Velvet

Oh yeah, my friend Jason has four of them, two that work and you can duel with. He made one of the other ones. Anyway, they are as amazing as you think they'd be; way fun. We were dueling last summer on his balcony, much to the delight of passers-by. I raved for days about it. Certainly a case of living a childhood dream. Or shall I say, continuing it.

Fishbone is coming to Barrymores.

Ultimate bar band trio:

Hendrix- guitar

Jaco- bass

Brian Blade- drums

I would never ever stop listening, until I went totally insane.

Possibly the loudest imaginable trio:

Buddy Bolden- trumpet

Roy Hargrove- trumpet

Dizzy- trumpet

I would almost immediately stop listening, before I went deaf.

Lastly, the trio I would rather hear over all others:

About 5 years ago the oldest known cave paintings were found. They depicted three musicians and a conductor. The musicians were playing a drum, a bagpipe and a tuba. Remains of the bagpipe, made out of an animal bladder, and the tuba, made of a large animal tusk, were found on site.

Now that would have been an interesting jam.

Let's go Belarus! (currently beating Sweden 2-1)

Tonight: Canada 1,000,000 Finland 2

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." -HST

On another note, I agree that Mondays suck, but my Monday isn't 'til Wednesday, so today is Saturday for me, and Saturdays sure don't suck. I finally got a night's sleep, just got up at 2.

Hey all. Yup, THAT Dave Holland, the guy who played with Miles Davis on Bitches Brew and more. I saw the show last year and it was astounding. Every player is stellar and makes you wish you had ten eyes and 37 ears to fully appreciate what's going on.

Here's the official press release:

The University Committee on Cultural Activities (UCCA) presents:

THE DAVE HOLLAND QUINTET

Dave Holland - bass

Steve Nelson - vibes

Robin Eubanks - trombone

Chris Potter - alto & soprano sax

Billy Kilson - drums

Saturday March 2/02, 8:00pm

Alumni Theatre (Southam Hall), Carleton University, Ottawa

Info/map: http://www.carleton.ca/ims/alth05.html, tel. 613/520-3821

Tickets are $30 in advance, on sale Tuesday February 12/02 at:

The Ottawa Folkore Centre (1111 Bank at Sunnyside, 613/730-2887)

& InfoCarleton (cash only, 4th floor Unicentre, Carleton University, 613/520-7400)

Day of show, tickets will be available at the door between 7-8pm for $35

(assuming the performance has not sold out)

Doors open at 7:30pm

Dave Holland’s critically-acclaimed, award-winning Quintet makes its second visit to Ottawa in support of their latest ECM recording "Not for Nothing". Featuring the legendary jazz bassist/composer in the company of four renowned improvisers (all band leaders in their own right), this performance is not to be missed!

Get your tickets early as their last concert sold out!

CDs available for sale after the performance

For detailed Dave Holland Quintet bios visit: http://www.daveholland.com/

Where are you folks? Chatham, Ontario? Chatham, New Brunswick? Maybe nero near you is a good idea.

nero @ Café Dekcuf, Ottawa, Ont.

nero's first hometown gig in two months and their first time at the ‘new Whipping Post'. You just knew this was gonna be a great night. I walked up those stairs with some trepidation because the Post was an institution, sacred even. I mean, never has there been a person who loved live music more than Brother Lance, the daddy of the Post, and that bar hosted some of the finest musical moments Ottawa had seen; the place had heavy history and heavy vibe. The Whipping Post was the surrogate home to local legends Miss Grundy, Bob Loblaw, The Boogiemen, and, of course, nero, who played their first show (and many, many others) there. I was afraid that the new owners might be guilty of blasphemy. Well, no worries there, friends, they've done a great job with the place, and the Café Dekcuf is poised to become a legend in it's own right.

The place packed out in a big way; the fire marshall woulda popped an artery. nero mounted the stage and pounded back their traditional pre-show Jager shots and kicked off a first set that Brad described as "sounding like a second set." The loudest screams came when the boys jammed Peaches en Regalia into 401 Theme to close out the set, and by this time the place was so full the audience looked like a single mass of friendly. The bar essentially emptied during setbreak, a trend that I find healthy, wholesome, and invigorating, and a hazy crowd shuffled in for the second set. Gordon's Revenge started of the set. I always love to hear this one, especially for Shane's unrelenting bada-badump-ba-da, bada-badump-ba-da bass line that just keeps going...and going... and going... Second set also had one of the best sing-alongs to The Pumpkin Song (nero's only song with lyrics) I've heard, and featured their new tune Lemondust, which was debuted in Kingston the night before. Lemondust into 3rd Stone was sweet.

The crowd hadn't diminished by a soul when the encore ended, and I'm sure all were in agreement that the night rocked hard. Great bar, great staff, great crowd, great band, primo night.

Quote of the day (heard constantly as people came in): "Holy shit, this place looks amazing!"

I

Tonto's

Wata Bug

Flurmy>

Miko Mard

Centregnome

Peaches en Regalia>

401 Theme

II

Gordon's Revenge>

The Pumpkin Song

Condor

Lemondust>

Third Stone From The Sun>

Wispy Mountain Wonder

Oregano Mice

Chocolate Monkey Machine

e: Holetown Charlie

Freeway Jam

nero w/???@ Scherzo, Kingston, Ont.

Hard to believe, but this was nero's first show in Kingston - essentially Ottawa's backyard. The Scherzo is a nice room and Kingston's a great town full of beautiful people, and a lot of folks caught nero for the very first time. That being said, a great crowd of people came down from Ottawa (and, is it Smiths Falls all you other folks are from?) and managed to control the dance floor (and the beer taps) all night. nero started late and played a solid first set. Their Herbie Hancock cover of Chameleon stretched into new levels of improv for the guys; playing with rhythm and abandoning structure completely before bringing it back home. Nice to hear. A huge crowd (cloud?) of conspiciaety gathered for communion outside during the setbreak, and soon nero launched into a stellar second set that was capped with a first-time performance of their new tune, Lemondust. This set got as heavy as Metlicca (fr. sp.) at times, and was really just a massive sweaty good time for all. Tonight's two stars are: Jay, for rocking really, really hard, and Brad, for performing some of the best dancing-while-seated I've seen in a while.

I'll be kind and refrain from mentioning the opening band, except to say that the lead guitarist is gonna be really big some day.

All too soon a carload of us were on the road, with yours truly at the helm, trusty chocolate milk and untainted liver in tow. All too soon my alarm went off and rudely reminded me that my decrepit, sleep deprived mind had to go to work and educate the masses. For now.

Quote of the day (to everyone). "You wanna buy our cd? It's only three bucks."

I

Wispy Mountain Wonder

Chameleon>

Basheeba>

Centregnome>

Miko Mard

401 Theme

II

Holetown Charlie>

Oregano Mice

Condor

Wata Bug

El-Vez

Speed Queen

Lemondust

Unfortunately I don't know the answer to that question. I can find out when I get there, all I can say is try it. Or maybe don't ask, 'cuz I refuse to check id, though I assume the bar will have someone doing that.

Yeah, the website.

Oh, and yes, after a little nap I'm sure I'll be way, way stoked for tonight's show. Betcha this one will be something special.

Hey Andrew, I'll be working the door tonight. Talk to me about the web stuff.

Yup, 'nother great nero show, and the four of us made it back safe 'n sound. Stardate update coming soon.

Lemondust rocks. Yes, it does.

Must wake up in 4.5 hours and teach. Ugh, see y'all at Dekcuf.

Oh yeah, symphonies rock. I work for the NAC here in Ottawa and I love it. Especially like hearing them warm up. Talk about space.

So, who's picked up tickets to Herbie Hancock/New Deal March 24 in Montreal? I got mine, and I swear to god I'll get there early enough to get a seat. I've never sat down at Metropolis.

How 'bout it? How many people on this train?

Y'know, I saw these guys, was it last year? It was a great show, and again, because of Neil. I've seen CSN before and they play like "Hey, I'm N of CSN and no matter how I play, people will eat it up." At CSNY it was more like "Jeses, Y is playing like he's auditioning for his first record contract, I'm gonna look like an idiot if I don't try a little harder." Because of that vibe and the absurd pricing I encountered, I gave it a pass this time. I have records if I want nostalgia.

Glad it was a good show, Neil always rocks.

Yeah, Admission, and despite what they tell you on the phone, there is no outlet at the Rideau Ctr. $43 total per ticket. General admission and the only Cdn stop on this tour.

See y'all there!

Hey all. If you're interested, Dave from nero will be interviewed on CKCU (93.1 fm) this morning at around 11:30.

And congrats to the nero lads for appearing on the campus charts for the first time (CIUT in Toronto). All Canadian campus stations now have a copy of is it morning? so I'm sure more will follow suit.

And deli trays. Wantum deli trays, yup.

Hey Brad, I'll see you there! I got a full car and we're driving back after the show. Gotta work Saturday morning dammit.

nero's first show in Kingston? Wouldn't miss it.

Last summer I went to the Rock & Roll Museum in Cleveland (which is amazing - go if you're in the area) and there were 5 Jerry guitars. And the coolest thing was they were pretty much the only things in the place that you could take a picture of. No camereas inside and the Jerry guitars aren't officially inside, they're in the lobby. Pretty cool to see all five of them close up. If I had the technology I'd scan in some photos for y'all, but I am computerly incapacitable.

"Roche Starr and the Reallyreally Wantits"

Though, embarrassingly, I've appeared in similar band shots.

Could somebody please tell someone in nero to call me? It's urgent. They have my #.

Call me guys, I think I know what's wrong.

Where are you staying? Heard you cancelled your reservation.

This morning I awoke to CKCU playing Funkytown, by Lipps Inc. Wow, did that make my day.

If I'm in the car and Panama by VH comes on, I pull over. If I don't I will get a speeding ticket, guaranteed.

If I really want a good morning, I put on Picture of Nectar, really loud. Good thing I got good neighbors.