11 April 2013 (Day 101) – Music For Performing And City Night Driving

Over the years I've read a fair number of books and magazines about music and developed a rough idea of what performers go through backstage before a gig.  Basically there is no one approach.  Some acts like to be alone before they’re called out, others have designated spaces where they can jam or do warm up vocals whilst others don’t have a set routine at all.

I was thinking about this because my own job occasionally requires me to make public presentations and today was one such day.  Of course my situation is drastically different.  After all, I’m not going to appear before thousands of people who have paid top dollar and may gone through a number of hoops (organising a babysitter, pre gig restaurant reservation, etc) beforehand.  But I would imagine that we would share some things perhaps – performance anxiety, last minute nerves, wondering about the size of the audience and hoping that performances aids (in my case, a PowerPoint presentation and overhead screen) works.

Music normally plays a part of my “pre gig” routine as I prepare for a presentation.  Usually I like to listen to material that is fairly soothing and doesn’t intrude into my thought process.  In other words, I need music with which I’m very familiar.  Today, I chose two albums starting with one that I’ve played many times and another comprising songs that are very familiar even though I only bought the album a couple of years ago;

(# 279) Dire Straits – Communique (1979)

For reasons I cannot fathom, I remain a staunch supporter of the first four Dire Straits albums.  The restraint shown on those albums is commendable but ultimately it has always been the voice and guitar playing of Mark Knopfler that won me over.  But like many people in Australia, they lost me with the stultifying boring live show they put on to support Brothers In Arms.  On that tour they appeared to play second fiddle to the technical demands of the show, for example, needing to be at a certain part of the stage each night because the lights were programmed to shine there.  Or at least this is how it seemed to me.  It left me yearning for the organic sounds of the earlier albums which really do sound as though they were recorded live in the studio. Communique is the most under rated of these early albums, frequently written off as a remake of their celebrated debut but  containing a sucession of great songs that have store the test of time. Once Upon A Time In The West, the title track, Lady Writer, Angel Of Merecy and Follow Me Home are as good as anything in their catalogue.

(# 280) Willie Nelson – Stardust (1978)

I didn’t appreciate this at the time it was released because I had yet to develop an appreciation for Nelson or the songs he chose to cover.  Today it is precisely the combination of the two that appeals to me with Willie’s voice allied to the wonderful arrangements developed with producer Booker T. Jones.  Not a second, note or nuance on this record is wasted and it deserves all of the plaudits that it has received despite arguably being the recording that has kicked off the trend for older artists to release cover albums of even older songs.  All of the original side one – Stardust, Georgia On My Mind, Blue Skies, All Of Me, and Unchained Melody as well as On The Sunny Side Of The Street are superb, but really it is an album that should be played in full in a single session.

The presentation went off fairly well.  I suspect in that sense I’m also similar to a performer in that I know deep down whether I’ve given a good account of myself or not. After work, I take “M” home and later that evening head out for dinner with some former colleagues.  I’ve always enjoyed city driving at night after the bulk of city workers has gotten to their homes.  I found that I can focus on the road planning long ahead to far off traffic lights to ensure that I don’t need to stop.  On occasions like this, especially when “M” is not with me, I like selecting music that fits the objective.  Additionally, tonight’s venue is of a sufficient distance away to enable me to hear a conventionally timed vinyl album in its entirety.  On my way to the venue I listened to an album just as under rated as Communique in the Dire Straits catalogue;

(# 281) INXS – Welcome To Whenever You Are (1992)

I always thought INXS were a much better studio band than live proposition.  Their best albums such as The Swing, Kick and this were full of deft production touches that suited the music but didn’t necessarily translate well to live performance.  This album starts with an interesting opening track that segues beautifully into the surging Heaven Sent, easily their most under acknowledged single.  Well known tracks Taste It, Baby Don’t Cry and Beautiful Child fit beautifully into the remainder.

For my return trip, conscious that Public Image Limited were probably on stage on the sole Melbourne show this tour, I thought I’d crank up the car stereo and see if any other drivers would react to the monster that was:

(# 282) Public Image Limited – Compact Disc (aka Album) (1986)

This is one brute of an album.  On this John Lydon collaborated with musicians such as Steve Vai, Ginger Baker and, Tony Williams as well as producer Bill Laswell to create seven monolithic slabs of sound augmenting chanted, simple and repetitious lyrics.  Just about every single word titled track here is an absolute killer bordering on heavy metal – F.F.F (Farwell My Fair Weather Fried), Rise with its famous “Anger Is An Energy” lyric, Round, Bags and Home crackle with power and barely suppressed rage.  Wisely Lydon has never attempted to replicate this as it would have diluted it’s amazing power.