During a Guns N’Roses gig in Paris in 1992, Axl Rose prefaced the song ‘Double Talkin’ Jive’ with a bizarre invective against Warren Beatty. “He likes to play games… pre-meditated games. He’s a parasite.” Why so angry? Beatty was the ex of Axl’s then-girlfriend Stephanie Seymour (as was Julian Casablancas’ dad).
Courtney Love has had more onstage meltdowns than most, but this rant at an unruly crowd member, from a Dutch gig in the mid-’90s, takes some beating: “Take your Bon Jovi shirt and go fuck yourself with Eddie Vedder’s dildo. Is little miss Dutch bitch mad cuz I fucked Trent? Is she mad cuz I fucked Brad Pitt? Kurt hated this fucking town, I hate this town. Go fuck yourself.”
As he himself would freely admit, Joy Division’s Peter Hook was frequently drunk during his time with Monaco. At one gig at Exeter University supporting The Charlatans he told the crowd, “Good evening. We’re Monaco, you’re a bunch of student cunts.”
It’s one thing for a musician to get angry, quite another for him to suddenly be struck down by existential horror. During a gig in Frankfurt in 1972, Leonard Cohen became so depressed he could no longer play. “I have been noted for my solemn atmosphere,” he said. “But I don’t care if this concert turns into a riot. Because I can’t go along with this pretence any longer.”
At Glastonbury 2005 Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie called the assembled unwashed hordes “a bunch of fucking hippies”. Bassist Mani then joined in the fun: “Do you wanna see The Stone Roses? Well, you should’ve been here 15 years ago, you fucking lazy bastards!”
Lou Reed’s 1978 live album ‘Take No Prisoners’ is a masterclass in rambling, directionless, self-indulgent banter. After bitching randomly about Barbra Streisand, at one point he asks the crowd, “You ever put a quarter in one of those machines, man? Like, the bear that plays basketball?”
Joe Strummer was the master of dealing with hecklers. At London’s Roundhouse in 1976, the Clash singer/guitarist met a request from a corpulent fan to “get on with it” with the reposte, “Get on with what, you big twit? Haven’t you got any brains at all?”
The Cure’s performance at Belgium’s Werchter Festival in 1983 is worth watching, if only for the chaotic final moments in which bassist Simon Gallup bellows amid howling feedback, “Fuck Robert Palmer and fuck rock’n’roll!” (Robert Palmer was the next act on).
At Reading 1988, Meat Loaf was bombarded with bottles of urine and stopped his set to ask the crowd, “Do you guys wanna rock’n’roll, or do you just wanna throw stuff?” The response? A cider flagon in the face. He promptlty stormed off, never to return to a British festival.
The Sex Pistols’ final show at San Francisco’s Winterland in 1978 was famously chaotic. While Sid Vicious (pictured) played his bass like he was trying to kick it to death, Johnny Rotten howled, “No fun, my babe, no fun… Oh bollocks, why should I carry on? A-haha! Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated? Good night!”
When touring Germany ‘don’t mention the war’ is a good rule of thumb. Unfortunately, Jefferson Starship vocalist Grace Slick ignored this. At a gig in Hamburg in 1978 she goose-stepped, performed the ‘Heil Hitler’ salute and repeatedly asked the audience, “Who won the war?” Slick quit the band immediately aferwards.
Former Guided By Voices frontman Robert Pollard is so proud of his drunken onstage comments, he’s assembled them and released them on vinyl. It’s called ‘Relaxation Of The Asshole’ and it includes such ‘gems’ as, “To anyone who says we have a drink problem, we say… fuck you!”
Famously ‘sensitive’ singer-songwriter Fiona Apple incurred the wrath of the assembled media at a gig in New York in 2000. After experiencing technical difficulties she sulked, “Fuck you! Put your notebooks away! If there are any critics here who give me a bad review because of this I’ll fucking kill you.”
Former Fugees singer Lauryn Hill rather misjudged her audience while performing a benefit gig at the Vatican, chastising the crowd, “Holy God is a witness to the corruption of your leadership. There is no acceptable excuse to defend the church.”
Bob Dylan’s born-again Christian phase in the late ’70s led him to come out with some amazingly unappealing onstage pronouncements, such as this one from November 1979, at a gig in San Francisco: “I’d like to say we’re presenting the show under the authority of Jesus Christ.”
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p.s. presa da nme… le piu divertenti a mio avviso!
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si,ma si sono divertiti tanto anche al Madison l’altra sera…….rock on
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Artist: Letting up Despite Great Faults
Album: Letting up Despite Great Faults
Year: 2009
Label: New Words
Genre: Shoegaze/Indie
1. In Steps
2. Folding Under Stories Told
3. The Colors Aren’t You Or Me
4. Our Younger Noise
5. Pause
6. So Fast: You
7. Photograph Shakes
8. Sun Drips
9. Release
“To say that it never rains in Southern California might be an overstatement, but it’s still an unexpected pleasure to hear something so unmistakably autumnal from the season-challenged state. Letting Up Despite Great Faults, a Los Angeles-based band, effectively capture an overcast mood with “In Steps”, the opening track from their forthcoming self-titled album. Layering lush synth and a shimmering New Order guitar tone, “Steps” prettily evokes the tipping point from full bloom to slow decay, as the warm summer days give way to a wet, windy fall. While the shoegaze-y indie pop of M83 probably represents the closest contemporary reference point, Letting Up’s melodic sensibility is distinguished by careful and decisive plotting– save for the muted, billowing vocals. Overall, “Steps”‘ subtle shading suggests maybe there really is no such thing as an endless summer, even in Southern California.” 7
-Pitchfork.com –
un assaggio qui:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUUC2bMfUrw&feature=player_embedded
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Brian Harnetty & Bonnie “Prince” Billy: Sleeping in the Driveway
http://vimeo.com/2902785
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Iggy Pop has revealed that he and his band The Stooges are set for a full touring schedule next year.
The singer had previously announced that guitarist James Williamson would replace the late Ron Asheton in the band to play their classic 1973 album ‘Raw Power’ in May next year to play the All Tomorrow’s Parties in the UK. Now he has said that more gigs are to come.
“We’re going to be doing a one-off show in Brazil [on November 7 at Planeta Terra] but the real touring starts next year,” he told BBC News.
Pop paid tribute to Asheton, who he said was still a big presence in the band.
“His spirit within the group remains with the rest of us and he is still a presence within the group without being on the physical plain,” he explained.
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diciamo che al venerdi con u2 bruce patti e mick tirava un’aria di super gotha della musica che non si avvertiva da tempo nonostante il fior fiore di collaborazioni… jagger comunque una spanna e piu’ sopra tutti… senza offesa per nessuno! non c’era bisogno di vederlo ieri… il ROCK con i suoi discendenti…
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siete un pozzo di sapienza ,onorato di prendere il caffe’ rock con voi ragazzi,mi fate sentire piccolo piccolo io non so nulla.
E poi sentiamo l’assenza “tecnica” del generale lee e di mr Aloisio,nonche’ di tutti gli altri amici,WOW!
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