Part II: Of Typhoons and Earthquakes and Tsunamis...The Adrian Belew Power Trio in Japan

Julie Slick and Belew Trio engineer/musician extraordinaire Biff Blumfumgagnge (can I possibly be spelling that right?) at the Tokyo airport and is it just me or are they eerily color coordinated?

Julie sent me an email all about the earthquake and while trust me, I don't make light of this tragedy, her version was just so hilariously Julie that I asked her permission to post some of it here and she graciously agreed.

So without further ado...an email from my daughter dated July 16, 2007.

"Hi, Mom:

First things first, of course, the quake: I was sitting in bed when all of a sudden, I felt myself rocking back and forth, side to side. It felt like I was on a boat in the middle of the ocean. I knew immediately that it must be an earthquake. I actually wasn't scared - my body kicked into survival mode. All I could think was: Get Eric (he was in another room) and run downstairs (because we were on the 10th floor). A minute later and I was running out of the door. The shaking got lighter and lighter. I saw Eric and he was just looking around

"What's going on?!?!" I said

"Must be an earthquake - let's get the hell downstairs."

We went down the hall, and it felt like the shaking had really almost dissipated. We saw Adrian at the elevator and he assured us that the shaking wouldn't return (although he's been to Japan 13 times and has never experienced an earthquake). We left the hotel 45 minutes later and hightailed it to Tokyo, where I sit in my room in the hotel writing you (I'll have internet here all week). I still feel like I'm shaking though, and the more I reflect on it, the scarier the whole thing seems. I'm just glad it wasn't worse, and luckily Toyama was the perfect place to be during an earthquake, since it's situated between mountains. It registered a 3 there, and a 6.6 just northwest of Tokyo. Hopefully another one doesn't come now that we're here.

After the show, Iori, Midori, Ito, Sasha, and our other crew took us to a traditional Japanese dinner. The menu was entirely in Japanese, so we let Midori and Iori order for us. As you can see from the photos (Eric sent?), it was enjoyable...like playing Survivor or Fear Factor. I tried mostly everything (not the fried creepy fish thing though) and it was actually pretty delicious. In the middle of the meal I really had to pee so I excused myself to use the restroom. We had to take our shoes off when we came in, so I was a little nervous about touching a bathroom floor with my bare feet. Luckily, when I opened the door, I saw two pair of shoes there waiting to be used. Unfortunately, my humungously big western feet would not properly fit in them (see photo for comical evidence). I hobbled over to the stall, only to discover with great shock and horror the toilet situation (see photo). I shut the door and stood in the middle of the bathroom pondering what the hell I was going to do. I really had to pee. I saw another stall, but it was locked - but locked from the outside. In desperation, I tinkered with the latch and got it to open - only to find a washing machine and piles of dirty clothes. Why me? I had no choice...



I returned to the table traumatized and exhausted - I just wanted to go back to the room. But the exotic food kept coming! More fried whole fish, mushroom with live fish crawling over the top, eggplant, cold tofu, hot tofu, peppers, some sort of egg rice thing, little prawns, big prawns, pork in bbq sauce, fish balls, chicken balls, balls balls - finally Martha spoke up and they called us a cab. Eric, Biff and I then hung out for a bit in my room and watched tv.

On tv there seems to be a lot of transvestites. One show featured a shemale who had a group of 12 or so young people behind her, some of them also transvestites, some of them not. She talked to them, but rarely turned around to talk to them. Why? i have no idea. Then they would cut to clips of her doing stuff in crazy outfits - playing baseball, going to the bank, etc. Some of the clips were shots of her talking to a different group of people, but in the same way, in the same studio setting. Very confusing. This was all topped off by the ending: She strapped on a Les Paul, walked over to a stage with a full band awaiting her, then she sang a song with an out of tune horn section but did a pretty sweet solo. Then the show ended. We were all confused, parted ways, and went to bed.

Then I woke up, the earthquake thing happened, and we flew outta there. The planes are awesome - HUGE and there are cameras all over the outside so that when we take off and land you can see it live. When we're in air, they first show the clouds below, then they show some more crazy broadcasting. Today we watched a show about food - I hope it was all about eggs, because everything they made - scallops, beef, rice, noodles, shrimp, was always cooked, and mixed in with eggs, topped with barbecue sauce and mayonnaise, and sometimes with more of that live fish stuff. The music and sound effects were great.

Last night we ate shobu shobu at a nice Tokyo spot. Shobu shobu is the art of boiling beef (thinly sliced kobe), seafood and veggies in water and eating them in flavored sauces (terriyaki, some sort of peanut, and a special garlicky one for seafood). After we ate the meats and veggies, a waitress came over with rice patties and noodles. She placed these in the same pots as flavored water in which we cooked the dinner. From this she made a very tasty and refreshing after dinner soup, which we flavored with salt, gray pepper and a very hot red pepper flake. Then they passed around hot towels and strong tea. Delightful - only one problem... you weren't there!!! You would have loved this meal!!!

And the bathrooms were normal.

love,
Julie"

Oh god. That really deserves to be in the email Hall of Fame. I have absolutely nothing more to add.

Oh wait. I lied. I do want to say something else. On Monday, Biff put out a desperate plea for help on the Krimson-News website, in particular, Adrian was having major amp issues and they were desperate. I was sitting here idly surfing the web when I saw it, and alarmed over the thirteen hour time difference and their impending twelve shows, I saw that they were Johnson amps so wtf, I took matters into my own hands and immediately went to Johnson amp's website and fired off an email to their customer service department with contact info for Biff, Adrian, Eric, etc. Within minutes, I got a return email from Dean Athens of their company, which basically said:

"Robin,

We are acquainted with your offspring through the School of Rock connection. We have been trying to send emails to Biff.

Regards,

Digitech Support"

So I sprung into action, forwarded his email to Adrian and Eric, did cartwheels - you name it...anyway, Dean and Biff began an email exchange which ended in a happy ending for all and although Julie and Eric are pretty humble, they reported that the first shows Tuesday night at the Blue Note were "unbelievable" and also, they are being treated like rock royalty. They're playing two separate sets a night and behind the scenes have three people attending to each of them. After the first set, a crew member took Eric's shirt and washed and ironed it for him (!); when J&E left the stage for a few songs while Ade does his solo numbers they were immediately handed icy bottles of water and a literal feast waited for them backstage...all I can say is, they are having an amazing, amazing time and they both agree that the Blue Note in Tokyo is one of their all-time favorite venues.

So thank you, Dean, and I thank you for the other kind words in our email exchange throughout yesterday, where Dean admitted:

"We sent a couple of procedures via email. Whether or not those helped, or perhaps the unaided ingenuity of Biff and his efforts did it, we are glad to hear things are up and running.

And by the way, three cheers to all parents who support their children's musical endeavors. If not for mom and dad's support, I'd be musically poorer.

Regards,

Dean Athens"

And right now, it's 6:30 p.m. in Tokyo, where the Belew Trio is currently backstage, doing their usual fun and games warm-ups in anticipation for their first show of the evening, which will be in approximately 30 minutes.

Oh how I wish I were there.

Later,
xo

Of Typhoons and Earthquakes and Tsunamis...The Adrian Belew Power Trio in Japan

Eric Slick performing with the Adrian Belew Power Trio in Toyama, Japan, on July 15, 2007 and oh man does he love that Yamaha drum kit and Paiste cymbals.

So how would you like to come down to an email like this at 5:00 a.m. in the morning?

"hey mom,
at around 10:13 this morning in toyama we experienced an earthquake. it was a 6.6 magnitude! very scary!! the good news is that we are okay and we flew out of toyama just fine. hopefully nothing else happens...jeez.

love,
eric"

Do you know the painting "The Scream"? That was my face when I read that email. Luckily, I got this information before turning on the news because actually, it was a 6.8 quake, Eric, over 500 people were injured, five people are dead, and the "death toll is mounting". I would have been out of my mind with worry had you not emailed me and I thank you so much you have no idea.

I really do wish Eric hadn't written "hopefully nothing else happens" because what he is referring to is the lovely typhoon in which they were involved the first night they arrived in Tokyo. That time, I read about it on Yahoo News before hearing from Eric and choked on fear for hours until finally being able to bring myself to discuss it with Gary, who immediately calmed me down by saying "Oh god, Robin, they have like 25 typhoons a year in Japan. They're like hurricanes only not as bad."

Yeah, well, I didn't want to refer him to the article I found right here:

"Typhoon Roars Up Japan's Coast Toward Tokyo
Forecasters Say It Will Move Close To Tokyo Sunday

POSTED: 8:31 am EDT July 14, 2007
TOKYO -- A powerful typhoon is racing up the Japanese coast, heading toward Tokyo.

Typhoon Man-Yi is packing heavy rains and 100-mph winds as it moves up Japan's eastern coast. Parts of Japan could get up to 40 inches of rain..."

But anyway, what ended up happening is after taking a fourteen hour flight to Tokyo, because they were scheduled to perform in Toyama the following day and the typhoon was on its way to Tokyo at the very same time, instead of spending the night at a Tokyo Hotel they got on another plane for Toyama, where they were told that their plane might very well have to turn around due to the bad weather and to be prepared for that and lots of turbulence. So they were all awake and traveling for a period in excess of twenty-four hours. Oh god I am so glad I did not find out about all of this until afterwards...I would have needed heavy sedation.

So they made it to Toyama okay, missed the typhoon, and instead experienced an earthquake.

My husband just joked with me, "Hey, look at it this way, Rob, the Adrian Belew Power Trio is so powerful they shook up an entire country."

"I'm putting that line in my blog today and taking credit," I replied with a weak laugh.

"No! You wouldn't!" Ha ha - Gary is so cute when he's indignant.

Nah, I wouldn't. He did make me laugh, though, which is a very good thing under the circumstances.

And as you can see as per Eric's email, they are fine, and arrived safely in Tokyo where they are this minute, since it's around 10:00 p.m. there right now, seeing Adrian's pals, The Parrots. Ade says they don't speak a word of English yet are the absolute best Beatle cover band he's ever seen, so Julie and Eric are pretty psyched about that.

The shows at the Tokyo Blue Note start Tuesday, so they had today off to enjoy such things as earthquakes and The Parrots. Hopefully they really are seeing the Parrots now. Did I mention I can't stay away from the Japanese news and now I'm reading/hearing about aftershocks in Tokyo, a resultant nuclear reactor fire, and tsunami warnings?

Arghh...

So here's Julie in the airport, upon learning of the typhoon, the impending turbulent flight, and noticing that the mural behind her is one of twin towers and an airplane. Though when they incredulously inspected it further, they noted it was painted in 1996.



Here's sound engineer and all around assistant to Adrian, Biff Blumfumgagne hanging out in Toyama with Adrian and Eric:



Then they all went out and had a traditional Japanese meal.



"Oh my god, who ate that?" I asked Eric via instant message when he sent me the photo.

"Don't know," he said, but I think he didn't want to admit that it was this person, who is obviously fascinated with all Japanese food products:



Yep, that looks like something Ms. Julie would eat.

Or maybe it belonged to one of their stage crew:



On second thought, the culprit appears to be Eric!



I'm just messing with you. They entire Belew entourage looks like they are having a blast.



Eric told me the show in Toyama was very well received in spite of the usual and customary tour disasters: Julie's bass amp blew a speaker and Adrian had no presets because the amp wasn't working so he had to create new ones. One of the comments an appreciative audience member made to Eric after the show was "You play like a psycho!"

I know one thing. Eric is madly in love with the Yamaha drum kit provided by the promoters in Japan. He already owns the Anton Fig Signature Yamaha snare and it's added an incredible dimension to his playing. Adrian loves it as well, and as you all know, Adrian started out as a drummer and he agrees, Eric rules on that kit. Now. The plan is to get Yamaha to sponsor him! Ha ha, just kidding, though it's something Eric dreams about. The promoter was also kind enough to supply Eric with Paiste cymbals, and if you click on the link, you'll see Paiste was already wise to enough to sponsor Eric...in fact, reps from the company came to the Power Trio show in New York City last month and were completely blown away.

Also, the trio listened to the "Master" of Side Four Live -- it's a go...they unanimously love it...and, well, that's all I am allowed to say at this point other than there may be some additional interesting developments.

However, I do have good news for all of you Adrian Belew Power Trio fans living in North Carolina and Mexico. New shows have been added to their tour as follows:

August 19, 2007 Asheville, North Carolina at Stella Blue

August 21, 2007 Carrboro, North Carolina at Cat's Cradle

September 8, 2007 at Teatro Diana, Guadalajara, MEXICO

September 9, 2007 at Teatro Metropolitan, Mexico City, MEXICO

Funny. I tried to find a link for Teatro Metropolitan and all I could find were two things - a history of the theater, which is very cool (and that it seats over 3,000 people), and two, that King Crimson has played there on a couple of occasions which made me smile.

Finally, Eric was really touched by this link I sent him from the Ween website, because it contains this photo of him, taken by Gene Ween, which contains the following caption:

"Hangin' out after our set at Bonnaroo 2007. That's the lovely Monica Hampton and "the kid", Eric Slick--drummer for Adrian Belew." (It's also a photo of Mickey "Dean Ween" and bassist Dave Dreiwitz)



Alrighty, on that note, I am going to turn off the news and the internet and try not to drive myself nuts over typhoons, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Check that. I'm staying on line in case Eric signs back on.

Err...not because I'm worried or anything...

I, um, want to hear how the Parrots concert was...that's all.

Later,
xo

The Adrian Belew Power Trio in Quebec

The Adrian Belew Power Trio in Quebec - July 10, 2007

God. I felt like I was looking at Beatle cards when I saw those pics. Oh. In case you don't know what Beatle cards are (sob), you could buy them like baseball cards back in the sixties...and my husband still has his complete collection of several hundred.



Anyway, regarding the above Belew Power Trio photos, Julie and Eric came home with 71 of them, each one better than the next so I'll probably be posting a lot more as the week goes on. Pretty obvious this is a tight band, huh. But I can just imagine the whole scenario. Poor Adrian. Julie is always insistent on being the social director - she has to be doing something every minute of the day; she has to pick the activity, the restaurant, etc. etc., and Eric, her henchman for the past twenty years, is resigned and used to it but having her now boss around a famous rock star is pretty damn funny.

Actually, Adrian looks like he's having a blast.

This is because he doesn't have to do it on a daily basis.

Oh, I'm just kidding.

Though now that I think about it, Ade's already been through this before. Remember the infamous Peach Cobbler story? Oh god. I just re-read it and laughed my ass off because really, there is only one Julie.

Hey, but aren't those photos great? They make my heart burst with love. What happened was the trio arrived in Canada a day early and it was just the three of them hanging out so Julie had Ade and Eric go exploring with her, and they stumbled on this incredible piece of architecture - the above facade, which is way cool but on the other side of it, there's like a 20,000 foot drop. So it's completely bizarre and totally dangerous. Hence the look of Eric and Ade's faces, and then of course Julie had to ham it up as well.

Then they went out and had the world's best french fries and two bottles of wine. I keep looking at that sunset and am so jealous I can't stand it.

Sigh...

The only thing I am nervous about is how much Julie and Eric love Quebec. Eric seriously wants to live there. They both said it was the most gorgeous, incredible city they'd ever been in and the two of them have now been all around the world. (I'm not really nervous. Gary and I will just sell our house and move there, too though we were thinking we'd all end up in Nashville, which is really not out of the question but then again, we're at a point in our lives where we'd go anywhere) So yeah, Julie and Eric were mad for Quebec - they loved the food, the people, and they said as a band, they felt they gave one of their best performances ever that night despite a driving rain storm. Not one person left early because of the bad weather, and they not only got thunderous applause, the audience made them come out for two encores. And I got a text message the night of the Quebec show from School of Rock uberlord Paul Green at 10:35 p.m. "The band is killing them tonight!"

There were a lot of articles and reviews of the show; the bad news is they are all in French. I was surprised when I hit Google and found nothing, but then I thought, Aha! I should do Google France. Of course naturally when I found a review here in leSoleil, alas it was also in French and I couldn't read it so I used lame Alta Vista Babblefish, which I swear, screws up the translation and spells words all wrong on purpose just to frustrate you into paying for a legitimate translation on line. But I'm going to post their translation anyway, (1) Because it's funny and (2) because it says Eric drums like he has three arms.

"For the rain which fell without reserve, it was necessary to be entêté, unconscious, masochist or finished fan of Adrian Belew to point itself with the park of the Francophonie, yesterday. There was a little all that, to consider of them the brave men come to listen to the American artist. This one rewarded them with an explosive spectacle, confirming that it was necessary to move.

There is only one Adrian Belew. That a musician knowing to draw similar sounds from its six cords. That a type-setter who structure his songs of way also baroque. That a showman making technical prowesses without they not being pretentious. That a guitarist making such a removed from rim use of its bar of vibrato.

One feared that trio formulates some, it is not sometimes a little empty. Devil not! Belew was given the responsability never not to leave a hole, accumulating the solos époustouflants, playing of sound loops or proposing singular riffs. It was feared that its two young recruits of the Paul Green School of Rock, Julie (low) and Eric Slick (battery), have a little evil to give him the counterpart. Re-devil not! The manager of 20 year old rods seems to have a third arm so much it is everywhere on his drums, while its 21 years sœurette makes pirouettes on its four cords…

Belew will have been deprived of nothing. Neither to begin again of King Crimson at one time delivered to six musicians, nor to re-examine of the old material like Lone Rhino. In the medium, its recent compositions, like muscular Writing one the Wall or unslung Beat Box Guitar shone. No solo will be unperceived past: crowd invariably gratifiait them of cries and applause. Then when the traditional ones of King Crimson of the Eighties such Tree of has Perfect Pair or Talk Elephant pointed itself, it was the euphoria!"

Love it.

So here's Julie and Eric back at their hotel (which, as Adrian told them, is the very same one he stayed at while a member of David Bowie's band), doing their usual Keith Moon routine. Eric told me this one is his spoof shot for a Playgirl centerfold:



And Julie is goofing around, wearing Eric's sunglasses, and you can see Eric's relection in them as he takes the photo:



Right now the two of them are on a plane for Japan, where they're playing 13 shows in 7 days. It's insane.

Did I mention how jealous I am?

And I miss them already.

Later,
xo
P.S. Oh yeah, the Les Paul special. Well, we watched all ninety minutes of it, and we absolutely loved it, but there was not even one shot or mention of the Rock School tribute at the Roseland Ballroom. Since it is specifically advertised on their website (see link in post below), I can only conclude that the Roseland concert is the extra footage included when you buy the DVD. So. That is what I will do, and I'll report back if there is any Rock School footage at all, whether it be Julie and Eric or other students.

Oddities and Soddities: Robin Slick's Blog - The Weird Posts Edition

Okay, before we launch into all things weird, I have a major announcement to make.

Or not. We'll talk tomorrow and see how it all panned out.

Back in October, 2005, Paul Green invited Julie and Eric to return to Rock School as Hall of Famers (the first All-Stars to graduate the program) to perform at Music Player Live's Tribute to Les Paul for his 90th birthday. Playing on the same bill that night at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City was Adrian Belew, but this was before he even knew who Julie and Eric were.



You can't see Eric exactly, but prior to the Roseland gig, Les gave a talk over at the Crowne Plaza Hotel where the Music Player Live event was held, and the Rock School Hall of Famers did two tribute songs for Les -- Eric is there on the drums performing for him along with Max DiMezza on bass and C.J. Tywoniak on guitar.

Anyway, both gigs - the Les Paul Seminar and the show at the Roseland, were filmed for the above documentary, which will be shown tonight on PBS channels across the country. In Philadelphia, it's on Channel 12 at 9:00 p.m. Here's a blurb from the show's website, which does in fact confirm a Rock School segment:

A 90-minute documentary on the life and work of LES PAUL

by Paulson Productions, Icon Television Music and American Masters.

"The legendary Les Paul, father of the solid-body electric guitar, inventor of overdubbing and multi-track recording, king of the ‘50s pop charts, rock ‘n’ roll pioneer, tells his own rags-to-riches story in a performance-documentary by filmmakers John Paulson and James Arnts - with a wall-to-wall soundtrack of the greatest hits from "Hold That Tiger" to "My Generation."

A joyous 90th-birthday celebration at the Iridium Jazz Club and the accolades that follow (induction into National Inventors Hall of Fame, Grammy-winning “rock duets” album; School of Rock tribute at Roseland, lifetime achievement award from Songwriters Hall of Fame) provide the verité framing device for Mr. Paul’s lively recollections of his remarkable life.

An artful blend of interviews, vintage film and television clips, recordings, radio show excerpts, still photographs, advertising art, personal memorabilia and a rich variety of location B-roll illustrate Mr. Paul’s narrative and examine his accomplishments in the distinctive in-depth style of American Masters.

The intricate technology and sensuous beauty of solid-body electric guitars will be of special interest to the filmmakers, who will employ computer animation and still-life artistry to examine and display the legendary Les Paul guitars and the genius of their inventor.

Les Paul has been “chasing the perfect sound” since his boyhood in Waukesha, Wisconsin, when he punched new chords into his mother’s piano roll and turned his bedsprings into a radio antenna which would pull in the raucous jazz broadcasts from Chicago and the lonesome harmonica from the Grand Old Opry.

Irascible, egotistical, indefatigable, an inveterate tinkerer and practical joker, he’s the last of that self-educated, brilliantly innovative generation of musicians and media pioneers who revolutionized popular music and re-invented the global culture.

AMERICAN MASTERS Les Paul - Chasing Sound! premieres nationally Wednesday, July 11 at 9pm (ET) on PBS (check local listings)"

So. Here's what I can tell you. At the Roseland Ballroom, Julie and Eric performed two songs - City of Tiny Lights and a Zep song. The Rock School Hall of Famers performed two additional songs with Branden King on drums and Max DiMezza on bass -- Sympathy for the Devil and 21st Century Schizoid Man (I know, I know). Whether this film will show snippets of all four songs; whether it will be a second of just one song; whether they will show Eric, C.J., and Max performing for Les at the Crowne Plaza; whether you will see Gary and me looking like we were having an insane religious experience in the front row at both performances...well, I guess we'll all have to wait until tonight.

All I know is, it was a magical evening. And if any of my family is in this film I may faint but even if they aren't, it was a night I'll never forget and Gary for sure won't because Les Paul signed the pickguard of Gary's vintage Les Paul guitar and you can imagine how he feels about that.

Alrighty then...now for the really weird stuff.

Hey, how about this?



That's an interesting photo I found of Julie on line by a wonderful professional photographer named Michael Sheehan (click on link and watch his cool film) who also took pics of people like Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton.

And for $355.00, if you are hankering for the 16x20 version of Julie, framed, on fiber base paper, it can be yours.

Don't believe me? Here's the link.

Actually, you can also buy smaller, unframed versions of this photo starting at $30.00. And yes, this was extremely surreal for me to find.

Especially as he is charging more for Julie than he is for Dylan or Clapton.

Here's another oddity:



That would be Eric the drummer jamming out on Adrian's signature Parker guitar at Studio Belew, June, 2007.

And Eric is going to kill me for this, but it's just too crazy for me not to mention. Both John Wetton and Asia have Eric in their top 25 friends over at MySpace, alongside Carl Palmer and Robert Fripp, et al. That is seriously intense.

But you know, Eric and John have a history. In case you are new to my blog, you can read all about it beginning here and ending here.

More insanity - in the past few days, I've received some strange email requests and also noticed my regular website was getting hits with the search words "Robin Slick brownies" and they were coming from the DGM Live forum.

Why were people emailing me for my brownie recipe now? Why were they coming to my website googling "Robin Slick's brownies"? Aha. If you click on that DGM link, the answer is right there:

"Gnomic R & D
Posted by teetotum on July 09, 2007

During all this talk of hobgoblins, the gnomes had already enacted research and development in the following:

1. minimal playing

2. slow playing

3. creating imperceptible dynamic range

4. abolishing analysis

5. the art of stopping (ref. Wire)

6. Peter Buck’s butter knife plectrums

7. Robin Slick’s brownie recipes.
****

I have no idea what that means. I tried skimming through the other comments and frankly, the contributors there are just too out there smart for me...I had no idea what I was reading. Just that they must want my recipe. So...here it is again, for all of you brave souls who don't mind a messy kitchen and 1,000,000 calories:

P6 - The Slick Version
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Tue., Oct 10, 2006
Writer Robin Slick was at the P6 / Porcupine Tree show at the Keswick Theatre. Robin is the mother of drummer Eric Slick and his sister, bassist Julie, both of whom play in the Adrian Belew Power Trio. You can read Robin's account of the gig here. You'll notice that Julie had baked a cake for the P6 gang to sample. Well, here's the recipe from Julie for DGMLive visitors to try at home for themselves.
Slick Brownies

One pound unsalted butter (yeah, that's right. One pound. As in four whole sticks)
28 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
6 extra large eggs
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 cups chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350*.
2. Butter and flour a 12x18x1 inch baking sheet.
3. Melt together the butter, 1 lb. of the chips, and the unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water.
4. Allow to cool slightly.
5. In a large bowl, stir but do not beat together the eggs, vanilla, and sugar.
6. Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.
7. In a medium bowl, sift together 1 cup of flour and the baking powder.
8. Add to the cooled chocolate mixture.
9. Toss the pecans and 12 oz of chips in a medium bowl with 1/4 cup flour, then add them to the chocolate batter.
10. Pour into the baking sheet.
11. Bake for 20 minutes, then rap the baking sheet against the oven shelf to force the air to escape from between the pan and dough.
12. Bake for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
13. Allow to cool thoroughly, refrigerate, and cut into squares.
****
Finally, Julie and Eric are currently in Canada for the Quebec Summer Music Festival, which runs July 5-15, 2007 with a different headliner each evening. Last night it was Nickelback; tonight it's the Adrian Belew Power Trio, and tomorrow it's Kanye West. So yeah, my kids are headlining with the "big boys" this week and it's only going to get better when they leave for Japan on Friday and headline an entire week. Getting back to Canada, though, I spoke to Eric briefly yesterday; he said all of the performers are staying at an incredible hotel; he said both he and Julie have spectacular views of Quebec with amazing rooms, restaurants, and how cool is this, an Olympic sized heated rooftop pool which remains open even in the snowy winter (I tried to post a pic from the hotel's website but it wouldn't let me.)

What a life Julie and Eric have, eh?

Later,
xo

Odds and Sods for Saturday, 07/07/07 including more Belew Trio news and reviews, and reviews of a great book, Vertigo, and a great restaurant, Osteria

Adrian Belew,Julie Slick, and Eric on stage, Asbury Park, NJ, July 24, 2007...photos by Gary Slick

Okay, first things first.

Some dates have been added to the Belew Power Trio tour, which, believe it or not, kicks off this coming week in Quebec. Julie and Eric get on a plane at dawn this Tuesday, July 10, 2007 for the Quebec Summer Music Festival where they will play on the Scene Molson Dry stage in front of thousands of people on Wednesday, July 11, 2007, hop on a plane back to Philadelphia on July 12, 2007...and after being home for several hours, jump on another plane for Japan on...gasp...Friday, July 13 where they will remain on tour until July 23, 2007. Oh...before the gigs at the Blue Note in Tokyo that entire week, they will be performing on Sunday, July 15 in Toyama, Japan, at Kyoiku Bunka Kaikan.

Here's a photo of the crowd attending the Quebec Summer Music Festival, which has already kicked off on July 5, 2007:




Awesome, huh?

I am going to refrain from any terror over the Friday the 13th flight; besides, how's this for cool -- I woke up at exactly 7:00 a.m. this morning, which makes it 7:00 a.m. on 07/07/07. So I had quadruple sevens today....hmmm...should I go out now and buy a powerball ticket?

Nah.

Anyway, when the Adrian Belew Power Trio comes back to the U.S., here are the additional dates:

August 22, 2007: Atlanta, Georgia: Smith's Olde Bar;

August 23, 2007: Jacksonville, Florida: Jack Rabbit's;

August 24, 2007: St. Petersburg, Florida: State Theatre;

August 25, 2007: West Palm Beach, Florida: The Theatre.

September 7-15, 2007 West Coast Tour

Confirmed so far:

September 15, 2007: Seattle, Washington: NWSoberstock: The Adrian Belew Power Trio, with opening guests TU, featuring Trey Gunn and Pat Mastelotto, so yeah, three out of four members of one incarnation of King Crimson will be in the same venue at the same time. See the The ConstruKction of Light CD or here for further info though I have a feeling that most people reading my blog these days can tell me a thing or two about Crimson, not the other way around.

But I can tell you about a great book I read and also an awesome restaurant I love, and I'll get to that in a minute.

In the meantime, there are still more reviews still coming in from the trio's tour last month. Here's one, for example (and I will continue to post others throughout the week)...

From the Parker Guitar Forum Board:

"When I wrote my first post here about playing again and buying my PM-20 because Adrian Belew melted my brain I guess I wasn't lying...

I managed to find a way to fly to NY and drive down to NJ for the inaugural School of Rock festival to see his power trio. What a crazy weekend...Adrian Belew Power Trio, Mike Keneally Band, Ween and some of the most talented kids on the earth. It was surreal. All these kids walking around in the crowd with guitars and drum sticks, watching a show with Dave Dreiwitz from Ween or Mike Keneally standing five feet away (watching the same show), and just pure rocking music all weekend. I'm pretty sure it was the best weekend of my life actually.

Then, on Monday, Adrian and his wife sat down to eat at the same restaurant I was at and I said 'hi' (I think Adrian is actually too nice to be a rock star). That led to me driving in NYC for the first time in my life (with my parents SUV, not my Civic...) to see the power trio at BB King's. I've seen Adrian with Crimson quite a few times, and seen him solo/old power trio three times. Of course, I was always amazed with his playing and music before, but now...the power trio with the Slicks has elevated his playing and material to another dimension. I think I would honestly rather watch the trio right now than Crimson (yes, the brain has melted completely)...don't miss the trio!

Anyone else have any SOR fest/ABPT stories?

Parker PM-20 Gold Top
Digitech RP-350"

And look! The trio has a Wiki! (I am not responsible for this though I do blush and thank the person who did do it and included my name)

So it's been a crazy week -- hence the lack of daily blog posting -- but here's what's going on.

Tuesday morning, July 3, Gary says to me: "We have a problem."

Not the best way to wake up.

"Huh? Wuh?"

"A pipe broke in our downstairs bathroom. I went in last night and there was a hissing sound and water all over the floor."

"Oh god."

Now in this particular case, we are fortunate, because Gary knows his plumbing. But still...after all the hours he logged in the week before on tour with the trio...and naturally, we told both Julie and Eric they could have a repeat of the Memorial Day barbecue over our house the following day, July 4, and Julie offhandedly told me "Oh, I invited like 20 people, but that doesn't include whoever Eric invited..." not to mention that Gary had to be at work on Tuesday...

"Don't worry," he said. "I will fix it when I get home from work. Tell Julie and Eric the party is still on for the 4th."

"Are you sure?" I asked, because, well, I am just not happy unless I am worrying and the thought of 25 guests traipsing upstairs to use our bathroom instead of the downstairs powder room did not exactly thrill me, but hey, I go with the program, even if I am quaking with fear.

"I'm sure. The worst that will happen is that I have to bang a hole in the wall to get to the pipes. How attached are you to the wallpaper in there?"

Sob. Very attached. But what can you do, it's only wallpaper, and I'm always up for something new. (Do they make Neil Gaiman wallpaper, I wonder? Just kidding, just kidding)

Needless to say, because of upside down, backwards plumbing performed by someone else many years ago, Gary finished fixing the bathroom on July 4...oh, about 30 minutes before the guests arrived.

No further comment, other than we had a blast, Gary made about 100 burgers, Julie made insane veggie burgers, red, white and blue potato salad, I kid you not -- she found potatoes in all three colors...I baked brownies with and without (with and without nuts...what did you think I meant?) and yeah, there were probably fifty people crammed in our tiny house but it was incredible and I hope that even when J&E are rich and famous rock stars they still continue on with this tradition...plus all of their friends are musicians so naturally someone picked up a guitar, there was some singing, and I thought to myself "Oh my god, Gary and I managed to raise two normal, well-adjusted, happy kids after all!"

Just kidding. You know we already knew that...it's our proudest accomplishment.

So in other news, as I said above, I want to tell you about an awesome book I read recently, and it might not be one you'd find on your own since it's already been out since September, 2006, but it's one of those great, well-written novels that has so much going on between the lines -- something I just adore as a reader, don't you? That book is Vertigo by Lauren Baratz-Logsted...here's the official blurb:

"A literary novel with suspense and erotic undertones that opens on New Year's Eve 1898. Emma Smith has just informed the reader that "For seventeen years I was a good - some might say exemplary - wife. It is important that you know this about me from the start." That night, she resolves to, during the course of the next year, become "a better person." Her husband John, a writer, suggests that she do so by striking up a correspondence with a convicted murderer who he thinks does not deserve to be in prison for his crime. The prisoner, Chance Wood, initially wants nothing to do with Emma, but then his letters become more heated and Emma learns that the real definition of vertigo is not the fear of falling, but the fear of wanting to fall. As the following New Year's approaches, and the world gets ready for 1900, Queen Victoria announces - at the suggestion of an advisor who states that this will make her look more progressive - that she will free certain prisoners that do not pose a real threat to society and who can get an upstanding citizen to petition for them. But by the time Chance is freed, Emma finds that she is in a prison of her own making. Unable or unwilling to merely turn away from the only world she has ever known in order to achieve what she wants, she becomes convinced that if she is to ever have her Chance, then her husband must die."

If you click on the link for Lauren's book, you will see several reviews, and I just had to add one myself because I was so blown away:

A fascinating read, July 1, 2007
By: Robin Slick
"Vertigo is not a typical historical romance by any stretch of the imagination. Rather, it cannot be labeled at all because the basic plot transcends many genres. It is a psychological thriller, erotic, and quite frankly, very good literary fiction. Ms. Baratz-Logsted has created rich, fascinating characters in Emma, John, and Chance, as well as a cast of off-beat supporting foils such as Timmins the not so typical butler and Constance, the not so typical shrinking violet of that era. This book is rich in detail...the words are so visual you are right in the middle of the scene; all of your senses are involved...it is almost like staring at a painting at times. And I defy anyone to guess the ending, which is the best part. The suspense that builds slowly throughout is masterful, beginning at page one...the prologue itself is chilling and will set the reader on the edge of his/her chair as we wonder what fate has befallen the narrator. I could sense impending disaster...and yet...I wasn't sure. I entertained many scenarios as I read on, which was wonderful because while the author gives us some hints, the many twists and turns...done brilliantly...had me repeatedly shaking my head saying "No, that's not it...that can't be what happens"...all I know is I could not put this book down until I found out what was in store for these characters.

The book is written in first person, which I personally adore having read Catcher in the Rye as a child -- it's the book which made me want to be a writer myself -- and said first person narrator was the perfect choice for this book. Trust me, from the opening chapter you are in the mind of Emma...you are with her in every room; you are reading her lover's letters with her...you experience her every emotion.

The erotic nature of the book was handled in an extremely sexy, graphic way and yet the most graphic details are not thrown in the reader's face, as with most of the book, we are left to our imaginations which is way sexier.

What is especially interesting to me is how this book illustrates the intimate nature of the written word. While it takes place in Victorian times, it very well could have been written as a modern novel with characters who meet and correspond on the internet and fall in love via email exchange without ever having met in the "real world"...something which seems to be a usual occurrence these days and will have many readers both smiling and shuddering as perhaps they see themselves in Emma and Chance.

All of the above is what makes this book such a winner. The reader must think and analyze throughout, in between admiring this author for her writing style and skills...yet taken at face value without analyzing, it still makes for a quick, fascinating read which will grab both lovers of light fiction and those who want a more challenging, literary read. I know first hand how difficult it is to create a work that manages to do both, and I applaud Lauren Baratz-Logsted for her ability to do so. And again, the build-up of suspense from chapter to chapter is just amazing.

I cannot recommend this book enough."

I had the pleasure of meeting Lauren at the recent Backspace Writers Conference where she won the Backspace Member of the Year Award for being incredibly helpful to other writers on the site, and I can tell you first hand how true that is. She is incredibly generous in offering all kinds of help/advice to fellow writers and this award is so well deserved it's ridiculous.

And while I am on the subject of reviews, last night Gary, Julie and boyfriend Matt, and I ate at Philadelphia's best new restaurant, Osteria. It was sick, sick, sick. We started out with appetizers of hands down the best brick oven pizza in the tri-state area - one a basic margherita with tomato, basil, and mozzarella; the other melanzana, which is a fantastic combination of tomato, wood-oven baked eggplant, oregano and stracciatella cheese. Trust me, you have never had pizza like that in your life. I was stuffed at that point but still managed to scarf down fusili pasta salad with jumbo lump crabmeat, tarragon, celery and baby tomatoes; Julie had fettuccine with yellowfin tuna, oregano and zucchini flowers, and Gary and Matt both had lancaster chicken "alla griglia" with salsa verde, roasted fingerling, grilled red onion, and green bean salad. We somehow managed to end the meal with fire grilled peaches atop polenta pound cake and some wonderous, molten chocolate souffle topped with house made pistachio gelato.

I may never eat again.

But oh my god, what a restaurant, and definitely the place to "be seen" in Philadelphia these days. I recognized several local celebrities and yeah, yeah, we had to make this reservation like a month in advance. But oh my god...it is so, so worth it.

I saw the chef/owner, the infamous Mark Vetri, on the premises last night and I was dying for him to visit our table so I could embarrass Julie...word has it that Mark is an accomplished guitarist and had he stopped by, I would have said "This dinner is a bon voyage celebration for Julie who is about to go on tour with Adrian Belew" but alas he was very busy and stayed behind the scenes. Julie finally let out a long sigh of relief as we left the restaurant because she knows me and what I'm capable of doing...i.e., mortifying her.

Eric could not join us last night because as usual, he had another gig...ha..that boy is the hardest working drummer in the world right now, I think.

So I think that's all the news for today but you never know...I probably left stuff out or more craziness will occur today...so I leave you with the usual "I will be back..."

Later
xo

A disclaimer of sorts, but still way cool!

Real quick because I'm multi-tasking like crazy tonight (bleh) - but you know I had to write to the author of the below blogpost and ask for a clarification and he was very cool and was actually surprised that his blurb was already out there in cyberworld and found by Dick Tracy here(ha)...and he wrote me a very nice, apologetic email that confirmed what I sort of figured out on my own.

So he rewrote his post and now it makes more sense (to me, at least)...but as I said, still very, very cool nonetheless. Awesome, in fact.

NW Soberstock blog.

Can This Be True? Adrian Belew, Robert Fripp, Trey Gunn, David Byrne...and Julie and Eric Slick?

No, Julie Slick does not play the drums, but this crazy photo somehow fits this post because it reflects the way I feel right now...alternating jumping up and down between staring with glazed eyes into space (Taken at Studio Belew, June, 2007)

Look, I admit to knowing nothing about this until just reading the news below...other than I know the Adrian Belew Power Trio is going on a west coast tour September 7-15 and that they are playing Seattle, WA on September 15. So you can imagine what I am going through having just discovered this:...

"Beginnings

A lot has happened since we opened our business - it all started with me getting sober - I was almost dead - weighing 170 lbs. at 6′3″ and was indifferent towards life. I had a friend call and the power of the universe spoke through him. For some reason, I answered the phone that day and heard a friend who did not want to go to my funeral - it took a couple of days to decide to go to treatment - I was afraid of losing my job, etc - but at the risk of all and death knocking at my door - I went. When I got out - I wanted to get a music festival together in a clean and sober setting and wrote many of my favorite artists. Adrian Belew wrote back and we signed him as our headliner last Friday. Trey Gunn was than enlisted and so I will have 3 of the four members of the last King Crimson group on stage Sept 15th. I also received notice from Robert Fripp, David Byrne, PUSA and a few others - so this thing just continues to grow. We enlisted Talking Rain as a sponsor today and yesterday - two most beautiful women joined the company - I must not say my company anymore - LOL. I welcome any comments to this blog and hope that you see the importance of offering great music in a clean and sober environment for the next generation of kids and for those of us who are older yet childlike. I thank Amy Kneelan and Rachet Galberth for their support and warmly welcome them to this amazing journey. I am still hoping no one wakes me up.

Mike"


Um...I'm hoping no one wakes me up, either.

Holy freaking cow.

ETA: Wait...I just found the actual website. It looks like it was updated last week before the most recent additions, and I see they are listing Pat Mastelotto as well. Oh god.

But now I'm wondering whether "receiving notice" means they accepted or not because that's not exactly a definite "yes", is it? and maybe when he says 3 members of the last Crimson he's talking about Adrian, Trey, and Pat? Hey, who cares! Whatever the configuration, it's totally awesome!

When I know for sure, I will let you know though I'm guessing both Adrian and Robert will be writing about it in their journals as well if in fact it's really a go.

Later,
xo

And in case you thought I had no more Adrian Belew Power Trio stories....

Eric Slick, Adrian Belew, and Julie Slick following their performance in Asbury Park, NJ on June 24, 2007

So I'm off to New York City early tomorrow morning for a host of reasons, each of which is cooler than the next. First, I have to meet with the man responsible for bringing the Adrian Belew Power Trio to Japan...Julie and Eric needed work visas to perform there in two weeks so I have to hand deliver their passports to the Japanese consulate in New York...this after filling out a ton of paperwork for their visas, having special photos taken...wow, it really is a whole new world.

And on kind of the same note -- whole new world, that is -- and leaving music for a minute, you can't believe what I just went through at the pharmacy. Julie wasn't feeling well and I got so alarmed with both the Quebec and Japan tours coming up that I made her go to the doctor and it's a good thing because yep, she's sick and needed not only a strong antibiotic but the doc also recommended Advil Cold and Sinus medicine. So while I'm waiting for her prescription to be filled, I go down the cold/flu medication aisle, and everything is there except the Advil stuff. Then I see a sign "Please ask pharmacist for Advil Cold and Sinus". I'm like, hmmm, that's weird...don't tell me people use that as a recreational drug. Ugh, I hate the feeling you get from cold medication...it's like you can't touch bottom. But even more perplexing, let's face it, I'm a writer and I hang around other writers and musicians...I know my drugs. Never once did I ever hear anyone say "Oh man, I really want to get high. Let's go to Walgreens and buy some Advil Cold and Sinus medicine."

Anyway, I get her prescription and ask for the Advil stuff and all of these pharmacists/aids, whatever -- there must have been ten people behind that counter -- stopped what they were doing and stared at me. Then the head pharmacist walks over with two voluminous, ominous looking books and told me I had to both sign and print my name in each before he could release the Advil.

Now you know I couldn't let that one go.

"What is this about?" I asked.

"Patriot Act," he replied gruffly.

"Err...excuse me?"

"Patriot Act," he repeated.

"Let me get this straight. My daughter is sick, the doctor told me to get her this stuff, and now I'm being accused of terrorism?"

To his credit, he laughed, but I swear to god, it was like that old brokerage house commercial where someone says "E.F. Hutton" and everyone freezes in their tracks. I was literally was being watched by twenty eyeballs.

"I'm sorry, Miss. But the government wants to know who is buying this stuff."

"You're telling me people make bombs out of Advil cold medicine?"

I was totally incredulous. I mean, come one. Have any of you ever heard that one?

"No. Illegal drugs, such as methamphetamines, etc."

Oy. Silly me. I did not know that. But wait. Patriot Act?

"Yeah, it was one of those amendments the government slipped in when they passed that law after 9/11. I need to see photo identification please - a driver license or passport will suffice."

Okay, so now I had to show my passport (since I do not drive) to buy Advil.

Arghhh...I just realized something. I bet I get flagged yet again next time I fly anywhere. Note to self: Remember to wear nice underwear when you have to take an airplane. Okay, let's get real here. Just remember to wear underwear, Rob.

I hope it's not a long flight.

So yeah, I was totally freaked out and naturally had to hit google when I got home. Yep, it's a law alright, and Bush signed it. If you have the stomach, you can read all about it right here.

Anyway, after I do the Japanese consulate thing tomorrow, then I get to be filmed for a really cool documentary. I don't want to say too much about it because of the jinx factor, but part of it involves being interviewed about Three Days in New York City and um, I may be instrumental (har har) in providing the film's music. Oh crap, I am dying to tell you all about this and who the filmmaker is, but I will wait until it happens tomorrow, ask permission as to how much I can blab, and see if I can't link you up to the parties responsible because yep, it's cool beyond belief.

Alrighty, enough about me, because as you know, while this blog started out three years ago to promote my writing and that of my friends, when Julie and Eric Slick are on tour with Mr. Belew or Project Object or Crescent Moon or Chris Harford or anyone, really, this journal becomes my shrine to them. So in keeping with that, here are the latest reviews/comments I've found and received.

From Beana's journal, and you must click on the link and read all about her as well as click on her photos (Hi Eric! Hi Julie! Hi Adrian! Hi Bad Brains, Mike Keneally, Ween, etc.):

"...Crescent Moon - Dave and Erik Slick were the best wake-up show ever. Seriously for some drums and a bass it is monsterous and a show that shouldn’t be missed. ever.

Adrian Belew - first time seeing him….would definitely see him and the Slick siblings again. A highlight was watching Papa Slick in the photo pit beaming like the proudest daddy in the world. Precious."

Oh, that reminds me. She also mentions Vernon Reid in her journal. I forgot to report here that while I was backstage at the SOR Fest in Adrian's trailer, Vernon walks in and we're all like Oh hi, Vernon, like he's an old friend or something and he starts talking to us like we all know each other. I'm like, hey, that's cool, the guitar player from Living Colour - the guy who did Cult of Personality - and I'm just hanging there eating some grapes with him. I really didn't have much to say; he did all the talking, but it was kind of interesting I guess. Just a normal day in my life anymore. Yawn.



Oh look, there I am in the crowd watching the trio in Asbury Park, left front...the blonde in black wearing sunglasses and holding a water bottle.

After we hung out backstage for a while, Adrian, his wife Martha, Gary, Julie and I went to dinner at what had to be the coolest restaurant in Asbury Park called Moonstruck. We ate outside, facing a lagoon and these neat looking houses...the weather was incredible...good food, drinks...just a really laid back and fun time.

Okay, who am I kidding. It was surreal.

Eric stayed behind to sit in on drums with a couple other bands but management took good care of him with vegetarian offerings of wonder and delight. (Heh...now where did I steal that phrase from?)

Back to the reviews. I like this one:

"Belew...the power trio

The Adrian Belew Power Trio was at B.B.Kings Monday in Manhattan. Seriously, the most incredible show I've ever seen. The two School Of Rock alumni that are playing with him (Julie & Eric Slick) are two of the most natural and gifted musicians and they're only 21 & 20 years old. Probably one of the best rhythm sections I've heard live. They played a set of old and new (Rhino King to...Side 3) and threw down some serious Krimson classics (Frame By Frame…Three Of A Perfect Pair). Adrian also did some solo pieces (lots of looping, couldn't figure out what he was using). Not a huge fan of looping, but he did some very unique things and even used it to loop Fripp's parts on the Krimson pieces which he then played his parts over."

And this one, especially...

"Twang Bar King w/ Slicks - BB Kings House of Blues

Killer evening folks! Firstly, it's always great to have a night on the town with my beautiful wife. It's just icing on the cake when you get to see the Twang Bar King in action. BBs was its usual self - overpriced drinks, food, tight seating, etc.. On a
positive note - The music always sounds great there (which may also have to do with the musicians I've gone to see, such as, Ade Trios, Jeff Beck, Eric Johnson, Cactus, Sonny Landreth and Johnny A, Otis Day and the Nights). I'm going to try to keep this review short (impossible- LOL), so briefly, I'd like to mention that we met some very nice people sitting at our table and got to chat with Eric and his Dad quite a bit after the show, along with having a moment to say Hi and chat briefly with Ade and Martha - which is always cool!

OK - the Show! The set list was the same as it was for the Virginia Show - shuffled around a little bit.Ade's playing/singing was great and the Slicks! (wow man) they are really coming into their own -Ampersand,Matchless Man, Beat Box Guitar, Madness, Young Lions -It was magical at times last night, especially during Madness, some serious bro & sis mojo going on here -Eric's Drums and Julie's Bass were really driving that tune & Ade was just along for the ride. I said to Mr. Slick after the show, "is it me, or did something happen up there tonight?" he smiled and despite the vagueness of my statement he knew exactly what I meant, saying "Man, it's been happening!" That was cool.

The previous shows we saw were great and they played mostly the same stuff that we heard from these shows but it was different - more powerful, more confident, more cohesion between the trio, it sounded fresh/new. I really dug the subtle changes to the songs! As stated, I chatted with Ade and young Eric briefly after the show and I wanted to tell them both exactly that, but got going on the other stuff and never got around to telling them this (hopefully they'll read it).

My song highlights were: Young Lions - The trio kills this song - really suits the Slicks. Slowly becoming my new favorite Ade tune. Can't wait to hear the Side 4 recording. Beat Box/Madness -Slicks take over on these & relaxed Ade pulls off brilliance. Men in Helicopters -fantastic! Within You/Without You - Ade's twangidge is real pretty. Neurotica - What a killin little Crim tune -First time I heard it. & All of the Discipline Stuff! - which I have to mention I can't seem to get enough of lately. I'm listening to that damn album all the time. Quite strangely, the music sounds to me as smooth and cool as some might describe Marvin Gay's "What's Going On" album. I find myself telling anyone who will listen that I think this is one of the greatest albums ever and thousand of years away they will be listening to and talking about this album. (and yes, I'm all about making grandiose statements, just hear me telling the folks at our table at BBs - "man, the Bears are freakin' Beatles of Cincinatti!" )

Anyway, that's my review of the gig, sorry it's a few days late. There's much more to discuss/mention, but my writing is god awful these days so I'm cutting it short (stop the bleeding if you will). Let me just say that I couldn't dream of a better way to spend a Monday night w/ my wife - who btw, is completely responsible for turning me on to Ade and Crimson (a great woman indeed - yes, I know!). Hats off to the Trio (once again)! - The Canucks and the Japanese are going to absolutely love these guys!

Thanks for reading -RK

(BTW, the insider says, Side 4 is being mixed as we speak - nice!)"
******
From the comments section of my blog:

"Evan Hilzer said...

Robin,

I know you are going to be bombarded with messages, but I really want to thank you for keeping such a great blog. I love reading everyday.

As for the show. WOW. I was completely blown away. The playing surpassed my high expectations. I was fortunate enough to meet Julie and Eric and that guitar guy...he was pretty good too... My best friend Steve works for Rocks Off and also ended up helping out for the BB Kings show. He introduced me to Eric and Julie, and they were so down to earth, nice, welcoming. We had some great conversation as if I've known them for years. Having briefly met Gary, its not hard to see why you have raised two wonderful children. Adrian is very lucky.

Hopefully I will be able to thank you in person next time. Keep up the great work and great blog!

Evan
*****

Maryanne Stahl said...

I am in awe of you, your family, your life. must keep you young, 'cause it exhausts me to read about it! but seriously, I'm v. happy for you all. xxx
*****

Walter Joyce said...

I was at the show at BB King's on monday, and was blown away. I have seen Adrian many tmes over the years, with Crimson, The Bears, and solo, but this was the best solo show yet. I had not yet seen the "power trio", and Eric and Julie were beyond impressive. I can only imagine what is in store for them in the future. What talent! When I was their age I could barely play the radio. I went to see Adrian, but the next time, if there is one in the NYC area, I will be going to see them as much as Adrian. Was lucky enough to meet Adrian after the show, and get a picture, but would have loved to have gotten one with Eric and Julie too. They were not around. Cannot wait for Side Four. Love your blog. Peace and love to you."
*****

So that's what's going on at the moment. And now if you will excuse me, I'm going back upstairs to have yet another listen to the rough mix of Side Four Live.

And it gives me the shivers every time.

Later,
xo

Have you had enough Adrian Belew Power Trio stories yet? Not me! I'm full of 'em...

Another amazing photograph of Adrian Belew and Eric Slick courtesy of Gary Slick - Vienna, Virginia July 21, 2007

Okay, first let me say this. Monday night after the BB King show Adrian gave Gary what I guess is a rough mix though it sounds like it's freaking perfect to me...of Side Four Live.

You have no idea.

It's the best CD, live or otherwise, I've heard in the past twenty years. Even though I've seen the trio countless times now, nothing prepared me for the sheer brilliance of their music. I had chills, I was in tears, I could barely keep from jumping up and down. Other than that, I'm totally speechless.

And guess what? It very well may be ready to be released in just a few more weeks...

From 1600 TV, who will have a video/interview of the trio up on their website shortly (cool site, huh)...but here's what they have to say for now, in part:

"To start things off on the right foot, the one and only Twang Bar King, Adrian Belew and his Power Trio treated us to an earful of sonic fury, on Thursday June 21 at the cozy Vienna club, Jammin' Java. Wild noise was coupled with beautiful, delicate sounds that spanned his entire career, and the band previewed their upcoming release, "Side Four, " co-produced by Saul Zonana, who opened for the Power Trio with an impressive display of original songs that showcased a unique voice and some skillful guitar work in his own right.

We were lucky enough to catch up to all of the touring musicians in Mr. Belew's company that night, and after a great interview (see it soon on Fairfax County Public Access Channel 10 and right here on www.1600.tv) supplemented by more stories and the general good spirits that followed, the Power Trio turned up the juice and performed a blazing show. It was a special night, indeed.

From Beat Box Guitar to Matchless Man and Drive, from early solo favorites like Big Electric Cat to new arrangements of signature King Crimson tunes like Thela Hun Ginjeet, Elephant Talk, Neurotica, Dinosaur, and Three of a Perfect Pair, this well-rehearsed band had the chops to faithfully interpret the songs, while reinventing them with their own style and savvy. School of Rock alumnae Julie Slick on bass, and her brother Eric Slick on drums filled out the sound with poise and muscle. Eric never missed a beat, grinning and laughing as he traded licks with Adrian, while Julie stood serenely, calmly thumping her bass with a confidence, authority and ease that Tony Levin would have admired.

All of this sheer enthusiasm created an unusual atmosphere of playfulness, not often seen among musicians of this calibre. The buoyant mood clearly made it an enjoyable night for players and audience alike, allowing Adrian the freedom to take off in different directions not always pursued in other bands, and he made the most of it- jamming, improvising, and putting on a virtuoso show. As always, he coaxed a jungleful of animal sounds out of his Parker guitar- seagulls, elephants, cats, rhinos, and yes, even a dinosaur. One of many highlights of the show was a solo Lone Rhinoceros, the words lending empathy for a proud, endangered relic of a simpler time. This was followed (or was it preceded?) by a seemingly- spontaneous instrumental rendition of Within You Without You from Sgt. Pepper, imbued with his own touch and still unmistakable from the first note.

But it wasn't just the effects, the solos, the volume, or the complexity of what they were playing- the Adrian Belew Power Trio are a force to be reckoned with because they actually listened to each other, played off each other and they had a steady groove going all night long! The space they generously gave to create, to urge each other on, to jam, take risks, and explore the songs and make them their own- that was truly unique, and powerful. It's something I'll never forget because it is both rare and genuine. We really saw a spectacular, yet very intimate show. Thanks again, guys- you SHRED! The Adrian Belew Power Trio are in New York and next week, on their way to Japan as the tour continues, but stay tuned to this space for when they return to the area. You'll hear it here FIRST! In the meantime, check out the pics, news and a great bio video called "Life in a Nutshell" at adrianbelew.net (also on the infamous 1600 links page, with other planned domestic dates coming up and Side Four release info SOON!)"
*****

From a cool little blog called Blah:

"Welcome to Blah3
Tuesday, June 26 2007 @ 04:37 EDT

Music Review: School Of Rock Festival, Asbury Park, NJ
Monday, June 25 2007 @ 10:12 EDT

We got up Sunday morning and ran out of the house, jumped back into the car and off we went back to Asbury. Traffic was worse than either going or coming back home on Saturday, but we still arrived in time to see Adrian Belew on the Main Stage.

Besides serving up a vertiable buffet of tone from his copper-colored Parker Fly, Adrian was mindful enough of style to wear sunglasses that matched his guitar.

And I've got to mention the other two players in the Belew Power Trio - the brother-and-sister duo of Eric and Julie Slick. Both grads of the Philly School Of Rock, they gave Belew all the foundation he needed to go off - in fact, they seemed to push him to go even further out on the musical limb of the moment. These kids (neither one is barely out of their teens) are two players to watch - they will be around a while, and they are exceptional."
*****

From Planet Crimson:

"Still buzzing from the AB3 show last night. I'm not much of a reviewer so I'll keep it short:

You MUST see this band! Adrian was his usual amazing self which was what I expected. He really never lets you down and I am in total awe of his ability to multi-task on stage. He plays an impossible riff, loops it and then playx more impossible riffs over top of it. All the while he's smiling at everyone in the audience like we are long lost friends.

But that wasn't the best part. The best part was the Slicks. Even after reading so many great reviews I was stunned at how good these two are. Julie Slick made me ashamed to even think about calling myself a bass player and Eric is just sick.

Oh and Adrian signed my Dust cd cover print. A very nice night indeed.
*****

"So last August's AB concert in Phila was one for the ages. It stood out from every other show of the year (and possibly the couple before). This trio was OUT of this WORLD. Could they possibly get better? I had my doubts, but last night they actually edged out that previous show. Ade and the Slicks seem to be energizing each other more than ever, and thankfully it's the kind of mutual-feedback loop that doesn't cause everything nearby to overload and short out. Well, not literally.

Same as last time, our opener was Saul Zonana. I enjoyed him more than before, probably since his stuff took some time to sink in last time. He's got a great voice and some fun songs, even if he couldn't top The Argument in the song-for-an-inflatable-sex-doll department. Mainly he just needs a real backup band instead of a MIDI program in a box. Still, quite an enjoyable set all around.

I could complain about BB King's really not being a great venue (uncomfortable chairs, people squeezed too many to a table, way-overpriced eats), or the headaches that resulted from someone nearby indulging in some not-quite-legal flammable plant matter. But once the trio started threatening to blow every fuse in Times Square, everyone's attention was rapt and any little quibbles were handily blown out of our heads. This show KICKED from the first note and never let up. Set-wise it was the same as last time, minus the solo "Walk Around the World," but expanded with "Men in Helicopters" (which somehow became a bonafide arena-rocker, I kid you not), plus a STONKING "Neurotica." Ye gods. I think they actually equalled the KC version from Mexico City.

This time we ended up on the stage left side of the room instead of the right, so it was Eric's turn to blow me away. He looked more Keith Moon than ever (mod haircut, striped shirt and tie) and did his share of bouncing and head-tossing. But the crazy stuff was never less than razor-sharp and he never stopped propelling the others along at 150mph, even while trotting out one insane fill after another after another. Comparisons to Peart or Bozzio wouldn't be entirely out of place. Meanwhile Julie cranked out a low end every bit as inventive AND hyper-catchy, while Adrian just looked as if he was having the time of his life.

It's always interesting to see how the material's adapted for a trio, such as "Frame x Frame" where Adrian loops & overdubs himself in order to cover both the 6/8 and 7/8 parts ("there's never a Fripp handy when you need one, is there"). But no matter the song, in this group's hands it comes out as powerful as you've ever heard it. Seriously folks, they've got a chemistry usually reserved for MIT labs. Don't miss them if they're swinging near you. Knock over a bank if necessary. And be ready to grab Side Four the minute it's possible."
*****
From the comments section of my blog:

"Wow, I just got back from the SOR fest and BB King's last night and I can't explain how charmed I feel to have experienced such a great weekend. Your kids are absolutely amazing. My nephew and I caught Eric with everyone and he is unbelievable. I wished Julie played with so many different groups...and as to her on-stage persona, I wonder if that guy thinks Fripp looks bored, quiet and shy too.

The trio's sets at both the fest and BB King's really can't be explained with words. But, I can say how strange it is to have my attention so divided between the band members. I used to just watch Adrian...now I feel like I'm cheating on whoever I'm not watching. The trio is truly something very, very special and I hope it lasts for a long, long time.

In any case, we were in a parking garage getting ready to leave and my nephew was going on and on about Eric and Julie. I turned around and Julie was walking up with some friends and I had to start thinking about how to nonchalantly kick him in the shins...too funny!

(In case Julie reads this, I was a bit mortified to be associated with my parents car and their gigantic "W" sticker. I'm sure you really don't care, but I felt like I got caught at the scene of a crime I didn't commit).

To bring my rambling to an end, later that night my nephew said "they're not 'sick' they're slick" (that is funny when you haven't slept for 4 days)."
*****

Oh my god, as I told the person who wrote that comment, that made me seriously laugh out loud. The "W" part, that is...too, too funny.

From the comments section of Adrian's blog:

"June 24, 2007 11:10 PM
Rheayes said...

What a weekend!

My husband Roy and I saw twelve bands in the last three days. We had booked our flight to the East Coast long before I knew of Adrian's tour. The original goal was to attend NEARFest - the North East Art Rock Festival in Bethlehem, PA. But Adrian played 40 minutes away in Sellersville. It was too perfect; we had to go. We also managed to see the band Asia and Ian Hunter from Mott the Hoople at separate shows in nearby Philadelphia on Friday. Whew!

Adrian was wonderful. We had seen the earlier power trio, but this was our first time seeing him play with the Slicks. Excellent performance all around, even with some technical issues that must have been frustrating. It was great getting a chance to say hi after the show as well. The opening act Caryn Lin was very good as well.

This year has been amazing. I've seen Adrian three times this year, with completely different shows. We are getting very spoiled!

Rhea
*****
June 25, 2007 3:54 PM
Dan said...

Just home from the the triumphant final show at B.B. Kings. All I can say is wow! I've never heard Adrian playing better and Eric and Julie are amazing discoveries. I cannot wait for Side Four!

Thank you for another amazing evening of music!
******

From Robert's Journal:

"T bought me a ticket to Adrian Belew Power Trio with Julie and Eric Slick at BB Kings for Fathers Day.

5:00 Arrive at BB Kings and get a priority seating ticket, we're number 8. We hang out in Lucilles, have a beer and watch Hendrix at Woodstock.

6:00 We go in and have excellent seats, one table from the stage, very close to Adrian. The show is amazing. Julie and Eric are outstanding and Adrian, is of course, phenomenal. This is the second Power Trio I've seen. The other was at the Turning Point in Piermont, NY. I look forward to a third. The trio comes on at nine and plays for 1.5 hours. Every piece is better than previous, a lot of Belew material and of course King Crimson thrown in and at the end, Three of a Perfect Pair, Frame by Frame, Elephant Talk, and Thela Hun Ginjeet. Great show."
*****

From Wild Koba's Music Box:

" adrian belew. bb king's, 6/25/07 (summer show #2)
last night's belew show at bb's was pretty off the hook. i wasn't sure what to expect, but overall, i was pleasantly surprised by what i caught.

the twang bar king was playing in a trio featuring the slick siblings: 21 year old julie on bass, and 20 year old eric on drums. and they played their asses off (and yes, they are schooled in the ways of rock). the drummer was especially brilliant. he did an excellent job backing up every freak sound from belew with his own diabolical rhythms.

the star of the show, though, was belew, who looks WAY TOO MUCH like f. murray abraham in "amadeus" if he were joyful and untormented. belew is one of the few musicians i've seen live who's constantly happy and enjoying himself onstage. it's refreshing every once in a while to see someone who doesn't look like they hate their job. thankfully, no sturm und drang when it comes to belew.

and in case you weren't sure, belew can still play. his blistering runs and glass-like chords were dotted with abusive whammy torture (lots of great sounds resulted).

the crowd's energy was clearly at its peak during the steady stream of crimson songs that appeared in the latter half of the set. bass-girl slick displayed great prowess on "elephant talk". there were a couple of long instrumental jams i didn't know, but baby slick and belew were playing like they were in a barfight; they were throwing everything they could think of at each other. great stuff."
*****

From Mike Keneally's blog:

"amazing weekend at the inaugural School of Rock Festival in Asbury Park. You were only sixteen miles away and you didn't come? Wow.

I had a super-interesting band: Doug Lunn, Eric Slick, Eric Svalgard on keyboards and Rich Stone on bass clarinet and tenor sax. No rehearsal. You try playing the "Dolphins" medley with no rehearsal."

After which one of his pals commented:

"Power Trios rock my world! With everything else going on this past weekend, I neglected to tell you how much I enjoyed you're set on Saturday...three words... Eric F*ckin' Slick!

No rehearsal...really??"
****
Okay, speaking of Mike Keneally. Do you know what a freaking thrill it was for me on Sunday at the School of Rock Festival? First, when Eric performed at noon with Dave Dreiwitz in Crescent Moon, first Mike sat there next to me bopping along, grinning from ear to ear, then he jumped up on stage for the song, "Hammer to the Skull" when a young School of Rocker let him borrow his guitar. Oh my god, it was insane!


Mike Keneally on guitar, Dave Drewitz on bass, Eric Slick on drums

But even more surreal than that was later that afternoon, when I found myself standing next to Mike yet again during the Adrian Belew Power Trio set. I could not get over to his reaction to my son and my daughter up there with Adrian. He kept turning to me with that smile, and I can't even tell you all of the awesome things he said...I don't want to embarrass Eric and Julie who are both managing to stay humble.

Not me. I'm freaking out over how great this trio is and once you hear Side Four Live, you will know exactly what I'm talking about.

Meanwhile, I have like a gazillion photos from the tour and this past weekend at the School of Rock Festival from both my camera and the cameras of fans who were kind enough to email me. I'm trying to figure out the best approach here...I may just start a new album on my photobucket site and put up a link because they are all so great I can't decide which ones to post. But in the meantime, thanks so much to Steve Kozlowski and Anna Jackow for sending me such awesome pics.

Later,
xo

The Adrian Belew Power Trio hangs out with Garrett

A very blurry Adrian Belew with my nephew, Garrett, last night at BB Kings and oh how I wish the lighting was better and I had a clearer photo...

So I have lots to talk about, many reviews to post, many people to thank for sending me photos (I did not have my camera for the shows Eric played with Mike Keneally and Crescent Moon at the SOR Fest this past weekend and I can't believe how many fans were kind enough to email me pics)...but last night my brother and his soon to be nine year old son, Garrett, drove from West Hartford, Connecticut to BB Kings in New York City to see the Adrian Belew Power Trio for the very first time featuring Garrett's first cousins, Julie and Eric Slick. In fact, I didn't realize it, but it was also Garrett's first time in New York City!

Quick background: My mom died when my significantly younger brother David was still a kid; Gary and I were his legal guardians (while we were still pretty much kids ourselves) until he went off to college...and now David has two kids of his own, one of whom is the fabulous Garrett featured above...and guess what...at age 8 he's already a brilliant guitar player. Think it's genetic? Ha! I do...just wish that gene hadn't skipped me!

"Who is your favorite guitar player, Garrett?" we asked him last night.

"Adrian Belew," he answered immediately, and then proceeded to reel off the names of all the songs he loved by Adrian and King Crimson. He went backstage to meet Adrian...and of course as you can imagine, Adrian being Adrian was his usual incredibly cool and kind self. Garrett left the show last night with a signed album, t-shirt, and well...here's what my brother had to say in an email to me today...hope you don't mind I'm doing this, Dave, but I burst into tears when I read your letter this morning and I really want to share it with the world. I just wish I had a better photo of Ade and your boy (I'm gonna kidnap that kid for a couple of weeks this summer...better watch out because I might not give him back! What a brilliant, wonderful young man...we are so smitten with him it's ridiculous) but you know, there will be many more shows to come and if you are going to be in Florida visiting your in-laws this August...it might be sooner rather than later (sly hint to those of you Belew fans in Florida).

Anyway, here's what my brother said in his email:

"I didn’t tell Garrett he would see Eric or Julie. I said I doubted he would see Adrian, but I also said you never know. Then on our trip down I started telling him we might see Aunt Robin and Uncle Gary. I said you can’t tell what that Aunt Robin might be up to, but they were both excited to see you. Garrett said” Do you think she will tell Eric and Julie I am coming”? I told him to think about the relationship with Eric and Julie Aunt Robin has. So he goes “you mean she is their mommy and she’ll probably tell them”. I turned the music up and smiled at him.

So here is Garrett driving into NYC. He looks around at the people, the traffic, the buildings, and the boldness of it all. To say he was overwhelmed is an understatement. We had an appetizer and went to find Eric and Julie. They came over, introduced him to Adrian (he signed the cd covers), and they let him come backstage. At this point, he was just so happy I couldn’t have been more ecstatic.

When he realized we were moving from our table, and sitting with you, he was starting to hit shock factor. The way your kids, Gary, you, and Adrian treated him made this the best night of his life. He was telling Staci (eta: Dave's wife) about the faces Adrian and Eric when they make when they play but Julie doesn’t-she plays awesome. He knew all the songs, and was really blown away by everyone’s performance. I was too.

I have seen Adrian perform with David Bowie, and King Crimson twice. I only went to see Bowie because Adrian was playing. The best performance until last night was King Crimson back in 1982 at the Tower Theatre. The energy Eric had on drums was unbelievable. His power and finesse just gave the music a whole new energy. I loved seeing Bill Buford with Adrian, but as good as Buford is, Eric is a different kind of drummer. His passion brings something out in Adrian’s music that makes him sound “50 years younger”. (eta: Adrian made that comment laughingly on stage last night) I can’t think of a drummer I have heard who is that original, powerful, and free who takes drumming to a limit some others have been said to have achieved, but were either not technically as good or were restrained by their own technical prowess. You know the list I mean.

I also loved seeing Tony Levin with Adrian and Peter Gabriel as he is an amazing stick player. Julie is one of these understated bass players that are so good, she gets into your soul. She compliments the musicians on stage, and has a natural connection to Eric that is much different than seeing Eric play with another bassist... Her style is about tone and soulfulness. When you add that to Adrian/Eric, you have magic. She is gorgeous in both beauty and personality, and it is so refreshing to see her music do the talking versus seeing another woman who is all belly buttons and no talent. She is a real musician who doesn’t need to rely on anything but her musical gift. Without realizing it, she is new role model for young women who want to play music.

So the amazing thing about seeing your kids play with Adrian last night was seeing the music of Adrian Belew taken to another level. There is a freedom he has with this band that has re-energized his music. It is as if Adrian Belew has finally reached the zenith of his capabilities as a solo artist, and he should never look back. His songs were always my favorites from King Crimson, and in this power trio format, he has achieved something as magical as the first day Cream took the stage, or Hendrix played Monterey.

I was blown away, Garrett was in rock and roll heaven, and it was one of the most special nights I could have hoped for.

Love,

Dave"

Oh god, here come the tears again. Okay, I will be back tomorrow with all of your wonderful photos, reviews, and a few cool stories of my own.

Later,
xo