dancingfool

Oh!! The "Air Guitar" guy! Yeah, I saw him. As impossible to miss as me. I just couldn't see the colour of his hair. ("Okay, men, don't dance until you can see the colour of their hair...") Thanks!

I'll be there. It should undo the last kinks of the previous evening's fun. (And add a whole slew of new kinks...)

In Ms H's defence, I was also slow to warm up to them. Nice groove, but not as tight as Nero had just been. Then again, that was a ultra tight show ("Make Way for Ultra-Tight Nero, champion of 'kicking ass all over the place'!") and I was still coming down from it.

It took about 20 minutes to really get a feel for them and what they were doing. But I was able to rest and just watch, easily, and take some pics. (Don't know how they've come out yet.)

So what's that Whitey Jam bradM talked about? I've no idea, since I was in the middle of it all...

Well, I was there... kinda difficult not to notice me... I really tried hard this time to keep to one place (by the pillar) and do my own little thing and stay put.

Yeah, suuuure. 401 Theme's midsection blast reeled me in. It got kind of hazy after that, and without any smoking.

AGP started in a different direction, had a sweet sound of horns and keyboard well meshed with the guitars and drums (almost pared down drums most of the time, using fewer beats but making them count), and I kinda ended up in the same place. (all over the freaking dance floor, in the Zone, in my own little cosmos, take your pick, I've heard most of them...)

A shame I had to leave at 1am, but I still needed to sleep - I have more dancing ahead tonight...

I'm definitely interested in getting a copy of last night's taping...

BSI is a killer venue. Evening show, though, and I'm working the next day (the fun of working in Hull). Hmmm. And I'd have to drive back. Definite iffy, but I _want_ to... No prices are listed, either, and tix at BSI vary widely...

The Babylon ad in the XPress states $8...

According to Celtae's own web site, they feel they'll be on stage at 9:30. But their info could be less recent than yours...

It's not a quintuple bill if it's on different nights. I know about Nero/AGP, and I'm glad Nero is only opening... What time's good for that night, anyway?

It depends - will Ms. Hux be there? And it won't matter how tired I am, if Celtae gets into good instrumentals... off I'll go.

And I have many other things to prepare and deadlines for the weekend, which is another reason I can't go to Muffin.

Good points, Maddak. I guess then it becomes necessary to keep batteries in everything, as per my original statement.

So O'Hare is more strict - will keep that in mind too. Not that I ever want to go to O'Hare again, but... At Newark, they took out my discman, videocamera and digital camera from my carry-on, barely looked at them and didn't ask me to turn them on. They were more conscious of laptops. (Those should be already on by the time you _get_ to security...)

Popes are chosen/elected/whatever for life.

Thanks, Dave-O, for the start time info. I was gong to ask point-blank about that. So heading to B's for 8:30 seems fine, I should still have a space near the dance floor.

With those two bands, I shouldn't leave said dance floor for long. Two different styles of dancing in one night. Yay!

No muffin for me after, I'll be too ragged...

While I agree the treatment was strange, and that the security people must have had at least _some_ idea what was in there... it just goes to show: never put batteries in checked luggage. And unless it's necessary not to, take them out of whatever they were inserted in.

I just went through Newark security last week and think I got off very lightly. Some middle-age caucasian men were being almost strip-searched right at security... belts undone, shoes off, pockets slowly emptied, the hand wand inserted between clothes and body... they're not kidding around there. (All I did was forget to take all electronics out of my luggage prior to the xray machine and put them in the little containers. Even batteries.)

Playing Devil's Advocate here, but... Remember that the audience the guy's writing for are not "jamband enthusiasts", so describing the long and intricate jams was necessary. This said, judging the state of the scene from the number of empty seats (as opposed of taken seats) is a hasty thing to do. OTOH, reporters no longer have the time to do any kind of meaningful research, so they interpret with what they find. About the only thing to do is write a short, insightful, polite and corrective letter to the editor...

An honest question I had while reading responses… do drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, alcohol or others of such recreational useage reach their altered consciousness by rearranging the chemical processes of the brain, or by adding to them a substance which is the sole reason the high is achieved? I’m actually guessing it’s probably a mix of the two, but if the altering agent is what’s necessary to create the modified brain, it logically explains the varying amounts of drug necessary for different people to achieve the same effect a number of people here desire when going to a show: to be “into” the music, as opposed to listening to it as if you were home and it were a CD. (And I’ll be making a contribution to the Massacred Grammar Fund once this post is over. Sorry. )

The main point I gleam from drug users is that the effects adds, not just enhances, to the experience; Weezy’s ice cream (straight) with toppings (drugs) seems as apt an analogy as can be, and resumes well other opinions I’ve heard through my life. It would certainly make sense, both physiologically, subjectively and psychologically.

…so why do I feel like I have a ton of toppings drifting through my music anyways?.. Though they may be less sharply defined… The important point: They’re fine with me. Charlie said it well: it’s all about the pursuit of happiness. How we reach it is personal (due to convictions, biology, metabolism), but I think we actually respect each’s way to it. At concerts, I definitely get that feeling.

(I think I would be scary on mind-further-altering substances; I’m one of those people you would not want to see on caffeine, unless you were two klicks away behind lead glass… arcane and bradm can definitely confirm this.)

Two small things - I think the right-wing/puritan sentiment was continued from the British settlers' time, not born in the USA per se, though it has its strongest proponents there now; and I believe it's possible for one to have at least some (small) idea of an experience through vicarious means. In other words, learn from other people's experiences and/or mistakes.

I guess I'm just lucky I don't need drugs to achieve the altered state of consciousness I get when dancing like I do to Nero, D&T, EtH. But there's no denying I do achieve such a state. It's not the same as those taking a hit, but it's one nonetheless. Ask Ms Hux, bradm, arcane, or others who've seen me dance.

As I've been to Burlington a few times, I can say this looks pretty easy, and avoids downtown Montreal and the Décarie boulevard:

- 417 East/40 East once in Québec

- 13 South to the end (it's a sharp left turn)

- 20 East, not for very long

- Follow signs for 15 South/10 East/Pont Champlain Bridge

- Follow the 10 East (or South) until exit 22

- Take Highway 35 South; in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, it becomes Route 133.

- Route 133 zigzags a little, you may have to make turns, but follow the indications

- Route 133 becomes I-89 past the border, and it takes you straight down to Burlington.

So in short: 417/40E - 13S - 20E - 10E(S) - 35S/133-I89. Five highways. They can be followed on any decent road map.

Well, personally, the only drug I ever ingest is alcohol, and in severe moderation. But I don't necessarily frown on those who take other drugs, as long as they're responsible about it. I haven't seen a problem at any of the nugget shows I attended, for example; yet I get annoyed at the adults who imbibe a lot and talk loudly outside my window until 3 am.

I can definitely see how some mind-altering substance can enhance one's enjoyment of a concert; and if you don't intend to dance, then heavy stuff seems quite doable. For me, as I dance, I must maintain both complete control of my body to dance and not careen into other people (doing the responsible thing), and still be able to access the band's energy.

I seem to be strange in that I don't need anything to do this acces to the level I attain. The few times I did try alcohol before dancing have met with failure (beer is a complete no-no as it fizzes fiercely in the stomach; the D&T/GTB gig had me going all-out with a shot in me, and getting sick due to it), so I just eat enough to get energy to keep going, and then plug myself on the band for the evening.

Different drugs react differently in different bodies. If it works, no problem. That's my take.

I'll stick to English shows for this board...

For developing my knowledge of English, I'd love to check again episodes of Write On!, Eureka (great science primers), and The Electric Company.

But, hands-down, the show I'd watch probably as avidly now as then would be any and every episode of Vision On, the British show originally for deaf children which opened my brain to imagination (and origami).

The pogo-like-a-madman act was strictly due to the drummer's intense groove and layered textures. Yowza. At times I didn't know how to move, with the different rhythms each of the drums, bass and guitar. Other times, I tried to cop at look at Ms Hux' booty to glom some simple moves which still elude me. I wish I could just shuffle along sometimes... I guess I'm not a shuffle demon.

For those wondering, I have danced harder than Nero last night, twice: at my second Drums and Tuba show at the Z, and one of the Enter the Haggis shows somewhen...

So Nero was indeed less intense than they can be? I figured, seeing them near zombies when they walked in before the show. This promises for my next time.

And yes, I bought the CD.

I tried to hold back... honest I did... but Nero is so... so... danceable!

I was new to both bands.

Ferriswheeler warmed up the afternoon (not that it really needed any more warming up, but as the weather got hotter during the evening, one never knows) well enough with their set, sadly without any dancing. The mood seemed just a tad off for it, and I was lazying in the couches at the back with bradm, just absorbing the good vibes. I'll be back for more of that good stuff.

The BBQ burgers were, I must say, perfectly cooked and quite tasty. And no, it wasn't just because I hadn't eaten all day.

As for the second act:

I like Nero.

No more need be said, those who were there (nice to meet more of you!) can vouch.

The Canadians Smarties are the British original chocolate-covered candies; the US couldn't import them or decided to try making them better and failed, ending up with M&Ms...

The US Smarties are what we call Rockets, the sour pills in little wrapped 'tubes'.

Stuff I rarely find up here: Sunkist Fruit Gems, and IBC root beer. And Tropical Fruit Shnapps, tastes like sugar and kicks you later.

On-topic: Regular Kraft smooth. I don't eat it often enough to warrant the better all-natural PB from, say, Herb and Spice.

Off-topic: Marmite is made from beer yeast, the leftovers from the distilleries if I remember correctly. It's powerful and the "marmite soldier" is a very very thin layer of Marmite on a large piece of toast. You don't put enough on to lose sight of the bread. Vegemite is vegetable-based yeast, and is used the same way. Both pack a bunch of nutrients, and if nothing else, make kick-ass broth starters... (Credentials: my dad had a marmite sandwhich as part of the exact same lunch for 30 years, so I grew up with it. Tasted it once. Haven't had the cojones to get a jar all to myself, but then again, I don't dare much in life. Except dancing.)

Arabic would sound right with that type of band and names, and yes, it packs a wallop emotionally. I've listened to my share of arabic pop and middle-eastern songs in the last year, and the things some of them can do... Yeah.

Note to self: when I next bump completely fortuitously late at night into Bradm going to a concert, drop everything and accompany him. It's my timing telling me something.

One art form for another? Heck, there's an easy example: dancing about music. Dancing FOR music. Dancing TO music. Are all three interchangeable?

I have a probably rationally irrational need to dance to music. Mostly because I want to contribute and not sponge off, and it's a way many musicians have appreciated to have their energy returned amplified to them. The dance can be freeform (as some have seen at D&T) or more controlled (I study some folk dancing styles), but both stem from the music. Yet I don't think they describe the music, they add to it.

Talking about music can be done in a purely technical manner for some of its aspects: one chord followed by these notes followed by another chord. Talking about Music seems another matter, difficult to do with technical, careful descriptions, but more through poetry and imagery to try and approximate in its ensemble a portion of a feeling approaching that which was experienced, the verbal striving for the non-verbal, such as bradm's descriptions of Nero at babylon. I wasn't there but I felt something of what happened.

Then again, I've been dubbed an empath...