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| From | Kerry Kompost <kerry_kompost@yahoo.com> |
| Subject | Re: The New Cars -- A Performance Recap |
| Date | Mon, 23 Jan 2006 11:27:45 -0800 (PST) |
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Via the wonders of the internet, I received – via
Kasim Sultan’s mailing list – an invite to a “mystery
show” in Burbank which transpired this past weekend.
My girlfriend, Nipper Seaturtle, and I opted to attend
the Sunday evening performance as the Friday show was
likely to be a real packed-to-the-rafters,
star-studded, Hollywood event. I figured the Sunday
show might be a little more low-key, perhaps offering
a better chance to hang with the band (I’ve never met
Todd but I’d love to; perhaps one of these days).
Unfortunately, we missed the first song (and, for the
record, I believe the setlist was the same for both
shows, which I believe has already been posted), but
we eventually made our way to Studio Eleven and found
ourselves in the midst of a hundred and fifty or so
people (I’m terrible at guessing audience sizes). It
was a full-blown set with lights, crew, you name it. I
felt a tangible sense of electricity buzzing in the
air (most likely due to the high winds and low
humidity we’re currently experiencing in Sunny
Southern, but I’d like to think otherwise).
I have been a fan of The Cars since the debut album
blasted like a hurricane through my teenaged world;
that first record was nothing less than a revelation.
Before The Cars, my friends and I were listening to
Rush, Frampton, ELP, KISS, Pink Floyd, Styx,
Supertramp; you know, classic ‘70’s arena rock. The
Cars ushered in an era of new sounds, new approaches,
or so it seemed to those of us growing up far off the
beaten track in then-rural Colchester, Vermont. In our
world, after The Cars came Joe Jackson, The Knack,
Elvis Costello, Pretenders, The Police, all those
quirky new wave bands; the Cars ushered in an entirely
new scene, and none of us were ever the quite the
same.
Much later in life – in fact, about seven years ago –
I discovered Todd Rundgren largely via Auditeer Pat
Bueltimer. Years ago, I had sent Pat one of my demo
albums, and he suggested I check out Nazz and Todd’s
solo stuff, which I soon did, courtesy of an excellent
TR mix tape that Pat so thoughtfully provided. I was
familiar with “I Saw the Light” and I especially LOVED
“We Gotta Get You a Woman” as a youngster, but I was
totally ignorant of the vast majority of TR’s
extensive catalog. From the opening piano chords of
“Take the Hand”, well, I was smitten, beguiled,
enchanted, blown away. I've been a TR geek ever since.
Nipper, on the other flipper, finds the music of The
Cars to be bland, a-melodic, and somewhat boring. She
experienced the Punk Explosion(tm) firsthand, and I
believe she’s always considered The Cars to be
Johnny-come-lately’s. She’s also been a hardcore Todd
fan since Day One, so, you know, she’s definitely
biased.
I can see her point (there, just under the cascading
blonde fall she sometimes wears). I mean, melodically
speaking, there’s really no comparing Todd to The
Cars. Part of the whole point of The Cars was to cloak
the music in a sort of cold, futuristic vibe, which
necessitated a somewhat flat vocal approach. As such,
there aren’t a lot of the soaring vocal melodies that
are a hallmark of TR’s body of work. I see no problem
with either approach, frankly; hey, whatever works.
I was pretty much blown away by how seamlessly TR fit
into The Cars mold. Nipper kept saying that his voice
was under-utilized, and it was, no question about it;
if TR had been wailing serious Philly-soul vocals over
those squarewave analog riffs, I’m not sure the blend
would be palatable (unlike his work with Utopia, where
the blend of future-past is nothing if not
astonishing). That said, TR fit the music perfectly –
I thought it was a match made in heaven. Whoever
suggested the pairing deserves serious kudos.
I won’t go into detail over the performance other than
to say that the band was fantastic, loose-yet-tight,
relaxed, and obviously having fun. A highlight for me
was Elliot Easton’s and Rundgren’s harmony guitar solo
on “I Saw the Light”; that was an extremely cool
moment. Easton was a monster, nailing his
quasi-countrified solos note-for-note (I’d have loved
to hear a little more spontaneity, honestly), and
Prairie Prince drove the bus with taste and a
seriously deep groove. Kasim, well, what can you say?
The dude is a world-class vocalist and bassist, and he
had his moments; his harmony vocals were
pop-perfection. Greg Hawks pretty much just did that
thing he does, and flawlessly at that (great old-skool
analog sounds!). If I could've changed one minor
thing, it would've been that TR play more freaking
lead guitar -- however, that said, The Cars are
Easton's territory and TR respectfully allowed him the
six-string spotlight. Total respect, how cool is that?
The crowd was alive and into the performance, quieting
down between songs as Los Angeles audiences tend to
do. During one quiet moment, TR said something like
“....and then a pall came over the crowd.” Nipper
yelled back “You mean Paul McCartney?” which prompted
titters of scattered laughter from the crowd. I swear,
Winona Ryder was standing next to us; it turned out
not to be her, but, still, this woman was a
dead-ringer. We hung out with her and her boyfriend
for a while, making new friends in the process,
everyone enjoying the music.
After the show, it was a bit of a Star Search
situation; we ran into Weird Al and his girlfriend
(we’d met him a couple of times prior at They Might Be
Giants shows). It was a cool moment for me to be able
to tell him that I deeply enjoyed his Frank Zappa
homage “Genius in France”, and he seemed truly
grateful for the compliment. Shortly thereafter, Kasim
came out and we got to chat him up for a few moments.
I asked him who had written the new tune “But Not
Tonight” and he said it was basically a band
composition, and that there were plenty more in the
works. Kasim said he liked my shirt, which was kind of
funny, because Nipper is a Power Thrift Shopper and
she has my eternal gratitude for dressing me like a
rockstar (LOL). I offered Kasim the shirt off my back
but he graciously declined. We got to hang out with
Prairie Prince, who we were introduced to via my
friend Victor (of The Quarter After and The Blondes),
and he was a blast to talk to; so many great stories!
Nipper told him of our plan to one day assemble a
crack band for the sole purpose of playing The Tubes’
“Remote Control” in a live setting; Prairie handed her
his card and said “Call me when you put this
together.” I’m not sure if he was kidding or not, but
it was pretty insane. Prairie introduced us to a
gentleman whose name escapes me now, but who had
worked with Yes during the fantastic Trevor Rabin
years. I got a chance to gush like an idiot to this
guy over my Brokeback Mountain-esque obsession with
all things Trevor Rabin. Fanboy! Later, Greg Hawkes
took a moment to thank us for coming, and expressed
unbridled excitement about the band and upcoming tour.
Very nice gentlemen, all.
Enough with the name-dropping already...
We decided to leave shortly thereafter, since it
seemed likely that TR and Elliot Easton were hanging
backstage, and that we probably wouldn’t get an
opportunity to meet them this evening. All good; after
a performance like the one we witnessed, those guys
deserved a break.
In summary, it was a fantastic, fun show, the vibe was
electric, the crowd intense, the band rockin’, and the
blend of TR, Kasim and Prairie with Hawkes and Easton
is nothing if not inspired. I’m not sure what hardcore
The Cars fans might think of this line up, but, for
me, it’s a great, great band. How could it not be?
Thanks for reading...
kErrY kOMpOsT
www.abelincolnstory.com (swing-punk-soul project)
www.myspace.com/kompost (solo project, blogs)
www.myspace.com/theultrasuede (sunshine-powerpop
project)
www.ryookumoto.com (prog-rock project)
www.tribecamusic.net (pop-fusion project)
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