Getting Arrested In Hersheypark

So, last night Bubala and I went to go see the Police at Hersheypark. It was my Birthday present from way back in March. There were no roller coasters this time. We just went to the show. And, it was a great show but...

Traffic getting there was horrible! Bumper to bumper most of the way up. What usually takes about 90 minutes took more like 3 hours. There were so many people there. Once we parked the truck, we had to take a tram to the stadium on the other side of the Hershey property. We had prime 17th row seats on Sting's side, but we still seemed acres away. There were large monitors which helped to see detail. Yeah, I know this tour is just a huge cash grab. Cha-ching! I hope Stewart and Andy make a mint.

How do they look?

Andy looks old, but he is about 10 years older then the other guys. Stewart looks gray with glasses. Sting still looks fantastic with his classic spiky hair, although there is less of it then there was 30 years ago. He obviously worked out to be in shape for the tour. It is easy to see why everyone hates him so much. He is hot, talented and wrote some of Rock's greatest songs before breaking away from the Police and turning his music in the direction of adult contemporary suck.

How do they sound?

Vocally, Sting was incredible, holding notes for an eternity. He was also great in the bass guitar department and he also played bass pedals with his feet. He was no chump either and meshed well with Stewart into the strong rhythm section that they always were. Andy played well too, but what he was doing didn't always work well with what Sting was doing and in some places it sounded very out of tune. Stewart Copeland stole the show though with his incredible drumming. He still has it. He used a vast array of percussion instruments to accent the music. Some of the arrangements were altered to a more jazzy feel and sometimes it slowed things down too much in some of the songs. Other songs really rocked out though with a lot of free form jamming.

All in all, it was a great show and now we can say that we saw the Police on their reunion tour. I can't help but compare it to another old trio I just saw recently who has been around longer and never broken up before. A band whose ticket prices were less then half the price of The Police tickets. A band who always plays at least an hour longer and their show is always much more visual.

I still had a great time except for all the people. Man, Hersheypark was NOT prepared to deal with that crowd. There was damage to the fences around the park from all the exiting concert goers. There was almost NO police directing traffic to get us out. I guess they figured we had enough Police for one night! So, exiting the parking lot was a complete nightmare as all 25,000 people tried to move their vehicles out of the area at the same time. My advice is don't go see shows there. They are just not set up to handle it. Not enough staff or police direction for such a large crowd. It took another 3 hours to get home, and an hour and a half of that was spent sitting in bumper to bumper, directionless traffic on Hershey's parking lot.

Just go there and ride roller coasters, That's my advice.

Set List

Message In A Bottle
Synchronicity II
Walking On The Moon
When The World Is Running Down
Don't Stand So Close To Me
Driven To Tears
Truth Hits Everybody
The Bed's Too Big Without You
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Wrapped Around Your Finger
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
Invisible Sun
Walking In Your Footsteps
Can't Stand Losing You
Reggatta de Blanc
Roxanne

King Of Pain
So Lonely
Every Breath You Take

Next To You

1967

It Was 40 Years Ago Today Sgt. Pepper Taught The Band To Play

Well actually he taught them 60 years ago but the Beatles album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was released 40 years ago today on June 1st 1967 in the UK and on June 2, 1967 in the USA. This set things up nicely for the Summer of Love. The year of my birth, 1967, was a fruitful time for exploding rock music. We saw debut albums from a lot of bands that would later become staples of classic rock. Now, if the whole album concept was still too much for one's attention span, then 1967 also offered a world of pop song hit singles that carried messages of social consciousness or even non-religious spiritual guidance. This summer, because the world is yet again a fucked up with a horrible war and a mess of people who hate each other, (much like in 1967) I've decided to smile on you brother in the hopes that everyone will get together and try to love one another right now. Here's all you need to listen to so that you too can start loving and stop hating. You may also want to drop a purple microdot in the coffee pot for extra enhancement.



Groovy Albums Full Of Hearts & Flowers

The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced ? (Debut)
Jimi Hendrix Experience - Axis Bold As Love (UK only)
The Rolling Stones - Flowers
The Rolling Stones - Their Satanic Majesties Request
Pink Floyd - Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (Debut)
Cream - Disraeli Gears
The Doors - The Doors (Debut)
The Who - Who Sell Out
Grateful Dead - Grateful Dead (Debut)
The Velvet Underground with Nico - The Velvet Underground with Nico (Debut)
Love - Forever Changes
The Moody Blues - Days Of Future Passed (Debut)
Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow

Psychedelic Singles With Mystic Magic Powers

I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night - The Electric Prunes
(This is really from 1966, but if you take enough acid you'll never know the difference.)
Incense & Peppermints - Strawberry Alarm Clock
(To hide the pot smoke in the air and on your breath.)
Reach Out Of The Darkness - Friend And Lover
(Because it is very dark right now.)
Get Together - The Youngbloods
(Yeah, I know it seems corny.)
Windy - The Association
(One of Bubala's & my favorites.)
The Rain, The Park, & Other Things - The Cowsills
(Light, poppy and I love it.)
Lazy Day - Spanky & Our Gang
(This song just makes you feel like skipping on a sunny day.)
Let's Live For Today - The Grass Roots
(Because you never know when those religious nuts are going to end it for all of us.)
The Shape Of Things To Come - Max Frost
(Max Frost for president because he doses congress with trips.)
My Friend Jack - The Smoke
(This one goes out to all those who like one sugar lump or two.)
I Can Hear The Grass Grow - The Move
(Yep, after all those sugar lumps you really can.)
Optical Sound - The Human Express
(Oh, all my senses are getting mixed up.)
Voices Green & Purple - The Bees
(ah man, ah man, ah man)
Real Crazy Apartment - Winston's Fumbs
(Things are really getting out of hand now.)
The Mad Man Running Through The Fields - Dantalion's Chariot
(I'm peaking ! I'm peaking!)

Peace,
Love,

And may all your magic mushroom dreams
come true and may you live happily ever after.

iPod Update

Well, I finally managed to come up with a few minutes to tell you all what has been going on in the Monkey Monarchy. Or, at least to give you a current play list. Let me see... There is my regular job, (the main monkey business) frequent bike rides around BWI, going to the gym, being a husband and mixing my new album. Also, Bubala decided that I should get an iPod like his. Now please don't get the wrong idea. I know what you're probably thinking. That's so incredibly Yuppie or in my case Guppie. Well don't worry. I am way too much of an audiophile to go dumping all my of CD's for a Walkman the size of a pack of cigarettes. I look at works of music in much the same way some people look at works of literature, and I really believe in expanding my library of music. For the present, with a lot of new music just coming out, I thought it would be a great idea for the monkey on the move to be able to be portable with my listening. Whether it be at the gym or on the bike or out for a walk or on one of our many road trips. Not only does it give you that 'whole world is a music video illusion,' but it's also great for the all important 'incommunicado' option which has become even more precious to me as I trudge on through this prison sentence we call life. So, to make myself feel better, I got this Ipod and I am filling it up with all of these new albums and some old favorites and some stuff to get me pumped up at the gym or on the bike.

The New Albums:

The Ark- Prayer For The Weekend

This is the forth album from this Swedish glam rock band. It is not as glam and New Wave sounding as their previous album, State Of The Ark, but it's a fun sounding record and Ola Salo and crew have my vote for best flashy gayness and just all around fun. I don't think that this album is out in the US yet. I have an imported copy. Keep a watch out for this album.

Tori Amos - American Doll Posse

This is actually a very aggressive album for the fiery headed songstress. Hardly any solo piano and vocal pieces that she is known for. There's some guitar, lots of drums from that creature who hits things, Matt Chamberlin, (he used to be a New Bohemian) some orchestration and best of all Tori is pissed off at slutty bitches and George W. Bush. She's an MILF. Don't you forget.

Marillion- Somewhere Else

I've been following this band for over 20 years now. They mutate and change from time to time. Some of their albums are awesome. Some are just okay. This one falls into the okay category. It has some good songs, but nothing that grabs me the way a lot of their music does. If you are not familiar with them, I suggest you start with their last album "Marbles" or their 1994 concept record "Brave." It's rather trippy in places. You may also go back farther to when they had a different singer, a huge Scottish guy name Fish who wrote great poetry. Also, check out "Misplaced Childhood" or, for the lonely alcoholic, "Clutching At Straws."

Porcupine Tree- Fear Of A Blank Planet

This is the latest masterpiece from the Porcupine Tree it's kind of a concept record about the youth of today popped up on pills, cell phones, IPods, MySpace, the mall, XBox, guns. Lets just say that it paints a very melancholic but honest picture of the world and youth today. Musically it ranges from ambient soundscapes to death metal to Beatle-esque ballads to classic rock in the English vein. Bubala and I will be going out on our pilgrimage to see the Tree when they swing by the East coast later this month. Come and join us under the Porcupine Tree.

5/19/07 NYC Nokia Theater
5/22/07 Baltimore Ramshead Live (my 25th PT show at home)
5/23/07 Philadelphia, Electric Factory
5/25/07 Boston, Roxy

Rush- Snakes & Arrows

It doesn't get much better than this for me folks. This is the best album of the year. I don't even have to hear any others. This album is produced by a guy named Nick Raskulinecz who is a younger producer (Foo Fighters, Velvet Revolver) but he grew up on Rush and seems to really give them a younger enthusiasm that fired them up a bit. Rush only makes 'brilliant, fantastic' albums or 'stroke of pure spiritual genius' albums. This is one of the latter ones. It has the most acoustic guitars ever on a Rush album, but doesn't lose it's Rush-like punch and drive. There are three instrumentals and a real 60's kind of feel to a lot of the songs. And, like all Rush albums, it is another cunningly crafted piece of work in an illustrious chain of albums steeped in the tradition of incredible musicianship, thought provoking lyrics and an uncanny sense of humor. Yes, Bubala and I will also travel out to the temples to worship these Rock Gods as they cast their mighty musical force unto the universe. We will be there later in the summer, and I'm contemplating going to even more shows later on.

6/22/07 Virginia Beach - The Phone Company Amphitheater
6/23/07 Bristow VA - The Car Company Pavilion
6/25/07 Pittsburgh PA - The Newspaper Pavilion
7/6/07 Camden, NJ - The Tweety Bird Center

Other Older Music On The Ipod

For My Listening Pleasure

Laurie Anderson- Mister Heartbreak
Peter Gabriel - Security
Cat Stevens - Mona Bone Jargon
Pink Floyd - Animals
Pink Floyd - Meddle
Summer Of Love Vol. I & II - Various Artists

Pumped Up For The Gym or Bike

Talking Heads - Remain In Light
Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
B-52's - Time Capsule
Rush - A Farewell To Kings
Rush - Hemispheres
Rush- Counterparts

Offended Monkey

So, the other day, I went to work with this t-shirt on. I found it in a store for $5, and I thought that it was cute in a Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp sort of way. It also went well with a lot of the other monkey T-Shirts in my collection. I have Bad Monkey shirt, a Rent A Monkey shirt, a See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, Have No Fun shirt, one with two monkeys holding bananas and the caption says "Mine's Bigger," as well as millions of Curious George shirts. I wear them all to work pretty routinely. So, I put on my new Funky Monkey shirt and went into work.

A few co-workers commented on how cute the shirt was because everyone there knows that I'm a Funky Monkey in more ways then one. Then, as I continued working, I noticed a familiar shape from across the bingo hall. I walked over a little closer and lo and behold, there was a "Macy Gray Wanna Be" there. Just like the monkey on my shirt. I darted into the office area and told a co-worker that the Funky Monkey was in line to play bingo today. They went out to look and came back and much gut splitting laughter took place. Another co-worker who had seen my t-shirt earlier noticed the Funky Monkey in line and laughed as he came into the back room only to find us there laughing too. He joined us as we worked our abs in fits of uncontrollable laughter. What are the odds that this would happen?

After an ab cool down period, we resumed our duties. I was a little uneasy about letting this woman see my shirt although my co-workers thought that it would be classic YouTube stuff. I declined the opportunity to go tell her that I was the Funky Monkey's biggest fan and ask her for an autograph while my co-worker held up his cell phone and filmed the whole meeting. I just went back to work and kept busy until the boss showed up. I was so eager to let him in on the joke.

My co-workers showed him the Funky Monkey dotting her bingo card out in the crowd and then the one on my shirt. He wasn't as amused as we were though and he thought that the T-shirt could be very offensive to black people. He said that if he was black and he saw my shirt that he would be offended.

Hmmmmm... I had never even thought about it that way. I just thought that it was cute in a harmless and funny retro 70's monkey kind of way. I changed my shirt and decided to leave work for the day. This supposedly racist monkey had thrown enough of his shit around the bingo hall for one day.

I am really am finding it harder and a harder to live amongst those hypersensitive humans these days.

March Playlist

I bet you thought that I had reached the ripe old age of 40 and keeled over and died. No such luck. You're stuck with me. So, what have I been doing other than not blogging? Hmmmm... A whole lot of rushing around really. I spent my Birthday with The Who. Then, not even a week later, we followed Blackfield around a little as they played the east coast touring for their second album. Then, we went to see a band called Mew at the Black Cat in D.C.. Then, I was exhausted. I did have some time to put some finishing touches on the recording part of my next album and this month (April) I will start mixing it. I think I have decided on a title. I'm going to call it "The Music That Will Never Be Heard" because it almost seems like there has been a force preventing me for one reason or another from completing this project and I'm still not done. Hopefully, I will finish it before we have to do more rushing around.

In between all of this, I have been listening to some brand new music, mostly be way of download singles from the Internet. There are other things that I'm listening to as well. Here is what has been feeding my head:

SINGLES:
Rush - Far Cry (From forthcoming album "Snakes & Arrows" 5/1/07)
Marillion - See It Like A Baby (From forthcoming album "Somewhere Else" 4/9/07)
Tori Amos - Big Wheel (From forthcoming album American Doll Posse" 5/1/07)
The Ark- The Worrying Kind (From forthcoming album "Prayer For The Weekend" 4/11/07)
The Ark - Absolutely No Decorum (From forthcoming album "Prayer For The Weekend" 4/11/07)

ALBUMS:
Porcupine Tree - Fear Of A Blank Planet (Out on 4/24/07 I got it early, I have my connections)
Blackfield - Live At World Cafe Philadelphia 3-13-07 (Bootleg)
King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King (This album is older than God)
Genesis - Selling England By The Pound (This albums older than Jesus)
Mew - And The Glass Handed Kites (Yeah, I'm still liking this album a lot)

The Official Joining Of The Old Farts Club

Well, here it is. The very last hours of my 30's. You never get them back you know. My 30's were much better than my 20's or any time prior, so I will miss them and all that they brought me. As I move into uncharted territory known as my 40's, I have to say that I am not looking forward to it too much. The whole ‘wrinkles and expanding waistband thing...' Oh goody gumdrops!

Fortunately, the whole hair loss issue was over quite some time ago, but the whole ‘Am I a dirty old man if I look at guys that are younger than me' issue is really unsettling though. All of this, however, is trivial BS compared to the big issue. THE GREAT PILE UP.

Lately, I've been having these flashbacks. (No, not the acid kind or the kind in your dreams.) These memories of people and places and happenings in my life will just appear in my head for no apparent reason, almost like your life flashing before you, like what you are supposed to see as you are dying. I am slow though, so I haven't quite made it through all of the old videos in my memory banks yet. Some videos I really like a lot, and some I just hate, so I keep playing them over and over again and again in my head and not moving on to the next memory. I think that while doing this, I have actually prolonged my life. I should have died years ago. Most of peers did.

I wonder what has made me elude the death rider all these years. Do you suppose the Gods look down on me and just get a kick and a laugh as I shudder while thinking about myself when I younger and how certain things have really affected how I act to this day. I really don't trust much of the world around me. Almost instinctually, I am very much like a timid little animal, and I run away if anyone makes any sudden moves. Perhaps it's a survival technique that has kept me alive. Of course, if I was supposed to be dead years ago and I am still here, it makes me realize that I am treading on borrowed time and the jig is almost up. So, my response is, "May I please be excused? I am tired of watching old memory videos." And, the mystical voice from beyond always has the same answer. "Not until you finish filming all the new memories." Man, this sucks! I hate having to act in all these memories just so I can remember them later on. Wouldn't it be easier just to die? At any rate, I am still here at 40. So, look out. These battered wings can still kick up some dust.

I'm getting a little restless now that I realize that I am just the star of all my old memories. So, I may just take on a new role that is completely out of my character just because life is really boring, and I still have some time to kill before the death rider comes for me. So Bubala, let us seize the day and continue the endless rocking from cradle to grave.

February, 2007 Playlist

1. Various Artists - A Date With John Waters
   
2. Mew - Frengers
3. Mew - And The Glass Handed Kites
4. The Who - Endless Wire
5. The Ark - Absolutely No Decorum (downloaded single)
6. Melody Club - Music Machine
7. The Platters - The Best Of
8. Einsturzende Neubauten - Drawings Of O.T.
9. Porcupine Tree - Fear Of A Blank Planet/Sleep Together - (2 leaked forthcoming tracks)
10. Blackfield - Blackfield II