The Best Party Ever - Part I

So there's much to catch up on, but today's post is about Matt and Julie's graduation party yesterday - probably one of the best/most enjoyable parties I've ever attended in my life. Thank you so much to Matt's parents, Frank Rothstein, and Eva and Steve Nicolazzi, who held it at their magnificent home, and for acting as sous chefs for Julie, which meant being ordered around until 1:00 a.m. the evening before by the high priestess of Epicurian Delights who refused to let Eva and Steve hire a caterer.

Here's the cool signs which helped me to relax we weren't hopelessly lost (i.e., Did I screw up the directions when reading them to Gary...no, I did not, though I would later rectify that unusual occurrence on the way home in the dark)

I made Eric get out of the car to take this picture much to his utter (not) joy. Other than that, this first set of photos were taken by me and now no one in my family can make fun of my rotten photographer skills anymore...or, now I know the secret. My camera works best outdoors in sunshine.

What a cool banner - and even cooler the sign that there would be a jam session at some point...many of the guests were talented musicians.



Proud papa Gary Slick, who I made pose for this photo because...there's that shirt again! (and notice, when you click on that link, the very cool photo credit. And as my regular readers already know, the t-shirt was designed by brilliant photographer Mark Colman).



And there's the official hand lettered card, announcing Julie as Caterer, in between two of the most lethal Sangrias I have ever had - Julie's special recipe, i.e., fresh tropical fruit, red/white wine, tequila, rum, brandy, cognac, Jack Daniels...oh, I'm kidding...but only a little. More than one glass and you're dancing on tables...more than two and you probably start shedding clothes.

Erm...I wouldn't know.



Some of the appetizers - also all made by hand and by Julie...she totally rocks. The first is brie with honey glazed pecans and a fruit chutney of sorts - there was one on every table, too and incredibly addictive.



Julie's guacamole and corn and black bean pico de gallo...too, too good...and I don't know what she used for a marinade on the mozzarella/tomato skewers but she took a simple appetizer to a whole 'nother level.





As the card says, those are indeed "Julie's Famous Poppers" and they are unfortunately so incredible I ate about three dozen and was almost too full to eat anything else.

Okay, not quite...but almost. She must have made a thousand of them, tray after tray kept appearing warm from the kitchen, and I giggled at the thought of Eva and Steve slicing jalapeno peppers and removing those dreaded seeds at midnight because I know that's what Julie had them doing...I just know it, without even asking.



Speaking of Eva, here she is thanking us all for coming to the party...and yes...she is not only very sweet, she is also very beautiful.



Julie and her dad, sharing grilling duties. I know I'm prejudiced, but I just adore these photos:




This is Clyde, Matt's dog, who stationed himself in front of the barbecue and didn't budge...which was a very smart move on his part as with so much food on the grill and so much Sangria being consumed by one of the chefs and it wasn't Gary, he (Clyde) was bound to get lucky.



What's coming to the table now?






See these shrimp skewers? Un-freaking believable tasting and Clyde's first real score from a "whoops it slipped off the barbecue" mishap. Luckily I noticed right away and wrestled it from him, regretting that I could not take the chance of running for my camera to take a photo of that cute bulldog face with a shrimp skewer sticking out of his mouth but it was too risky. Okay, okay, after I took it from him, I gave him a shrimp...how could I not?



Some photos just to give you a feel for how nice the whole atmosphere was...Julie and Matt, Eric and his significant other, Katy...there's Gary behind Katy in photo #3...all of their friends...family...and the absolutely gorgeous grounds with blooming flowers everywhere...just an incredible vibe.





Okay, for some unknown reason, Blogger is acting weird and won't let me put up any more photos in this post so stay tuned for The Best Party Ever - Part II - below.

Later,
xo

The Best Party Ever - Part II

So after we finished stuffing our faces it was time for some music. Now here is where photographer extraordinaire Gary Slick takes over...and taking the stage is Matt's amazing band, Cheers Elephant...and look who is on drums...Eric Slick, who sat in for Cheers' regular drummer, Brandon King, who unfortunately had to work yesterday. By the way, for those in the Philadelphia area, Cheers Elephant will be playing the XPoNential Music Festival on Saturday, July 12 and I'm really looking forward to that.



Lead guitarist/vocalist Jordan del Rosario, bassist Matt Rothstein, and on guitar and lead vocals, Derek Krzywicki





Matt doing a little more singing...



Jordan, who Gary remarked to me "reminds him of members of the band Traffic" and I agree but it somehow looks better on Jordan...



Derek...



Which rhymes with...Eric...



Naturally Cheers Elephant's engineer/producer, Ms. Julie Slick, had to play with the sound...



Matt and Derek...



Jordan, Matt and Derek...



One of my all time favorite photos of Eric which I can't use anywhere else as Eric is a Paiste artist and this was obviously not his drumkit...



Sitting in the audience and taking in the music, Eric's girlfriend, the very beautiful Katy...



And the equally beautiful Julie...



After Cheers Elephant played, everyone jumped in Eva and Steve's in-ground pool, and yes I know, I should have taken a photograph but by that time Julie's Sangria was really starting to take effect and I was seriously afraid I'd drop my camera in the pool. Besides, it was time to go back for more food.

Anyway, after all of the musicians were refreshed (translation: dripping wet from the pool and I tried not to worry about electrocution) Eric, Julie, and another infamous School of Rock alumni, C.J. Tywoniak joined up for the first time in a couple of years for an impromptu jam...during which they were then joined by another Rock School friend, teacher Brian Davis...and it was pretty damn impressive.

Here's C.J. Remember him from Rock School (the movie)?










The guitarist in the pink shirt is Brian Davis. Julie, Eric, and Brian record together when Julie and Eric aren't on the road with Adrian and I bet we see a project from them in the very near future. In fact, there's some most excellent stuff Julie put right on my computer but I have no idea how to post a link here...actually, I don't even think that's possible, anyway, but maybe one day they'll have a MySpace page...who knows...



I don't think Julie looks gorgeous enough in this photo, do you? Oh my God, she looks like a mermaid...with legs and a bass har har...



Uh-oh, Jordan, after also consuming copious amounts of Julie's Sangria (I'm guessing, I could be wrong), decided to join the band and they did hilarious versions of Michael Jackson's "Beat It", Asia's "Heat of the Moment"...you don't even want to know what else...but trust me, they made those songs sound good...



Now comes my own personal favorite part of the evening. My brother, Dave, and his wife Staci and sons Garrett and Dylan came to the party all the way from West Hartford, Connecticut, and Garrett, almost 10, is developing into quite the guitar player so he brought along his ax and asked if he could jam. His cousins were only too happy to oblige him and he really rocked!

Here's Garrett, who, by the way, is playing a guitar signed not only by Julie and Eric but by Adrian Belew, Garrett's favorite guitarist. And these pictures were taken by me...it was quickly getting dark so don't blame the photographer...blame Julie's Sangria of terror and delight and the fact that my camera only works in the sunshine...



Garrett and Jordan, hashing out a song...



The band gets ready to play a smoking version of Stairway to Heaven which had us all grinning from ear to ear...



Garrett is giving his band some final instructions before playing the next song...



What's this? The band is launching into the Beatles "Ticket to Ride"? Who is that guy, unable to stay in his seat? Could it be...



Yep, you can't deny a true musician/Beatle fan. That's Gary on vocals, belting out Ticket with Jordan...and Garrett, who had previously only played solo and never with a real band before, totally jammed out and I think both Garrett and his Uncle Gary could have stayed on stage all night...




But alas by this time, it was very dark, very late, and we were very exhausted and knew we had a long drive home ahead of us. So we regretfully said goodnight and headed to our car. Sigh...they'd just lit a bonfire as we were leaving and I was ruefully regretting that I didn't visit the dessert table...don't even ask what that included...incredible beyond belief...but I was seriously too full...anyway, Gary and I unanimously agreed that yes, it was probably the most fun we'd ever had at a party and to Eva, Steve, and Frank...thank you so, so much.

And hey, congratulations to Julie Slick and Matt Rothstein - Drexel University - Class of 2008.

Later,
xo

Odds and Sods for Monday, June 16, 2008

Happy Monday!

Or is that an oxymoron?

Yeah, it is, but I can't help it, I am in the world's best mood today. For one thing, I finally got to go to Ocean City yesterday with most of the family to celebrate Father's Day...I say most because Eric Slick got a call last week to do a last minute fill in playing doumbek for Gypsy Hands Tribal Band at Bonnaroo and oh boy, am I going to do some name dropping in a minute. But first, here's a photo from our trip to the beach yesterday, where Gary, Julie, her significant other Matt and I got to take our cheesy but oh so much fun surrey ride on the boardwalk following an incredible breakfast. Look at Julie and Matt - aren't they just so adorable? Gary took the photo, as well as one with me in it, but I was having a terrible hair day so let's pretend that photo does not exist.



We had our first cinnamon and chocolate donuts of the season courtesy of Brown's Donuts at St. Charles and the Boardwalk, but as true foodies know, the real breakfast pastries can be found at Brother's 14th Street bakery (which has relocated to the corner of 10th and Asbury) so we headed there next for almond danish, cream cheese frosted cinnamon rolls, cheese pockets (now why has no one thought of this before - stuff a delectable crumb cake with a cream cheese mix...oh.my.god), and for dinner later, the world's best tomato pie.

Which is why we needed to pedal up and down the boardwalk for an hour after eating, telling ourselves Yep, we're burning up those calories.

Uh-huh.

Then we did all of the obligatory tourist stuff that we adore - we played miniature golf (Matt killed us all with a pro score of 39; Gary came in second, then Julie, then me...but my score was enough to bring the parents down and once again Team Julie/Matt killed us but hey, I'm a writer, not an athlete) and air hockey (we played teams, Matt beat Julie, Gary beat me, big surprise, Gary played Matt and Matt beat Gary, therefore claiming the title of King Athlete of the Day, which Matt, a musician, would hardly say he is but compared to the rest of us...though I still have an image of Matt as a freshman in college, leaving our house on his skateboard carrying a guitar and promptly falling on his head after two attempts...Matt, and Julie, by the way, had their official graduation from Drexel University Saturday night and this coming Saturday Matt's parents are throwing them both an incredible party at their house...more on that later)

After all of that physical activity, we decided we could handle a pizza at Mack and Manco's - the best it ever tasted - did they take the mystery ingredient out of the crust finally? There's a rumor floating around the reason their pizza is so good is that they use lard which naturally horrifies my vegetarian daughter but a rumor it is, not truth, or at least not any more, as the crust was crisp and crunchy and everything you'd ever want. Even Gary, who swears the only pizza worth eating is from Charlie's in Philadelphia, agreed that Mack and Manco did something to step up the quality, though the rest of the Slicks think that next to Charlie's, no one can beat it, even before they made whatever changes they did this year.

Or it could be all in our heads. The "change", that is. Maybe we were just starving.

When we got home, which was early afternoon, Gary and I were totally wiped out so we went upstairs for a nap which lasted until this morning but sometime in the middle, my cell phone rang and it was Eric to fill me in on what he was up to the last three days.

(Photos by Gary Slick)

"Hey, Mom, so guess who I hung out with?"

Groupie that I am, I was instantly awake, if only for our conversation.

"Who?! Who??"

"Well, let's see, just to start, I ate with/chatted/hung out with/sat next to Joe Travers, Pete Griffin, and Jamie Kime from Zappa Plays Zappa...they are all so cool and really nice...the guys from MGMT, The Battles, Mastodon, Vampire Weekend, Bela Fleck, and Umphrey's McGee -- oh, and the guys from Umphrey's said to Say hi to Julie and tell her they love her (Julie and Eric played a fantastic jam two years ago with both Bela and Umphrey's McGee in Atlanta when they first joined Ade's band in 2006)...oh, and Yamaha Drums has me on their artist roster list now and gave me a pass to go to NAMM in Nashville next week where I'll hook up with Andre and Adrian."

"Oh wow! That's fantastic. So let me get this straight. You come home from ten days of touring with Adrian, turn around and go to Tennessee for four days to play at Bonnaroo, then you come home, when, the 16th and head back to Tennessee again on the 20th?"

"Yeah...and then I go on tour with Delicious and Crescent Moon from June 24-28. It's crazy!"

"It's not crazy, Eric, it's fantastic," I yawned, thinking to myself Yep it sure is fantastic, it's amazing, and then we all head to Canada on July 4 for yet another Adrian Belew Power Trio tour and you know I'm going to be talking that one up big time in the coming weeks as well as some new and exciting tasty news as concerns the trio and their possible whereabouts late summer and fall.

Speaking of the trio, I last left you...hmmm...I don't remember where I last left you...but Gary came home from the last three days of the tour with some of the best photos he ever took in his life...ten of which he posted on his own blog and he will be posting many more so I will defer to him and not put a bunch up myself...but I can't help it, here's a few more:





Now in this next series, which I believe took place somewhere in New Jersey, Adrian had the misfortune, or good fortune, of having a room opposite the rest of the band. Julie and Eric warned him this might happen, I don't know if he believed it, but luckily Gary was there with his camera.

Now is this any way to treat an icon who has played with Frank Zappa, David Bowie, King Crimson, Tori Amos, and Nine Inch Nails?

Knock-knock, Ade...








Ha ha - he had a blast...don't let him tell you otherwise.

Oh, I digress, though - as I mentioned in my last post, following their show in Annapolis, which preceded the New Jersey pillow fight...I mean, concert, they bumped into one of our comedic heroes, Dick Smothers. So here is a wonderful photograph of Gary, Adrian, Eric, Julie and Dick:



Digressing even further, right before Gary joined the tour, the trio played a gig in Lake Worth, Florida, at the Bamboo Room, and as I mentioned, they closed the place...we hope just for the season but maybe not with this lovely Dubya infested economy...anyway, as you will recall, one of the highlights of playing at the Bamboo Room is that it's part of an apartment complex and the entertainers get to stay in rooms with full kitchens, hence Julie was able to recreate her peach cobbler of wonder and delight, and much to my happy surprise, when I uploaded the photos from yesterday this morning, I found proof:





In other trio related news, I found this, in all places, on the Bruce Springsteen forum board in a thread which asked, Which Non-Bruce Springsteen songs are you listening to? (I refuse to type it as they have it there: Which R U listening to as internet lingo makes me fucking crazy. If you ever want to give me a coronary, use LOL or RU in an email or instant message to me...arghh...that, and text messaging and blackberries...just seeing the term "Sent from my wireless blackberry" makes me stroke out...are my biggest pet peeve in today's society other than the major stuff like THE FUCKING WAR CRIMINALS RUNNING OUR COUNTRY AND OUR MEDIA...err...sorry...those rants just come and I've gotta let 'em out)

"Side 4 - Adrian Belew Power Trio - I had the pleasure - well, I endured the hell-hole Mexicali Blues to have the pleasure of seeing Adrian play on 6/7/08. 6 7 8 - hey!

...Adrian is one of the pre-eminent electric guitarists of all time - he started with Zappa, went on to Bowie, Talking Heads, Tori Amos, Laurie Anderson, The Bears (Raisins-Psychodots) and of course, Krimson. I've seen him for years and he can be a joy to behold - he's all over the new NIN disc, for example. He also has jammed recently with Umphrey's McGee.

I was tracking him when he looked for a power duo to make his trio several years ago and was stunned and delighted to see when he chose two related young musicians' musicians: Julie and Eric Slick from Baltimore, I believe. (Note from our blogger: Make that Philadelphia, please) He had originally recorded material with members of Primus and Tool, but they could not commit to touring. Instead, Adrian found these geniuses on their instruments (Eric drums and Julie bass) at a School of Rock group.

The disc is pure power - and with songs like Big Electric Cat, Thela Hun Gingeet and Amphersand, an incredible ride. Adrian's healthy and still as limber and adroit as ever although beware: what was once a tour of songs is now a tour of jams. If you don't cotton to luminescent displays of nimble dexterity and audacious complex firepower, it's best just to check out the disc. Otherwise, see this band..."

Yep, see the band for sure, and those of you in Canada and the east coast will have a chance July 5-12...put those dates on your calendar!

Now as concerns my life...and yes, I do have one exclusive of Julie, Eric, and Adrian though it's not nearly as much fun, I am headed to the Actors Studio in New York City tomorrow to begin filming a documentary and I will have much more on that later in the week, hopefully with photos but I have no idea what the parameters are...i.e., how much I am allowed to blab or show you pre-production. But trust me, it should be a blast and eventually, I will tell all. Or better yet, you'll get to watch it for yourself on Bravo...

Anyway, I guess that's it for now. I've got a box full of cheese pockets calling my name and after I'm done stuffing my face, I'll probably go on a google search for Bonnaroo photos in hopes of finding Eric...ah...what a life I have...I admit it, it's freaking fantastic.

Later,
xo

39 and Still Holding...among other things

This week marks the release of 39 and Still Holding, a fabulous anthology which I am proud to say I edited, carefully selecting notable or should I say notorious authors from all over the world. The book is available digitally and trade paperback, and the cover is once again a creation of the fabulous N.L. Belardes and his lovely "model", Matilda Kay, who makes her fiction debut in this book.



"Still 40, still sexy. This second volume of smart, seductive fiction proves that love has no maximum age limit. Featuring the works of Barbara Foster, N.L. Belardes, Greg Boose, Santana Smith, Patricia Parkinson, Carmel Lockyer, and more!"

Here's a few teasers....

The First Time by Donna George Storey:

"His cheeks were flushed now as he crawled the three steps to her, his tie dragging on the carpet. If only the bank president could see him now."

A Rabbit Hole For Emily by Melinda Carroll:

"I no longer had to worry about how long it lasted as a prerequisite for sex. Or if it looked appropriate. Or age. I just needed to fall, let go and live. I was a forty-year-old woman! Fuck-it! It was my time."

39-Lab by N.L. Belardes:

"There was money to be made and lives to be crushed in every view he took of this decadent view of L.A."

Two Letters to Francine by Greg Boose:

"And while I am licking and humming and nibbling, you will shoot your arms out wide and pull dozens of oranges back over your body and onto my head. The fruit will thud against the ground while your orgasm bounces off the ceiling. I'll point to the cucumbers and you will tell me yes or no."


Ha - yeah, he'll point to the cucumbers...you can just imagine what the rest of the story is like. I was laughing out loud as I read it...

I really think you'll like this book and I'm not just saying it because I'm the editor. Don't believe me? Read an excerpt right here.

In other news, remember that little short film I'm in, Why We Wax? It won yet another award at the Winnepeg Film Festival. That makes two as it took first place, short films, at the Phoenix Film Festival. Yay!

And now comes word that I am co-starring in a new documentary being filmed in New York City next week at Bravo Studios...I am not sure if I am allowed to blab about this yet or not so better to err on the side of caution and go with the "or not" but will I be talking about all of my books as well as The Adrian Belew Power Trio on camera? You betcha! Ooh, I get to be interviewed and filmed at the Actor's Studio on Tuesday and then at Bravo Film and Video on Friday. Two days in New York City...heh. In my letter of instructions from the documentary's producer, it said "Please do not wear black". Arghhh...I have worn nothing but all black since I'm sixteen years old. It's going to feel so weird wearing an actual color but then I decided I'm going to wear my gray Mark Colman designed Adrian Belew Power Trio t-shirt so at least I won't feel too out of character.

But yeah, this is a feature film so between that and Why We Wax, all of a sudden, I'm a starlet. And the movie based on my short story, Daddy Left Me Alone with God, is currently making the rounds at the Swansea, London, and South Africa film festivals so I'm like everywhere these days.

And did I mention I have exciting news about both of my soon-to-be published novels, Daddy Left Me Alone with God and Bitten to the Core? More on that in a future post. But for now, please check out 39 and Still Holding...it's absolutely fabulous. You can purchase it by clicking on the link furnished at the top of this post and the trade paperback will also be available on line at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Powells, and in digital format at All Romance E-books...though the word "romance" should be taken with a grain of, um...whatever.

And since this is a writing post, I leave you with this...which I personally find hilarious on so many levels.



Later,
xo
P.S. This blog will resume regular Belew programming tomorrow - oh my God - do I have stories and photographs!

Adrian Belew Power Trio Lives Up To Their Name

ETA: Ahem. The Adrian Belew Power Trio made page one of Pollstar this afternoon...

In today's Daily Gazette:

Adrian Belew Power Trio delivers performance that lives up to name
Monday, June 9, 2008
By Brian McElhiney
Gazette Reporter



Photos by Gary Slick

TROY — The Adrian Belew Power Trio has to be the best name for a rock ’n’ roll band since The Jimi Hendrix Experience — it’s simple, with no frills, and perfectly describes the group.

The point was made abundantly clear at the trio’s concert Sunday night at Revolution Hall in Troy. As Belew himself said in an interview with The Gazette about two weeks before, the band is “three sort of virtuoso musicians playing their butts off,” and that’s exactly what the audience got.

There was no slacking in this group. With Belew acting as veteran band leader providing the group’s core, the trio smashed its way through newer tracks from the “Side” trilogy of albums, as well as classic Belew solo and King Crimson material.

Eric and Julie Slick, on drums and bass respectively, injected fresh-faced energy and monstrous playing into Belew’s already monstrous guitar jams. At nearly two decades Belew’s junior, the Slick siblings commanded the stage with their infectious grooves, at times even threatening to overpower their front man.

But the show was clearly all about Belew. The best moments came late in the evening with the last two songs of the band’s second set, a ripping run-through of “Futurevision,” off the 1994 Belew solo album “Here,” and a stunningly majestic performance of King Crimson’s “Three of a Perfect Pair.” These two songs were worth admission price alone, and received the loudest and longest audience approval.

These tracks, along with “Big Electric Cat,” “Of Bow and Drum” and encore “Thela Hun Ginjeet,” made up a chunk of “classic” Belew material buried deep in the second set. The trio was indeed strongest on these cuts, although the group’s performances of more recent material early on were still powerful, to say the least.

Belew could be seen grinning ear to ear and beaming with pride at his young musical foils throughout most of both sets, as he strangled unearthly noises from his Parker guitar on lyrically sparse cuts such as show opener “Writing on the Wall” and “Ampersand.” The instrumentals, including “Beatbox Guitar” and the appropriately titled “Madness,” offered showcases for the trio’s depth and range of abilities. The two brand new songs performed, “E” and “Planet E,” both instrumentals as well, proved to be the most gymnastic and musically demanding cuts the trio played, and were well received.

“Drive,” which opened the second set after a much needed breather, gave Belew a chance to shine solo, and shine he did, quoting George Harrison’s “Within You Without You” and producing some of the most interesting noises that could possibly be made with six wire strings and a chunk of wood.
*****

More later,
xo

Tonight: Adrian Belew Power Trio in NY

So tonight the Adrian Belew Power Trio will be at Revolution Hall in Troy, New York and it's their last show until July 5, 2008 when they head to Canada for the Ottawa Blues Fest and Quebec Summer Music Festival followed by a handful of U.S. cities...a lot more on that to follow, as well as keeping tabs on Eric, who will have a busy June sitting in with Crescent Moon, Chris Harford, and Delicious and I'm sure I'm leaving a band or ten out.

*ETA: Heads up - new You Tube posted below

**ETA2: Another heads up - link to very cool article posted underneath said You Tube

***ETA3: Here's a review written by Gene Wicker, Jr. which just appeared at 6:00 p.m. this evening and contains a link to some startling good pics with great captions underneath.

Here's a killer review from the show in Teaneck, New Jersey last night:

Photo by, I kid you not, Grudnick the Flatulent

"Adrian Belew and Robert Who?

Three of a Perfect… well, you know.Adrian Belew is the musical equivalent of a character actor. Like that face you’ve seen in God knows how many films but you can’t place the name, Belew’s guitar has left its fingerprints from one end of popular music to the other. Whether you recognize the name or not, you’ve likely heard that distinctive sound on records by Zappa, Bowie, the Talking Heads, King Crimson, Nine Inch Nails, Paul Simon, Jaguares, Tori Amos, and others; if you’re lucky, you’ve also heard him on one of his many solo outings.

And if you were in the sleepy, overheated vicinity of Teaneck this evening, you could also have caught him live at Mexicali Blues with the other two-thirds of his Power Trio, the ridiculously talented Eric and Julie Slick, who play drums and bass, respectively. The club featured terrific sound, great sight lines, and a temperature that would likely have allowed anyone who was so inclined to make a pretty serviceable omelette on one of the speaker cabinets.

For the faithful fan, it was all there: a set list that drew from predictable old favorites (”Big Electric Cat,” “Three of a Perfect Pair,” “Ampersand”), along with songs that haven’t seen daylight in a while (”Futurevision,” a blazing version of “Neurotica”); Belew’s quirky humor; and the guitar that sounds like everything from seagulls to piano to alien landscapes. The sum of the parts is such that no matter how many times you’ve heard the songs, they never get old, because they’re never quite the same thing twice.

Of course, they’re also helped along considerably by the other two-thirds of the band. Somewhere around the halfway point of the concert, it occurred to me that the first time I saw Adrian Belew was nearly 20 years ago, when his backing band would have been aged roughly two and three. From the first notes, though, it’s pretty obvious that they’re not just along for the ride, nor are they there because Belew was feeling particularly generous. A good trio isn’t just one guy blazing away while the other two keep time; the best ones have always been a balancing act, with the rhythm section doing as much to propel the group’s sound as the frontperson. That’s as true of Cream or the Police, say, or any of Bill Evans’ excellent trios. In this case, the Slick siblings gave a powerful underpinning to Belew’s flights of fancy. It’s saying a lot when someone’s playing stuff that was laid down by the likes of Bill Bruford, Robert Fripp and Tony Levin but you don’t miss the originals. Even more to their credit, neither of the Slicks contented themselves with playing by rote; they made the material very much their own.

At this point, it’s probably also worth mentioning the School of Rock, of which both Eric and Julie are alumni, and some of whose current students opened the show. Ordinarily you’d think that a bunch of kids with electric guitars, bass, drums, and keyboard wouldn’t have much to recommend them beyond a certain kitsch appeal, but this lot were good. When I heard the opening chords of “The Great Curve,” I thought to myself, “Oh no they didn’t.” But, of course, they did. And it was worth it, as was the rest of the set, which was given over largely to the music of Yes. Now, if you’ve listened to much Yes, you can imagine how cringe-inducing it’d be if it were done badly. But it wasn’t; every last time change, every guitar riff and bass lick, all of it was executed well (and that Chris Squire bit on “South Side of the Sky” ain’t exactly amateur hour material).

Adrian Belew’s fans have been heard to grumble when he goes for long stretches of time between projects. The last few years, though, have been an embarrassment of riches in the form of the studio projects (Sides One, Two, and Three) and even his first live album (”Side Four,” recorded with the Power Trio). Belew seems both musically and personally invigorated these days, and hopefully it’s not asking too much that another album might be in the offing. When you’re sounding this good, it’d seem a shame if there wasn’t.

Postscript: For more Belew information, and/or to order CD’s, visit his website here.
****

*ETA: A really cool video just surfaced of the trio performing Matchless Man in Carrboro last week. Here's the caption:

"Great show at Cat's Cradle, Carrboro NC. Adrian, Julie, and Eric were on that night. Good vibe."



And the same song just surfaced from last night's performance in Teaneck...



**ETA2: Here's a link to a print magazine distributed throughout the Philadelphia area called Lifestyle Magazine and in this month's issue, if you click that link, there's an awesome article about how hot the Philadelphia music scene is right now, and look who gets a mention:

"...Further evidence the region has an impact on the national music scene is just a DVD rental away. The 2005 documentary “Rock School” documents youths’ studies of music theory and performance, and it happens in Philadelphia, where Paul Green founded the Paul Green School of Rock, which now has franchises across the nation. Students range in age from 9 to 17, and can focus their studies on singing, electric guitar, electric bass, keyboards and drums. Though many don’t choose to go on to become musicians, the school has influenced rising stars, including siblings Eric (drummer) and Julie (bassist) Slick, who were recently profiled in Bass Player Magazine. The pair has worked with iconic guitarist Adrian Belew."

Note to self: Venture out in 100 degree heat again and pick up a few hundred copies of that magazine.

So here I am back in Philadelphia, missing all of these amazing shows, but happily working on my next novel in between gasping for air in one hundred degree weather when I venture outside to walk the dog. I must say I do not eat nearly as well with my whole family out on tour - dinner for the last two nights has consisted of left over pizza and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich but oh well, who cares about food when I can wake up early to a review such as the above, spend my whole day writing, and get telephone calls from Gary where he nonchalantly tells me "Oh, we met Dick Smothers last night" or from Julie who says "Hey, Paul Reed Smith came to our soundcheck on Friday and wants us to tour his factory, etc. etc."

Nice life, huh. All of us.

I'm on the lookout for more photos and reviews and it's way early in the morning so there is a very good chance I'll be back.

Later,
xo