An update, 'cause I feel like maybe there oughtta be one. I should warn you... this will be vague.
I've gotten used to just doing stuff and not talking or writing much about it. I used to blog the blow-by-blow on all my projects; then I'd have to deal publicly with the mess whenever somebody dropped the ball, or my subatomic attention span spun me towards something new.
I like this way better. You (and by you I mean you) never know what's coming. Stuff happens (a video, for example)... then I blog.
(Vague) spoiler alert...
- NEW: I have new gear. All-new sounds. Two brand new keyboards, plus I have reacquired old synths I'd sold or given away. Every sound I ever used on a recording is again available to me, plus a shitload of awesome new ones.
- I'm switching back to the keytar for live. The Rebellion has added a couple of WCYF-era Collider songs to the set; after grinding through several shows with both guitar and full keyboard, I've decided to ditch the guitar and the board and bring back the AX-1. Apparently all the kids are using them these days, which I think is pretty funny. I was first and frankly, unless somebody else wants to try playing Angel Dust in its entirety on a keytar without missing a note, I remain the best.
What I am not good at is playing the guitar. That is best left to experts.
- The Crash Mansion gig was fuckin great. So many people I hadn't seen at a show in years... it was like a CB's Gallery night. Boston, DC and PA were all good gigs, too. I regret not posting about them sooner. I do have a bunch of photos to put up. I will.
- No more Congregation Of Vapors. I need to concentrate on the Rebellion right now. This will be reflected in the Eschatone release schedule sooner or later, I'm sure.
- My magazine covers are getting better, I think. Plus I've laid out almost two hundred pages in the last month - four full magazines and four supplements - and managed to come out of it without another pneumonia.
- I got to take a tour of the closed City Hall subway station. You can actually see it if you stay on the downtown 6 train after the last stop - it loops through the City Hall station to turn back uptown. I was able to get out and walk around with the place lit up... gorgeous archways, skylights and vaulting. I have photos from that to put up as well.
I would like to add a cryptic "Rise and Shine!" and also inform you that Brian Dewan's first Humanitarium record is fuckin incredible. I have heard it, yes (and even had the honor of helping Brian with the Digipak layout). Eventually someone will update the Eschatone site but the release date is November 13, not October whatever.
Thereīs not a lot going on in our small town. Usually winning the Handball-League or getting indoor plumbing are the types of events that call for a huge public celebration around here. That and apparently the naming ceremony of a ship - as we learned on Saturday.
Well, it might have helped that on the occasion 80s pop sensation a-ha played a free concert on a giant floating stage in our harbor. And who doesnīt want to stand through 1 1/2 hours of "comeback" material to eventually hear "Hunting High and Low", that James Bond song, and "Take on Me"? So - of course we went too!
And it was just during "Take on Me" that the weirdest things started happening. Was it my bad cold I had been carrying around all week? Or a serious flashback into the early days of MTV? But the moment I heard the keyboard lick of "Take on Me" people around me started to look like this:
Thatīs Cay "Chuck Zito" Clasen - best friend, merchguy and our bodyguard to the stars - just before motorcycles appeared and people with huge wrenches started to chase us around the concert.
I'm in Washington, DC; Alex, Julie and I arrived last night. It's about 8am as I type this. Beautiful, clear morning... I can see the Washington Monument from my hotel room window. I've been up for almost an hour now and have seen no people besides a handful of joggers.
Kearns should be around here somewhere. Last I heard from him was around midnight and he was someplace in Jersey. Mike gets in this evening and then we rock it.
I'm excited to hit Chief Ike's Mambo Room again after what, three years? It won't be the same without Los Hermanos Rodriguez on the bill, but we are introducing a couple of Collider favorites into the set for old times' sake.
Time to shower and be a shitty tourist. I want to see the stairs from The Exorcist!
CART
