Them Crooked Vultures

Ok, I had heard that this band was going to happen awhile ago, but I didn't get too excited about it. Too often, when members of different "supergroups" come together to make a new "supergroup" the results are disappointing. Not with these guys! All I can say is "Holy shit!" With John Paul Jones on bass, Dave Grohl from Foofighters on drums, and Josh Homme from Queens of the Stoneage on guitar and vocals this band has tons of potential and they really have some great music. Anybody who knows me knows what a huge Zep fan I am; and I love Foofighters too. My brother once said that if Kurt had stayed alive and Nirvana had stayed together the world may never have known who the really talented member of that band was, and I agree with that whole heartedly. I'm not familiar with Queens of the Stoneage, but I'm impressed with The Crooked Vultures, so Mr. Homme gets points from me there. The album won't be out til Nov. 16th, but there is a pre-release song on the website called New Fang. Even better than that they did a couple of surprise shows in Europe, and I have watched video over on youtube for the last hour, which has only whetted my appetite. In spite of the not great video, it's worth watching. The band has some Zeppelinesque moments, especially in the song Elephants, and at times Dave's resounding rhythm has a bit of White Stripes feel to it. All in all though I'd say they are just some really talented guys who got together to do what they do best, and they do it excellently. This is one of my favorites, called Scumbag Blues.

Siobhans New Pants

I made these pants for Sio late last week. I originally wanted to make different ones, but she rejected my original idea and so I came up with these instead. She certainly won't get lost in any snowstorms!

Finished Mittens! Next Project Elizabethan Embroidered Coif

I finally finished Siobhans mittens. For a first pair I think they came out ok. I had some trouble with the thumb gusset and I sewed it closed a little at the base of the thumb, but I think they are pretty good for a first effort. They took almost a full ball of yarn.

I feel a bit of a costuming fit coming on and since I've found it's best to just go with it I decided to make an embroidered coif. I can make this entirely by hand in the evenings when I'm watching tv or whatever.I drew the embroidery design right onto the pattern and then transferred the whole thing to fabric. I am going to do the embroidery in DMC cotton rather than silk because it's cheaper and because if it ever does get worn (although I don't know by who) it can be washed easily.

Ah The Internet

Occasionally it comes back to me how much I love the internet. It's hard to remember what I did without it! No matter who the band is or how obscure, somebody, somewhere will have put up a youtube video. Not that the Mediaeval Baebes are obscure in the realm of ancient music, because they aren't; but I can safely say that they aren't mainstream music. Anyway, this video is from 2002 at the Festival of Immortality. The immortal creatures that the ladies have decided to be for the event are perfect for the upcoming holiday. I'm not a big Halloween fan, but I couldn't pass this up. Vampires singing a 15th century carol that we have come to associate with Christmas. What better way to kick off the fall/winter season?

Great Big Sea in Glen Ellyn

Well I have to say that what could have been less than a good performance by the by's turned into one of the best shows I have seen them put on. The show was at the MacAnnich Arts Center at the College of Dupage, a place where I'd never been before. The theater holds about 850 people and the sound there was really good, especially when compared with the sound at House of Blues last March when they were here. The only thing is, the crowd was a bit strange for a GBS show. More refined and less rowdy. There are a large number of big money donors who get free and/or discounted seats and probably go to all the performances put on through out the year. Put that with the probability that most of them probably live in Glen Ellyn, Oak Brook, and some of the other more affluent suburbs and that would explain why the crowd was a bit more subdued. I think some of them may have had no idea what happens at a GBS show. Siobhan and some other people stood up to clap and dance pretty early on during the first set and they were told to sit down; that's never happened at any of the 6 previous shows I've seen them at. It's impossible to stay in your seat when Alan Doyle is constantly telling people to "Make some noise" "Clap your hands" and saying "Come on every body up". Any GBS fan knows that this band is a full out audience participation band. Which after seeing them 7 times still amazes me. I mean, these guys are a group of folk singers from Newfoundland! Anyway, the problem of the more wet blanket audience members in the balcony was solved by those of us who wanted to dance crawling over the wet blankets (and I mean over, as in hopping rows of seats with people in them rather than walking around) to the back of the balcony where you could stand and dance and sing without bothering anybody too much. And I have to say the show was excellent. They started almost right on time; maybe 10 minutes late. They played 2 sets. The first was shorter and it included some songs I haven't heard them do in awhile like The Chemical Workers Song and Ferryland Sealer. They ended the first set with Run Run Away. There was a short intermission and then they came back and really outdid themselves with a longer and even better set. I think they were trying to get all of the audience involved and they did a fine job of it. There was the usual comedic banter; at one point Alan was saying how they had been picking on Murray so much that he was a little sorry for him. Siobhan yelled out "We love you Murray" and Sean made up a little impromptu song right on the spot. It went something like "We love you Murray cause you're cuddly and furry". We'll never hear the end of that from her I'm sure. The encores were great too; there were 2 of them and they played 7 songs. I don't have a set list but this a list of what they did in no particular order. Captain Kidd, Jack Hinks, Sweet Forget Me Not, Charlie Horse, Gideon Brown, Donkey Riding, Tshialuk Girls/Billy Peddle (they opened the 2nd set with that), Scolding Wife, Paddy Murphy, When I am King, Straight to Hell, Here and Now, John Barbour, England, General Taylor, Helmethead, Ordinary Day, Chemical Workers Song, Ferryland Sealer, Run Run Away, Bob did a solo of the old Irish tune Butcher Boy (I wonder if that will end up on a new album?), Consequence Free, Mary Mac, I'm a Rover (this was preceded by Sean doing a lead in of "Oh What A Night"), Old Black Rum, Lukeys Boat, Excursion Round the Bay/Fortune (part of the encore like it always is) and they ended the night with Rant and Roar. I may have forgotten something, but this list is pretty close to complete. All in all it was a great show, especially the second set. The two times I've seen them at the Metro were a little better I think, although I think that was more the crowd than the band. And by the end of the second set it was a lot better. If it hadn't been for the crowd, this could have been better than the Metro shows. The energy was there and the band was doing their damndest to get everybody up and into it. I said to Siobhan on the way home that some of those people who had no idea what kind of show it was going to be walked out of there GBS fans last night.
Being the fans that we are I did something that I've never done before; even in my heydey of seeing rock bands in the 70's. We had located the bus before the show, and as soon as we got out of there we went and stood in front of the drive where it was parked. It was cold and windy and a little rainy and at 51 years old I stood there in the weather with Siobhan and some other people, hoping for a chance at a picture or an autograph or whatever. After about 20 minutes there started to be a little activity, and then maybe 15 minutes after that they started loading equiptment. A nice man from Halifax came out and asked if we were waiting for autographs. He said the band was already on the bus and they weren't really inclined to come back out in the cold and wet,(although compared to some of the Newfoundland weather I've experienced I'd say it was almost balmy) but he would get us autographs. There were programs printed up (that was a first, too) they had a nice picture of the band so the few of us who were brave enough to stand out in the crappy weather got them signed. I actually had misplaced mine (I think it got lost when we crawled over the seats) but Sio had hers and that was more important anyway.