The Adrian Belew Power Trio in Atlanta/Ade and The Power to Convert!

The above photograph is courtesy of Rick Glover of Beatle Fan Magazine -- and oh wow, Beatle Fan Magazine, how cool is that! Great link to click on and spend a few hours!

I think Rick's shots are incredible -- here's a few more:





And thanks once again to Sid Smith at DGM Live for linking my blog today and especially for his headline: Ade And The Power To Convert regarding all of the cool reviews I've been posting and how fantastic is this - he also linked Kate Kretz, the extraordinary artist I quoted here yesterday...because really, after the show, she is the definitive Ade convert! Awesome!

From The Intergalactic Cowboy's Blog

Adrian Belew In Atlanta!

"Twas a night of youthful energy in Atlanta tonight. The Adrian Belew Power Trio performed at Smith’s Olde Bar to about 200 raging fans. I had suspected that the reason that this group was called a power trio was perhaps because Belew would be playing lots of power chords. The real reason for this group name is the powerful rhythm section of Eric and Julie Slick, ages 20 and 21 respectively. These two young players skillfully played unlimited scores of speedy 32nd notes with unlimited energy ! Belew looked rather youthful himself, with brown hair almost down to his shoulders. He also seems to have been visiting a weight machine.

Belew ripped out lead after lead of unusual scales with unusual guitar sounds. At one point he was using a violin sound; then he looped the violin sound and played another violin solo on top of that. Then he used a Fender Rhoades sound and played some jazzy sounding chords and melodies at a lower volume and tempo, creating a subtle dynamic for a few minutes. Then he played a solo using a reverse-gate violin sound. A couple of the instrumental pieces sounded like they could be future King Crimson songs. One sounded a lot like ‘ Indiscipline,’ with diminished chords and whole tone scales and a churning rhythm. Another was reminiscent of ‘ We’ll Let You Know,’ kind of quirky, trebly and jazzy. I should add that he played the K.C. tunes ‘ Dinosaur,’ ‘Neurotica,’ ‘Frame by Frame’ and ‘Thela Hun Gingeet’ during his set which lasted almost two hours. The rhythm section did a superb job of duplicating the drum and bass parts to these difficult progressive rock powerhouses. Eric played Bruford’s complex drum parts with the precision and energy that equaled Alan White when he replaced Bruford in the group Yes.

And speaking of entities named Crimson, Mr. Crimson himself was there with the lovely Laurie. He introduced me to Rob Murphree, the webmaster of the Adrian Belew website. Adrian’s wife Martha sold me a tee shirt which I will deliver to Troy Johnston in Thomaston. In eleven hours I need to be at a Nissan dealership so it’s time to go to bed."

From a blog post by Dustin:

August 23, 2007 - Thursday

Adrian Belew - Smiths Olde Bar- Atlanta,Ga - 8/22/07

WOW

I could leave it at that, but I won't.

This was actually my first time to Smiths, a legendary and nationally renowned bar here in Atlanta. David Bowie has even played this 300 + capacity room...

...It was now time for the Rhino King himself. I was excited to see his new trio (featuring Eric and Julie Slick, on drums and bass) up close, as opposed to seeing them at the very back of Chastain Amphitheater last time. They ripped right into "Writing on the wall" letting anyone unfamiliar know right away what they were in for. The set , similar to that of other shows I've seen, consisted mostly of original material with a King Crimson song here and there, the three this time being the obvious "Dinosaur", the rare "Neurotica", and for encore, my favorite and first KC song "Thela Hun Ginjeet".

They played all of the trio songs from "Side 1", but shied away from the "Side 3" trio tracks. Eric and Julie pull off the arduous task of coping the lines of Les Claypool and Danny Carey, even more impressive is the fact the Eric (20) and Julie (21) are half the age of their counterparts. They are beyond their years, having graduated from the Paul Green School of Music (Eric,remember, only 20, is now a teacher there), they show an impeccable connection that is every great rhythm section, without even trying Eric shoots Julie a look and mouths a number, let's say 3, BAM BAM BAM and then back into the song seamlessly. I commented to someone standing next time my amazement at the stunningly beautiful Julie.


(Another amazing photo by Rick Glover)

"Not only is she a lot prettier than I am, but she blows me out of the water with the bass."

She jumps between finger and picking, slapping when necessary. Definitely one of the most proficient pick players I've ever seen. Her brother has a wild but solid style, and something you don't see with enough drummers, a huge fuckin smile while he's playing. You can tell these people love what they're doing and love doing it with each other. You can bet anyone Belew picks to play with him are going to be some of the best, even if they're young enough to be his children.



The surprises of the night came in the extended jams that came out of "Beat Box Guitar" and "Big Electric Cat". The band really explored some ground, both songs lasting a good 10-15 minutes at least. On top of the song chops, they show they can improv without a problem. The best of both worlds.

After the thrilling "Thela Hun Ginjeet" for encore, Adrian and the Slicks came out to do some meet and great and sign. Normally I don't bother trying to get an autograph, but there was barely anyone left (from the sold out show) and this IS fuckin Adrian Belew one the most prolific and talented guitarist of all time, permanent member of King Crimson since the reunion in '81,previously toured and recorded with Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Talking Heads, Paul Simon, Nine Inch Nails, Tom Tom Club, Tori Amos, Bela Fleck and The Flecktones,Herbie Hancock, David Byrne, has guested onstage with Umphreys McGee, Tool, and Primus, and has produced countless other albums.



So, yeah, I went ahead and got in line. All of the band are very humble and easily approachable, not an ounce of pretension. After complimenting them on the great job ( i was a little buzzed at this point, so it came out as "Your guys' playing puts my musical aspirations to shame" to the Slick siblings , who wants to hear that?Thats not at all what i meant to say, god i felt like a jackass.) I asked if anyone wanted a drink, on me. Adrian said he wanted a lemon drop, but as i went to the bar, they told me all they could sell me was a corona as they were closing up, so i came back empty handed. The worst part though, is a few minutes later Adrian walks up and asks for the lemon drop, and they hop on it as if they weren't even closed. So I felt like even more of a jackass. HA!

Seriously, if your a fan of any kind of rock, you need to check out the Adrian Belew Trio next time through town.Seriously, he's a legend! Up there with Hendrix, Vaughn (even though i think Stevie was WAY overrated), Clapton, Page but still under the radar. It's rare you'll get the chance to get this close to such an innovator. And hey, at the very least, the bassist is cute as hell!"

So there were some celebrities in the audience in Atlanta, including Denny Walley and Janet The Planet:



And here's Adrian with Denny Walley and Andre Cholmondeley:



I know I am leaving out stuff - I literally am swamped by emails from appreciative fans but I hesitate to post them without permission and there are tons of small Live Journal, Facebook, and MySpace entries that simply say "AWESOME", "INCREDIBLE", "FANTASTIC", "MIND BLOWING", etc. so let me just take the opportunity to thank all of you and please keep them coming!

And err...I hate to bring my personal life into all of this, but just a reminder that you can lend my new rock and roll epic, Daddy Left Me Alone with God, some support by buying "shares" in an online stock market game -- with play money that you are given - $5,000.00 worth, in fact -- oh that it were real -- right here and there's an excerpt included...if you have a minute or two, please read it, comment, and buy some shares by clicking on "higher" (you will see what I mean once you log into the site but if you have any questions, please email me or comment below)...and also, I just got word that I will be reading at Robin's Bookstore (ha ha, no relation) on October 13, 2007.

I will most likely be reading an excerpt from Three Days in New York City, my best selling (heh) erotic comedy (Hi, Tommy! Hi, Dot!)...and here's the very cool poster for the event:



Okay, that's a wrap. For now, anyway.

In the meantime, if you are down in the Florida area, I urge you to catch the Adrian Belew Power Trio tonight at The State Theatre, St. Petersburg, Florida.

I will be boarding a plane early tomorrow morning to catch the trio's show in West Palm Beach tomorrow at The Theatre. Hope to meet a lot of you there!

Later,
xo

Adrian Belew Power Trio - More From the Tour

Photo of the Adrian Belew Power Trio taken by Cleek

So it's almost impossible for me to blog today. I received so many overwhelmingly incredible emails and reviews of the last few Adrian Belew Power Trio shows that I'm literally sitting here all verklempf. But I will try and wipe away the sappy tears and get my thoughts in order so that I can at least write something coherent.

Or at least use the cut and paste feature coherently.

Where to start, where to start.

I think I will begin with a blog entry made by an absolutely amazing artist named Kate Kretz, and I cannot urge you enough to click on that link and look at her work. I am blown away.

I'm only going to post an excerpt from her blog as it's very lengthy so again, if you want to read the entire entry, I encourage you to click that link as well.

"...As I have only known my husband for 3 ½ years now, one of the things that we enjoy sharing with each other is the music we do not have in common. We both LOVE blues, funk, classic rock, but from there, we diverge. We have spent the last few years trying to introduce each other to those divergent areas. Last night’s Adrian Belew concert was one of those territories.

It must be said that my husband is a musician when he is not being a scientist: he’s been playing tenor sax for decades, but also composes on a combination of keyboard and computer. He worships at the altars of Frank Zappa and Peter Gabriel. His attempts to introduce me to Prog Rock often leave me feeling ashamed of my ignorance and unsophisticated taste. I am certain that it is similar to the feeling he gets when we go to a museum together, and he points out a Renoir that he likes, even though he knows that I think it is pure bubble gum....

...So last night, while we were waiting in the rain at The Cat’s Cradle with two other people an hour before the doors opened, Kevin started to talk to me again about King Crimson and Adrian Belew. I said that back in high school, when I was the only girl in the Mathletes club, most of the guys listened to King Crimson. Kevin responded that, funny I should mention it, King Crimson fans, and prog rock fans in general, tend to have higher IQs than other audiences. We eventually got out of the rain, got our hands stamped, and went into the dilapidated black box of a room. Fans were photographing Adrian’s guitars that were already set up onstage....

...But the obviously humble and down-to-earth, iconic Adrian and the dazzlingly talented Eric and Julie Slick (a.k.a The Adrian Belew Power Trio) blew me away. SO tight and on-spot with the most complex compositions (“duh”, I can hear my husband say), they expanded my understanding of what music could be: like the Grinch whose heart grew three times larger that day, the portion of Kate’s brain that processes music has been stretched, and will never be the same.

Apparently, Eric and Julie Slick were featured in the movie Rock School, a film we have heard about but have never seen (and have since moved to the top of our Netflix queue). They are brother and sister music prodigies, 20 and 21, playing drums and bass, respectively. I want to email their Mom, Robin Slick, who is a writer, and ask her what she did to/for them when they were tykes. I defy any audience member to keep from falling in love with the bass player Julie, blessed with Pre-Raphaelite beauty as well as soul, sinew, and fever.


(Photo courtesy of "Mentally Guitarded" and go click on his site as there are many great photographs and videos)

Adrian seemed to be having a great time while he did mesmerizing things with guitar that I didn’t know people could DO with guitars. I felt truly fortunate to catch him in such a small venue, where I could really see what he was doing. And after pulling out all the stops on stage in an amazing performance, this legend stayed after the show to sign autographs.

I’m no music critic, but even a sonic sophomore like myself could not deny that this show was not even a shade shy of brilliant. Catch it if you can, and take someone whose mind you love."

Oh man, that was so cool, Kate. And I can relate. My husband -- before we were married and he was my childhood sweetheart -- turned me on to King Crimson, too, back in the early seventies when we were little baby hippies. My advice for raising kids? Surround them with art and music and love. And treat them as people -- as you would like to be treated yourself, with respect and dignity, from the time they take their first breath.

After reading your blog and visiting your website, I think you and Kevin will be awesome parents.

So that review was from the Cat's Cradle Show -- I seem to be working my way backwards and I'm thinking I'll do a separate post later today on the Atlanta show last night.

Here's an email/blog comment I received from "HTL" which really made me smile:

"Just wanted to say hi. I got here from Youtube, unusual in that I was talking to Eric in the same spot where, nine years ago, I was tossed out after Eddie Vedder bought me a beer. Small world!

The show was amazing. Julie shot Eric a few amused, incredulous big sister looks: he mouths "five" -- now? you can't be serio -- CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! -- and they're somewhere else. The snare gets an in-flight tune-up. A cymbal limps over: to ratchet the thing back up calls for another free hand so, shrug, it'll wait.

Adrian, as ever, is having the time of his life.

Can't wait for the CGT tour."

Err...the CGT Tour? Do you know something I don't know, HTL?

Actually, I did see on Eric's MySpace page that Paul from the California Guitar Trio left him the below message on August 5:

"Eric!!!! I just got a message from our agency saying that they are working on some shows for Belew Power Trio and CGT early next year! Yes! Let's play something all together this time. It will be the CGT/Belew Double Trio!

Paul"

Oh man, I know I'd be so, so into that!

By the way, if you click on Eric's MySpace, there are some great messages, including one very cryptic note from Tree Montoya which naturally has me intrigued. Note to self: Remember to ask Eric about this.

Still backtracking, here's a review from the Stella Blue show in Asheville Sunday night, courtesy of M. Couture's Live Journal:

"I finally saw Adrian Belew in concert. He plays with a couple of youngsters, Julie and Eric Slick. Together they form one powerful power trio. The sounds of Adrian Belew's guitar were still ringing in my head (in a good way) hours after the show had ended.

I would describe Adrian Belew as a "sonic" guitarist. His playing is not primarily lyrical (which is not to say that he is incapable of lyricism) but rather, his bag is sound itself. His sound is large, by turns screaming, growling, oozing, spacey, precise, and futuristic. More than any other musician I can think of, he explores the sonic possibilities of the electric guitar. Needless to say, he is liberal in his use of the whammy bar, the echo delay, and other several other devices.

His top-notch rhythm section, Julie Slick on bass and Eric Slick on drums, is an ideal counterpart to Adrian Belew's tidal wave of electric guitar sound. The very picture of nonchalance, Julie Slick sometimes plucks, sometimes picks, and plays as if excellence were simply a matter of course. Eric Slick kicks it on the drums and grins impishly after playing an amazing fill.

Part of what makes this band great is that they are obviously enjoying themselves on stage. Adrian smiles and makes faces while he plays, and then pumps his arms like Charles Atlas after a tune. His happiness is infectious, and makes the show that much more enjoyable.

There were some problems with sound that night. Apparently, their usual sound man was not on the job. For my tastes, the volume could have been turned down from eleven to ten. It would have made the lyrics more intelligible and it would have made the different components of the sound more distinguishable. But even so, the show was superb. Greatness can't be neutralized by a few technical glitches.

I particularly liked a solo version that Adrian did of (I think) the Beatles' "Love You To." At first I thought it was something borrowed from Electric Ladyland. It was one of the night's most lyrical moments, and afterwards, Adrian said, "that was fun."

This band is avant garde, it explores new sonic landscapes with vigor and verve and makes you think about the possibilities of the power trio...and the three obviously have a blast playing their music. See this band if you get the chance."

Here's a comment I lifted from Adrian's blog about the very same show:

"Dear ABP3: I saw y'all at Stella Blue, Asheville, NC, on August 19th, 2007. I will remember this date for the rest of my life as one of the biggest BLAST's of my life, no kidding! Bigger than Genesis in Atlanta in 1978. Bigger than Rush in Glasgow in 1977. Bigger than King Crimson at the Orange Peel, Asheville in 2003.

I have been a fan of Adrian Belew since I first heard "Discipline." At Stella, I was right underneath Adrian in the "mosh pit." The biggest thrill came when you guys were playing "Big Electric Cat", and Adrian locked eyes with me as he started to rip one of my all-time favorite guitar solos. No big deal for him, locking eyes with a shell-shocked fan, I'm sure, but the raw intensity of Adrian practicing his craft and connecting with one of his audience, specifically ME, made it a very special moment! Chills up and down my spine!

The SlickSibs: Tight, powerful, passionate. Stunningly so. You are so lucky that Adrian has taken you under his wing, but deservedly so. When I wasn't being dazzled by Adrian, Eric was stunning me with his virtuosity and enthusiasm. I mean, Eric blew me away! Who needs a Bruford? Julie so cool, so in control, such a rhythm-leader while taming her wild brother and her crazy Uncle Ade. Phew. The world is your stage.

Adrian: Thanks, thanks so much. Thanks for your passion. Thanks for your prolific career, and for keeping you craft new and dynamic. Thanks for recognizing the Slicks, and paying homage to Zappa's tutelage of a young Adrian by adopting the amazing Slick Rhythmatists.

I can't wait for the first studio ABP3 album, y'all: "Power Triage?" You guys saved my jaded Rock n' Roll Soul. Gimme more sugar!"

Okay, compose yourself, Robin. Take deep breaths. Have some coffee or something...no, wait, better make that green tea. Decaffeinated.

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not post a news article which appears today in the Brandenton Herald:



"Adrian Belew driven by love of music
By SCOTT HARRELL
Special to the Herald

Author Stephen King - one of the most prolific page-fillers of the 20th century - once wrote something to the effect that a writer who only produces one book every seven years is just plain lazy.

Looking back over Adrian Belew's professional history, one gets the impression that the revered guitarist would agree with King's views on the flowing of creative juices. Belew is many things - gifted experimental guitarist, storied sideman, producer, prog-rock icon - but one thing he isn't, is artistically slothful.

"Once or twice, yeah," he responds with a laugh when asked if he's actually slept since 1978. "There have been a couple of times when I accidentally fell asleep. I didn't mean to."

Belew originally came to cult prominence when the legendary Frank Zappa saw him playing in a cover band that year, and hired him as a touring musician. These days, he's perhaps best known as a member of long-running progressive-rock outfit King Crimson. Between those two stations is a résumé and catalog of groundbreaking music that's both astonishing and largely unrecognized by pop-music culture at large, despite Belew's hefty contributions to its canon.

Let's be clear: There's not enough space here, or in any mere feature article, to comprehensively document this journeyman's career thus far. Some outside the circle of dedicated listeners, omnivorous sonic adventurers and music-scholar types that form the core of his fanbase know about his stint in David Bowie's band, and his long-running pop project The Bears, and his contributions to such classic albums as Talking Heads' "Remain in Light" and Paul Simon's "Graceland." But what about his work with avant-garde artist Laurie Anderson? His many, many solo and collaborative albums? His playing on Nine Inch Nails' "The Downward Spiral" and "The Fragile," on Tori Amos' "Strange Little Girls," on William Shatner's 2004 release, "Has Been?" His many production credits, which include Jars of Clay and popular Mexican rock en espanol act Jaguares? The list really does go on and on, shaping a portrait of a singularly restless player.

"My original plan when I was a teenager was to follow the normal path, to write songs, to have my own band, to maybe get a record deal," says Belew, now 57. "But it all seemed to happen from a different perspective for me, almost through the back door. And along the way, I realized I enjoyed all those things, the collaborations, the working on other people's albums, getting with people you've never worked with before - it all adds up to what it is that I like (about making music). If it was just one thing, maybe it wouldn't be as interesting."

As Zappa once did for him, Belew likes to provide talented unsung musicians with whatever opportunities may come from an association with him. He often includes more obscure artists in his projects and is currently touring in a power-trio format with a largely unknown rhythm section composed of siblings.

"The power trio is really almost unexplainable, you have to see it to really believe it," he says. "I can tell you it's me and Eric and Julie Slick, a brother and sister team from Philly. Eric is 20 years old and his sister, who plays bass, is 21. They're totally focused on music, and they're sensational musicians. They don't even seem like kids to me, they're both right up there with all the great players I've worked with."

Belew goes on to admonish those longtime fans tempted to take that last statement with a grain of salt, given his star-studded résumé, that he's not exaggerating:

"I tell people this because I don't want them to miss the show, and then be told later that they missed the best thing that's come through town. It shocks people. Power trio is a good term for it because it really is powerful, it's very energetic. It's taken all this music I've fed into a trio format, and revitalized it. It's somewhat free-form, there's a lot of improvisation but we're also covering stuff from all of my solo career. Plus a dozen King Crimson songs, and they sound as vital and enthusiastic as they did when they were written, whether it was 1981 or 1990."

As excited as he is about his current undertaking, it's unlikely that Belew is thinking of settling into any routine, much less of retiring. He's concurrently releasing music from his long-awaited box set of rarities, Dust, regularly on his own Web site, www.adrianbelew.net, as well as maintaining a personal blog and promoting his latest solo album, "Side Three," which features Primus principal Les Claypool and Tool drummer Danny Carey. There's little chance of him becoming the experimental-music equivalent of a lazy novelist in the foreseeable future.

"I'm driven by the love of it," he says. "It's the creative part of it that I most enjoy. I always seem to have new ideas or challenges. I love performing as well, but I'm not driven to perform, I'm not an entertainer. Mostly, it's just that I love playing music, you know? There's so much left to do. I don't think I'll ever get tired of it."

If you go

What: The Adrian Belew Power Trio

When: 8 p.m. Friday

Where: State Theatre, St. Petersburg

Tickets: $20 in advance, $25 day of show

Information: (727) 895-3045"

Okay, that's enough for now. I will be back later with reviews, comments, and emails regarding last night's packed concert at Smith's Olde Bar in Atlanta, Georgia. From what I've read, they blew the roof off there, too.

Later,
xo

Cat's Cradle Part II - I just had to add this latest find

Oh my god, have a look at this review of last night's show:

"Saw the legendary Adrian Belew at the Cat’s Cradle last night. Wow. Amazing. I’d only seen him live playing acoustic, until last night, so I had no idea how loud and ferocious he was when plugged-in. Yow. I was directly in front of him, enjoying the full skreiking joy of his 4 amps. The ear plugs went in about 2/3s through.

He had a drummer, Eric Slick, and bass player, Julie Slick, with him. They were absolutely amazing. Eric Slick is probably the best drummer I’ve seen live, and he’s only recently turned 20. Simply overflowing with apparently effortless power and precision. Julie Slick, his 21-year-old sister, is a monster bass player; she stands there, baby-faced and barefoot in her blue dress, happily playing parts written by bass giants like Les Claypool and Tony Levin - even duplicating, on her bass, much of Levin’s Stick work on Crimson’s “Elephant Talk”. You’d expect them to be good, to play with someone like Belew (who’s pushing 60), but they were gooood - I’ll be surprised if they don’t end up huge, someday.

They did a lot of long, crazy instrumentals that ended up with the three of them breaking off into different rhythms: very free, but engaging, and never sloppy - when the drummer hit that snare, they were always right back where they needed to be. They did a bunch of new stuff from Sides 1,2&3, a handful of Belew classics (Big Electric Cat, Young Lions, Paint The Road, etc), and a bunch of King Crimson songs at the end (Three Of A Perfect Pair, Thela Hun Ginjeet, Frame By Frame, Elephant Talk). All were great. The guy next to me, who said he’s seen Belew “30 or 40 times”, says Belew’s next record, “Side 4″, will be a live record from this tour - yay! While I like his records just fine, it all sounded amazing when played by this band. Should be great.

I was half expecting him to do a bunch of tame versions of his serious, messagey, songs (Men In Helicopters, Peace On Earth, Lone Rhinoceros, etc), but it was nothing like that at all - no acoustics, none of his Beatle-esque songs. Except for a solo atmospheric instrumental piece Belew did in the middle, it was all heavy aggressive screaming progressive rawk. And it was all surprisingly modern; except for the fact that the crowd was chock-full of balding pot-bellied Boomers, you wouldn’t think this stuff was coming from a guy whose best-known work was done in the early 80s. As far as I can tell, there’s no good reason this particular band he’s put together shouldn’t be a giant in the current alt-rock scene."

Later,I'm sure
xo

Adrian Belew Power Trio at the Cat's Cradle, Carrboro, NC

Photo of last night's show at the Cat's Cradle, August 21, 2007, taken by Michael Dehaan

Part one of a very entertaining blog post:

"I'll have to finish this later, as I'm utterly and perfectly knackered, but the Adrian Belew gig at Cat's Cradle was more or less mind blowing. More than less. I commented to Ken that we probably just saw members of the top one percent of living musicians. Tomorrow I'll write up some typically withering commentary of What This Show Means To Me.

And for what it's worth... Julie Slick, will you marry me?"

Ha! I'm afraid you will have to take a number and get in line, my sweet little monkey.

Here's an email I received from Jeff Bond, a member of Adrian's Yahoo group:

"I just got home. It was a dynamite show, right at 2 hours. I heard all my faves (Big Electric Cat, Dinosaur, Frame by Frame, Thela, etc.). If someone was there and managed to grab a set list, please post it somewhere.

Everybody has been saying that Julie and Eric are great. Now that I've finally seen them play, I have to agree. They rock! As the father of kids that age, I hope Julie and Eric have the chance to "play", goof-off, go to school, socialize with similarly-aged kids, and generally grow up as they continue to play music professionally. Eric had a grin stuck to his face the entire night . . . seemingly having a blast. Julie seemed to take everything in stride and is a bit more reserved, maybe? Adrian obviously enjoyed the evening, but I think he always has a good time when he's performing.

Jeff"

Jeff, rest assured that they had a totally normal "childhood" and if the below photos are any indication, they are still enjoying it! Julie is about to graduate Drexel University this fall (she should have graduated in June but needs to take three more classes in September) -- she totally adored and was immersed in the college experience; Eric has always known he was going to be a musician and would settle for nothing less but he has many, many friends and when he is not on tour his cell phone rings non-stop with so many social invitations I actually was going to buy him a PDA to keep track of everything but he ended up buying a really cool journal instead which he uses to do everything from write music to draw crazy artwork to get girls' phone numbers -- ha ha - I had to put that in...even I know you use your cell phone for that-- and I'm now ducking under my desk as I can see Eric getting ready to throw a pillow at me all the way from North Carolina.

Here's some shots of the Adrian Belew Power Trio enjoying some post-show relaxation. ETA: I just found out courtesy of Scott's comment below that these photos were taken after the Anapolis, Maryland show in June of this year.





I found those photos on Flickr - they were taken by Radiolan -- I don't know who that is, but I sure love his/her pics and I do know one thing for sure - whatever the hell that dessert is that Eric is eating, I want one, too!

And oh my god, while I was scrolling through Radiolan's Flickr site, look what I found -- he/she has a dog named Barney who looks just like our Monty!

Barney:



Monty:



That made me smile big time.

And hey, just a reminder that you can catch the trio tonight at Smiths Olde Bar in Atlanta, Georgia -- it's a small venue which accommodates 350 people and I heard a rumor it might be sold out but it appears you can still purchase tickets right here.

Finally, I really want to thank all of the incredible fans who have been emailing me, sending me photos of the shows, and most of all, blogging and writing reviews. You guys are awesome!

Later,
xo

The Adrian Belew Power Trio in Asheville, N.C. - Part II

Saul Zonana at Stella Blue in Asheville, N.C. August 19, 2007

So from what I've heard (and read), the Adrian Belew Power Trio did indeed "kick ass" at Stella Blue in Asheville, N.C. on Sunday night, and the first email I received was from Andre Cholmondeley, who forwarded me an e-mail he received from a certain VIP:

"From Andre Cholmondeley:

"He (Eric) is well on the way to kicking my Dad's ASS...."

---"Granpappy Marshall"...aka Son/Guitarist of Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle..."

Wow. That's awesome.

Then, I'm sitting in the law office yesterday wondering if I could escape out the window without anything more than a fractured ankle or simply give up altogether and go into the ladies room and drown myself in the toilet when I got an email from Mike Inman, who not only took all of the photos I'm posting today, but wrote one of the more heartfelt reviews I've ever received:

"Hey Rob,

Kudos for parenting 101----You sure have two fine children. Not only are they two of the BEST musicians I have EVER seen.....but they are the most genuine humble gracious approachable people.

I am going to send you something I wrote last night when i got back to the hotel after the show here at Stella Blue in Asheville. Oh and BTW that sure was one killer show...sound problems or NOT! Once they started over from the top after the first bunch of sound problems...you would NEVER know that ever happened...

Also, when Eric came out of the venue as I was walking past, he was so funny! He was on his cell phone and I did a double take....hey it's ERIC SLICK ...I thought....COOL! Do I say something? And he looked at me and got this expression on his face like HEY LOOK -- this is us -- and he pointed to the poster in the window. "You coming to the show tonight?" I looked at him and said ..."I have a message from your mother." I showed him the posters I had made which he said "OF COURSE I know of them." He said "Hey, cool"...and he opened his arms and gave me a great big friendly hug!

One of the guys waiting to get into the show last night looked like someone right out of the Rock n Roll history books...he was wearing bell bottoms with white stars on them...on each star was a signature of someone from the Mothers of Invention...he was there to make sure that Adrian signed his pants...there were a few open stars yet to be signed...that was quite cool!

Anyway can you tell I am all over the place about last night! I had one hell of a time...and Saul Zonana was running sound for them last night after he finished his gig on stage....he was really a great guy too. I looked at him at the merch table and said Okay, Saul...so out of all these cds which is your favorite? He said, "Well, either this one,"42 Days" which I did with Adrian...or this newer one here." You know I went for the one he did with Adrian and I am sure another time I will get some of his other work, too.

Eric asked me outside when he was talking to me...."Have you ever met Adrian?" And I replied "Yes! he really is a great guy!" Honestly I do not think I have ever met anyone as gracious as that guy playing in clubs...having been in as many big known bands as he has.....and still as normal as ever. Your children could not be in better hands.....he is truly a gift from God....they are so good together...and yes yes yes I really noticed the energy of the three of them. I have seen Adrian so many times now...over the years since 1983 and this will go down in my mind as one of the BEST shows I have ever seen him play. There was an energy to those songs.....there was something magical about the three of them together.

They took those Crimson songs to new levels...Julie and Eric as so tight together. Their tones meshed...and were the perfect backbone to Adrian's pyrotechnic guitar work! You will see how I commented below on the way they captured my attention...honestly I watched Eric play almost more than Adrian last night LOL! And for a drummer that takes a lot to capture my attention away from the guitarist! From the moment he hit his first chops on that kit...I was CAUGHT!



Now that I have written my morning book on last night I will leave you to read what i wrote to my friends in Los Angeles and my one buddy in Sao Paulo, Brazil.....I wrote this to them last night below:

Mike

======================================================
AB Power Trio ver2.0 - Asheville NC 8-19-07



First let me start by saying JULIE SLICK is the barefooted priestess of cool! Those two in my humble opinion, were the stars of that show...and that is not taking anything away from Adrian being a guitar GOD! Syncopating Siblings is what they are...they were talking to each other through their music OMG and Eric ...he really is a train wreck just like Charlie Watts said....he just keeps on going he is truly unstoppable!

(Note from your author -- I think Mike means "roaring" train, not a train "wreck" but Mike, you made me smile...and I think it was Denny Walley who said that though Charlie Watts did indeed have very nice things to say about Eric as well. Okay, enough from me -- more from Mike...)

No Rock star syndrome for that boy! Actually, he came out of the venue earlier when I was walking past...he pointed to Adrian's poster and said "You coming tonight?" And I said "Sure" and "I have a message from your mother! LOL!" Then I showed him the posters and he said "YEAH I KNOW ABOUT THOSE DUDE, THOSE ARE INCREDIBLE!" He said "Take 'em back to your car so you don't have to hold them all night and then get them after the show we will sign them all for sure! And if you have trouble getting back in just tell them I said it was ok!"

He is so cool...just a very genuine kid who is a consummate professional...he has got to be one of the BEST Drummers HANDS DOWN that I have EVER SEEN! It was amazing the way Julie and Eric played off each other...it gave Adrian fuel for the fire! I could certainly relate to his looking like he was living a second childhood. I felt the same way in Art School this most recent time around. Feeding off the youthful energy gives an older person like myself drive!

At the beginning of the show they had some major/minor setbacks...first Julie had no bass volume coming out of her monitor...and then once they got that Eric had no bass coming to him either...and then Adrian's guitar was super hot -- he would touch a string and it was way too loud! They were all freaking a bit...and then I screamed PRAY TO THE GODS OF BASS and Adrian threw up his hands...and said OH GREAT ONE...or something like that...it was a very memorable moment for sure!



His guitar was still running very hot...and he was semi freaked out by it...Eric kept messing with some power supply by his drum kit that was loose, too. They got it semi worked out and started the first song over again from the top! Way cool! Just like an old Zappa show -- if Frank was not happy, he would often start the song over from the top!

I am telling you straight up here I am such a major guitar freak...I live for the solo...the over the top wild playing...and yet I often found my attention drifting over to that kid on the kit...OMG! He had all the chops! It was so nice the way they had the drums set up on my right. I had a great shot for some good photos...I have not even peeked at that yet. I think I will end this for now and take a look at what the camera lens captured.

Peace!

Mike
*********

Oh man, thank you so much, Mike. Your kind review salvaged a truly miserable day for me.

Mike also wrote that he has over a hundred photos so I await them anxiously and of course will share them here...sigh...maybe when I get home from...ewww...work today.

Later,
xo

Adrian Belew Power Trio on Tour - Asheville, N.C. - Part I

Eric Slick, sitting behind his new gift from Adrian Belew, a silver sparkle Yamaha drum kit, at Stella Blue in Asheville, N.C. August 19, 2007 -- and thank you to Andre Cholmondeley for emailing me that pic in the early AM hours last night.

And I'm laughing at what Eric is wearing -- an old WMMR t-shirt which has to be 25 years old. His dad won it from the radio station back in 1982, before Eric was even a consideration to his zero population we-are-never-having-kids hippie parents...har har...anyway, WMMR at one time was the premier underground FM radio station in Philadelphia. (God knows what they play now...classic crap rock mixed with new crap rock, tons of commercials including ones to join the military, and way too much completely unrelated to music disc jockey banter. Bleh). Anyway, it took real skill and music knowledge to win that t-shirt, combined with old fashioned technology...i.e., there was no such thing as speed dialing back then and much slower telephones.

The contest was called the daily DMO, or "dreaded morning oldie". The dj would literally play one note from a classic rock song, and the first caller to get through and guess the name of the song and band would win a bunch of stuff, including that coveted t-shirt. Gary holds the world record for wins...I think he managed like 50 of them because he's such a freaking musicologist with a perfect ear, but here's the crazy thing in this serendipitous world of ours...he had one competitor, a guy named Lee Truscan. I am telling you this for a reason.

So this competition was every single morning for at least five years, maybe more, at 7:10 a.m. Every single day, give or take a few exceptions each week, the winner would either be Gary or Lee. But for some reason, even though our last name is "Slick" and you would think the the DJ would have remembered Gary since he won so many times, he instead focused on that guy Lee, and invoked "The Lee Truscan Rule", which meant that if you'd won the DMO within the last thirty days, you were disqualified and could not win again until the following month.

I casually remarked to Gary: "That damn Lee Truscan. I was looking forward to a whole collection of those t-shirts. But you know what? I have the weirdest feeling that you and Lee are going to meet some day."

Yeah, because there are only three million people living in Philadelphia and its surrounding suburbs, but it was something I just knew.

Even though I also knew from radio chat back and forth that Mr. Truscan did in fact live in the far suburbs, where Gary and I never venture, because frankly, the suburbs give us both the hives.

Time went on, much to our shock we decided to have kids after all, Julie arrived in 1986, Eric in 1987...and because I was working full-time back then, both kids were enrolled in a daycare center in downtown Philadelphia.

One day I am filling Julie's bin at the center with her diapers and toys and I notice that the bin next to her is labeled "Jeffrey Truscan".

Could it be possible?

Even crazier, Julie was born January 30, 1986; Jeffrey was born January 31, 1986.

So one night at 5:00 p.m. pick-up time, Gary and I arrived at the daycare center simultaneously to gather our babies and finally, lo and behold, Mr. and Mrs. Truscan were there as well, picking up their Jeffrey. We got to talking, and I couldn't help it, I had to ask.

"You aren't by any chance Lee Truscan?" I asked, expecting him to look at me like I had lost my mind.

"Yeah, that's me. Have we met?"

Gary and I looked at each other, eyes bulging out of our heads.

"I'm Gary Slick," Gary grinned.

"OH MY GOD!" all four of us exclaimed at once.

I couldn't get over it. I still can't get over it.

"I knew we were going to meet him some day! This is so crazy!" I blabbered the whole way home in the car.

And that it got even more nuts, because when Julie and Jeffrey turned four a few years later, they were still both in the same daycare center and the Truscans and Slicks decided to throw a joint birthday party for our darlings, complete with clowns, alcohol for the parents, and $400 worth of finger food -- we had no idea what we were getting into. We booked the old Houlihan's Restaurant because they had a kid friendly menu, never dreaming how much this whole extravaganza would end up costing...back then $400.00 was more like $4,000.00 and I'm giggling because these days that party is "nothing"; I know people who throw their kids birthday parties at the Ritz Carlton and/or hire ponies and professional singer/songwriters.

Okay, so I know a lot of yuppie idiots.

Anyway, the Truscans did indeed live in the far suburbs and ended up moving even further away; Julie went to kindergarten in downtown Philly (as did Eric); and we never saw or heard from them again.

The DMO was discontinued around the same time -- the dj left the radio station after being dethroned as top jock in Philly when Howard Stern came to town in the late eighties, early nineties...and the only surprise is that Jeffrey Truscan didn't end up graduating Drexel University with Julie, too, though for all I know, that's where he is.

Life is like that. At least in our world.

So I woke up this morning trolling for reviews of the Adrian Belew Power Trio's show last night at Stella Blue in Asheville, N.C. -- nothing yet, though two very cool things did happen -- Andre Cholmondeley, who is not only founder of Project Object but is on the Belew tour this week as techie, roadie, all around savior, not only forwarded me the above pic of Eric, he sent me a text message right in the middle of the concert: "They are kicking ass!" (and if I knew how to text message, I would have sent him a return note but it was a miracle I even figured out how to retrieve what he sent me)...and my email inbox contained the following:

"Robin-
I just saw Adrian, Julie, and Eric perform in Asheville tonight, and I must say you've done something very, very right. What amazing children you have!!!

Congratulations, and thank you for raising them right.
Sincerely,
Brad Brock in Asheville, NC"

Thanks, Brad!

And speaking of Project Object, on the band's MySpace site there are four new songs uploaded which cover four separate periods/incarnations of the band.

Anyway, to hear Eric Slick's contribution, follow that link and click on Big Swifty.

Here's the specifics from the gig:
28 December 2006
The 8x10 Club
Baltimore, Maryland
crew: André Cholmondeley, Dave Johnsen, Eric Slick, Eric "Sluggo" Svalgård, Robbie "Seahag" Mangano, Jordan "J-Ro" Shapiro, Ike Willis

Getting back to the Belew Trio, just so you know, the reason this post is called "Part I" is that I'm sure I am going to get some reviews and more emails coming out of last night's show as I know a bunch of people who were in the audience, and as soon as they wake up and write about their experience, I will be back with that as well as (hopefully) some more pictures of the band.

And now I'm off to get ready for two weeks in hell. As I mentioned here last week, I promised probably the only person in the world I would do this for a huge favor -- I am filling in for her this week and next full-time in a law office so that she can go on her first two week vacation ever -- and she's worked in that office for 27 years. She's such a kind, generous sweetheart I didn't have the heart to turn her down when she asked me. But oh oh oh, I woke up with the most horrible sinking stomach today...like, how the fuck am I going to manage this...but yeah, yeah, it could be worse, i.e., what if I had to do this every week?

I would have to kill myself.

Just kidding. I did it for most of my adult life and may end up doing it again at some point...but dear God please don't let it be in a law office.

But oh crap, other than writing and music, it's the only thing I know.

Ha ha - too bad Gary and I don't get a paycheck for parenting the Slick Wonder Kids.

Later,
xo

The Kids and the Chameleon

Okay, I wasn't going to blog today because it's my birthday and I'm a little down because Julie and Eric are currently on a plane for Nashville to start their tour, but I saw this newspaper article published today and wow, I'm suddenly smiling and not depressed at all because it's like the best birthday present ever.

ETA: But first, let me throw in these two links, because they are kind of unbelievable to me in that Julie and Eric really are getting all kinds of international attention.

From the Stewart Copeland Forum Board as concerns the Van Halen Reunion Tour with Wolfgang Van Halen replacing Michael Anthony on bass:

"I am actually willing to give Wolfgang a pass until I have a chance to actually hear him. Just because he's a teenager doesn't mean he's not really good (Julie and Eric Slick come to mind)..."

From the Metalheads of the /M/ Forum Board:

"Eric Slick is the most impressive drummer I've ever seen. Kid is Terry Bozzio reincarnate."

Wow. Proud parent moment there.

Okay, now to the article:

The Kids and the Chameleon
Adrian Belew Aims for "The Real Thing"
by Jason Bugg in Vol. 14 / Iss. 03 on 08/17/2007

While his name may not be familiar to the casual rock fan, the very mention of Adrian Belew's name to the shoulderbag-and-black-glasses-wearing members of the rock intellegensia will get you bombarded with phrases like "prog-rock legend," "Beatle-esque," "guitar god" or any number of lavish superlatives. This is the fate of the well-known sideman, the moderately successful solo artist and the reliable fill-in performer — relative anonymity to the normal fan, and legendary status to the obtusely devoted. For nearly 40 years, Belew has been a quietly influential musical chameleon.

Sideman to the stars: His name may not ring a bell, but Adrian Belew has made a career of adding his considerable skills to other people's music.

You've probably heard his work, for instance, during his many stints with prog-rock groups like King Crimson, or caught him working as a sideman for the likes of Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Paul Simon or The Talking Heads. And yet, even now, you might have a hard time placing his exact contribution.

"My style, if you want to call it that, is to have no particular style," Belew says in a phone interview with Xpress. "If someone asks me to be a part of their music, I can offer them five different types of ideas, and five different things to chose from. I think that's what has kept me viable through a few generations of music."

But as his 40th year in the business approaches, Belew isn't looking forward to gold watches and golf courses. Instead, he's touring the country with two musicians half his age under the Adrian Belew Power Trio moniker. And he loves every minute of it.

"At this point, I could be playing with some jaded old guys, or I could be doing what I'm doing now, which is playing with two young kids that not only keep up with me, but inspire me to go further," Belew reflects.

He's referring to the brother and sister tandem of Eric and Julie Slick (on drums and bass, respectively), who joined up with Belew in 2006 to form the Power Trio. The siblings are graduates of the Philadelphia-based Paul Green School of Rock Music, an actual academy that teaches young people about rock 'n' roll.

At the ripe old ages of 20 and 21, the pair has been impressing audiences around the world with their virtuosity, but it's their youthful attitude that caught Belew's attention. They add a fresh set of ears to interpret his music, much of which was recorded before they were born.

"It's the best situation for me, because it's giving me this energy and revitalizing a lot of what I'm doing," notes Belew. Not surprisingly, he even speaks about the Slicks with a bit of playful envy. "[Eric and Julie] grew up on every kind of music. They know the Beatles almost as well as I do. They've played all of their lives, and played so intently that it's been the entire focus of their lives. They don't have driver's licenses. They still live with their parents."

Playing with musical savants seems to suit Belew well. In fact, playing with the siblings has cast Belew in a different role within the band, sometimes having to follow the lead of his band mates, whose musical connection borders on supernatural.

"There is a kind of chemistry between them that is unique, and I think that it's something that siblings have," he says. "I can see them on stage, and they will look at each other in a certain way, and it's like they are reading each other's minds. Sometimes, they are inventing it on the spot."

But The Adrian Belew Power Trio isn't just about who can play the fastest and the most precise—it's about the music. And Belew says that's where the focus should always be.

"[People] want the real thing, and when they see it and recognize it, they say, 'Wow, that's what I've really been missing.' "

[Jason Bugg is a freelance writer based in Asheville.]

The Adrian Belew Power Trio plays Stella Blue (31 Patton Ave.) on Sunday, Aug. 19. 7 p.m. 236-2424.

********

And now I think I will go eat some cake for breakfast.

Later,
xo

All kinds of, um, swell stuff...

Okay, how do I top Monday's post?

Face it, I can't. Deal with it. Oh alright. Back by popular demand, and I cannot believe how many emails I got on the subject, here is one more shot of the lovely Dr. Dot.



Now try not to get too excited about this, but the good doctor and I have been corresponding and I may be enlisting her for a very special project and she in turn may be enlisting Eric for an even more special project and that's all I'm saying on the subject for now. Stay tuned? Hahahaha - this is the one time I'm pretty sure you will.

So anyway, I have all kinds of cool links today. Zappanale, the upcoming Belew tour, and Eric's plans for this evening. Wait. Let's get that out of the way first.



Rick Slick? Ha ha - do they think it's this guy? Too, too funny. Yo, Court Tavern! Fix that, will you?

All kidding aside, this is going to be an awesome show...you can read all about it on the Ween Forum Board. It's the third item down, and sob..you also get to see a photo of Eric before he cut his hair.

(I'm with you, Daryl)

So a bunch more blurbs about Zappanale are starting to pop up, with the star of the show being the annual review of the event brought to us each year by the Idiot Bastard's Diary, which says, in part:

"I’m looking forward to Project Object; it’s obvious to everyone, they should be headlining tonight. They open with a cracking Big Swifty and just steam through a hastily-revised-in-the-absence-of-Ike set. All wonderful musicians, with the added bonus of both Napi and Don. And how marvellous to see Dr Dot play the part of Mary during Wet T-Shirt Nite. She sounds just right. PO: all great musicians, but it’s young Eric Slick who stands out. The big debate backstage is: was he awesome, or merely phenomenal?"

Pete Brunelli of Doot does a nice job on his blog as well, and here's a quote:

"Project/Object followed. In my humble opinion: The Ike no-show, combined with following the ultra-tight Godin/Moreglbl and Pianeta sets, and the huge amount of pride that P/O has in their work, all combined to set the stage for what I think is the best P/O set I have ever heard. Don Preston sitting in on keys was an amazing experience, no less so because Eric Svalgard was having keyboard issues so Don covered a LOT of ground.

The core rhythm section of Eric Slick, Dave Johnsen, Eric Svalgard and Andre Cholmondeley have been together for a few years now and it showed. Napoleon Murphy Brock fronted more songs that he had planned on, which really helped take the burden off of Andre... who was the only guitarist on stage, by the way. As if that weren't enough, Dr. Dot (1988 FZ tour masseuse and all around eye-popper) guested on Wet T-Shirt Night as Mary.. from the bus. When she got the pitcher of water across that white, ugly, man-kinda T-shirt.. well the place went OFF."

Ha ha - we know, we know.

Pete's blog also contains a lot more info, brilliant pics of Project Object, and many cool links, one of which is some commentary and awesome photos by Bazbo, who says:

"I’m very impressed by P/O. Andre is doing a terrific job, the young Eric Slick is very talented on drums and keyboard player Eric Svalgard sounds very fine."

Finally, the Zappateers have amazing commentary and photographs on their site - check out their forum and extraordinary photos.

Whew, that was a lot of linkage, eh? And if you click on most of them, woo hoo, you'll get to see even more great pics of Dr. Dot.

So yeah, Eric has that amazing show with Dave Dreiwitz tonight, then tomorrow morning Eric and Julie take off for Nashville to begin preparation for their week long southern tour which kicks off Sunday night, August 19, at Stella Blue, and how cool is this, one of the members of Adrian Belew's Yahoo Group, the fabulously talented Mike Inman, will be seeing the trio for the first time and is so excited that he created this poster for the event, which the trio will most definitely autograph for him:



Isn't that fantastic? Hey Mike! If you are reading this, print out an extra copy for me, will you? And I know, I know, I'm overly sentimental, but if you would get the trio to autograph my copy as well and then give it to Eric or Julie with instructions to return it to me as wrinkle free as possible, I will forever be indebted to you.

Ah, I love when the trio tours, because all kinds of cool newspaper articles start popping up, like this one from The Independent Weekly:

"AUGUST 15, 2007
Adrian Belew
Power sound

BY CHRIS PARKER

Adrian Belew was playing in a costumed cover band in Nashville when Frank Zappa discovered him in 1977. He'd never played odd time signatures and couldn't read music, but according to Belew, "[Zappa] wanted to be able to do some of the funnier music and wanted somebody there who wouldn't object to wearing a dress or a helmet or whatever it took."

Over the next four years, Belew would not only play with Zappa. He would also tour the world as David Bowie's sideman, collaborating with the Talking Heads and Robert Fripp along the way. The latter proved the partnership that would make him famous: In 1981, Belew joined Fripp in the reformed King Crimson. Belew began to forge his idiosyncratic guitar sound with their debut, Discipline.

"I was the first guy I ever knew with a guitar synthesizer, and Robert was the second," Belew says, laughing. "You had these two guys who could suddenly sound like trumpets and violins and things, which was totally strange. Then, in the air, there was a very adventurous kind of creativity that a lot of people [Talking Heads, Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel] were exploring, especially with African rhythms and Balinese music."

Between periodic King Crimson and Bears albums, solo work and guest spots, Belew spawned two power trios of his own. He recently recorded two albums with Tool drummer Danny Carey and Primus bassist Les Claypool. He later discovered Eric and Julie Slick—20- and 21-year-old sibling graduates of Paul Green's School of Rock—to bring the music to life on stage.

"They're young, gifted and so focused," beams Belew of drummer Eric and bassist Julie. "They don't have any jadedness. They don't have any vices. They don't even have a driver's license yet. Because of that, their focus is so incredible and their energy level is what amazes me. The show is like electricity."

Adrian Belew plays with the Slick siblings as the Adrian Belew Power Trio at Cat's Cradle Tuesday, Aug. 21, at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $18-$20. Saul Zonana opens."

Creative Loafing gives their "picks for the week's best shows" and they write:

"WED/22

ADRIAN BELEW The sometime-King Crimson guitarist and ace session guy behind Zappa, the Talking Heads and Laurie Anderson tours behind a trilogy of terrific interconnected albums, all released within about a year. They perfectly display his amazingly elastic guitar prowess combined with compositional skills that range from experimental to freewheeling. This "power trio" show will likely feature music from those discs, as well as incorporate nuggets from his extensive and always innovative career. $20. 7 p.m. Smiths Olde Bar".

Hey, here's the poster for the "Oh my god, three members of King Crimson on the same stage on the same date" event on September 15, 2007 in Washington:



Man, that is one event I am heartbroken to be missing, but Gary and I will be at our beach house on that date and while we talked about the possibility, there's just no way we can swing it. Sigh...

So I think that may be it for now. I hope that some of you can attend Eric's show tonight at The Court Tavern. I will not be there - tomorrow is my birthday and I'm starting the celebration early, even though it appears I'm spending the day alone with Julie and Eric headed to Nashville at dawn and Gary at work. Ugh, I have the television on in the background right now and they just announced today marks the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. Oh how well I remember. My alarm clock was always set to "radio" so the morning of my birthday, August 17, 1977, I woke up to the news that Elvis was dead. Even though I was a baby hippie back then who only loved musicians like The Who and other British rock bands, I was like "Nooo....not on my birthday...oh man..." Meanwhile, the same exact thing happened to Gary six years ago -- George Harrison died sometime during the night on his birthday as well and that one hit us both really hard, though I don't think anything outside of our immediate family will ever affect us like December 8, 1980.

Bleh. This getting older stuff really sucks but it sure beats the alternative.

Getting back to my birthday, ha ha - I know that this will impress you all but go click on my MySpace page where you will see I got a shout out from Dr. Dot which I know many of you will appreciate. Hey, she got Frank Zappa to return to the planet just for me!

Finally, in case I don't make it back here tomorrow and decide to either spend the day blissfully eating and reading and/or assuming the fetal position, as a special gift to me you can head over to Media Predict, register, and buy shares of stock with the $5,000.00 play money they give you.



The way it works is easy -- on the link I provided, once you register, and it's really easy to do that - you just have to give them an email address - something like this will appear on the page with a link for you to buy shares:

"Chances are higher than 84.08%"

"Chances are lower than 84.08%"

You want to click on "chances are higher" and that will give you the option to buy stock in my book. Don't spend the whole $5,000.00 at once. Someone who already bought shares at a lower price may use the new higher price to sell and earn a "profit". It's better to have my figures inch up slowly.

I so totally appreciate this - it would be the best birthday gift ever to be one of the five finalists though just having my proposal selected automatically made me a semi-finalist. If you have any questions as to how this works, you can email me directly or leave a comment here and I'll give you a hand.

It's easy, though. Trust me.

Later,
xo

The First Church of Appliantology

Eric Slick on drums with Project Object at Zappanale, performing a song from Frank Zappa's brilliant Joe's Garage, with the role of Mary (and click on link for full explanation) rather bustily...I mean...lustily...performed by our now good friend, Dr. Dot. In case you do not know this, the part of Mary was originally played by Dale Bozzio, who would later go on to form/sing with Missing Persons.

Okay, okay, I know you want more Zappanale photos...oh alright, I know you really want Dr. Dot so here you go. I like to make my readers happy.

You can all thank me later.



Ha ha - looks like bass player Dave Johnsen is having a good time at the First Church of Appliantology.



But maybe not as much as Eric Slick...



Eric hanging out with band mate Napoleon Murphy Brock:



Andre Cholmondeley and Napoleon:



Is this an actual poster of Eric? I want one! Or, I could be way off. I will have to ask him.



In other related news, I received a lovely email from the Idiot Bastard himself, Andrew Greenaway, who wrote:

"We chatted a fair while with young Eric over the last weekend; great kid - does yer credit, etc. As I was going over to compliment him on his playing after PO's set, I heard many shouting that he was awesome. Of course, I relayed this to him, as they were right, though my choice of word was "phenomenal". The whole weekend was a blast. You shoulda been there! I told Eric you'd asked me to keep an eye on him - which he bought!"

That's hilarious. I love Zappa fans and wish I could have been there but I know one thing - I can't wait for Andrew's yearly diary of the Zappanale Festival. Naturally I will post a link and probably cut and paste it here, too, as soon as he's got it finished.

So the craziness continues at Casa Slick - Thursday night Eric has a gig all the way past the New York City exit of the New Jersey Turnpike but it's with one of his favorite people in the world, Ween's bassist Dave Dreiwitz, and it'll be at the Court Tavern in New Brunswick. He probably won't get home until well after midnight, just in time to grab a couple hours of sleep, head to the airport at 6:00 a.m. and jump a plane with Julie to Nashville in preparation of Sunday's mini-tour of Atlanta, North Carolina, and Florida with Adrian Belew. On Saturday, August 18, 2007, Eric, Adrian and Julie will head over to Fork's Drum Closet for a special Paiste event, which is way cool since, as you probably already know from the billboards I've posted all over the internet, Paiste Cymbals endorse Eric. I had a look at Fork's Drum Closet's website - oh my God, Eric is going to be in freaking drum nerd heaven.

But that's if he even wants to leave Adrian's house, because there's a special present waiting for him there: Adrian bought him a Yamaha silver sparkle drumkit for touring and in light of the way Eric is in love with his Yamaha Anton Fig snare, it's going to be hard to get him to go anywhere I'm guessing.

But in theory, that's where the trio will be on Saturday, and then Sunday night is the first show on this leg of the tour, at Stella Blue in Ashville, North Carolina.

Here's an article about the trio's upcoming gig there.

I'm cranky because I cannot go, especially since I've heard amazing things about Asheville and also, it's my birthday. I'm doing someone I really like a favor and actually working full time in a law office that week and the next so that she can go on her first extended vacation in years. But I'm going to break it up by flying down to Florida the weekend of August 25 so that I can catch the trio's show in West Palm Beach at the State Theater (and I'll be posting links as the time gets nearer) and then reward myself by being groupie mom at the Mexico shows in September.

And then it will be time for our annual two weeks at the beach where I am mostly internet free...which, believe it or not, is one huge relief.

Oh well. That's it for now. I leave you with this:



Too, too funny.

Later,

Purr-fect (oy)

Ha ha - nice going, Eric. That's Eric Svalgard, keyboard player with Project Object at Zappanale. Who is that he's with?

Why, it's Dr. Dot.

And speaking of Project Object, yep, the Zappanale pics are trickling in, and I finally found one of Eric Slick on stage behind the drums:



And by the way, Dr. Dot and my son Eric (I feel I must now clarify between Erics in light of the above photo) are actually pretty good friends and hung out together for a bit at Zappanale.

I'm so proud of him.

No really, I am.

And lest you think my son roughed it in Bad Doberan, Germany, well, at times he did, and the stories are hilarious but he will murder me if I spill so you'll just have to settle for a nice pretty tourist pic of the beach/Baltic Sea, which Eric was finally able to visit after four years at Zappanale - this is the first time he performed where he actually had r&r after the show.


If you didn't click on that Dr. Dot link when I posted it above and a couple of days ago, by all means, give yourself a treat. Here. I will make it easy for you and post it yet a third time. I myself am now hopelessly addicted. Even her MySpace buddies are way cool. You won't find any sparkley kitty Have A Purr-fect Day idiocy in her comments section, which, truth to tell, is one of the reasons I have a MySpace site but never use it. But I'm begging you all, if you do stop by, for the love of God, no glitter or smiley rodents wearing sunglasses...arghhh....

Hey, as a follow up to my post of yesterday, Neil Gaiman's Stardust is still page one (though I've slipped to page two...do you think it's because he's a tad more famous than I?) over at Media Predict. And we are both doing very, very well.

So once again, please register, buy shares, and influence the world. Here's the direct link to me and here's the direct link to Neil.

I'm pretty psyched about this. It bodes well for my book. Oh, and for Stardust. Ha ha - as if Stardust needs help. But I'm still completely freaked that it's not being shown anywhere in Philadelphia on Friday. What a travesty! I would have gone, I swear. I know what it means to be in the theater that opening night...I remember how we waited to hear the numbers for Rock School on a Friday at midnight and how I had no idea of the importance of the opening night figures. Oh well. You can catch Julie and Eric in Rock School on DVD and the A&E network...bottom line is, they are doing more than alright and the movie was just the beginning.

In other news, life as I know it has returned.

I arrived home late yesterday, went to check on the air conditioning in Julie's room to make sure it would be cool enough for Her Highness, and failed to notice the open, empty suitcase on the floor right at the threshold of her doorway. Ah, I must have been a lovely sight, flying through mid-air, heart in mouth, like a human cannonball headed for her window. I broke my fall with both wrists somehow crashing into the wall, twisting my back, both ankles, and falling onto her bed. I did have my cell phone in my pocket and for an irrational moment considered dialing 911, but I ended up laughing all sprawled out there for a few minutes just to be sure nothing was shattered and I wasn't having a heart attack (is there anything worse than knowing that you are going to fall? Ha ha - maybe knowing that you are going to fail)...but oh how I hate pain and this morning I could barely step into my jeans without agony.

Naturally I had to go out today. So I'm taking Advil, cursing myself for not joining a gym years ago so I would have nice limber bones, and thinking about how I'm always the one injured -- always the person who found that stray Lego with her bare feet while making a bathroom trip in the middle of the night; always the one whose same foot found that missing thumb tack that fell from a poster on a wall and no one noticed; and yeah, yeah, the person who still has a lump on her forehead decades after running full force into a huge pole while running to catch a train.

What can you do. Some of us just have a knack, you know?

Later,
xo