It’s been so long since I’ve had a couple of days dedicated to playing and recording songs. Yesterday, however, it happened.
A handful of Dave, Zeppelin, and Beatles songs later… it was a peace on earth all over again [not quite, but that’s what the embodiment of peace would be, methinks].
Anyways, ’twas a jolly good time. Links to riffs to come.
Hours, consumed by stress
Causing undue duress
It’s the hand we’re dealt
Not ideal, just ostensibly felt.
Look into the mirror… you will survive.
This rollercoaster makes you feel alive.
Steeping down you go… keep plugging away.
Until comes that long-awaited brighter day.
It’s hard to imagine… hard to imagine.
Things were different then, all is different now
I’ll try to explain… somehow.
~Pranay Khurana
Bought me a Washburn D46SCE to add to the guitar collection.
More to come when the feelings for it have actually sunk in. I still have yet to name it….
This courtesy of the esteemed Mr. Clapton:
Once I lived the life of a millionaire,
Spent all my money, I just did not care.
Took all my friends out for a good time,
Bought bootleg whisky, champagne and wine.
Then I began to fall so low,
Lost all my good friends, I did not have nowhere to go.
I get my hands on a dollar again,
I’m gonna hang on to it till that eagle grins.
‘Cause no, no, nobody knows you
When you’re down and out.
In your pocket, not one penny,
And as for friends, you don’t have any.
When you finally get back up on your feet again,
Everybody wants to be your old long-lost friend.
Said it’s mighty strange, without a doubt,
Nobody knows you when you’re down and out.
When you finally get back upon your feet again,
Everybody wants to be your good old long-lost friend.
Said it’s mighty strange,
Nobody knows you,
Nobody knows you,
Nobody knows you when you’re down and out.
Every time I listen to my Beatles compilation, I come across more songs that define what life is about.
Lennon/McCartney, where would the world be without you guys?
This particular song has stuck with me throughout the day, so I thought I’d share.
Song: Tomorrow Never Knows
Album: Revolver
+++++
Turn off your mind, relax and float down stream,
It is not dying, it is not dying
Lay down all thoughts, surrender to the void,
It is shining, it is shining.
That you may see the meaning of within
It is being, it is being
Love is all and love is everyone
It is knowing, it is knowing
That ignorance and hate may mourn the dead
It is believing, it is believing
But listen to the colour of your dreams
It is not living, it is not living
Or play the game “Existence” to the end
Of the beginning, of the beginning
+++++
Dare I say, Tomorrow Never Knows is arguably the best damn song ever produced in the 60’s.
I finally got a chance to record a couple of guitar riffs.
Setup: Epiphone Les Paul Studio -> Line 6 Spider II 15 Amp -> Cowon A2
Recording these tunes and playing them back helps me assess how far I’ve progressed (not as far as I want). Particularly, I notice that I need to play a little “cleaner,” since some of these transitions don’t sound as smooth as I want them to be.
Also, I’m not very impressed with the quality of the recording. I felt as though the tone was damaged coming through the Cowon. Might have to do something like recording directly through my Sound Blaster Audigy card next time.
For now, though, these will suffice. Give them a listen.
Links:
“In the days of my youth I was told what it means to be a man.
Now I’ve reached that age, I’ve tried to do all those things the best I can.”
What a fitting set of lyrics to start the show. Judging from the youtube videos alone, the two hour set that Led Zeppelin performed was worth all the anticipation.
I’ve heard people claim that it’s insane to pay thousands of dollars to watch a band whose collective age is almost 225. I’ve heard people call them overrated. These people obviously don’t know $hit about rock n roll. Granted the fact that I play guitar and listen primarily to the Zepp brand of rock, I’m biased towards this reunion gig and everything it means. But whether you’re a fan or not, you can’t possibly negate the impact they’ve had on thousands of musicians. If that’s not enough, just watch the videos… Jimmy Page, at age 63, delivered cleaner and more amazing riffs on this night than most of today’s musicians can dream. You can pay $60 on a normal night and watch a subpar performance from washouts like Creed, or a popwhore like Justin Timberlake. But this show…. man.
Here’s the setlist:
‘Good Times Bad Times’
‘Ramble On’
‘Black Dog’
‘In My Time Of Dying’
‘For Your Life’
‘Trampled Under Foot’
‘Nobody’s Fault But Mine’
‘No Quarter’
‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’
‘Dazed And Confused’
‘Stairway To Heaven’
‘The Song Remains The Same’
‘Misty Mountain Hop’
‘Kashmir’
‘Whole Lotta Love’
‘Rock And Roll’
As I write this post, I still don’t know how to explicate how I feel about this event. I know “it’s just music” to most people. It shouldn’t be something to get so hyped about, in the grand scheme of things. But, this is Zeppelin. I’ve dreamed of watching these guys play. There are times that I’ve felt that I was born 20 years too late. Let’s put it this way: if most people had access to a time machine, they’d probably go back to an important historical event. Lincoln’s assassination? Go back and meet Beethoven? Da Vinci, perhaps? I wouldn’t care for any of that. I’d go back to see Zeppelin at Knebworth. I don’t know. I’m at a loss for words. Maybe the right explanation to myself will come to me later.
If there is a US tour, I don’t know to what degree I would go to purchase tickets. It’ll probably be very high, and I’m certainly going to try. A few hundred? A few thousand? I don’t know. But my God, it’ll be a dream come true.
But right now, I just bask in the glory of these youtube videos. I’m getting chills down my spine just hearing the opening drum beats. Man, those attendees were lucky sons of bitches.
Links to videos:
EDIT: Don’t be surprised if the links suddenly stop working. The diligent folks at Warner Brothers are doing a great job of forcing youtube to take down fan-made videos due to copyright infringements. I hate record companies.
EDIT 2: The bootleg is available here: Link
Enjoy the grooves!
It’s the holiday season, which means it’s time to carelessly spend on material objects that we will never use to fruition… unless.
=P
Having owned the Brownsville Acoustic-Electric BCLG6CA for a couple of years now, I decided to add a little flavor in my life. I bought the Les Paul Studio model electric guitar, built by the scrupulous folks at Epiphone. I played this particular unit for about three hours at the Guitar Center in East Brunswick, and came to one immediate conclusion: the choice of guitar makes an unimaginable difference in terms of playing ability. By no means did the guitar transform me into the next Eric Clapton (the world lives on hope), but I realized a sudden burst of untapped ability that sprung forth as soon as I started strumming it. While I experienced a troublesome level of difficulty playing some chord progressions and rhythm riffs with my acoustic, the Les Paul featured a very comfortable neck and low action, esily allowing me to play faster, and with fewer errors.
I purchased a Line 6 Spider II (15-watt) amplifier while I was there as well. This was where the spending splurge started and finished; in self defense, this amp purely ROCKS. There are settings for controlling Drive, Treble, Bass, and Mid levels, with extra features for Tap Delay, Echo, Reverb, Tremolo, Phaser, and Chorus.
MOST important of all, there are four presets; in Line 6 verbiage: Clean, Crunch, Metal, and Insane.
These presets allow you to emulate anything from The Beatles, to Zeppelin, to Metallica, to Nirvana. That makes me happy. Really happy.
Can they one-up themselves further with this product? Yes, they can, and they have. Line 6 has a section called Custom Tones on their site. While it’s not immaculate, it offers presets for thousands of different songs across multiple genres. This alone is extremely helpful, since I don’t want to be fiddling with the different settings while wondering if I’ve arrived at the correct tone to play some Sabbath. Everything is downloadable… free. Did I mention that I’m happy?
Pics:
WOW. Not only did DMB open with Rashawn Ross highlighting nearly every song on the setlist in MO, they played RAVEN. That’s R-A-V-E-N, of “i got the whole world here daddy, between my fingers and my thumb” fame. And can anything beat Proudest Monkey—> Satellite? It’s going to be a fucking good time @ Randall’s Island in August.
Setlist below:
DMB 2006-05-30
UMB Bank Pavilion
Maryland Heights, MO
Granny,
Grey Street,
One Sweet World,
Raven,
Crash Into Me,
Hunger For The Great Light,
Pantala Naga Pampa…>
Rapunzel,
Steady As We Go,
Smooth Rider,
JTR,
Grace Is Gone,
Jimi Thing,
Proudest Monkey…>
Satellite,
Pig,
Everyday
Encore:
Sister (Dave solo),
Where Are You Going,
Louisiana Bayou
If you haven’t yet heard, Pearl Jam is releasing their new self-titled album on May 2nd. It’s already leaked on bt sites for a couple of weeks, and most fan-sites agree that this is their best creation since Vitalogy.
The focus of the new album is war and politics, with Vedder providing a lot of meaningful lyrics that most people won’t likely understand (as usual). Also on a normal note, McCready has some absolutely amazing riffs throughout the album (give Worldwide Suicide a listen).
All-in-all, this makes me glad I got tickets for the Continental Arena concert this summer 
