We went to see the old standbys, the Moody Blues last night at Saratoga. This band was always one of my favorites, although this was the first time I’d seen them in person. In brief, the show was great with a good mix of old and new songs. Only three of the original Blues are still in the band-- Guitar, Bass and Drums, and the rest of the personnell included two women for some vocal variety (one played flute, guitar too) and for some reason a second drummer.
Sign that we’re aging-- the drummer commented that when he saw all the white hair and beards in the audience, he thought he was at a Santa Claus convention. He also asked “Remember when our hair was brown and our teeth were white?”. Sigh..
Actually, only Graeme Edge is an original member. Before their incarnation as a prog rock band, they were an R&B outfit for several years and even had a hit with a cover of Bessie Banks’ ‘Go Now.’ Their first (recorded) singer/guitarist was actually Denny Laine who played for years with Wings.
I’m probably the only person on earth who preferred the original band and style. I might even be the only person on earth who remembers the original band and style.
Tom and I were at an old time festival, and got into an “off to the side” jam with an elderly lady playing guitar, an upright bass, a fiddle and a dobro. We thought we were going to be playing old time or blue grass, but the lady started playing old rock songs (she’d say “I know you know this one” and start into playing, and she had a fantastic voice).
The dobro player started whispering some chord to me to play - and it was “Nights in White Satin”!
So I learned to play the Moody Blues on a dulcimer at an old time festival from a dobro player!!!
Many old rockers are still playing around and often in small venues. Our favorite story is going to see Big Brother and the Holding Company at a local small theatre a few years ago. They have a young woman from Mississippi singing lead. She’s not so much imitating Janis as singing the same songs. She has a big voice, powerful voice. It works. They have also added a young guitar player to handle the fast parts. And the original band members — well they looked like they’d wandered off the retirement home. The base player, I don’t know his name, did most of the talking and was wearing plaid pants and a white vinal belt, worn very high. It might have been a goof, but listening too him, I don’t think so.
The opening act was the Becky Chace Band from Providence RI. Great young rock band. All of us middle-aged couples bought their cd on the break. All original, very good. The thing about Big Brother and the Holding Company is they borrowed all their equipment from Becky Chace. It seems they just fly around the country with a few guitars (1 each - no guitar wrangler) and that’s it. The drummer used the Becky Chace drum set.
It was a fun evening. Some good young rock and some slightly bizarre, but not bad, old rock.
Sometimes it can be pretty sad when old bands tour far past their prime. Back in the 80’s I saw BTO in a small bar in Binghampton, NY. We wondered why they were playing such a small venue but we were only kept in suspense until their first number. They showed up an hour late, had set up enough equipment to play a stadium, and proceeded to pelt the audience with off-key vocals and untuned instruments at painful volumes.
We left after two numbers and we weren’t the only ones, or even the first ones, to leave. When they finally started there were about 400 people packed into a bar that probably could hold 100 comfortably. I bet within twenty minutes they’d cleared the place.
It’s a Beautiful Day! David LaFlamme was a great fiddle player back then, but he’s even better now. Ironically, his wife is named Linda, but it’s not the same Linda he was married to when the band first started.
My experience is that many bands do get better with 15-30 yrs of practice. They may not be better more creative musicians, but they are better performers. Sadly as outofbreath suggests, that’s not always the case.
I have IABD’s “Live in Seattle” album, which was made about two or three years ago, and is proof that this band still has what it takes. All their old stuff (e.g. “White Bird”) still sounds great, and there are a couple of Santana-like jazz jams that I really enjoy.
Hey, waitamint! I’m probably the only person on earth who preferred Fleetwood Mac before they got that Stevie Nicks/Lindsey Buckingham duo. Still can’t stand that voice of hers. I liked Christine McVie, even though I think her voice may be shot.
A razor thin line between Prog Rock being enjoyable or horribly pretentious. I always thought it was weird that supposedly, the only way a hip person could enjoy the classics was if somebody added a drum track. I blew hot and cold for EL&P and am now somewhat embarrassed to have ever owned a Rick Wakeman record. I think the MB’s always had a certain dignity or perhaps integrity to their music and I still respect 'em.
Lucky for them the rest of the world prefers their later stuff. They wouldn’t be around now still playing R&B. They’d have broken up around 1967 like every other R&B group that couldn’t manage a hippy makeover. They seem to be doing just fine without my patronage.
When it comes to prog, I prefer the more jazzy, folky and outright electronic bands to the classical-with-drum-kit variety.
Talk about old performers; I’m going to see Bob Dylan in August.
The guy is 64 years old and some would say he never had a voice to begin with. When I heard he was coming, I didn’t think it would be very good. But some people said they saw him about 4 years ago and that he did a bang-up job. I guess if you’re a professional entertainer, you can pull it off by emphasizing your strengths.
Another group that is coming through is CS&N but that’s another one I’m a little suspect of. But I’d rather go see them than 50 Cent…
We saw them a few years ago. Crosby can still sing by himself. The harmonies are okay but with much less range. Stills can still play. Young was with them and he can still play.
Wierdest show I’ve seen lately was Eagles big tour a few years ago. They performed okay. They aren’t my favorite band but my wife loves them.
For the entire first half of the show the apparent point of origin for the sound system was near the ceiling in the opposite end of the arena. It was very strange to see the band perform while the sound came from above and behind the audience. They fixed it during the break.
The other odd decision was to black out the stage and arena between songs. They’d play an old hit well. The audience would be excited, cheering, happy etc. Song ends, All goes black. Energy disapates. Arena gets quiet, still… Lights come up. New song and they have start all over again getting the crowd into the song. Hard on the band and the crowd. Good moments, but not a very good concert.
What do you think about the “Celtic” prog bands (e.g. Wolfstone, Mouth Music, Afrocelts)?
There are also a few good “psychedelic” Celtic bands (Bohinta, Broceliande, Avalon Rising), all of which are recommended listening for IABD fans. AR’s “Perilous Garde” and “Reborn” are also recommended listiening for Moody Blues fans. Bohinta is especially hallucinogenic.
