RADIO HANNIBAL

R.E.M. Flashback

Just got an old photo sent to me on Facebook from an old college friend and a rush of memories came flooding back.
It was 1985 and R.E.M. was on tour in support of Fables Of The Reconstruction . I caught the show in Cleveland and then headed to Pittsburgh the next morning to hook up with Gary, a college friend of mine.  I picked him up at his home and we drove to Oakland (the heart of U. of Pitt and Carnegie Mellon campuses) where R.E.M. were to play at the Syria Mosque that night. 
We pulled into the lot in the early afternoon with the intention of taking some mushrooms and roaming around the area until show time.  Ah, those carefree, innocent days. 
A few hours into the adventure we spotted this strangely dressed girl on the other side of the street wearing a mini dress and go go boots.  She stood out a bit in this fairly conservative city. 
Suddenly she's calling our names.  We know this girl?, we wondered.  She runs across the street to greet us and now shroom paranoia sets in as we're certain all eyes are on us. 
Anyway, it's our college friend Erin who says she's dressed this way because she's going to dance in a go go cage at a post R.E.M. show at a nearby club.  You must come, she tells us.  We agree.
The show was stellar as all R.E.M. shows are...ha.  It was very hot that summer night and we danced like mad fools in front of the stage. 
So, off we go to the after show at the nearby club, who's name escapes me.  There was a local band playing, again who's name escapes me, and sure enough, there was Erin dancing to their music in a go go cage. 
Shortly after our arrival, members of R.E.M's warm up band, The Three O'Clock , show up along with Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry of R.E.M.  Michael Stipe never showed up.
Anyway, we had some beers and chatted with the band members.  Buck chastised me for wearing a bootleg R.E.M. shirt (as seen in the photo).  I reminded him that I owned all their records, had seen them in Cleveland the night before and traveled to Pittsburgh to catch them again.  He apologized.   
I went on to tell him that one day R.E.M. would be huge.  I'm sure of it, I professed to him.  It's nice being right once in awhile. 
Later on, during the local band's break, The Three O'Clock borrowed their gear and played some covers for the ground, including one of my favorite Monkees' songs, Lookout Here Comes Tomorrow
Then the members of R.E.M. joined in for a rousing and extended version of La Bamba. 
It was a day and night I'll never forget and all brought back to me this morning by this photo.

Here's our friend chatting with member's of The Three O'Clock. 

Just got another couple shots from the event. 
Here's our go go dancing friend Erin in action.

And her, with Buck and Mills. She wants me to tell you all that she looks much better when not so sweaty. Go go dancing is quite the workout.

Christmas In July

Well, I'm feeling a bit guilty about not getting a new radio show up in a month.  Too much damn summer fun, including Widespread Panic tonight!

Anyway, as a gift to you all, here's the last two shows in case you missed them when they first "aired".

May 15, 2008 show
June 16, 2008 show

Pass It Forward (the cool way of concert ticket upgrade)

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Alison Krauss and Robert Plant perform at a downtown Cleveland outdoor venue on a gorgeous summer night.  It was great running into friends and, in particular, two strangers.

About half way through the show as we stood in the rear general admission section, a couple approached us and said, "Hey, you want to sit in some amazing seats?  We have to leave."  I quickly said yes and took the tickets thanking them profusely. 

"Fifth row aisle seats" the woman said, "you know, pass it forward!" she concluded.  I smiled, knowing exactly what she meant. 

Years earlier, I had amazing seats to a Jimmy Buffet concert at Blossom Music Center.  Three songs into the show I was quite disappointed at the horrendous sound.  How can a band who makes their living on the road, playing in a space with beautiful acoustics manage to screw up this bad. 

As we walked up the hill and toward the exit I saw a couple on blankets and handed them the tickets.  They were as overjoyed as I was last night. 

Pass it forward.  Indeed.

Back to the show.  The band was top notch and featured T Bone Burnett who produced the album .  Recently on NPR's All Songs Considered  he stated that this band was the most fun he's ever had on the road.  That would include his stint with Dylan's Thundering Review from the 70's.

Also in the line up was a favorite of mine, multi-instrumentalist and singer, Buddy Miller. He even got to sing a little on one of the encores. 

The cool Cleveland fact was that, as Plant put it, "it was less than 1,000 days ago in this city at a Rock Hall tribute to Leadbelly that I first met and sang with this woman who's changed the course of my life".  And later on Burnett acknowledged it as a special night since the band was formed here on that night at Severance Hall. 

Here's some pix from The Plain Dealer.

Cyndi Lauper does Joni's Carey

About 5 years ago there was this Joni Mitchell tribute concert that aired on some cable network. Early in the broadcast Ms. Lauper performed Joni's Carey. They might as well have ended the show right then. A stunning performance not to be missed.

Good To Be Home in Cleveland

I arrived home from Paris and retrieved my Sunday morning Plain Dealer.  I was immediately drawn to a front page story on journalist Charles Michener and his novel in progress about my (and his) hometown, Cleveland.  I've read it twice today with more glee and excitement the second go round.  Tempered by the statement that it won't be published until 2010 or 2011. 
Anyone who knows me or reads this blog is aware of my city pride.  Karen Long's story has me imagining, wondering how we can get moving and help to create the reality for this city Michener envisions. 
My sweetheart and I sat on the direct flight from Paris yesterday and watched the promotional piece Continental Airlines plays as the plane approaches Cleveland.  Shamefully, I was embarrassed at the praise lauded on my city to the visitors who sat around me. The two of us looked at each other curiously.  Surely, they will not be fooled, I thought to myself. 
Then I sat there thinking to myself, perhaps I am the fool who has a hard time actually believing what I know in my heart is a great place to visit and live.  Michener's words supported my wrong thinking but hopefully turned me around. 
He even speaks of our (Clevelander's) self-deprecating attitude.  It's a mindset we must all work on breaking. 
I so look forward to the release of this book and even more, I look forward to a truly great Cleveland.
Here's the story by Karen Long from The Plain Dealer Sunday July 6, 2008.

Paris day 4

On our last day in Paris we decided to stay in the hotel neighborhood which is in southern Montmartre right next to the Opera district.  It was probably the most enjoyable day spent.  This had to do with the fact we weren't walking so much and the little discoveries of actual neighborhoods without the tourist aspect being so prevalent.
Here's a shot from Rue De LaFayette looking down our street at the hotel on Rue Faubourg Montmartre.

A few blocks down from our hotel near the intersection of our street and Boulevard du Montmartre is the famous Chartier restaurant. We didn't eat there though. Our favorite discovery was these mid 1800's arcades called the Passages. They ran on for about 5 blocks and had different names on each block. Lots of old book stores, antiques, galleries and small cafes. We had a two hour lunch at one we deemed as looking quintessential French with simple French cuisine and nothing but locals as customers. We were not disappointed. It was wonderful food and a 3 course lunch with two carafes of wine ran 50 euros. It's called Les Troubadours Bistrot. Another shot of our street looking from the corner of Blvd. du Montmartre. We capped the trip with one last Metro ride to Bercy Village near the end of the newest subway, Line 14. The fellow message board member I spoke of suggested meeting there as it's not known as a touristy place. The street on which the bar was located was right off the Metro and was a pedestrian, cobblestone street lined with cafes and bars. He lives a little over an hour out of the city and we were flattered he'd come that far on the train to meet us. We had some good laughs, discussions about the message board, music, politics, etc. He spent some time in the US as a French teaching assistant at a university in Boston. For the life of me, I can't remember which one. Anyway, cheers to the internet for creating real life friendships across the world.

Paris Opera House

Last evening we took a short jaunt over to the Opera House area. Another striking thing about Paris in the summer is that since it's a bit farther north than where I'm from it stays light here until well after 10pm. We also found the 15 dollar beers I'd read about on line. If you drink at cafe in a prime location, like across from the Opera House, a Corona runs 10 euros or about 15 bucks a pop. Yikes. So, we had the cheapest glass of red wine at 8 euros. A little splurge. We're hanging out in the hotel neighborhood today in Montmartre. It's just off the ritzy area and prices at cafes, etc. are considerably less. Then we're meeting up with a member of a music message board Ia belong to. He lives in the Paris suburbs. It'll be fun to meet someone via the net and shared passions like music and shows how cool the internet can be. Looking forward to talking music with a Parisian.

Day 3 in Paris

Last night we took the obligatory boat ride up and down the Seine.  A very touristy thing to do but it did give us a good look at things.  The most striking of which, is the fact that every night the banks fill with locals and tourists for sunset picnics where food, wine and beer is consumed without a hassle it appears.  Street musicians perform as entertainment and the parade of boats leaves a great deal of hand waving going on. Today we did the Louvre and D'Orsay museums. I can't help but laugh.  In this day of digital photography, tourists just constantly shoot pix.  At seemingly every painting they see.  Here the poparazzi set their sites on the silent and still Mona Lisa.  This just cracked me up. Though I did get a shot of me and Venus.  A cool shot outside the Louvre. And inside D'Orsay.

More in Paris

So, did the Champ-Elysee, after strolling Montaigne where the tres chic shop.

Headed toward the Arch de Triumph which was closed.  Looked like they were already setting up for Bastille Day. Then we headed over to the Eiffel Tower. Did some record shopping at Virgin Megastore and then over in the Latin Quarter at Gibert Joseph.  Picked up the new Coldplay (see Eiffel pic), Odessy and Oracle, and Tonight's The Night.  A bottle of wine at a cafe near the fountain of St. Michel where this was the view. Lots more strolling then ended up at the Pompidou Centre. And of course, lots of time spent down here in the Metro. Notes: I'm not really a foodie and Europe and especially France is not a bargain so we eat with things we get at Supermarches. Spend the money on some nice street side drinks. Obviously other tales to tell but no time.
Also, the 5 years of French in high school and college has come in handy. Really fun to try and remember and practice my French, I do pretty well with simple things and still have the enunciations down well.