From: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org (alloy-digest) To: alloy-digest@smoe.org Subject: alloy-digest V11 #97 Reply-To: alloy@smoe.org Sender: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk X-To-Unsubscribe: Send mail to "alloy-digest-request@smoe.org" X-To-Unsubscribe: with "unsubscribe" as the body. alloy-digest Saturday, April 15 2006 Volume 11 : Number 097 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Alloy: Dolby at Key Club, Hollywood [CJMark@aol.com] Re: Alloy: Dolby at Key Club, Hollywood [no spoilers] [Elaine ] Alloy: Nice article by an apparently ardent fan! ["Monya De" ] Re: Alloy: Nice article by an apparently ardent fan! [jason66 ] Alloy: even more OT - Dead People's Parties [Beth Meyer Subject: Re: Alloy: Dolby at Key Club, Hollywood [no spoilers] Mark, thanks for the report. I was wondering how long I should wait before I bugged you for info, and here you are, already offering it. Sounds like round two was fun! So, Thomas's rig was on a platform then? In the middle of the stage? But further back? I wonder how that played into the sound issues. It's always interesting to me, how the dynamics of sound work. Can you describe the Key Club? Was it similar, in that it was a large room with some levels on the edges, and bartenders on both sides? Was it as big as HoB Anaheim (which is not as large a space as HoB Sunset Strip, for those who didn't know)? I'm also interested to know how the Canyon Club looks, because I have it in my head that it's more of a dinner theater setup. I can hear the chemicals from here! > About midway through the show he said he'd like to play us some new songs.. > and of course the entire place erupted in cheers.. but then he added that he > is "too chicken" to play them yet. That brought on more cheers and begging.. > but to no avail. He said maybe about the time he plays Annapolis he'll be > ready to try them. Let's hope so! We're all certainly ready! There are new songs! And he's working up the courage to play them! Did you hear that, Annapolis and Alexandria!? > I tried using flash but the smoke in the air just > reflected the light and made it almost worse. Isn't it funny how, since you're no longer ~allowed~ to smoke at concerts, but the look was so cool, they now recreate the illusion of smoke for you? > I can't post the photos to Alloy but if > anyone knows a place I can upload then I'd be happy to share the better ones. Mark: email me photos and I'll host them, if you don't find a better offer. Monya, Thomas used your photo on his blog entry yesterday. Did you just email it to him directly? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2006 09:42:59 -0700 (PDT) From: Melissa Jordan Subject: Re: Alloy: Dolby at Key Club, Hollywood "about the time he plays Annapolis he'll be ready to try them." Well, you'll just have to imagine the enormous grin on my face right now. See you on the Chesapeake, indeed, Thomas Dolby! Cheers, Melissa http://merujo.blogspot.com CJMark@aol.com wrote: Well.. another night.. another great evening of entertainment by Thomas.. It was basically the same show musically.. with exactly the same set list as last night. The opening acts were Folio.. who was a local band that were kind of retro 80s.. and were actually okay with some decent songs. If they'd just lose the skinny tie off the singer maybe they'd actually be worth a second listen. The second act was called World Wide Spies. Wow.. they were about the most pretentious poser band I've ever seen. At least the lead singer was. The band was way too over bearing.. they have no idea what the word dynamic means.. the bass guitar and the lone guitarist pounding.. pounding.. pounding the ENTIRE TIME! It was just too much.. and then the lead singer thinks he is a cross between Bono and Jim Morrison.. and the group of us Alloyed attending this show were all stealing glances at one another and biting our lips not to break out in laughter. His "Lead Singer" poses were just hilarious.. and we all thought he might throw out his back or his upper lip. It was actually a major contrast to Thomas.. so perhaps there was a reason.. but it was a bit torturous for us to suffer through their set. Finally.. and thankfully.. they finished.. Then.. after a short break.. Thomas appeared from behind the curtain.. on an 18" tall mini stage this time.. and back quite a ways from the front edge of the main stage. In fact.. as the first two or three songs went by.. the audience was decidedly quiet and subdued. They were all very appreciative of Thomas and seemed to all know his songs.. which was great.. but it seemed difficult for Thomas to bridge the energy gap between him and the front rows where we were standing. It was partly due to the sound. At the House of Blues the sound up front was strong and powerful.. even if we didn't get some of the main speaker sound. But tonight the sound right at the front of the stage was kind of muffled.. it was eerie. We could hear Thomas' voice just fine.. and the keyboards were clear.. but the volume just seemed to be so low that we weren't really "feeling" the music like last night. Especially the drums. It was a bit disappointing for me personally.. since the power of the beat can keep me rocking all night.. but the crowd did not seem to mind or notice too much. They were head bobbing along to every beat.. and upon the finish of each song they were boisterous in their applause. It was great to hear Thomas knocking them out in Hollywood! It can be such a fickle.. snobby town. One funny thing. Thomas was singing "Science" and at one point the lyrics came out.. "I can hear the chemicals" He immediately laughed and glanced up at his video guys.. and a few of us in the audience caught it and we all cracked up! He laughed too and made a look and a muffled comment about "hearing chemicals" while the song continued.. it was so much fun to see him having a good time with his music. He was more relaxed tonight.. too. He really didn't seem to have any of the little glitches that hit last night.. although there was a moment when he started up "Hyperactive" that he hit the first big notes and then stopped and made some adjustments.. then went back and hit them again to start the song. About midway through the show he said he'd like to play us some new songs.. and of course the entire place erupted in cheers.. but then he added that he is "too chicken" to play them yet. That brought on more cheers and begging.. but to no avail. He said maybe about the time he plays Annapolis he'll be ready to try them. Let's hope so! We're all certainly ready! I shot nearly 70 photos of the show.. but the distance between Thomas and the audience was great.. and the lighting was not really placed well for him tonight. So the combination of his area being somewhat dim and the distance made for some difficult shots. I tried using flash but the smoke in the air just reflected the light and made it almost worse. The flash also takes the stage lighting colors out of the shots. I can't post the photos to Alloy but if anyone knows a place I can upload then I'd be happy to share the better ones. There are only about 10 to 15 that are even worth viewing. Even then many are blurry and rough.. Sorry! It's just a small digital camera.. but at least I got a couple to share! I'm beat and headed to bed.. but I wanted to let you all know that it's still a great show and getting even better! Tomorrow.. Canyon Club in Agoura Hills. G'nite.. Mark - --------------------------------- Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. PC-to-Phone calls for ridiculously low rates. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2006 10:50:39 -0700 (PDT) From: Melissa Jordan Subject: Re: Alloy: Dolby at Key Club, Hollywood [no spoilers] Elaine wrote: There are new songs! And he's working up the courage to play them! Did you hear that, Annapolis and Alexandria!? Oh hell, yeah. We sure do! Heh heh heh! I'm such an idiot, I'm in my office singing along with "White City" playing now on the CD drive. Thank god I work with cool and tolerant people who know who Dolby is (and at least ten of them will be going to one of the DC-area gigs!) So, are you happy with this vision you've created? Yeah! 22 days and counting... - - Melissa http://merujo.blogspot.com - --------------------------------- Blab-away for as little as 1"/min. Make PC-to-Phone Calls using Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2006 13:08:04 -0500 From: "Kara R. Laidlaw" Subject: Alloy: Concert reviews, Thomas' blogs, goody!! :^) Hi, all!! :^) Geez gosh, I got all mixed up last night between Mark's and Elaine's excellent and detailed concert reviews, and Thomas' blog!! "My Brain is Like a Sieve", after all. ;^) Darnit, I need to start taking notes to keep everything straight!!! ;^) I've changed my sig file, as you will note at the bottom there, from "It's All About the Music :^)". Strangely similar to the little descriptive popup thingy that appears when one hovers one's mouse over the "Tech Geek" hyperlink in Thomas' blog, which reads "It's all about the Hardware." Slight contradiction in terms there, so I figured, I'll change mine. :^) I found this awesome Arthur C. Clarke quote anyway, which I think captures the sense of awe we all feel as Thomas works his electronic wizardry. :^) {even if I'm hearing about it second-hand, but with Mark and Elaine's lovingly detailed concert descriptions, I can take a trip through "The Valley of the Mind's Eye" and use my imagination to visualize Thomas onstage. :^) And hey, Monya--awesome photo of Our Man Thomas!!! Oooooo, he mentioned you by name--how very cool. :^) But oh, those yobboes {sp?} that keep yelling "Science!"!!! :^\ I am honestly starting to cringe every time I hear that word these days. That may well be the problem with Thomas playing his hits to pander to the people who only *know* the hits--some of them yell like that. It's like, "Have another beer, bucko!"{Not.} ;^) Thank goodness it only seems to be the rare goofus who hollers. Just about everyone else is/are {?} at the concerts to quietly appreciate Thomas' musical magic--except of course when y'all cheer wildly between songs, of course! :^) Love and cool antique driving goggles, Kara "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." --Arthur C. Clarke, 1961 :^) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2006 11:31:44 -0700 (PDT) From: Elaine Subject: Alloy: Canyon Club I'm seriously contemplating buying tickets for tonight and taking my kids. There are young people attending these shows, and the venue's "all ages." I've sent a quick message asking if Thomas will be going on first or second tonight..a parameter which might make my decision for me. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2006 14:47:40 -0700 From: "Monya De" Subject: Alloy: Nice article by an apparently ardent fan! http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/entertainment/music/article_10969 43.php Wednesday, April 12, 2006 Music: The wizard of electronica reappears Thomas Dolby, the electro-pop pioneer, returns to performing after a decade of silence. By BEN WENER The Orange County Register It has been a dozen years since electronic music pioneer Thomas Dolby issued anything resembling a proper album, and two more than that since 1992's exceptional "Astronauts & Heretics." Yet the man known primarily for two striking yet very '80s novelties, "She Blinded Me With Science" and "Hyperactive," says "I never really intended to take 10 years away from the music business." Ever intrigued by new technology, Dolby (born Thomas Morgan Robertson; "Dolby" was a nickname that eventually led to a lawsuit from Dolby Laboratories) grew fascinated in the advent of the Internet as the '90s began. Crafting albums seemed an antiquated notion; pursuing the promise of artistic independence that the Net held became paramount. "I'm not the sort who needs to be in the limelight in order to get satisfaction out of what I'm doing," Dolby, 47, said by phone from his Northern California home last week as he was preparing to launch his Sole Inhabitant Tour, his first (mostly) headlining jaunt in ages, kicking off tonight at the House of Blues in Anaheim. "I like to be where I can make the biggest impact, and I'm naturally drawn to areas that are still unexplored." Recognizing a power shift was imminent in the stagnating music biz, Dolby, an Egyptian-born Englishman living stateside since 1987, formed Beatnik Inc. in San Mateo to make the most out of burgeoning cyberspace, just as he had with the music-video explosion that transformed pop music in the early '80s. But for years, he says, Beatnik was in a holding pattern - "neither an abject failure nor a runaway success. If either of those had happened earlier, I'd have been back making music sooner. But there was always something around the corner." Ironically, it was only after the company rode out the Internet's boom and bust that Beatnik found its true calling: creating audio for cell phones. Today, the company is the world's top provider of such software, including ringtones. "We're now in over half the world's cell phones," he notes. "That's a lot of cell phones." Achieving that prominence, however, means the services of a maverick are no longer required on regular basis. Beatnik runs itself, and Dolby, still the company's largest shareholder, has time to resume a music career that in certain circles is considered among the most acclaimed of his era. Most people's knowledge of Dolby begins and ends with "She Blinded Me With Science," a sly slice of synth-funk from a superior album ("The Golden Age of Wireless") whose variety and depth went far beyond its artificial surface. Indeed, for those who sought him out - certainly for scores of electronica acts who routinely cite him as an influence - Dolby was one-of-a- kind, a do-it-yourself electro wizard whose work conjured warmth and soul from machines whose output in other hands was pure digital chill. But after Dolby took a deliberate detour off his pop-stardom trajectory with 1984's "The Flat Earth" - an introspective, atmospheric masterwork, one of the best albums of the '80s albums yet currently out of print - the writing was on the wall: He would never be more than a cult figure, revered by few, misunderstood or dismissed by most. Sure enough, he retreated to production work (notably for Brit band Prefab Sprout) and film composing (lamentably for the mega-flop "Howard the Duck"), and his albums, though unusual and clever, rapidly sank into obscurity. In those days, as it often is today, "There was this narrow window where if your music didn't catch fire, you basically went back to the drawing board. Now I can put stuff out and it doesn't have to sell right off the bat. It's an annuity that sits there and might spike two years from now when a piece gets used in a movie." (Coincidentally, Dolby has an instrumental in "Mission: Impossible III" that he co-wrote with its director and erstwhile electronic-music artist, "Lost" creator J.J. Abrams.) Dolby, however, doesn't foresee a new album in his immediate future - why bother with that promotional model when he can enjoy more freedom and immediacy by recording and releasing what he wants via his Flat Earth Society site (version.thomasdolby.com)? "I care less about that than the fact that I'm free - that if I choose to push a button at any time I can release (a song), have it accessible by anyone. There's no rigmarole of A&R men and radio promoters to get around anymore." And more important than penning new songs, he says, is this opportunity to "retrace my roots, now that I'm able to re-explore my music with new technologies. I've definitely got that bug now." - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2006 22:56:23 -0300 From: jason66 Subject: Re: Alloy: Nice article by an apparently ardent fan! Em (14:47:40), alloy@smoe.org escreveu: >http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/entertainment/music/article_10969 >43.php > >Wednesday, April 12, 2006 > >Music: The wizard of electronica reappears >Thomas Dolby, the electro-pop pioneer, returns to performing after a >decade of silence. It seems that there are great 80's musicians that are ready for a comeback these days: thomas dolby, swing out sister and pet shop boys.. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2006 19:06:20 -0700 (PDT) From: Elaine Subject: Re: Alloy: Nice article by an apparently ardent fan! I was telling Wargun the other night, now all we need is for Oingo Boingo to reform, and we'd be all set. On Fri, 14 Apr 2006, jason66 wrote: > It seems that there are great 80's musicians that are ready for a comeback > these days: thomas dolby, swing out sister and pet shop boys.. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2006 19:09:20 -0700 (PDT) From: Elaine Subject: Re: Alloy: Canyon Club We got all ready to go, and at the last minute, both kids gave me a "do we haaaave to go?," so I relented. Youth REALLY IS wasted on the young. Just watch, in five years they're going to yell at me. "Why didn't you force us! Mom how could you!!" Here's hoping there are more tours. :-) > I'm seriously contemplating buying tickets for tonight and taking my kids. > There are young people attending these shows, and the venue's "all ages." > I've sent a quick message asking if Thomas will be going on first or > second tonight..a parameter which might make my decision for me. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2006 22:56:23 -0300 From: jason66 Subject: Re: Alloy: Nice article by an apparently ardent fan! Em (14:47:40), alloy@smoe.org escreveu: >http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/entertainment/music/article_10969 >43.php > >Wednesday, April 12, 2006 > >Music: The wizard of electronica reappears >Thomas Dolby, the electro-pop pioneer, returns to performing after a >decade of silence. It seems that there are great 80's musicians that are ready for a comeback these days: thomas dolby, swing out sister and pet shop boys.. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2006 20:01:28 -0700 (PDT) From: Melissa Jordan Subject: Re: Alloy: Nice article by an apparently ardent fan! I just saw Swing Out Sister a few months ago when they came and performed at the Birchmere (where TMDR will be on 5/8) - that was brilliant. Pet Shop Boys last concert in DC was awful - mainly because of the wretched druggie venue, but the previous PSB concert I saw in San Francisco was astoundingly good and uber theatrical. I hang my head in 80s shame that I really don't know Oingo Boingo's music. Somehow I missed them. But Danny Elfman has become a master of movie music, hasn't he? MJ http://merujo.blogspot.com Elaine wrote: I was telling Wargun the other night, now all we need is for Oingo Boingo to reform, and we'd be all set. On Fri, 14 Apr 2006, jason66 wrote: > It seems that there are great 80's musicians that are ready for a comeback > these days: thomas dolby, swing out sister and pet shop boys.. - --------------------------------- Blab-away for as little as 1"/min. Make PC-to-Phone Calls using Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2006 20:26:28 -0700 (PDT) From: Melissa Jordan Subject: Alloy: April 19 - TMDR radio call-in interview Just saw this in a comment on TMDR's MySpace page: "Thomas Dolby phone-in April 19th at 9PM (east coast) on wgmuradio.com (George Mason, remember the final 4?) - please tune in." Neato. I was wondering if Thomas was doing any local radio in the DC area - never figured on a small college station! Cool! - MJ http://merujo.blogspot.com - --------------------------------- Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2"/min or less. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2006 20:48:59 -0700 (PDT) From: Elaine Subject: Re: Alloy: OT - Oingo Boingo Yeah. There's probably zero chance of him leaving the new married and baby domesticity and cush-Hollywood soundtrack work to go back on the road. Then again, Thomas said his touring days were over a few years ago. :) M, you need to discover Oingo. Let's see, where to start. Check with your Oingo-fan friend and see what he thinks of "Only A Lad" as a good beginning point. It was the first album, I think. Or maybe "Dead Man's Party" is more uninitiated-friendly. p.s. I think Thomas is taking the stage in about ten minutes. On Fri, 14 Apr 2006, Melissa Jordan wrote: > I hang my head in 80s shame that I really don't know Oingo Boingo's > music. Somehow I missed them. But Danny Elfman has become a master of > movie music, hasn't he? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2006 22:33:54 -0600 From: Beth Meyer Subject: Alloy: even more OT - Dead People's Parties Hi, all; My knowledge of them is sadly somewhat limited, but the song "Dead Man's Party" is one of my favorite songs EVER EVER EVER. I have considered requesting it for my funeral (not that I have any reason to expect that to occur soon, I hasten to add), but I guess that would seem a bit tasteless to at least some of the attendees. Wonder if there's an instrumental version around? Hmmm...now there's an interesting topic for discussion...songs you would want to be played at your own funeral. "I Love You, Goodbye" anyone? - -Beth Elaine wrote: > > > M, you need to discover Oingo. Let's see, where to start. Check with > your Oingo-fan friend and see what he thinks of "Only A Lad" as a good > beginning point. It was the first album, I think. Or maybe "Dead Man's > Party" is more uninitiated-friendly. > > p.s. I think Thomas is taking the stage in about ten minutes. > > On Fri, 14 Apr 2006, Melissa Jordan wrote: > > I hang my head in 80s shame that I really don't know Oingo Boingo's > > music. Somehow I missed them. But Danny Elfman has become a master of > > movie music, hasn't he? ------------------------------ End of alloy-digest V11 #97 ***************************