Chop Suey: Glasvegas [Updated] Monday, Jan 12 2009

I rarely go to shows because tickets can get so expensive, and I am rarely interested in new bands.  However, every once in a while my husband will talk me into going to a show for a band he’s been enjoying.  Saturday, we went down to Chop Suey in Seattle for Glasvegas.  The opening act, Carl Barat formerly of the Libertines and Dirty Pretty Things, was well, bad.  My husband put it nicely when he said, “This guy would be great with a band.”  Frankly, I didn’t think so, but then he played a Libertines song he actually started to sound better.

Once Glasvegas came on stage, though, I forgot all about Barat.  I have to admit they have a very thick accent.  I barely understood what they said between songs and there was little I understood once they started singing.  Regardless of my understanding of their lyrics, I loved the music.  It was full of ambiant sounds, gorgeous vocals, and rocking guitar work.  If I hadn’t been so physically miserable by that point, I could have been carried away by the music alone.  The fact that I was able to appreciate the music at all through aching feet and a bad attitude was miracle enough.  I had the misfortune of standing right by the speaker on stage for the entirety of the show.  I’m not sure I’ve regained my hearing fully yet, but it was worth  it.  I was able to see the stage and their pompadour hairstyles and black leather jackets made you feel like you were watching a rock band from the 1950′s.  My husband actually mentioned while we listened to the mp3 in the car before the show that their music had a 50′s quality to it.  I’m not sure I caught it, but he knows more about music than I do, so I will defer to his more informed position.

Overall, I had a blast.  I almost wish I had a camera that night, but mine does not do well in the dark.  If I find images from that show I’ll post them here.  Overall a great show and a great band.

Update: Pictures of the show can be found here by Dan Muller.

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Homenaje a Jose Jose (Traduccion) Friday, Sep 19 2008

Leí ahorita una traduccion de lo que you habia escrito anoche sobre el homenaje a Jose Jose de Latin Grammy.  Que horrible!  Les pido disculpas, no se como anadir tildes ni enes.  Espero que todavia me puedo ser entendida.  Aqui sera un intento a traducir lo que yo escribi anoche.

Cuando yo era nina encontre una cinta que mi mama habia grabado de canciones que le gustaba cuanda ella estaba en la escuela secundaria.  Lo escucha varias veces, me habia enamorado. Jose Jose era uno de los artistas en esta cinta.  Anoche vi el homenaje a Jose Jose de Latin Grammy.  Me senti translada a esos momentos en que yo escuchaba esta musica con mi mama y mi abuela, o cuando a solas en mi cuarto, tocaba la cinta y cantaba junto con esos artistas.

Para los vídeos de YouTube tendrás que hacer click aquí.

Me enamore una vez mas.  Baile, cante, me sentia cerca de llorar.  El momento mas doloroso para fue el momento que Jose Jose empeso el poema de un maestro de musica.  Ese poema, en corto, se trataba del cantante que podria sufrir cualquier cosa menos la perdida de su voz.  Ya al perder su voz no habia sentido seguir viviendo.  Es doloroso por que se escucha claramente que Jose Jose ya no puede cantar.  Su voz ha cido destruida por el abuso de no se que.  Pero, aun, con su voz destruida, empeso a cantar.  La gente llenos de cantantes empezaron a cantar con el, ya que era obvio que no podia solo.

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Tribute to Jose Jose Thursday, Sep 18 2008

When I was a little girl I found a mix tape my mom had done when she was a teenager.  On it were several songs from artists that were popular then.  I listened to it several times, I was in love.  Among the artists featured on this tape was Jose Jose.  Tonight I watched a tribute concert hosted by the Latin Grammy.  I was instantly transported back to moments spent with my mom and my grandmother listening to these songs on the radio, to moments alone in my room as I listened to that mix tape.

Below is the only video I found after turning the program off of Aventura performing “Lagrimas.”

I fell in love all over again.  I got up and danced.  I laughed and I welled up.  The saddest most poignant part of the whole program came when Jose Jose took the stage and recited a poem from an old music coach.

The gist of the poem since something is usually lost in translation anyway, is that if God is ever angered by a singer’s actions, He can throw just about anything at him as long as He leaves the singer his voice.  Without that, the singer cannot live.  This recital issued from a celebrated singer whose every word was raspy painful struggle.  He sang one of his hits and the audience joined to help him.  There was no way he could carry the song alone.  Below is a YouTube link to the speech and subsequent song.  If you do not understand the Spanish, you can at least appreciate the struggle it was for him to speak at all, let alone sing like he once did.

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