THE ZOMBIES w/ THE STRAWBS - Rock Log 092411

Randall, Chuckie Love, Homework, Grove City Bob and I met up at the Den for our second Zombies show in less than a year.  If you read our last review (Rock Log 091110) you will find that the show received a less than enthusiastic review, but nonetheless positive.  This year we were hoping for a little more.  Well we got it, but absolutely none of it was good.  Holy Mackerel What a Colossal Waste of Time!

The Den was crowded tonight my friends.  As 8:00 neared I felt myself getting borderline giddy with anticipation of The Zombies.  Well, that giddiness was not only delayed but eventually extracted stepped on and thrown to the curb by something I have never seen before in all my Days o’ Denning…a warm-up band.  Huh?  The Zombies, bless them, have not needed an opening act since the Zapruder film was made public.  The Zombies ARE a warm-up band.

Upon realization that the three elderly gents on the stage were not Zombies but in fact The Strawbs, my rock sails lost their wind.  Not a soul in our Concert Klatch had ever heard of The Strawbs, and with good reason…they were bad.  Not bad instrumentally or vocally, just real bad music.  It was forty five minutes of some of the worst music I have ever heard.  It was a blend of one cup acoustic Jethro Tull, one cup Ray Conniff Singers and eleven cups of dog shit...and I do not like to bust out the swear words.

After our trip down repulsive avenue with The Strawbs, The Zombies finally came onto the stage at 9:00pm.  They opened with their classic song, I Love You.  Okay, I’m coming back now, starting to forget The Strawbs.  Colin sounds great, Rod is energized, I’m digging it and then POW!  The words no, and I mean no, band from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s should ever say.  “We would like to do some songs off our new album".  NOOOOOOO!  You are a novelty act, just bang out the tunes that get the blue hairs remembering the days when they had a libido, shut up and move on to the next show.  NO MUSIC FROM YOUR NEW ALBUM!  I became increasingly more enraged with each song.

After five vanilla new songs, Argent began to speak of their legendary album, Odyssey and Oracle.  But by this time Randall, C-Love and Primanti Bob had left as The Zombies recent tunes combined with The Strawbs, forced them to leave in favor of pulled pork sandwiches.  Homework and I plodded through the three songs from O & O and then had to leave ourselves.  The show was that bad and leaving immediately after an eight minute version of Time of the Season seemed to be the right thing to do. 

Here’s the deal, and opening act should get the crowd going, not completely enrage them until the only option is leaving mid-show, which is unprecedented I remind you.  I will never go anywhere to see The Zombies again, not because they are that bad, but simply because I am fearful of a Strawbs sighting.  Tonight I revised my list of life's three biggest fears, which are, in the correct order:

1.       Tragedy involving kids or wife

2.       Boner in church

3.       Strawbs in concert        

This show was the worst I have seen in sometime and may just give The Association a run for their money.  Bad stuff.

Vick

STEVEN PAGE - Rock Log 090111

Tonight Randall and I caught former Barenaked Ladies (heretofore referred to as BNL, Barenaked, or the Ladies) front-man Steven Page at The Den.  Personally, I was anxiously awaiting this rock and roll show because BNL virtually dominated my playlist between the years of 1999 and 2006.  The whole Barenaked thing came to a crash in early 2009 when Page left, fresh off a coke bust and Page’s abhorrence of the Ladies’ release of a children’s album.  I had seen the group seven times, each show in some arena, where I was one of ten thousand attendees.  Tonight I was looking forward to seeing Page amid a crowd of five hundred or so.  Well……

It was depressing.  This show was the least attended I have ever seen.  The audience was mixed though comprised of numerous heavy-set people, one of which was the spitting image of Violet Beauregard.  Only four seats were used in the upper deck and there was still plenty of space on the floor.  I counted 82 people total.

Page entered the stage precisely at 8:30 wearing a powder blue gingham check poplin suit with matching bowtie adorning his pale yellow shirt.  The band (three brothers) were similarly decked out albeit in more drab colors.  From the get go this show had a Pee Wee’s Playhouse feel.  The setlist totaled seventeen songs, only seven of which were Barenaked.  His solo songs all had similar undertones, answering the age old question “what would it sound like of the 1966 Beatles met the 1992 Lemonheads?”.  Of the seven Barenaked tunes, four were done quite well (Jane, Apartment, Good Boy and Call/Answer).  I especially liked the extended post-vocal closing of the latter two.  The new material was forgettable except for These Wasted Words, which was a well-done song.  A BNL show was known for its witty banter among bandmates, something Page attempted to recreate with his new band, but failed.

Make no mistake about it, Page still has the vocals, which were on full display, perhaps a little shaky during the crescendo of What a Good Boy, but otherwise he nailed it.  Musically the band was adequate, centered around Page’s guitar and Jay Baird on keys, trumpet, chimes, et al.  However, this show felt like exactly what it was, a guy who had immense success wanting to be on his own only to find that it was not him, but the band that was the key to success.  Page appeared to be happy but it really seemed to me as an act.  Plainly, it wasn’t a good show.  I must add that the four remaining Ladies have not fared much better having played Indian Ranch (a campground) in Webster, MA not but eleven days before this show.   

For me, the love affair with the Barenaked Ladies has waned a bit in recent years.  There is no doubt that some of their songs will forever be on my play list, but I have moved on.  Page should either reconcile with his former bandmates or continue to slide into this eerie Randy “The Ram” Robinson creative abyss.

The show ended with the classic song Brian Wilson.  My thoughts is that it should have ended with the lamenting BNL song Thanks That was Fun, with the poignant lyrics “don’t forget, no regrets”.  I do not recommend seeing Steven Page, words I thought nearly impossible hours ago.

Vick

PS: after the show Randall and I purchased an aggregate forty Krispy Kremes, which I believe to be the record for a duo.