Vampire Selfies

Are you familiar with the urban legend of The Wizard of Oz + Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon? Dateline: 2017. Boise Treefort Festival (5 days of amazing, same format as SxSW). Final nite of the fest, Sunday nite. Boise Contemporary Theatre. I saw a play so profound, so outrageously ambitious, I have no interest in seeing a play again, ever. It was called 'T here are Chinese Tunnels under Boise.' But back to Floyd, Oz, and the urban legend. Thousands, maybe tens of thousands, swear it's true. This is a global phenomenon. The gist is that the two are perfectly synchronized. If you watch the flick on mute, listening to the record at the same time, they're in sync. I'm not making this up. Do a search on it and you'll also be pulled into the rabbit hole. Anyhoots. That's the background of this blog, and this play. Act 1 of 2 begins in a basement of the stoner Floyd fan. His 3 friends arrive: 2 blokes & a bird. He argues with his friends at lengt...

Why do grownups listen to Def Leppard?

15ish years ago Garth Brooks came to Minneapolis. Declared they were going to sell tickets until the buying stopped. That amounted to 13 shows, at the basketball arena, capacity ~20k. Think about that. 13 consecutive days of gigs. He lived in the arena, just a simple room with a cot setup, they breathlessly showed on the news. I'm reminded of this when I meet someone around my age, i.e., grew up in the 80s. In particular, when we talk music, which we do, because I ask them about it. I ask some people I meet what they've been listening to lately. Replies might be: oh whatever's on the radio, or, I don't really listen to music, or, they mention known bands, or unknown bands. All are telling. What's most interesting, or noticeable, to me are those that declare (confess?) they still listen to Def Leppard / Boston / Journey / ACDC / Bon Jovi... or any of the big rock bands of the 70s-80s. Why is this interesting. First, this single bit of info predicts their life choi...

I stumbled into the best music gig in a bar, ever?

Dateline: 1995. My musician buddy Tim told me to go see a band at The Cabooze in Minneapolis. I trusted him, so I went. Never heard of the band, nor the opener. The cover at the door was a whopping $5. The opening band was on full broil when I walked in. I immediately regretted not showing up earlier. They were at the tail end of their set, 2 ditties left, but they were a jam band ergo long jams. All wearing tribal hippie garb on stage and they were pretty amazing. Onstage was the largest drum kit I'd ever seen, unplayed. Waiting for the headliner. Must take a long arse time for setup ergo done much earlier. I was there on a 1st date btw, she was ok, never saw her again. Little did we know we were in for a historical treat. Back then in '95 I was routinely in one of the many bars in what was then music alley in Mpls (Cedar & Riverside Ave area) before it became the crime-laden hellscape it is today. I was at music alley constantly . Cabooze down the street. Thriving...

Francis McGillicuddy

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