Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Dar and Iowa FRFF 2008

dar with Pete Seeger

The storm of Falcon Ridge 2008






Bruce in NJ (from backstreets)




July 28 / E. Rutherford, NJ / Giants Stadium
Notes: Night two at Giants Stadium, and another show to crack the three-hour mark, at 28 songs. Well, 29, if you count "Happy Birthday" -- more on that in a sec. In all, it was a more fun, upbeat show than opening night, with lots of goofing around from Bruce. Everyone was on top of their game, with some choice rarities and some special guests, too.

During "Summertime Blues" Bruce began the nightly sign collection -- "Send 'em down!" he chanted. Flipping through them after "Tunnel," he found one to his liking, for a song previously only played twice ever: "Held Up Without a Gun." "That's a good sign for Steve," he said, cackling, and went on: "I'm gonna dedicate this to what it cost you guys to drive here! We're getting screwed somehow... This song was written in 1980 -- and it was prophetic." After blasting through all two minutes of it, Bruce hollered, "Goodnight everybody! That said it all!"

But there were more goodies to come -- "Saint in the City" was next, and with some confusion about the key, it veered dangerously toward train-wreck territory... before Bruce and Steve shredded on an amazing guitar duel that salvaged it all and then some. As for guitar-work, Nils had a great night too -- most astoundingly, pulling off a forward somersault in the middle of his "Because the Night" solo, playing straight through.

Some intra-family dedications, as "Waitin' on a Sunny Day" went out to Sam and Evelyn -- "That's for my boy," Bruce reiterated at the end. After "Drive All Night" made its U.S. tour debut, an occasion in and of itself, Bruce added another dedication, turning to Patti to say, "Happy birthday, babe." To start the encore he encouraged a serenade, saying, "Tomorrow's my baby's birthday, so go right ahead..." The 50,000-strong New Jersey crowd offered up a weak rendition of "Happy Birthday." "That's terrible!" Bruce said, and so he sang it himself as the band joined in to play along. On the "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" that followed, Bruce came down to sing and dance with daughter Jessica, too.

"Detroit Medley" always rocks the house, but the real highlight of the encore was when Bruce said "We've got the next generation!" and welcomed Max's son, Jay Weinberg, who took over the kit for "Born to Run." Mighty ambitious, you might think... but mighty seems to run in the family. Jay kicked ass -- he's got the power, and Max looked on with pride.

One more after "American Land" ("I don't wanna hurt nobody -- I want everyone to go home happy!"), and tonight it was the stadium-wrecker, "Twist and Shout." Jesse Malin and Marah's Dave Bielanko came on stage for the show-closer, and the birthday girl was joined at the mic by Jessica and some of her friends. Garry's daughter was up there, too -- definitely familiy and friends night at Giants Stadium. Happy birthday, Patti!

Watch video from the show at NJ.com.
- photographs by A.M. Saddler

Setlist:
Out in the Street
Radio Nowhere
No Surrender
Two Hearts
The Promised Land
Hungry Heart
Summertime Blues
Tunnel of Love
Held Up Without a Gun
It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City
Sherry Darling
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
Because the Night
She's the One
Livin' in the Future
Mary's Place
Drive All Night
The Rising
Last to Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands
* * *
Girls in Their Summer Clothes
Thunder Road
Detroit Medley
Born to Run
Glory Days
American Land
Twist and Shout




Friday, July 25, 2008

Capricorn Horoscope for week of July 24, 2008

Capricorn Horoscope for week of July 24, 2008

Verticle Oracle card Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
I predict you will have 32 dreams as you sleep in the coming week. In at least five of those adventures, you will be offered a chance to wield a magic hammer like the one that belonged to the Norse god Thor. You're under no obligation to use it, of course. But if you do, it could help you smite dream adversaries, from stupid giants to evil ducks to rash-covered devils. You could also take advantage of it to build things, like a dream house or a dream boat. The proper use of the hammer will be a constant test, since you'll have to be ever-alert and adaptable as you decide whether to employ it for destruction or creation.

Rosanne Cash's Potato Salad

Bon Appetit in June of 2004. On the last page of the magazine they feature a 'celebrity' (a word that has lost all meaning in my not so humble opinion). In June it was Rosanne Cash. The interview is about food - the questions designed to change the world and bring peace for all time to the middle east i.e. 'what five ingredients are always in your refrigerator' or 'what do you make that everyone always raves about' - that sort of pithy dialog.

Rosanne's 'rave recipe' was her potato salad. This was odd - most of the previous 'celebrities' were trying to send a message with their 'rave' recipe, not Rosanne. I thought it was worthy of a try - and guess what. People raved!

Give it a shot - you'll enjoy it!



Rosanne Cash's Potato Salad

3 pounds medium red-skinned potatoes, unpeeled, scrubbed
8 dill pickle spears, coarsely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
3 celery stalks, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 medium red onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
5 hard-boiled eggs, peeled, chopped
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Cook potatoes in large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain; cool. Cut potatoes into 1-inch pieces and transfer to large bowl. Stir in pickles, celery, onion, eggs, mayonnaise, and mustard. Season potato salad to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.)

Rosanne mentions that you can play around with fresh herbs. In particular, she will often add 2/3 cup chopped, fresh cilantro and 2 tablespoons of curry powder -

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

 

 

 

 
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Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Friday, July 18, 2008

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Farber on Billy Joel

With nods to the Beatles, Billy Joel & pals play Shea stadium's last concerts

BY JIM FARBER
DAILY NEWS MUSIC CRITIC

Thursday, July 17th 2008, 4:00 AM

Billy Joel performs Wednesday night at the first of two concerts titled 'The Last Play at Shea: From the Beatles to Billy.' Click to see more pictures of the concert. Keivom/News

Billy Joel performs Wednesday night at the first of two concerts titled 'The Last Play at Shea: From the Beatles to Billy.

Forty-three years ago, the Beatles played the first concert at Shea Stadium. Wednesday night, Billy Joel played the last.

While he'd be quick to admit that the comparison isn't exactly flattering, the Piano Man still served as an apt, genial and energetic host for the stadium's send-off.

Joel's concert (with another on tap Friday) exuded just the right balance of nostalgia and local color for a place that holds deep memories for millions. Performing no song newer than 15 years old, with many older than 30, Joel pounded through his hummable catalogue with aplomb, affection and wit.

The show stressed a sense of place, opening with Joel belting "The Star-Spangled Banner" - and even clearing the most courageous notes. Then he launched into the apocalyptic fable "Miami 2017," a song that, despite its title, contains more references to this town than a full season of "Sex and the City."

To make up for the venue's Herculean scale, Joel leaned into his songs with extra muscle. Such flourishes helped make up for the fact that the stadium's video screens were woefully out of sync with the singing. Joel acknowledged his physical distance from the crowd but not the technical flub.

"In case you can't see me," he said, "I have long, golden hair."

Ever the crowd-pleaser, Joel stressed the hits. For the standard "New York State of Mind" he brought out guest Tony Bennett. John Mayer played guitar on "This Is the Time." He also invited Don Henley to bellow "Boys of Summer" and John Mellencamp to do "Pink Houses."

Joel wore the mantle of the stadium's historic closer with humility, expressing surprise at his longevity. But the melodic assurance of his music and his populist point of view account for that, despite how often the latter leads him into bombast and cliche.

On one level he actually bested the Beatles, though not in his few Beatles covers here. While in '65, fans could barely hear a thing, here the audio was impeccable. Aided by that, Joel's hits never sounded punchier.

jfarber@nydailynews.com

newsday reports in on Billy Joel

Billy Joel fans feast on music and mood at Shea concert

BY ALFONSO A. CASTILLO AND KEVIN AMORIM | alfonso.castillo@newsday.com; kevin.amorim@newsday.com
July 17, 2008

They packed the house and cheered. They sang along. Mostly, they seemed thrilled to be part of history.

The sellout crowd at Shea Stadium last night saw Billy Joel play the first of two shows this week that serve as a musical farewell to the ballpark, which is scheduled to be dismantled to make room for parking for Citi Field, opening next year.

The good times began hours before Joel opened with "The Star-Spangled Banner." It wasn't quite a scene from an Italian restaurant, but there was no shortage of food, drink and revelry in the Shea parking lot. Thousands of fans tailgated for hours under the blazing July sun.

"He's a Long Island hero - a Long Island treasure," said Barbara Kutcher of Malverne, who arrived around 4 for the 8 p.m. show and passed the time sharing a 3-foot chicken cutlet hero with friends. Kutcher, who caught her first Joel concert more than 20 years ago, bought her $100 tickets moments after they went on sale.

In the parking lot, the $30 spots - twice their usual cost - were quickly snapped up, as were high-priced souvenirs, including a $150 blue and orange baseball jersey with "Joel 08" printed on the back.

New York firefighter and Massapequa resident Rich Divine, who got his tickets as an anniversary gift from his girlfriend, Nikki Kerr, said Joel's specific appeal to Long Islanders comes from shared experience. "He's got all the money, all the fame," said Divine, who is also a Mets fan. "But you can still find him in the local watering holes in the Hamptons and Montauk."

Joel's between-song banter last night kept fans cheering. He asked whether they were Mets or Yankees fans, and said, "If you have to go to the bathroom, wait, wait - this is a good one" before launching into the baseball-themed "Zanzibar."

Last Play at Shea


By JON PARELES
Published: July 17, 2008

Maybe it takes a strayed New Yorker to truly cherish New York City. Billy Joel, who was born in the Bronx and became the quintessential Long Island songwriter, was flanked by New York cityscapes and video backdrops on the Shea Stadium stage Wednesday night. It was the first of Mr. Joel’s two “Last Play at Shea” shows, which are to be the final concerts there before it is demolished.

Because of the baseball games that fill Shea Stadium in the summers, it has never been a regular stop for rock tours. More Photos »

Mr. Joel played to two kinds of local pride. “This is where New York meets Long Island,” he said with a smile. “Queens — politically, that’s New York City. But geographically, we are on Long Island.” In a three-hour concert dotted with guest stars, Mr. Joel hinted that a long pop career — like his — can parallel the life of a city, full of pleasures and disappointments, triumphs and mistakes, changes and tenacity.

Mr. Joel hasn’t released an album of new pop songs since 1993, but he charged into his catalog like a trouper, with two-fisted piano playing and a voice that turned the grain of an older singer into stadium-sized vehemence — usually a decent tradeoff.

Mr. Joel, 59, doesn’t pretend to be anything but grown up. Fans in distant stadium seats got the first video close-up of his grizzled face and balding head as he sang “Angry Young Man,” the skeptical song about youthful self-righteousness that he wrote back in the 1970s. Late in the show, he played rock star for a little while, knocking around a microphone stand in “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me,” and putting some Jerry Lee Lewis growls and whoops into “You May Be Right.”

Mr. Joel’s music spans the styles of New York City before hip-hop, from classical Tin Pan Alley to doo-wop to Irish-American waltzes to big-band jazz to soul to rock. At Shea, his band was expanded with strings and horns. Amid the hefty chords, classical arpeggios and splashes of honky-tonk, his hits send melodies climbing toward well-turned choruses that, countless radio plays later, just sound inevitable. The tunes work so neatly as pop that they can make Mr. Joel’s songs seem less hard-nosed than they often are.

Mr. Joel sang cynically about a musician’s life in songs like “The Entertainer” and “Zanzibar,” and he sang about crushed hopes in songs like “Allentown,” “The Downeaster ‘Alexa,’ “ “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant” and “Goodnight, Saigon,” a power ballad about Vietnam for which he was joined by a chorus of soldiers in uniform.

But New York itself was often the concert’s muse. Mr. Joel brought Tony Bennett out to join him in “New York State of Mind,” and they pushed each other toward flamboyantly jazzy vocal turns. Other songs were filled with New York City memories and locales. There were baseball references, too; he added a line about the Mets and Shea to the borough-hopping song “Miami 2017.”

Mr. Joel’s concert presented his New York City as a place full of romantic possibilities that, like ballparks, won’t last forever. He recalled that Shea was built while he was a teenager. “Now they’re going to tear it down,” he mused, “and I’m still playing.”

Shea Stadium is no CBGB. Its musical cachet has nothing to do with atmosphere, aesthetics or acoustics (although Mr. Joel’s sound system was first-rate; the concert was being filmed for a documentary). Shea gained its musical reputation directly from the Beatles, whose concert there in August 1965 showed the world that rock’s audience had grown by an order of magnitude. No wonder Mr. Joel sang “A Hard Day’s Night” with John Lennon inflections in his voice — though he inserted it between verses of his own “River of Dreams.” He returned to the Beatles to finish his two-and-a-half hour main set with “Please Please Me.”

Shea never became part of a regular stadium rock circuit, partly because its summer season is filled with baseball games. (Giants Stadium holds most of the stadium shows in the New York City area.) So the relatively few concerts at the stadium still bask in a Beatles afterglow. When the Police played their farewell concert at Shea Stadium in 1983, they thanked the Beatles. On Wednesday night, Mr. Joel became the only musician ever to headline all three area stadiums: Yankee, Giants and Shea.

Mr. Joel apologized to audience members who had bought tickets for Wednesday’s show expecting it to be Shea’s very last; after some boos he said the second show, on Friday, was added after the first sold out, and was the date offered by the Mets organization.

Guest stars seized their last chance to perform at Shea. John Mayer squeezed off bluesy guitar solos for “This Is the Time.” Don Henley picked up the night’s baseball theme with his own “Boys of Summer.” John Mellencamp added some lines about the current price of gasoline to his song “Pink Houses.” But it was a night for New York, a place where a pop hook can outlast a stadium of concrete and steel.

“I want to thank the Beatles for letting us use their room. Best band that ever was, best band that ever will be!” Mr. Joel shouted near the end, before belting one more Beatles song: “She Loves You.” But Mr. Joel seized his own last word: “Piano Man,” with a new introduction: “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” The stadium crowd sang along on both. But his finale was quiet: “Every year’s a souvenir,” he sang, “that slowly fades away.”

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Capricorn Horoscope for week of July 10, 2008

Capricorn Horoscope for week of July 10, 2008

Verticle Oracle card Capricorn (December 22-January 19)
"Ice cream is both innocent and erotic," writes Klintron on Technoccult.com. "Coffee promises to be both stimulating and relaxing." These examples illustrate the idea of "paradessence," or paradoxical essence, which was developed by Alex Shakar in his novel The Savage Girl. I suspect that you'll specialize in paradessence in the coming days, Capricorn. Will that make you feel tormented by crazy-making contradictions or will it excite you with an expanding sense of complex possibilities? It will be largely up to your intentions. Which would you prefer?