2012 Live Shows

01.27-28
THE GATHERING - Prestatyn, Wales
The Alarm
The Men They Couldn't Hang
The Last Republic

Another great time in Wales; however, the addition of Steve Norman (Spandau Ballet) on sax, tambourine, percussion, and guitar made one weird addition to the Alarm. I liken it to putting whipped cream and a cherry on top of a perfectly good steak. No thank you.


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02.27
Glen Matlock 
Hugh Cornwell
@ Three Kings - Denver, CO


At the Gathering in 2011, Glen Matlock doing his solo thing, and I became a big fan of that. Last night, he played a great gig a small bar in Denver with Clem Burke (Blondie) who is easily one of the greatest drummers ever. I volunteered for Love Hope Strength and really enjoyed the show. Missing was guitarist James Stevenson (also of the Alarm) whose wife is having surgery. Wishing her a speedy recovery!

I think I was in a unique position as a fan of only Glen's solo career with no knowledge of the musical catalog of his former bands the Sex Pistols or the Rich Kids. 


Headlining was Hugh Cornwell (the Stranglers) who Randy enjoyed more than I did, but I did get his comparisons to early Pretenders and there were definitely some cool musical moments there. I am a bigger fan of Glen's. 


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The Men in Falling Jeans

This is a random interruption from my vacation tales, but today I found a piece of paper that I had jotted down some notes on. I was listening to an NPR interview with Hisham Matar, the author of a novel called Anatomy of a Disappearance. 


The author was saying that in Libya, the revolution was sometimes informally called "the revolution of the young men in falling jeans" because so many of those involved were young men. It was astounding to me that a trend as stupid as wearing your pants halfway down your butt had made it to Libya and may even be seen as a sign of Western-style freedom. Seriously, of all the cultural ideas you could adopt from America...you're just gonna show me your underwear?

Hashim's father opposed Khadaffi, and moved the family to Egypt but at some point, he was taken, arrested, tortured, and disappeared without trial. Hashim says he feels the deepest connection with those in small Irish fishing villages whose fathers fished alone and disappeared at sea. It isn't a kinship that my brain would necessarily leap to, but it makes a lot of sense.

For him, the connection and understanding is in the idea that one cannot give up hope until they know and at some point, certainty may become more desirable than hope. I have added the book to my reading list and am trying to figure out if there is a song I could write in there...or if it would just be a re-hash of "Hope is All I Have."