Today is John Mayall’s 90th birthday. As a guitar player, I owe this guy so much. First he hired Eric Clapton, then he hired Peter Green, then he hired Mick Taylor. I mean… he is the king of all band leaders.
90 years young, and many happy returns.
A couple of nights ago I went to a concert for the first time since Covid came around. I knew I was missing live music after four years or so, but I wasn’t really aware of how much I was missing it.
So now what?
How about hockey? I’m watching the Bruins play Tampa Bay right now (tied at one in the first period). When was the last time I went to a hockey game? My Flickr account tells me I went to a Bruins game in February 2016. Was that the last time? It might be, I am not sure.
We are going to a game next month at my step kids’ school. Should I try to go to a UMass Lowell game before then? I hope I will be feeling the same sort of I-can’t-believe-how-much-I-missed-this feeling that I got on Saturday at the Letters to Cleo show.
I miss our pre-Covid world.
I took a few pictures with my iPhone last night. I figure I’ll share a few of the decent-ish ones. It has been almost exactly four years since I’ve experienced live music. I knew I missed it, but I wasn’t aware of how much I missed it. I am not going to be able to wait four years before I get more. I did wear a mask through the whole show though. Some things have definitely changed over the last four years.
Anyway, random pics:
Gigolo Aunts…
Letters to Cleo…
Both at the same time…
Excellent show.
I just watched Letters to Cleo and Gigolo Aunts play a J. Giels song together.
The most Boston thing Ever.
The last concert I attended prior to the pandemic was Letters to Cleo’s (sort of?) annual November reunion at The Paradise in Boston.
Tonight? We’re going to see Letters to Cleo again. Live music! I almost forget what it feels like. The only downside of The Paradise is there is no parking so you have to go early and hunt for one. Outside of that, tonight should be epic. Epic, like you’ve read about.
My step son has all of next week off from school. He’s coming home tomorrow. He’ll spend a few days here, then a few days at his dad’s new house, then Thanksgiving take two at our house a week from Saturday, then he’ll go back to school. My step daughter will be home at some point though, but she’s no longer a college student and has to work next week. We don’t know her schedule yet but she’ll be here for Thanksgiving take two as well.
With the return of at least one kid being imminent, I am really looking forward to this weekend. As an added bonus, this coming Saturday will also see me and my friends Larry and Mike (the bass player) reliving our roaring 20’s by going to see Letters to Cleo and the Gigolo Aunts at The Paradise in Boston. We’re going to pretend it’s 1996 or so and go check out some Boston music… even though most of the members of both bands don’t live in Boston anymore. So what, it’s going to be nostalgic rock and roll like you’ve read about.
Today has been quiet, apart from the plumber visit this morning. I’ve had a couple of meetings and have one more coming up in a few minutes. I’ve mostly focused on paperwork. It’s been a good day so far. It’s 60 degrees outside, which is nice. Warmer days are rare at this point in the calendar. Granted I haven’t gone outside since 8:00am today and at that time the temperature was in the low 30’s. Timing is everything, folks.
Right then. Time to go and prep for the next meeting. I just wanted to write down how excited I am for this weekend. So many good things on the schedule. I’m ready for them all right now.
After cleaning the kitchen, dining room, living room, and the hallway that links them all together today I did what anyone would do. I finally started putting some thought into this month’s music project.
It’s going to be two suites of about 15 minutes. Each suite will be a handful of songs. Each song will end on some sort of coda that is unrelated to the rest of the song. The next song in the suite will start with a variation of the previous song’s coda.
Dig it?
I have the bass and drums down for the first suite. It’s looking like it’s going to be about 16-17 minutes long. National Solo Album Month’s rules require a grand total of 29 minutes and change (the length of The Ramones first record). I’ve got a long way to go, but at least I made some progress. I want to use the guitar that is currently in the shop for most if not all of the guitar tracks, so hopefully I get it back soon. Otherwise I’ll just use a different guitar.
I’m probably going to fail this month’s challenge miserably, but at least I am putting in a little effort to make me feel good about myself, or some shit. Whatever, right?
Music!
Just looking ahead to this weekend. I need to make some music. I need to play some guitar. I need to play guitar through an amplifier and not just headphones. It is imperative. We’re getting to that point where not playing is affecting my mental state. Music must be made at volume. It is necessary.
If I am going to have my number one guitar back soon then I should probably get going on a November music project, right?
November is National Solo Album Month. NaSoAlMo. The goal is to write and record 29:09 of original music and play all the parts yourself. I do that for every monthly music project so that’s not a big deal. I started one song idea last week. This morning before work I started another and came up with the gimmick for the month.
The first time I finished a NaSoAlMo project I came up with a way to link a bunch of songs together into one giant song. I think I am going to do something along those lines again. The idea I had for the first song had a phrase that was meant to be a coda section that was not used anywhere else in the song. The gimmick is that I will take that coda section and create a variation of it and make that the opening section of the song that comes after it on the playlist. Song number one ends with something, then song number two starts with a variation on that something. Song number two then ends with a coda that isn’t used anywhere else in the song. Song number three opens with a variation on it. Ect Ect. Get it? Then all the songs get smushed together into one giant song file.
Writing it out like this makes me think it’s a dumb idea…. I’m still going to try to do it though. Let’s see how long I stick with this plan.
Inside the Red Head's Head 