Friday, September 28, 2012

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track Thirteen

Well, previews start tonight, so we shall see what kind of audience response we'll get. Personally, I consider previews open dress rehearsals. Lots of work left to do. 

The Playlist, however, will continue to opening.


The Playlist So Far:

  • 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
  • 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
  • 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits
  • 4- The Apparition by Iron Maiden
  • 5- Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash 
  • 6- Ride the Lightning by Metallica
  • 7- Witch Hunt by Rush 
  • 8- Black the Sky by King's X 
  • 9- No Quarter by Led Zeppelin
  • 10- The Flame by Cheap Trick 
  • 11- Devils and Dust by Bruce Springstee
  • 12- Dead and Bloated by Stone Temple Pilots
 "Yes...A kind old man taught me speech and to read.
He was blind...but saw goodness in me.
And when he died, none could see it."

I Don't Believe in Love
by Queensryche



I awoke on impact
Under surveillance from the camera eye
Searching high and low
The criminal mind found at the scene of the crime
Handcuffed and blind, I didn't do it
She said she loved me
I guess I never knew
But do we ever, ever really know?
She said she'd meet me on the other side
But I knew right then, I'd never find her

I don't believe in love
I never have, I never will
I don't believe in love
Its never worth the pain that you feel

No more nightmares, Ive seen them all
From the day I was born, they've haunted my every move
Every open hands there to push and shove
No time for love it doesnt't't matter
She made a difference
I guess she had a way
Of making every night seem bright as day
Now I walk in shadows, never see the light
She must have lied cause she never said goodbye

I don't believe in love
I never have, I never will
I don't believe in love
Ill just pretend she never was real
I don't believe in lovev I need to forget her face, I see it still
I don't believe in love
Its never worth the pain that you feel

No chance for contact
There's no raison detre
My only hope is one day I'll forget
The pain of knowing what can never be
With or without love it's all the same to me

I don't believe in love
I never have, I never will
I don't believe in love
Ill just pretend she never was real
I don't believe in love
I need to forget her face, I see it still
I don't believe in love
Its never worth the pain that you feel

Thursday, September 27, 2012

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track Twelve

The Playlist So Far:

  • 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
  • 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
  • 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits
  • 4- The Apparition by Iron Maiden
  • 5- Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash 
  • 6- Ride the Lightning by Metallica
  • 7- Witch Hunt by Rush 
  • 8- Black the Sky by King's X 
  • 9- No Quarter by Led Zeppelin
  • 10- The Flame by Cheap Trick 
  • 11- Devils and Dust by Bruce Springsteen

"O Teacher, some great mischief hath befallen to that meek man, who well had sacrificed; is piety thus and pure devotion paid?....Pandemonium"

Dead and Bloated
by Stone Temple Pilots


I am smellin' like the rose
that somebody gave me on
my birthday deathbed
I am smellin' like the rose
that somebody gave me
'cause I'm dead & bloated

I am smellin' like the rose

that somebody gave me on
my birthday deathbed
I am smellin' like the rose
that somebody gave me
'cause I'm dead & bloated

Ohh yeah, and she says it's natural

I feel I've come of age
When she peeks I start to run
Ohh yeah, and she says it's natural
I feel I've come of age
When she peeks I start to run

You can't swallow what I'm thinkin'

You can't swallow what I'm thinkin'

I am trampled under sole of

another man's shoes
Guess I walked too softly

Ohh yeah, and she says it's natural

I feel I've come of age
When she peeks I start to run
Ohh yeah, and she says it's natural
I feel I've come of age
When she peeks I start to run

You can't swallow what I'm thinkin'

You can't swallow what I'm thinkin'

I run through the world thinkin' 'bout tomorrow, thinkin' 'bout tomorrow

I run through the world thinkin' 'bout tomorrow, thinkin' 'bout tomorrow

I am smellin' like the rose

that somebody gave me on
my birthday deathbed
I am smellin' like the rose
that somebody gave me
'cause I'm dead & bloated

I run through the world thinkin' 'bout tomorrow, thinkin' 'bout tomorrow

I run through the world thinkin' 'bout tomorrow, thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
I run through the world thinkin' 'bout tomorrow, thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
I run through the world thinkin' 'bout tomorrow, thinkin' 'bout tomorrow

I am smellin' like the rose

that somebody gave me on
my birthday deathbed
I am smellin' like the rose
that somebody gave me, somebody gave me,
somebody gave me on
my birthday deathbed

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Stuck in My Head 9.25.2012

Ever since Sunday night.


I Am the Law
by Anthrax

Fifteen years
In the academy
He was like no cadet
They'd ever seen

A man so hard

His veins bleed ice
When he speaks
He never says it twice

They call him Judge

His last name is Dredd
So break the law
And you wind up dead

Truth and justice

Are what he's fighting for
Judge Dredd the man
He is the law

DROKK IT!


With gun and bike

He rules the streets
Every perp he meets
Will taste defeat

Not even Death

Will overcome his might
Dredd and Anderson
Won the fight

When the Sovs started

The Apocalypse war
Mega City was bombed
To the floor

Dredd resisted

And the judges fought back
Crushed the Sovs
With their counter-attack

DROKK IT!


Respect the badge

He earned it with his blood
Fear the gun
Your sentence may be death because...

I am THE LAW!

You won't fuck around no more
I am THE LAW!
I judge the rich, I judge the poor
I am THE LAW!
Commit a crime, I'll lock the door
I am THE LAW!
Because in Mega-City...
I am THE LAW!

In the cursed earth

Where mutants dwell
There is no law
Just a living hell

Anarchy and chaos

As the blood runs red
This would change
If it were up to Dredd

The book of law
Is the bible to him
Any crime committed
Is a sin

He keeps peace

With his law-giver
Judge, jury, and executioner

Respect the badge

He earned it with his blood
Fear the gun
Your sentence may be death because...

I am THE LAW!

You won't fuck around no more
I am THE LAW!
I judge the rich, I judge the poor
I am THE LAW!
Commit a crime I'll lock the door
I am THE LAW!
Because in Mega-City...
I am THE LAW!

CRIME!

The ultimate sin
Your iso-cube is waiting
When he brings you in

LAW!

It's what he stands for
Crime's the only enemy
He's going to war

(Solo)


Oh!


CRIME!

The ultimate sin
Your iso-cube is waiting
When he brings you in

LAW!

It's what he stands for
Crime's the only enemy
He's going to war

Ha ha ha!


Respect the badge

He earned it with his blood
Fear the gun
Your sentence may be death because...

I am THE LAW!

You won't fuck around no more
I am THE LAW!
I judge the rich, I judge the poor
I am THE LAW!
Commit a crime, I'll lock the door
I am THE LAW!
Because in Mega-City...
I am THE LAW!

You won't fuck around no more

I am THE LAW!
I judge the rich, I judge the poor
I am THE LAW!
Commit a crime, I'll lock the door
I am THE LAW!
Because in Mega-City...

I...

AM...
THE...
LAW!

The Frankenstein Playlist : Track Eleven

The Playlist So Far:
  • 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
  • 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
  • 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits
  • 4- The Apparition by Iron Maiden
  • 5- Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash 
  • 6- Ride the Lightning by Metallica
  • 7- Witch Hunt by Rush 
  • 8- Black the Sky by King's X 
  • 9- No Quarter by Led Zeppelin
  • 10- The Flame by Cheap Trick


"I am not Adam. I am Satan,
who was cast out of heaven for being monstrous."

Devils and Dust
by Bruce Springsteen



I got my finger on the trigger
But I don't know who to trust
When I look into your eyes
There's just devils and dust
We're a long, long way from home, Bobbie
Home's a long, long way from us
I feel a dirty wind blowing
Devils and dust

I got God on my side

And I'm just trying to survive
What if what you do to survive
Kills the things you love
Fear's a powerful thing, baby
It can turn your heart black you can trust
It'll take your God filled soul
And fill it with devils and dust

Well I dreamed of you last night

In a field of blood and stone
The blood began to dry
The smell began to rise
Well I dreamed of you last night, Bobbie
In a field of mud and bone
Your blood began to dry
And the smell began to rise

We've got God on our side

We're just trying to survive
What if what you do to survive
Kills the things you love
Fear's a powerful thing, baby
It'll turn your heart black you can trust
It'll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust
It'll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust

Now every woman and every man

They wanna take a righteous stand
Find the love that God wills
And the faith that He commands
I've got my finger on the trigger
And tonight faith just ain't enough
When I look inside my heart
There's just devils and dust

Well I've got God on my side

And I'm just trying to survive
What if what you do to survive
Kills the things you love
Fear's a dangerous thing
It can turn your heart black you can trust
It'll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust
Yeah it'll take your God filled soul
Fill it with devils and dust

Monday, September 24, 2012

DREDD

It is so very, very rare that I walk out of a movie and say, "man, I should've seen that in 3-D." Never happens, ever. It's too ridiculous to me to even think about.

It happened last night.

I am a fan of the long-running British comic Judge Dredd, which presents a post-apocalyptic America which is a radioactive wasteland, with the exception of, I beleve it's three, huge "Mega-Cities" that sprawl over the land. Dredd patrols Mega-City One, which encompasses most of the East Coast. The Judges are a para-military police force, serving as Judge, Jury and, if needed, Executioner, and Dredd is their most legendary officer.

The comic has always been presented with a very wry sense of humor, and as a piece of social commentary through parody. Yes, the Judges represent a oppressive police state, there's no getting around it, but the comic presents a society so rife with debauchery, corruption and selfishness (as a thin parody of modern America) that you can't help but think it's kind of badass when Dredd puts his jackboot down.

It should be made clear...the fascist society of Mega-City and Dredd is a relatively "harmless" (in terms of a sci-fi/fantasy environment for VERY hard-boiled crime stories) one. The oppressed are "lawbreakers," criminals of various stripe, with ludicrously over-the-top punishments for various crimes. "5 months in an Iso-Cube for littering citizen!" You won't see Dredd manhandling anyone over race, religion or sexual preference, for example. In fact many stories have had Dredd crack down of Judges who step over the line.

I go into all this because I LOVED the new film version of the property, DREDD, but I acknowledge that it presents the police state of Mega-City without this element of parody that softens the harder edge. The world of Mega-City is also much, much less full-bore sci-fi than the comics have ever presented (read - No flying cars). Some will be put off by that, and some will find it a "betrayal" of the character. Me, I think they found the right way to portray Dredd; make the perps he's hunting so awful, you just jump into the action, and let it work in that vein.

And DREDD is a pretty kick-ass action film. Very, very, very violent. Not just in a "lots of people get shot" way, but in a "gore" way. It's not for the squeamish or faint of heart. It's also propulsive, and wonderfully inventive, visually. The use of a drug called "Slo-Mo," that slows perception of the world down to 10% of usual, is a really great visual hook for the story. Those sequences are really cool and I wish I'd seen them in 3-D.

It's also got the winning card in the performance of Karl Urban as Judge Joe Dredd. Even if all the elements you may have loved from the comic aren't on display (although there is a really chuckle-worth moment when Dredd poses infront of an American flag), Urban is absolutely spot-on with his portrayal of Mega-City's greatest Judge. I mean spot-Drokking-on. You also heard correctly, he never takes off the helmet, and director Pete Travis really does make wonderful use of the costume piece. Many of the shots that took my breath away (as a fan of the character) simply used the reflective surface of the visor as a contrast to Urban's grizzled chin.

I also love that Urban just gets Dredd's sense of humor. His pitch-black, fatalistic sarcastic side. The character's made for one-liners, and Urban does just enough to be enjoyable, while not enough to start sounding like a self-parody (Looking at you, Expendables 2).

Although, I did think about this before I went to bed last night...You couldn't have Dredd say "Drokk it" once? Just once? I mean you gave us a nice, underplayed, "I am the law" that was fantastic. I did miss Dredd's favorite curse.

I also loved Olivia Trilby as Judge Anderson, who is a trainee Judge assigned to Dredd, and gifted with psychic powers. The character isn't the free-spirit, who likes to push Dredd's buttons, that we know from the comic...yet. There is a nice scene near the end where we see how she's developing, and I think it does tie to the character as we know her.

Lena Headey (Game of Thrones) is virtually unrecognizable as 'Ma‑Ma' Madrigal, who "owns" the 200-story "block" that Dredd is trapped inside. I found her absolutely repellant, which is pretty much the idea. The callous cruelty is, well, pretty much part and parcel of a Dredd villain.

The bottom line is that I had a great time with this movie, because I know who Dredd is. I understand the mindset and concept behind the character to not get in a twist over the...let's be honest, disturbing...overt politics of the thing. Your mileage may definitely vary.

As a post-script....

I think it's pretty obvious that this film, overall, is a MUCH better adaptation of the material than the Stallone vehicle Judge Dredd. That said, the Stallone version's Mega-City One was MUCH closer to the environment presented in the comics, and, God help me, the costume was actually probably closer. In fact, I think the first 15 minutes or so of Stallone's film is a really good adaptation...then it goes to hell in a basket.

Urban gets it by a mile.

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track Ten

Sorry for the delay - busy, busy, busy...

The Playlist So Far:

  • 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
  • 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
  • 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits
  • 4- The Apparition by Iron Maiden
  • 5- Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash 
  • 6- Ride the Lightning by Metallica
  • 7- Witch Hunt by Rush 
  • 8- Black the Sky by King's X 
  • 9- No Quarter by Led Zeppelin
This one's a little different...but it makes sense in my head, and that's the whole point.


 "The gratification is small,
no fair exchange for the unhappiness I have borne,
but it shall content me."

The Flame
by Cheap Trick


Another night slowly closes in,
And I feel so lonely.
Touching heat freezing on my skin,
I pretend you still hold me.
I'm going crazy, I'm losing sleep.
I'm in too far, I'm in way too deep over you.
I can't believe you're gone.
You were the first, you'll be the last.

Wherever you go, I'll be with you.

Whatever you want, I'll give it to you.
Whenever you need someone
To lay your heart and head upon.
Remember: after the fire, after all the rain,
I will be the flame.
I will be the flame.

Watching shadows move across the wall,
I feel so frightened.
I wanna run to you, I wanna call,
But I've been hit by lightening.
Just can't stand up for fallin' apart.
Can't see through this veil across my heart, over you.
You'll always be the one.
You were the first, you'll be the last.

Wherever you go, I'll be with you.

Whatever you want, I'll give it to you.
Whenever you need someone
To lay your heart and head upon.
Remember: after the fire, after all the rain,
I will be the flame.
I will be the flame.

I'm going crazy, I'm losing sleep.

I'm in too far, I'm in way too deep over you.
You'll always be the one.
You were the first, you'll be the last.

Wherever you go, I'll be with you.

Whatever you want, I'll give it to you.
Whenever you need someone
To lay your heart and head upon.
Remember: after the fire, after all the rain,
I will be the flame.
I will be the flame.

Whatever you want, I'll give it to you.

Wherever you go, I'll be with you.
And whatever you want, I'll give it to you.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

The Frankenstein Playlist; Track Nine

The Playlist So Far:

  • 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
  • 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
  • 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits
  • 4- The Apparition by Iron Maiden
  • 5- Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash 
  • 6- Ride the Lightning by Metallica
  • 7- Witch Hunt by Rush 
  • 8- Black the Sky by King's X
"He made me friendless, loveless, an orphan, an outcast. And so I take away his friends, his love. I will take you."

No Quarter
by Led Zeppelin



Close the door, put out the light.
You know they won't be home tonight.
The snow falls hard and don't you know?
The winds of Thor are blowing cold.
They're wearing steel that's bright and true
They carry news that must get through.

They choose the path where no-one goes.

They hold no quarter.

Walking side by side with death, The devil mocks their every step
The snow drives back the foot that's slow, The dogs of doom are howling more
They carry news that must get through, To build a dream for me and you

They choose the path where no-one goes.

They hold no quarter. They ask no quarter.
The pain, the pain without quarter.
They ask no quarter.
The dogs of doom are howling more!

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Rush at The United Center 9.15.2012

Rush is the only band I know that takes an intermission, but as my friend Doug M. said on Saturday night, when a band plays with such precision and skill, you can give them fifteen minutes.

Rush has nothing to prove to anyone, ever again. The band is still going strong after thirty-eight years, since their first album in 1974 (longer if you go from their formation), has only had 5 members (one for only one performance), and has had an unchanging lineup since drummer Neil Peart joined bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson in the band (also in 1974). There is a consistency of skill, direction and vision in this band that few artists can match. Which isn't to say stagnant, far from it.

Three things were surprising on Saturday night.

The first being that for the first time in recent memory, there are significant changes to the setlist from night to night. On the past few tours, it was almost a given that the setlist that came out on the internet the night of the first show is, more or less, the exact setlist you'd see when the band reached your town. I see this as neither good nor bad, it's simply how Rush operates (operated?). With the extensive lighting and video effects that are part and parcel of their stage show, planning and synchronization are important. Much like a play performed by talented actors, the script doesn't change, but the commitment and the energy of each night would differ.

Second, I was surprised to see the band mine so much of the "synthesizer era" that encompassed most of the 80's. The first set relied heavily on this period, with synth-heavy numbers like Territories, The Big Money, and Grand Designs. While admittedly, not my "favorite" era of the band (I do love all facets of their career), it was very cool to see this period represented so strongly. Doug was in heaven, this being is favorite era of the band.

Third, for the first time, ever, Rush had additional musicians, in the fore of a string section, mainly for material from their latest (and excellent) album, Clockwork Angels, which comprised most of the second set. Being a fan of the new record, I was excited that they did nine of the albums twelve tracks. In order, as befits a concept album. I could see a few people getting the "thousand-yard stare" that sometimes accompanies new material at a "classic rock" show. Screw 'em. The band sounded terrific, the fans know this stuff, and it's at the same level of quality as every album they put out is....High.

Other changes were evident. Instead of one long drum solo, Peart took three shorter ones, incorporated into the numbers being played. It was interesting to see, instead of moving through various styles in a ten to fifteen minute solos, to attack one style aggressively, then slide back into the song. I am a fan of Peart's drum solos (and I don't, traditionally, like drum solos), but I thought this was a very, very cool variation on what the "expected" Rush show tropes are.

All-in-all, a great night. The band gave us our money's worth, and more. As long as they stay on the road, I will be making the time to see this band of consummate professionals play like few others can.

Set One
1. Subdivisions
2. The Big Money
3. Force Ten
4. Grand Designs
5. The Body Electric

6. Territories
7. The Analog Kid
8. Bravado
9. Where's My Thing? (with Drum Solo)
10. Far Cry

Set Two (with string section)
11. Caravan
12. Clockwork Angels
13. The Anarchist
14. Carnies
15. The Wreckers
16. Headlong Flight (with Drum Solo)
17. Halo Effect
18. Seven Cities of Gold
19. The Garden
20. Manhattan Project
21. Drum Solo (The Percussor)
22. Red Sector A
23. YYZ
24. The Spirit of Radio (no strings)

Encore:
25. Tom Sawyer
26. 2112 Part I: Overture
27. 2112 Part II: The Temples of Syrinx
28. 2112 Part VII: Grand Finale

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track Eight

The Playlist So Far:
  • 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
  • 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
  • 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits
  • 4- The Apparition by Iron Maiden
  • 5- Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash 
  • 6- Ride the Lightning by Metallica
  • 7- Witch Hunt by Rush

"I have not known a happy day in my life. And you wish to know happiness for the rest of yours."

Black the Sky
by King's X

Okay so it can't be right 
I cry and try and think and fight 
Okay so I need some help
But they can't fix the way I feel

Just one day, just one second 

Maybe just a minute feel no pain
Oh, I walk the line 

Black the sky 
(Black the sky) 
Oh, I walk the line 
Black the sky 
(Black the sky)
 

Okay so I don't think like 
You do it's not my fault 
Okay I still try to find 
That fitting missing part

Just one day, just one second 

Maybe just a minute feel no pain
Oh, I walk the line 

Black the sky 
(Black the sky) 
Oh, I walk the line 
Black the sky 
(Black the sky)

Something keeps me hanging round 

I guess my mother made me strong 
Crawling through this jungle from 
This puzzle I come from 

Just one day, just one second 
Maybe just a minute feel no pain 
Oh, I walk the line 
Black the sky 
(Black the sky) 
Oh, I walk the line 
Black the sky 
(Black the sky)

Monday, September 17, 2012

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track Seven

The Playlist So Far:

  • 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
  • 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
  • 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits
  • 4- The Apparition by Iron Maiden
  • 5- Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash 
  • 6- Ride the Lightning by Metallica
 
 It's perhaps the single image most associated with the Creature. Chased by villagers waving torches and pitchforks. Tortured and pursued for the crime of being different, for being ugly. We have all felt judged and condemned for simply who we are, and the Creature gives allegorical life to those thoughts. Shunned by family, friendless, loveless, and on the run from those who act without thought or compassion. It's powerful stuff.



Witch Hunt
by Rush


The night is black
Without a moon
The air is thick and still
The vigilantes gather on
The lonely torch lit hill

Features distorted in the flickering light
The faces are twisted and grotesque
Silent and stern in the sweltering night
The mob moves like demons possessed
Quiet in conscience, calm in their right
Confident their ways are best

The righteous rise
With burning eyes
Of hatred and ill-will
Madmen fed on fear and lies
To beat and burn and kill

They say there are strangers who threaten us
In our immigrants and infidels
They say there is strangeness too dangerous
In our theaters and bookstore shelves
That those who know what's best for us
Must rise and save us from ourselves

Quick to judge
Quick to anger
Slow to understand
Ignorance and prejudice
And fear walk hand in hand...

Friday, September 14, 2012

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track Six

The Playlist So Far:

  • 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
  • 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
  • 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits
  • 4- The Apparition by Iron Maiden
  • 5- Rusty Cage by Johnny Cash
I look at this next track as sort of a gimmie. It's pretty cheesy to pick it, but...what the hell, right? There is a great vibe in it, and there's something about the idea of injustice that seeps out of this track.

Yes, the creature suffers under injustice. He is betrayed and rejected, thrown out into the world with hardly a second thought. From that point onward, he is struggling to find where he belongs, and finally comes to the point where he must make a place to belong. For such a old story, there's a remarkable sense of self-determination over fate. The events of the story do not just happen.

Victor sets into motion the events which define his fate, and the creature moves to determine his own. To thwart the injustices that have been thrust upon him. It's these elements that make Frankenstein, in many the most human of the classic horror stories. It truly is about two beings, two men, attempting to re-shape their worlds. To overthrow the miseries that life has imposed.

The key is, one of them reached too far.

Ride the Lightning
by Metallica


Guilty as charged
But damn it, it ain't right
There's someone else controlling me
Death in the air
Strapped in the electric chair
This can't be happening to me

Who made you God to say?,

I'll take your life from you

Flash before my eyes

Now it's time to die
Burning in my brain
I can feel the pain
Wait for the sign
To flick the switch of death
It's the beginning of the end
Sweat, chilling cold
As I watch death unfold
Consciousness my only friend

My fingers grip with fear

What am I doing here?

Flash before my eyes

Now it's time to die
Burning in my brain
I can feel the pain

Someone help me

Oh please, God help me
They're trying to take it all away
I don't want to die

(SOLO)


Someone help me

Oh please, God help me
They are trying to take it all away
I don`t want to die

Time moving slow

The minutes seem like hours
The final curtain call I see
Im through with this
Just get it over with
If this is true, just let it be

Wakened by a horrid scream

Freed from this frightening dream

Flash before my eyes

Now it's time to die
Burning in my brain
I can feel the pain

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track Five

The Playlist So Far:

  • 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
  • 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
  • 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits
  • 4- The Apparition by Iron Maiden

Pain is a constant for the Creature. Physical, from the instant of his "birth." Emotional from the first rejection by his father. In many ways, I find myself thinking that the story is truly about the ways in which pain cannot be endured forever. We may put it off, we may reject it, but it's still there...waiting for our moments of weakness. The moments when it can overwhelm us, and the rational, the moral, becomes something malleable.

It's then when we become our most dangerous. When we sense that we've been pushed to the point where there is nothing but pain left to us. That is when the beast inside is strongest, and it's most deadly. Our focus becomes tight on that which has brought us to this point, and we decide to either succumb to it, or destroy it.

Rusty Cage
by Johnny Cash


You wired me awake
And hit me with a hand of broken nails
You tied my lead and pulled my chain
To watch my blood begin to boil

But I'm gonna break
I'm gonna break my
I'm gonna break my rusty cage and run
Yeah I'm gonna break my
I'm gonna break my
I'm gonna break my rusty cage and run

Too cold to start a fire
I'm burning diesel burning dinosaur bones
I'll take the river down to still water
And ride a pack of dogs

But I'm gonna break
I'm gonna break my
I'm gonna break my rusty cage and run
Yeah I'm gonna break my
I'm gonna break my
I'm gonna break my rusty cage and run

Hits like a Phillips head
Into my brain
It's gonna be too dark
To sleep again
Cutting my teeth on bars and rusty chains
I'm gonna break my Rusty cage and run

When the forest burns
Along the road
Like God's eyes
In my headlights
When the dogs are looking
For their bones
And it's raining icepicks
On your steel shore

But I'm gonna break
I'm gonna break my
I'm gonna break my rusty cage and run
Yeah I'm gonna break my
I'm gonna break my
I'm gonna break my rusty cage and run

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Memory

The two songs I always associate with this day



Sometimes, You Just Connect With an Author

Telegraph Avenue came out today. I downloaded the Kindle version this morning.

I read the first paragraph:
"A white boy rode flatfoot on a skateboard, towed along, hand to shoulder, by a black boy pedaling a brakeless fixed-gear bike. Dark August morning, deep in the Flatlands. Hiss of tires. Granular unraveling of skateboard wheels against asphalt. Summertime Berkeley giving off her old-lady smell, nine different styles of jasmine and a squirt of he-cat."

I just had to stop. I re-read it four times. Bathed in it, wallowed in it. The first paragraph of the first Michael Chabon novel since The Yiddish Policemen's Union four years ago. I felt the need to savor it, to hold on to each moment with Chabon's prose. I put my Kindle away, thinking that it might be best to wait until I have the Frankenstein script fully in my head, so I can give these words the attention I want to give them. The attention they deserve.

Yet, I'm DYING to read it. To see the wonders that Mr. Chabon has in store, the gifts that I always receive from his works, but especially his novels. I love that his writing adapts and changes with each genre and style he approaches, and that he embraces genre and style so fully. It's a conversation I've been dying to have with him...someday.

Perhaps I'll go get my hardcover copy this afternoon.

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track Four

The Playlist So Far:

  • 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
  • 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen
  • 3- Cold Water by Tom Waits
The tracks so far have tended to the melancholy, for certain, but it's also important to embrace the rage and brutality of the creature. There is anger, there is hurt, there is betrayal, and there is pain. There is also power, pure inhuman power, and that has to be manifest in the Creature's physicality.

I, alas, am only human, and that  leaves me with the challenge of how to convey something more powerful than I could ever be. Not just in moments of violence, but also in common movements. Today's track, when it sank in, gave me a bit of the Creature's gait and walk. It's pounding and powerful, but also somewhat lurching, without the sense of...lack of forward momentum.

I'm honestly not sure how successful I have been. Truly, it's the kind of thing that you can only measure once a true audience sees what you've been working on.

The Apparition
by Iron Maiden


I'm here can you see me
'Cos I'm out on my own
When the room goes cold tell me
you can feel me
..........'cos I'm here

Here I am, can't you see me

Passing through, on my way
To a place I'd been to only in my
dreams... before

In a world of delusion

Never turn your back on a friend
'Cos you can count your
real true friends on one hand
..........through life


There are those that deceive you

There are those that'll let you down
Is there someone out there that would
die for you
..........thought not

Live your life with a passion

Everything you do, do well
You only get out of life what you put in
..........so they say

In a world of confusion

People never say what they mean
If you want a straight answer
go look for one
..........right now

In a room full of strangers

Do you stand with your back to the wall
Do you sometimes feel like you're
on the outside
..........looking in?

You can make your own luck

You create your destiny
I believe you have the power
if you want to
..........it's true

You can do what you want to

If you try a little bit harder
A little bit of faith goes a long way
..........it does

Are we here for a reason?

I'd like to know just what you think
It would be nice to know what
happens when we die
..........wouldn't it?

There are some who are wise

There are some who are born naive
I believe that there are some that must
have lived before
..........don't you?

As for me, well I'm thinking

You gotta keep an open mind
But I hope that my life's not an
open and shut case

Extrasensory Perception

Life after death, telepathy
Can the soul live on and travel through
space and time?

You know I feel so elated

'Cos I'm about to find it out
And when I know all the answers
Maybe then I'll come back
..........to fill you in

You don't be alarmed now

If I try to contact you
If things go missing or get moved around
...it's me
And don't disbelieve it
No matter what your "friends"
might say
We'll meet up again someplace
some way
..........one day

Monday, September 10, 2012

The Springsteen Wrigley Weekend

Getting this out of the way fast...I think these were both stellar shows. The fact that I heard The Ghost of Tom Joad with the Tom Morello guitar solo twice makes that a solid report on my part. Having Eddie Vedder show up for each show helped, too.

On top of all that, I just felt like The Boss was in a fine mood, and ready to have a good time. He certainly came with the themes that have been in place for the whole tour, loss of old friends (Danny and Big C), as well as the continuing economic environment. No, we didn't get a four-hour show, but we did get three and a half on Friday (right up to curfew), and about three-fifteen on Saturday (and I think he'd have gone longer if not for the rain).

I'm going to be honest...the whole weekend is a whirlwind of excitement and awesome for me. It's kind of a blur. That said I'm going to try to give my impressions.

Night One: September 7th

Setlist:
Prove It All Night ('78 intro)
My Love Will Not Let You Down
Out in the Street
Hungry Heart
We Take Care of Our Own
Wrecking Ball
Death to My Hometown (with Tom Morello)
My City of Ruins
Spirit in the Night
Trapped
Jack of All Trades (with Tom Morello)
Atlantic City (with Eddie Vedder)
Lonesome Day
I'm Goin' Down
Darlington County
Shackled and Drawn
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
None But the Brave
The Ghost of Tom Joad (with Tom Morello)
Badlands (with Tom Morello)
Land of Hope and Dreams (with Tom Morello)
* * *
We Are Alive
Thunder Road
Born to Run
Dancing in the Dark
Jungleland
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out (with Morello and Vedder)
Twist and Shout (with Morello and Vedder)

Prove it All Night w/'78 intro was, I have to admit, an odd way to start the show, with a long instrumental jam that wasn't readily identifiable to at least half the audience. Probably more, because it was really apparent that a lot of the crowd were "Wrigley fans" rather than "Springsteen fans." (To the guy who tried to dig up some grass from the field as we were walking out...stay classy, dude.) Drinking is always prevalent, but man...it was out of hand for some folks. I wonder if that doesn't account for Adam Raised a Cain and Lost in the Flood, which were on the setlist to be changed on the fly to Out in the Street and Hungry Heart.

I have to, grudgingly, admit this was the right choice (I LOVE Lost in the Flood). Those songs are where the crowd started to get with it. And, yeah, it is pretty cool to see a whole stadium in the palm of his hand with Hungry Heart.

The new stuff plays really well live, too. We Take Care of Our Own was great, and Death to My Hometown and Shackled and Drawn are just...astounding in a live setting. Having Tom Morello around for large chunks of it really helped, the guy obviously REALLY gets into this music. Of course, the electric Ghost of Tom Joad was....jaw dropping. Just killler. Eddie Vedder was great dueting on Atlantic City. I was even happy to hear I'm Going Down, surprised too. It's a sorta one-note song, but wow, do crowds respond to it.

The encore had to be a "casual fan's" dream. Rattling off a strong chain of big, recognizable songs. Including my first ever Jungleland without Clarence Clemons. Clarence was in the air at both shows, with My City of Ruins being a tribute to fallen E-Streeters Danny Federici and The Big Man ("If you're here, and we're here, then they're here"), and a moment of silence with a video montage right after "they made the change uptown, and the Big Man joined the band" in Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out.

Big C's nephew, Jake Clemons, has obviously become a touchstone of sorts for Bruce. He's got big shoes to fill, and I have to say I'm impressed. There's no sense that he's "replacing" Clarence, but he is carrying on the traditions, and it is glorious. My tears at the end of Jungleland are my tribute to him.

Night Two: September 8th

Setlist:
The Promised Land
The Ties That Bind
No Surrender
Hungry Heart
We Take Care of Our Own
Wrecking Ball
Death to My Hometown (with Tom Morello)
My City of Ruins
E Street Shuffle
Pay Me My Money Down
This Depression (with Tom Morello)
My Hometown (with Eddie Vedder)
Darkness on the Edge of Town (with Eddie Vedder)
Because the Night
Working on the Highway
Shackled and Drawn
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
Who'll Stop the Rain (solo acoustic)
The Ghost of Tom Joad (with Tom Morello)
Badlands (with Tom Morello)
Thunder Road
* * *
Rocky Ground
Born to Run
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out
American Land (with Morello and Vedder) 


Now, I'm going to have to say that night two trumped night one, for me. This may be an unfair comparison, because I was in the GA pit for the second night, and that's ALWAYS more exciting. That's despite the rain, which started around Working on the Highway, and sent me home sopping wet. Still, when Bruce Springsteen isn't hiding under the covered part of the stage, getting drenched himself, and continually asking "are you wet enough? Do you want to go home?" There's no way to not scream back, "Hell no!"

In fact, while I do believe the show would've been longer without the rain, it also clearly sparked a lot more fun and playfulness out of the band. This was, hands down, the finest Rosalita I've personally seen, and it was in no small part because of the goofing that the rain and technical problems inspired in Bruce and Little Steven. Bruce couldn't hear his guitar out on the ramp (in the rain) and Steven was telling him the monitors were out, ending up with Bruce just flipping off everyone on stage (playfully, of course).

Earlier in the show I saw my first E-Street Shuffle, ever, and, with the full horn section on this tour it was over-the-top great. Followed by a Sessions Band-era treat Pay Me My Money Down, chosen, I'm certain, to continue to feature the horns. It was energized, electric and tons of fun. Jake was in fine form again. 

Vedder did My Hometown and Darkness on the Edge of Town with the band. Morello did, essentially, the same songs he did the night before, and the bot returned for Tenth Ave and American Land, which closed out the show, and which Vedder clearly didn't know the words for. Still, it was great fun, and I didn't even mind the wet ride home.

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track Three

The Playlist So Far:

  • 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon
  • 2- My Father's House by Bruce Springsteen

I didn't know how to do this playlist without one (or more) Tom Waits tracks. In some sense, it really is all about his voice, which is so unique and evocative. It sounds like a voice that should be associated with Frankenstein. When you add to this his evocative lyrics about...here we go again...alienation and loneliness, it's pretty much a no-brainer.

I personally love his early work better than the era represented here, but, that said, the style on his most recent albums is so evocative in the sense of pure creepiness. The industrial sounds, the vocal effects, all create and dark and eerie world. The sort of place you might expect a still-living Creature to walk up to Tom in a dark alley. They'd probably become fast friends and have a few shots together.

On top of all that, lyrically, this song touches on a lot of elements that connect, if not wholly literally. I'm particularly enamored with the verse about sleeping in the graveyard. It combines to something quite lovely and evocative emotionally, which is more what I'm looking for from the songs I'm finding.

I don't intend this to just be a collection of dirges, but that's where we started....It will pick up.

Cold Water
by Tom Waits



Well I woke up this morning
with the cold water
with the cold water
with the cold water
Woke up this morning
with the cold water
with the cold water
with the cold

Police at the station
and the don´t look friendly
Well they don´t look friendly
Well they don´t look friendly
Police at the station
and the don´t look friendly
They don´t look friendly well
they don´t

Blind or crippled
Sharp or dull
I´m reading the bible
by a 40 watt bulb
What price freedom
Dirt is my rug
Well I sleep like a baby
with the snakes and the bugs

Well the stores are open
but I ain´t got no money

I ain´t got no money
Stores are open but I
ain´t got no money

ain´t got no money
Well I ain´t

Found an old dog a
and he seems to like me
seems to like me
Well he seems to like me
Found an old dog and he
seems to like me
seems to like me
well he seems

See them fellows
with the card board signs
scrapin up a little Money
to buy a bottle of wine
Pregnat women and
the Vietnam vets I say
beggin on the freeway
Bout as hard as it gets

Well I slet in the graveyard
it was cool and still
cool and still
it was cool and still
Slept in the graveyard
it was cool and still
cool and still and it
was cool

Slept all night in the Cadar grove
I was born to ramble
born rove
Some men are searchin for
the holy grail
but there ain´t nothin sweeter
than ridin the rails

(Solo)

I look 47 but I´m 24
Well they shooed me away
from here the time before
Turned there their backs
and they locked their doors
I´m watchin T.V. in
the window of a furniture store

Well I woke up this morning
with the cold water
with the cold water
with the cold water
Woke up this morning
with the cold water
with the cold water
with the cold

Friday, September 7, 2012

46 Years Ago

Something came on TV that pointed to a better future. That pointed to the best of who we are, and what we can be.

This is a clip that I would play for everyone working a NASA. To every politician in Washington. To everyone...



Thank you Gene Roddeberry, Gene Coon, and everyone who made the Enterprise fly.

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track Two

The Playlist So Far:
  • 1- The Creature Lives by Mastodon

Our second track continues the theme of alienation in yesterday's selection, but adds a heaping helping of Oedipal guilt and anger. There's one particular scene where I often think of this track

In many ways, the entire story of Frankenstein is about a child seeking acceptance from his father. I find this particular track to be deeply, deeply in touch with those feelings. Wanting to be close with a parent, yet with sometimes years of misunderstanding and rejection between you. Sometimes outright hatred, but even under that, even at one's most anguished and enraged, there is the deep need to be part of a family. To be loved, despite your failings and weaknesses.

The Creature, as always, is seeking that grace. The tragic element is that he has not the experience or maturity to deal with not getting it. When he is left out in the cold world alone, with no one to turn to for comfort...he can only imagine lashing out.

My Father's House
by Bruce Springsteen



Last night I dreamed that I was a child
Out where the pines grow wild and tall
I was trying to make it home through the forest
Before the darkness falls
I heard the wind rustling through the trees
And ghostly voices rose from the fields
I ran with my heart pounding down that broken path
With the devil snappin' at my heels

I broke through the trees, and there in the night

My father's house stood shining hard and bright
The branches and brambles tore my clothes and scratched my arms
But I ran till I fell, shaking in his arms
I awoke and I imagined the hard things that pulled us apart
Will never again, sir, tear us from each other's hearts
I got dressed, and to that house I did ride
From out on the road, I could see its windows shining in light

I walked up the steps and stood on the porch

A woman I didn't recognize came and spoke to me through a chained door
I told her my story, and who I'd come for
She said "I'm sorry, son, but no one by that name lives here anymore"

My father's house shines hard and bright

It stands like a beacon calling me in the night
Calling and calling, so cold and alone
Shining `cross this dark highway where our sins lie unatoned

Thursday, September 6, 2012

The Frankenstein Playlist: Track One

The Frankenstein process has been interesting for me. The role ended up being far more physical than I expected. Our first two weeks were just combat and violence, and I suffered for my art. Pains, aches, the aforementioned wrist injury. It's just been...hard.

Thing is, there's also a very difficult emotional course to set, and the challenge of bringing the physical to the emotional. How the creature walks, how he talks, and how he fights are intimately connected to how he feels and thinks. It's been a job to create all these things, and try to merge them together. (and get the lines, which aren't there yet. Soon, I hope.)

Take a guess.
One thing that's been interesting for this role and this project is that music has become a touchstone for a lot of what's going on. I've found myself connecting with certain songs in building the character. Some of the selections are pretty on-the-nose and obvious, some get a little more ephemeral and emotional. Obviously, the artists here are some of my favorites, and probably won't surprise anybody. No apologies, this is my playlist, and my Creature.

That said...I wouldn't lay money on seeing any Edgar Winter Group tunes here.

I will continue this blog series until the show opens, or I run out of songs. I really don't have any idea which will happen first. I have the list as it is right now, but I'm finding it to be a living document, changing and evolving as my performance does.

The first track, honestly, leapt to mind the moment I was offered the part. As that might suggest, it is a rather obvious choice. Even with that, the tone of the song and the lyric are right in line with how I see the creature. It also happens to be one of my favorite tracks from my favorite album of last year.

The Creature Lives
by Mastodon



I saw the creature fall
Into the swamp from which he spawned
I heard them laugh and say
They never liked him anyway

I tried to talk to them
To help you on your feet again
They laughed and said to me
The swamp is right where I should be

The creature lives
The creature lives
The creature lives
The creature lives

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Labor Day Weekend Movies - Expendables 2 and Lawless

Saw two movies over Labor Day weekend...one significantly better than the other, but both pretty entertaining.

The Expendables 2

This is gonna be pretty short and sweet. I was no huge fan of the first Expendables, which I felt didn't really deliver what it promised, a Magnificent Seven-style team-up of 80's action movie icons. The first one, in my mind, just kind of limped along, with Stallone leading a hodge-podge of B-list 80's guys, and newer action stars.

It wasn't a total loss, Stallone and Statham had real chemistry as the "Butch and Sundance"-type duo about whom the rest of the team circled. Some of the action was fun, but all-in-all, there just wasn't much there. We did get a blink-and-you'll-miss-it meeting of Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Willis in the same scene. It was amusing, mainly because the entire scene seemed to revolve on homo-erotic jokes between Sly and Arnold. (I don't mean homophobic, they weren't just calling each other "gay." I literally felt like they wanted to step off screen and make out.) Yet, Arnold an Bruce weren't involved with anything more strenuous than  forcing their egos into the same room.

The sequel, happily, actually delivers in a lot of places the original didn't. We see Sly, Arnold and Bruce mowing down generic bad guys together. Chuck Norris shows up to lend a hand (and rattle off some embarrassing "Chuck Norris Meme"-inspired jokes). And Jean-Claude Van Damme steps in as the main villain, Jean Villain (no kidding). Honestly, while Jason Statham once again pretty much runs circles, acting-wise, around the rest of the cast, Van Damme is quite good. You almost wish he had more screen time.

This is not a film I'm going to really praise. It's not a "good movie." It's a mess as far as plotting and logic go, and the jokes start with the almost entirely self-referential and push into groan-inducing (I can't even tell you how man "I'll be back" jokes they give to Arnold). That aid...I grew up on this stuff. It's a kick to see all these true icons share the screen, and there is entertainment value in that. I laughed a lot, and even though I was laughing at the movie, and not with it, I don't really think anyone involved would care.

So maybe I was laughing with it, but I still wish it had a script as good as The Magnificent Seven. A real chance to see these guys work, rather than just skating on their history.

Lawless

On the other hand....

Holy crap what a movie. Great script by Nick Cave (based on the book The Wettest County in the World by Matt Bondurant), great direction form John Hillcoat, great performances across the board. Shia LeBeouf, Jason Clarke, Guy Pierce, Jessica Chastain and Gary Oldman are all terrific. Yet, Tom Hardy is the performance that hols everything together.

The Bondurant brothers are bottleggers in the 1930s, and their legend is that they are indestructible. Hardy, as middle brother Forrest is the brains of the operation, providing leadership for his violent older brother, Howard (Clarke), and reckless younger, Jack (LeBeouf). When the authorities, in the creep-tastic form of Pierce's Charlie Rakes, move into the county, aiming not to shut down the bootlegging, but to get their cut, Forrest stands firm, and touches off a war.

Lawless is a violent film lots of beatings, shootings and slit throats, but it makes that violence meaningful because we care, deeply, for what happens to the Bondurant brothers, and everyone in their circle. I was on the edge of my seat for most of the third act, from the point where Jack's enjoyment of the riches from the family deal with gangster Floyd Banner (Oldman) brings tragedy to the final moments. You feel a part of this family, and you see the honor and love (often tough love) that exists between them in the violent world they inhabit. It's crackerjack filmmaking.

I also have to, once again, praise Tom Hardy. His Forrest is an old man in an old man's body. Communicating in grunts, rumbles and mutterings. Powerful and in charge with matters of business and family, but sweetly clueless to the advances of Maggie Beauford (Chastain), the former Burlesque dancer from Chicago the family hires to help run their roadside market/diner/gas station. The man just commands the frame.

Lawless is bloody and harsh, but worth your time for a well-crafted, intense and emotional film about a very different type of organized crime than what you would see in The Godfather. Which I recently watched, I don't want to push it too hard, or oversell, because Coppola's film is a masterpiece, but I did feel a very similar vibe between the two films.

Very, very much recommended.