From: owner-basia-digest@smoe.org (basia-digest) To: basia-digest@smoe.org Subject: basia-digest V10 #115 Reply-To: basia@smoe.org Sender: owner-basia-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-basia-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk X-To-Unsubscribe: Send mail to "basia-digest-request@smoe.org" X-To-Unsubscribe: with "unsubscribe" as the body. basia-digest Saturday, May 7 2005 Volume 10 : Number 115 Today's Subjects: ----------------- denver review [tom & kelly ] LA show [Leslie Osborn ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 6 May 2005 15:09:16 -0500 From: tom & kelly Subject: denver review Hi, My Denver review On our way out the door to Denver I grabbed the first three 1984-5 MB 7" singles and thought if I could get Ms. T, Mr. White, and Mr. Reilly to sign one single each that would look cool, framed and matted. We hopped in the coupe and 500 miles later were in the Rocky Mountains for 2 days, all that nice clean air, and lots of snow. We arrived at noon on Sunday in downtown Denver and found the Paramount theatre a block from our hotel. With nothing much to do and a large rock star looking bus directly in front of us, I said to Kelly, "that's them." They turned the corner and parked right behind the theatre. We pulled into a large parking lot and watched. A bloke from the road crew was near and I asked him if he was with the MB show, "Ya man, no worries mate", being in England and Wales for two weeks helped me decipher his accent. They set up the stage that afternoon and about five o clock a second bus arrived while we snacked and had some Stella Artois lager beer. At 6:00pm we went to the Paramount Cafe around the corner from where everything was happening. We used our super secret code word "Cinnamon" oops! to hook up with Lynn and his pal Glenn, they were a gas. We talked so much the waitress demanded we order after her fifth trip to the table. These two both play some serious keyboards themselves and I play guitars and bongos, we all had lots to talk about, even cancer. At the show, through the doors, my mind went way back in time, this rush of what MB did for me musically early on and how this whole thing evolved in to what it is now. WSAYO to me, was a mile stone record in what would be the "Tom is moving in a Brazilian musical adventure for the next twenty years but does not quite know that yet" direction I would follow. Along with several other artists. The Paramount is an old movie theatre with a sh*tload of charisma. An older lady guided us to our seats which were wrong, so we moved up one row to the 10th on the right side, Lynn and pal sat in the middle even closer. They have a phenomenal light show, check out the acid trip ceiling lights during the set. The sound was very clear and distinctive with a nice balance from top to bottom. They were extremely dynamic and self directed with hand cues. But hey, this is MB, TURN IT UP LOUD. You know what they say, "If it's too loud, you're too old." As I looked around at the folks near us I noticed we were in a group of, how do I say this nicely, seriously geriatric. Hmmm. Only a couple of them swayed gently during the slower Basia songs. There were younger people there as well but I think we are all getting older! A few things that really stood out to me were........ 1) Seeing MB in the first place. Mr. Reilly stood in the middle and has this sort of "circle of cool" around him, it glows and it rubs off on the audience. People have described his stage dancing as odd in some of these reviews, but he is just......cool. He clicks his fingers a little and moves around a bit, nothing odd about it. He gave Mr. White a really slick smile during Half a minute. Mr. White responded telepathically "Yeh, we wrote this little ditty twenty plus years ago, still sounds kickass." At least that is what I thought. 2) Basia looked yummy as always. She talked a little, sang beautifully and everybody in the place was amazed she was back and looking yummy as always! "We Love You, We Love You Basia" yelled from the audience over and over made Basia give this bashful smile with a sort of curtsy included and everyone laughed really hard. The moments in between the songs are just as fun as the songs. 3) Mr. White nailed the keyboards. He looked really happy playing. He bounces left and right and looks around alot and smiles. He stood up and played during one of the MB songs. He is using an M-audio.com keyboard with a Yamaha as a second. I have great respect for these guys. 4) Mr. Parnell's drum solo would have made John Bonham proud! Now I know why they keep him bottled up on stage. Mr. Singh percussion parts were very involved, he is encased in instruments. They both play off each other and smile and laugh. Everybody is having a good time on stage. 5) "More than I can bear" vocal intro......... Hold your breath! Can they do it... I have never heard better live singing than that. Ever! When they started that song and the room started to pressurize with sound it was magical. 6) The guitarist, Mr. Cansfield had a nice selection of axes. He does a stunning intro to a song which I will not reveal, cuz' you'll never guess what it is. He plays as if he were improvising the part, effortless runs on the neck and chimes. Then he looks over at Mr. White........and wham! 7) "Yeh Yeh" sort of got the older people going a bit except that they probably never heard that song in their lives and saw the younger whipper snappers getting a bit too excited for thier own britches. But hey, remember "If it's too loud, you're too old." Did you know that is a cover song. 8) Mr. Crampton plays a five string and the coolest thing he did, I thought, was to hit those very low notes on "Wrong side of the street ." Another perfect performance. 9) Horns, yet another perfect performance. You know what the seven P's to success are? "Prior proper preparation prevents piss poor performance." Mr. Robinson, here's to you! and the other guy whose name escapes me, sorry mate. Basia said they discovered him. 10) Two Tretrzelewaska's and two twins, is this bliss? Ms. T said her sisters voice is exactly like hers. How am I supposed to respond to that. Where has she been hiding? After the show we ended up in the lobby of the Paramount with Lynn and Glenn waitnig for the Brush with greatness. Sorry you guys had to leave Mr. White and Mr. Reilly walked through the doors 15 minutes later. everybody rushed over to Mr.White while Mr. Reilly stood there almost alone. Ah, my chance "Hello Mr. Reilly" and for five minutes we talked. He lives in London and was born In Hiwycome, where I just was bumming around with my mate on holiday. He thought that was funny. No Basia, she was not feeling well, she sang great but maybe the altitude got her (5280 above sea level) As time went on I was the last to talk to Mr. White I asked him if he would sign the tour poster and the best place to do that was his shinny bald head, he said "Sure, I knew this was good for something as he ran his hand over his head. So as everything was wrapping up Mr. Reilly headed for the door he saw me and started smiling and stuck his hand out for a shake,wow. I wish the bar were open I'd bought him a drink. I did not take my camera or my 7" 45's maybe another time another place. That's all.. Tom Neill ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 6 May 2005 17:24:04 -0700 (PDT) From: Leslie Osborn Subject: LA show Oh, damn. I have so much to say but for now let me just leave it at: FREAKING AMAZING. Just, whoa. Great crowd, too. Looking at the crowd surrounding Basia and cheering her on during "Promises" while the spotlight shone on her and she just killed it, man. I was euphoric. Not to even begin to mention Peter coming out-- brilliant. And, just massively, genuinely nice and totally chilled out people. If anyone speaks ill of them again from here on out I'll just have to smack them in the teeth. More later, Leslie O. Yahoo! Mail Stay connected, organized, and protected. Take the tour: http://tour.mail.yahoo.com/mailtour.html ------------------------------ End of basia-digest V10 #115 ****************************