Carrying on...

'Twas having a discussion the other day about educational regrets. Mine are not taking more foreign language courses and not doing more with music. Sports got in the way of both, and while I certainly loves me some sports to this day (though I refuse to root for either team Sunday), I just feel like I'd be a better rounded person had I worked more on those two things.

Plus, I could understand the narration at the beginning of this, and could figure out how in the name of all that's Livgren she's doing this...



(H/T to Mr. Calabrese for this one.)

Going along for the ride...

And then there’s the other end of the scale, the artists working hard to find their voice, to shape ideas into concrete form but still have fun while doing it.

Meet Go Jane Go.

Kristy West’s ongoing band project (and newly released CD titled See Jane Go) seems to take one maxim to heart.

“Never be afraid of the two-and-a-half-minute pop song.”

After seeing West at several handfuls of Guilty Pleasures show tackle some of the more light-hearted moments (when hasn’t she nailed “Material Girl,” really?), it shouldn’t have been a surprise to experience the cold smash open to the disc with “Don’t Let Me Down,” a simple, clear, fun pop song.

And yet, it kinda was, simply because so much of the songcrafting around these parts tends to veer toward tunes that can be performed either solo or with a band, with an eye to those times where you don’t have everybody available to you, but by god, you’ve got a gig and you’re gonna play.

Go Jane Go, once again, is a band project. Kristy is a fun, capable, engaging frontwoman, to the point of encouraging the crowd to take part in an upcoming “Beyonce booty shake” mere seconds before remembering her grandparents were in the house. But it was all hands on deck this night at The Basement, and all hands performed their duties well.

Heath Haynes’ guitar work was suitably jangly. Jeff Boswell found some tasty bass lines of his own accord, but fell right into the necessary pockets with drummer Josh Walker. And between Tatia Rose and Kate Kalil, you had two completely different kinds of keyboard presence (Tatia more piano, Kate more synth), both choices made sense.

Another pleasant surprise on See Jane Go, as well as the CD release show itself, was the stylistic diversity, with tracks like "Country Song" (which brought out the braver, more slow-dancin’ side of West’s audience/family members) and especially "Feel So Sad" taking the disc/show in a different direction, but one that hardly felt out of place.

We too often forget that rock ‘n’ roll is supposed to be fun. Go Jane Go is one outfit that reminds us of that without even trying hard.

See Jane Go by Go Jane Go, available now at Grimey’s.

Hello, hello...

I was afraid to blink.

As frequently as I bemoan the freelance life, there are moments when flexibility of schedule is a great thing.

Like when you're able to take these elements and mix ’em together: U2. IMAX. 3D. National Geographic.

Like anybody thought this movie was gonna suck?

Much ado is being made about this being the first live-action concert film shot in 3D, and justifiably so.

The crowd shots were simply amazing. The desired effect was to make you feel like you were smack in the middle of the throng, watching people’s hands as shot up into the sky to cheer.

The dimensionality of those shots, combined with the fact that it takes up your entire frame of vision, achieves a level of immersion out of which you have to sometimes shake yourself.

But having seen U2 a handful of times this decade, I was more interested in pulling out those elements that remind you that it’s real, live people playing this music that 60,000 people have a call-and-response experience with.

The IMAX format makes that possible, because there are no small details. Everything gets context.

The hook on The Edge’s mike stand where he hangs his slide.

The wireless monitor pack attached to the back of Larry Mullen’s drum chair.

Adam Clayton’s sideways shuffle to the groove, remaining cool at all times.

“The Goal Is Soul” on Bono’s pickguard.

The setlist was interesting, drawing far more heavily from the ’80s era than from this decade, and certainly more than from the Popmart days.

They leaned on the human rights/political songs like Streets, Bullet The Blue Sky, Sunday Bloody Sunday and Pride, songs born out of Irish and American strife, but perfectly suited to (and known by) stadium audiences south of the equator.

The filmmakers didn’t lean too heavily on post-production graphics to amplify the live show’s effect, though what they chose to lift up really took advantage of the 3D capabilities, which I appreciated.

And there’s really only one overt usage by Bono of the ability to “reach out” into the crowd…and the women are gonna love it.

If you’re a U2 fan, hie thee to the nearest IMAX theater come January 23. You’ll be thrilled you did, and you’ll go diving into your CD stacks (or iTunes playlist, take your pick) for your copy of Joshua Tree.

(Thanks to Fenog for hooking me up.)

Remember when...

...this was the cutting edge of technology?


Today the interwebs are being crushed by news of Steve Jobs' latest little toy...his little, wafer-thin, drool-inspiring fetish object of joy...

But it makes one wonder...did they have to patent "air"?

UPDATE: The Apple Store online has 'em ready for pre-order, but the flash drive version? THREE GRAND! The best part of the "What's in the box?" list of accessories..."Display polishing cloth." For three large, it dang sure better polish itself...

Funny...don't remember seeing this in all the year-end lists...

Breaking News: All Online Data Lost After Internet Crash

Now, go away or I shall taunt you a second time!

Can we get a national referendum on the ballot this November (if not earlier) to abolish American Idol? If for no other reason than this...

Clay Aiken: Who's this Monty Python person?

Thankfully, he's not with the touring company that's coming to TPAC next month, because rude things would need to be yelled at him from the audience. Then again, I am way overdue for a trip to NYC...

And, really...

There's no other way to describe this story than "saga"...

I'll be over here...calculating my fee structure for the inevitable speaking tour...enjoy.

Or if you want to hear what all the fuss is about, click here.

Coming next week...

The single greatest piece of investigative journalism I've ever done.

Really.

I don't know if the Nobel committee has ever awarded two people from Tennessee consecutively, but they better start thinking about it right now.

In next week's All The Rage. Reserve your copy now.

A phrase you'll never hear on TV again...

Heard while watching the Sabres/Pens play outdoors on New Year's Day: "I've got an extra touque, Darren. I can see the sleet bouncing off your head."

Quick hit thoughts on GP NYE '08...

Really, this is how I have fun...I take notes...

• How and why did legwarmers ever go out of style?
• Craig Krampf is a rock god...and it was fun to watch him having fun.
• Trisha may not have been feeling well, but it wasn't like she was sportin' a dead body. Yet "Centerfold" was played anyway. Odd. Crowd loved it, though.
• Jeff Boswell's final Christmas gift? Getting to play lead on "Oh Sherry."
• K.S. Rhoads made me want to slit my wrists...but in a good way.
• Whatever deal with the devil Jon Bon Jovi made in 1983 has been amended to include Jeremy Asbrock. If you're gonna bring out the Flying V, you better know how to use it, and Jeremy does.
• The four happy surprises ("Rock The Casbah," "She's A Beauty," "My Prerogative," "You're The One That I Want") outweighed the three quasi-train wrecks (which won't be listed to protect the innocent)
• Somebody needs to line up an official GP orthopedic surgeon because I'm scared Grimey's gonna blow a quad one day doing "Jump." Three hours of rockin' out do not necessarily a good warm up make.
• Kim Collins can sing Zeppelin all day for all I care. (And extra credit points to Jeremy, again, for jumping into the fray.)
• Note to out-of-towners/Music City Bowl refugees: Do you see a tip jar? That means they don't take requests. (I shoulda taken that guy's $20, though...)

Happy New One, everybody. Expect to see some changes around here in the very near future...