days in an instant.

Author Bio: More about – this band if you like this kind of rock.

And more – check it out – you’ll be glad you did.

Don’t you just love that movie ‘High Fidelity’ where the hero is constantly making lists of his top 5 all time favorite records, girl friends, meals and whatever. I save all the concert tickets from the concerts that I have been to and I can’t help but make up my top five classic concerts and wish I had the concert tickets to go with the memories.

Classic concert ticket number 5: U2 plays on an L.A. liquor store rooftop, March 27, 1987. They were atop a liquor store rooftop, Los Angeles. It may not have had The Beatles’ originality, but Bono and the guys surely enjoyed their 20 minutes on top of the LA world nevertheless. The Irish super group was about four songs into the gig on an L.A. liquor store rooftop when the city police decided to end their impromptu performance and spoil the fun for the fans that had gathered below. Strictly speaking this wasn’t a concert with proper concert tickets but I love the video “Where The Streets Have No Name”, which was the point of the whole exercise.

Classic concert ticket number 4: George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh, August 1, 1971 at Madison Square Garden, New York City. What had initially been conceived as a small political fundraiser aimed at bringing humanitarian relief to the refugees in breakaway Bangladesh quickly turned into one of the biggest rock fundraisers of the 1970s. Although Lennon and McCartney never ended up signing on to Ravi Shankar’s cause, many other stars did, including George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Billy Preston, and Eric Clapton, who actually collapsed onstage as a result of his protracted bout of heroin addiction but still managed to proceed with the concert. The 40,000 or so fans who crowded New York’s Madison Square Garden witnessed some rare performances, including a 25-minute Indian recital by Ravi Shankar, Bob Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” and Ringo Starr’s “It Don’t Come Easy.”

Classic concert ticket number 3: Pink Floyd break visual barriers with The Wall shows between February 1980 and June 1981. It was a World tour. Pink Floyd’s visual theatrics took a turn for the legendary with their infamous The Wall concerts, which were the last shows Roger Waters, Richard Wright, Dave Gilmour, and Nick Mason performed together before the Live 8 show in July 2005. Each show required timed performances and unprecedented cooperation between the musicians, concert crew, lighting engineers, and computer programmers. In fact, extended instrumentals and Roger Waters’ impromptu introductions often served to cover up stage fires and other technical difficulties, which seemed inevitable when putting together a show that included a 30-foot-high teacher puppet, a scorpion wife and other such animated characters.

Classic concert ticket number 2: Jimi Hendrix wows Woodstock, August 18, 1969 at Woodstock, New York. After plowing through three days worth of rain, mud, minbending drugs, and music, the 30,000 or so diehard fans who chose to brave one more night for Jimi Hendrix’s Woodstock closer were not disappointed. In fact, those who stuck around to witness Hendrix’s mind-blowing rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” cannot deny its importance on the festival’s soundtrack; it became the eternal anthem of a generation of civil rights crusaders, anti-war protestors and music lovers everywhere. Now I know this was a ‘free’ concert but it didn’t start out that way and there were actual concert tickets issued for Woddstock.

Classic concert ticket number 1: The Beatles sell out Shea Stadium August 15, 1965 in New York City. After a thundering welcome at JFK airport, the American release of Help! And an electrifying appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Beatles’ success at Shea Stadium, the first-ever stadium concert of its kind, was all but guaranteed. In fact, the sell-out crowd of 55,600 was so deafening that the The ‘Fab Four’ could barely hear themselves play throughout their 30-minute set. Instead, The Beatles’ grand armored van entrance, John Lennon’s ‘Jerry Lee Lewis’ onstage freak-out and the event’s record-setting gross revenues stole the show.

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My all time favorite album turned 40 this week. The Beatles self titled double album was released on November 22, 1968. It’s better known as The White Album due to it’s white cover. It was The Beatles only double album and their only self titled album. I also believe it was their best album (and considering the competition that is saying a lot.)

Sure not every one of the album’s 30 tracks is up to The Beatles usual incredibly high standards. Songs like “Goodnight” and “Don’t Pass Me By” (sorry Ringo) won’t ever rank among The Beatles best and in fact they do rank among their worst. But even the not so great songs seem to add to the album’s character. And these few weak tracks are definitely exceptions and not the rule.

Some would say that these weak tracks are an indication that the album should have been a single album instead. I strongly disagree. 13 or so tracks probably would have had to have been cut to make it into a single album and there’s no way there are 13 tracks that could be cut from The White Album.

To me it’s the great variety of The White Album that helps to make it so timeless and so endlessly listenable. It’s the one album I seem to never get bored of. It’s amazing how I still hear new things in the songs all of these years later. I first heard The White Album about 12 years ago and I am still blown away by the nuances and musical layers of these songs. I wouldn’t call the album a “grower” as that term is usually reserved for an album one doesn’t initially enjoy and then grows to like. This is an album I initially loved and then grew to love even more and more over the years.

Songs such as “Martha My Dear” and “Honey Pie” may have seemed like “throwaways” when I first heard it but now they seem essential. These are brilliant songs that show The Beatles at a creative peak. They weren’t merely trying to repeat what they had already done, they were always looking for new song styles to try, new ways to create. If you’re the type that enjoys hearing the same song over and over again (hello Nickelback fans!) then sure this may not work for you but if you’re the type that actually likes to hear imagination at play then it certainly is.

“Revolution #9″ is often brought up as the biggest example of The Beatles “going too far.” Once again I strongly disagree. To me “Revolution #9″ is a vital part of The White Album and I love that it was included. I think, still to this day, it’s the most unusual track ever to be included on a #1 album. That alone would make it an interesting listen. But it’s more than just unusual. It’s an extremely effective track for what it is. It’s aim is to be unsettling. To take the listener on a sort of stream of consciousness journey and to that end it works extremely well. While I do not listen to this track every single time I put on the album (I admit to often stopping the album at “Cry Baby Cry” and thus skipping “Revolution #9″ and “Goodnight.”) when I do listen to it, I enjoy it.

I far prefer that experiments such as that are included rather than hearing an album chock full of average tracks that all sound the same.

The contrasts of The White Album are brilliant. From “Helter Skelter” the album moves to “Long Long Long.” That has to be among the most intense contrasts in rock history. “Helter Skelter” is the heaviest song The Beatles ever recorded and “Long Long Long” is the quietest. These songs are the perfect representation of what The White Album is. Variety, contrast, imagination, and excellence.

The author Matthew Yoho recommends checking out http://www.MusicByDay.com for more Beatles (and other great bands.)