Welcome back, it's been a while. Either this blog hasn't been missed or everyone was too polite to ask where it was. Perhaps I need a format change, or maybe I just needed a rest. Regardless, here we are so "get your boots on skinhead" and let's rock...
DJ HamerTime and I have tickets to see Pearl Jam later in the year. It's going to be epic! I've not seen them before and Davey most likely knows every lyric to every song. Frankly they aren't a band that I expected to see back in Australia but I can't wait!
Pearl Jam - Sirens - https://youtu.be/4jZBwyG7HPs
A lot has happened since the last episode. I had the absolute joy of Zoë and Zac visiting all the way from London W3, and then the week after they'd been I was in Melbourne for work and got to catch up with Angus and Em. Being able to spend time with them all seems to have settled me down quite a bit. To be honest, I think I'd built up a fair bit of anxiety worrying about how they were getting on. It's one thing to get messages and phone calls but to see them in real life was a million times better. Not long after seeing Angus, I reflected in my journal that it was perhaps time to concentrate a bit more seriously on my own long term wellbeing.
Paul Kelly - Anti-Hero - https://youtu.be/nKpwimITLqI
There's a complicating factor with the Pearl Jam concert but it's a good one. I need to plan some flights around the show date! I'm going to the USA for a while in late October and November. Most of you will realise that this has been a dream of mine for a long time. I want to soak myself in some rock and roll history, see some sights and make up my own mind about the place. The thing that got me over the line to get on with this trip was an invitation to a wedding in Alabama. I'm still poring over international flight details, domestic travel options, and which Graceland tour to book, but I'm sure it's going to be an experience. I've never been before. Also, the last time I had more than about a week off at once was in the middle of 2019. I'm sure to bore everyone over the coming months with songs and stories that draw me to certain places in America. Here's two more obvious ones that mean that Memphis was always going to be on the itinerary.
Paul Simon - Graceland - https://youtu.be/GP6a-7MP91g
U2 - Angel of Harlem (from Rattle & Hum) - https://youtu.be/fdfg7V--_Hs
In new Australian music is this ripper from King Stingray. These blokes hail from Arnhem Land up north and have been pretty successful recently. What I like is the almost joyous and distinctly Aussie sound that they have. I can't imagine seeing them live and not having the best time.
King Stingray - Through The Trees - https://youtu.be/6nHnlCEX3d0
DJ Dr was waxing lyrical about an album recently; one that he'd recently rediscovered. It's one I rate very highly and here's why. Let There Be Rock is AC/DC's fourth album and was released down here in 1977. The international market got a different cover and a slightly different tracklist. In my opinion, it's their rawest and most straight ahead rock and roll long player. I remember as a teen being shocked to see it in the record shop. In about 1987 most stores were only stocking Back In Black, TNT and Who Made Who. I had to hunt for anything else. On first listen I knew that this was something different. Tougher, pointed, more focused maybe? These days I think I can hear the amplifiers begging for mercy, pushed to their limits. The guitars are almost driven to the point of fuzz rather than the more modern growl and rasp. Bon Scott sings like there's no tomorrow and the rhythm section of Phil and Mark (Mark's last album with the band) pumps hard. Is it their best long player? I don't know. My favourite is the one that came next, Powerage, but if a concert was just one album then Let There Be Rock would be hard to top.
AC/DC - Bad Boy Boogie - https://youtu.be/lykP9Opw1Ok
And on that note, it's the end of another episode.
Bye,
The Woozle
"I can't help about the shape I'm in
I can't sing, I ain't pretty and my legs are thin..."
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