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T O P I C R E V I E W
snaficy
Posted - 09/04/2006 : 23:20:15 "OBJECTS IN THE MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR"
Dear Friends, Allies, and Superheroes.
I had the pleasure of seeing Frank Black 2 nights ago, doing a solo tour in support of his recent solo outing. It was a two-month wet dream in the makes. Before the show, I dug into my cache, to see that I actually owned 5 of his solo albums, a few of which were with the Catholics. I must have stopped following him around 1999. I boned up on a few tunes from "Teenager of the Year", with special emphasis / repetition of "Whatever Happened to Pong?" and "(I Want to Live on an) Abstract Plain," put on my boots, re-shaved my head, and packed my camera. Driving to the small venue, all I could think was that I had made it all the way to California with "Velouria" - an evergreen plant my sister had mailed to me from California when I lived in Ohio 2 years ago - that had promptly died despite my intense supervision, support, and care. I strongly suspect it had withered due to my lackadaisical approach towards learning, practicing, and playing "This Monkey's Gone to Heaven". I could never make the solo part sound legitimate. Anyway - back to Velouria: I had hoped to bury her in the California sand, where she belonged, like the song.
I have long since abandoned this 'romantic' notion, and have become more practical.
Next year we're going to Tennessee together!
Anyway, the show was great, and reminded me of something I had read in the "Death to the Pixies!" CD insert from the mid-nineties, where it recounted a time where an angry young Francis Black assaulted the California Coast with an acoustic and a car, setting up shows for gas money wherever he could pitch a stand.
This show was not that different, with the exception that he was being driven around in a weathered tour bus.
The show was sprinkled with a few Pixies gems - all acoustic - and his most recent musings. The stage was populated by a chair, amplifier, a few water bottles, and many ghosts. I heard songs about dirt roads, love, deserts, loss, cactuses, grief, wine, and redemption. At one point, the audience and guitar went silent for a minute – save for warm vocals echoing an angrier youth.
He had mellowed.
So have I.
He eyed me a few times, given my proximity (**STALKER ALERT!**) and ever-present camera.
And then the show ended.
Nothing dramatic happened, except the realization that the first and only time I had seen him was in the nosebleed section of an Akron college gym two years prior - and now, I was closer.
Stick around and believe long enough - you too will be able to move up front.
I hope the same applies to my career goals.
Anyway, I have a few choice pictures from the 8-31-06 Sacramento gig, coupled with few 'nosebleed' Pixies photos from the 11-21-04 Akron show. Send me an email, and I'll forward them to you.
Hell, I'll even throw in the live mp3 version of “Velouria" from the Akron show.
