Comments/reactions to some recent posts:

Jon, thanks for the WKRP link. I loved that show. I knew that music was changed for syndication but didn't realize how extensive it was, and I was completely unaware of the redubbing of lines because of it. ("Hold my order, terrible dresser" for "Hold me closer, tiny dancer" - wha? Btw, the INS agent in that episode was Sam "Holland Manners" Anderson.)

Jon, Hayden, other musicians, and anyone else interested either in music theory or pure sonics: I just heard a fascinating interview (not archived yet) with a composer/pianist/piano-tuner-refurbisher-theorist named Michael Harrison. I'll let him describe his harmonic piano and just intonation tunings, but I will note that on Soundcheck he plays one of his compositions on a piano with standard tuning and then we hear the "same" composition on one of his rejiggered instruments. Cool stuff.

Glad to hear the Miles love. I think the Pablo in "Blues for Pablo" was Paul Chambers, the great bassist, but I didn't find anything to back that up. If I remember I'll check Gil Evans' bio (Castles Made Of Sound) when I get home. ("Mr. P.C." on Coltrane's Giant Steps is a Chambers tribute.) "Blues for Pablo"'s album-mate "My Ship" is one of my favorite Miles recordings, certainly a peak of the Davis/Evans collaboration.

Re: "opening bands" - when I was managing a friend's band we went through a weird period where the bookers would tell us, "Oh, you're headlining." Woohoo! We're headlining - except that they just meant that we'd be going on last. So we'd tell our fans to come to the show because we were headlining & needed to turn out a good crowd. They'd come out on a Tuesday or Wednesday night, and at 12:30 we'd still be 45 minutes from going on! "Sorry, guys. We love you, but tomorrow's a work day." We'd go on at 1:30 and play to half a dozen people. Ay yi yi.

There have been plenty of times I've gone to a show specifically to see the opener (not to mention all the times I've been the opener)

Yes. thank you.

Woohoo! We're headlining - except that they just meant that we'd be going on last.

I always call headlining "going on last." After we played our big cd release party last month I was dying for our next show to be one where somebody else set it up and we went on first or second. Which it's going to be. I'm a little worried about the band we're opening for. It's the band of a boyfriend of a friend of ours and none of my band has seen them. Evidently they're sort of "jazz funk"...well...He's seen us so he knows what we're like anyway. And it's at a new place for us so that can be good.

on Soundcheck he plays one of his compositions on a piano with standard tuning and then we hear the "same" composition on one of his rejiggered instruments. Cool stuff.

I met a music professor at UNC Asheville, I forget his name now, back in 1998 or so, who wrote midi software (or had it written for him) that did something like this. He demonstrated a piece by Bach or Mozart on his midi keyboard, first with today's standard piano tuning, and then with the 18th (?)century tuning (damn, where's that musicologist girlfriend when you need her?). It was fascinating how the "color" of the piece changed due to the subtle change in note frequencies.

For fans of The Apple (I'm looking at you, Jessica), This band has a video: [link]

It's a fantastic cheesy cossack disco dance number. Seriously.

20MB, but so worth waiting for.

I found the links from the newish WFMU blog.

Speaking of openers, the Dresden Dolls are opening for Nine Inch Nails on a string of dates across the country. P-C: the closest they come to your neck of the woods is Toronto on May 9 and Chicago May 12-13.

GOOD GOD.

Man. Thanks for the heads-up, Jon.

Wouldn't it be better to just talk about the worst band you're seen, irrespective of where their name appeared on the marquee?

You're quite right. I'm sorry. I was just in the throes of loathing last night, plus there might have drinking. I too have gone to shows many times to see the opening act, and there my irritation was turned on the people who talked through the performance I came to see. So I sit through opening acts and don't talk, although sometimes I start twitching uncontrollably.

The category could better be described as "the worst performances you had to sit through for some reason."

Sweet story from Joe Pernice's mailing list:

Joe was in LA working on the new record. He and the genius known as Ric Menck were dining at Art's Delicatessen in Studio City. Joe spied Ed Asner, who was headed to the cash register at the same time as Joe and Ric. As they all approached, the cashier said, "I'm a big fan of your music." Joe turned to Asner and said, "you play music?" Then Joe realized the cashier was talking to him, not Asner.

Hell, I'd be excited about meeting Ric Menck, too. Those Velvet Crush albums were pretty good.

Ooh, excellent. Michael Berube has a new twist on one-hit wonders: Which bands do you WISH were one-hit wonders, because they have one song that you love and all the rest are dire? [link]

Wings, "Live and Let Die".