Category Archives: Musically Inclined

Ranking Full Stop: The English Beat in Concert

Last Friday, I went with my girls to see The English Beat in concert at Belly Up in Solana Beach. For $20, it was a steal to see Dave Wakeling’s version of the band (basically, the US version), so we made it a girl’s night out by starting the evening out with dinner, then ending with the concert. We arrived during the end of the opener, 2 Tone Sounds, and waited patiently for The English Beat to take the stage. I’m glad we decided to go to the Friday show because the Saturday show sold out! The Belly Up tavern is a great venue because any show feels completely intimate. The only issue I had that night was some of the rambunctious crowd members who seemed to think it was cool to pick a fight every 15 minutes. Can’t we all just get along and enjoy the music? While Rholnna and Janice got fed up with being shoved around, Regi and I braved the crowd and stayed on the floor. Eventually, the crowd started to disperse and we had enough personal space around us to dance.

I loved hearing songs like “Save It For Later”, “I Confess”, “Best Friend” and “Mirror in the Bathroom” because those were standards that I heard on 91X when I was a teen and I remember the videos like it was yesterday. I was then very pleasantly surprised when I heard “Can’t Get Used to Losing You” because that was something that I didn’t hear on the radio at all and came to know it because I played it over and over on my cassette player. But I was even more surprised to hear General Public songs, including my favorite “Never You Done That” and every 80’s radio staple, “Tenderness”. I know that Ranking Roger heads up the UK version of The Beat, but I think I like Dave Wakeling’s version because when I close my eyes, I can imagine feeling what it was like to see them back then, and Dave sounds just as fantastic as ever.

I couldn’t recall song order, but here is a rough estimate from my memory. I’m sure I’m missing a song or two:

Rough Rider
The Tears of a Clown
Hands Off…She’s Mine
Twist and Crawl
I’ll Take You There
I Confess
Click Click
Save It for Later
Can’t Get Used to Losing You
Whine and Grine/Stand Down Margaret
Never You Done That
Tenderness
Ranking Full Stop
Mirror in the Bathroom

It was quite a fun night, and even more fun to people watch when you are completely stone (freezing) cold sober. Janice and I are at the start of our Whole30 for the New Year, Regi had a long drive that night and Rholnna doesn’t drink, so it was waters all around for us. There were lots of ladies jumping the stage, drunkenly shaking their groove things, and we all just happily chuckled from the crowd. Even with the gratuitous stage grinding and near scuffles, I will definitely catch The English Beat when they come back in town to have a ranking good time, full stop!

Depeche Mode Announce European Tour Dates for 2013

Yesterday, I was able to catch on Side-Line.com, Depeche Mode’s live press conference from Paris. They announced that their newest single and album had just been recorded (both still unnamed), and they also announced their 2013 European tour dates. Below are the dates to the European leg of their tour, and a video that they presented at the press conference of their first untitled studio track. I will be sure to post the US leg of their tour as soon as it’s announced!

MAY 7 TEL AVIVHAYARKON PARK
MAY 10 ATHENS TERRA VIBE
MAY 12 SOFIA GEORGI ASPARUHOV STADIUM
MAY 15 BUCHAREST NATIONAL STADIUM
MAY 17 ISTANBUL KUCUKCIFTLIK PARK
MAY 19 BELGRADE USCE PARK
MAY 21 BUDAPEST PUSKAS FERENC STADIUM
MAY 23 ZAGREB HIPPODROME
MAY 25 INTER STADIUM BRATISLAVA
MAY 28 LONDON O2 ARENA
JUNE 1 MUNICH OLYMPIC STADIUM
JUNE 3 STUTTGART MERCEDES-BENZ ARENA
JUNE 5 FRANKFURT COMMERZBAN ARENA
JUNE 7 BERNE STADE DE SUISSE
JUNE 9 BERLIN OLYMPIC STADIUM
JUNE 11 LEIPZIG RED BULL ARENA
JUNE 13 COPENHAGEN PARKEN
JUNE 15 PARIS STADE DE FRANCE
JUNE 17 HAMBURG IMTECH ARENA
JUNE 22 MOSCOW LOCOMOTIVE STADIUM
JUNE 24 ST. PETERSBURG SKK ARENA
JUNE 27 STOCKHOLM BORLANGE PEACE & LOVE FESTIVAL
JUNE 29 KIEV OLYMPIC STADIUM
JULY 3 DUSSELDORF ESPRIT ARENA
JULY 7 BELGIUM ROCK WERCHTER FEST
JULY 11 BILBAO BBK FESTIVAL
JULY 13 LISBON OPTIMUS ALIVE FEST
JULY 16 NIMES ANTIC ARENA
JULY 18 MILAN SAN SIRO STADIUM
JULY 20 ROME OLYMPIC STADIUM
JULY 23 PRAGUES YNOT TIP ARENA
JULY 25 WARSAW NATIONAL STADIUM
JULY 27 VILNIUS VINGUS PARK
JULY 29 MINSK ARENA

Tour dates and video originally posted on Side-Line.com Top photo from the official Depeche Mode Instagram collage (yes, that’s my picture underneath Dave Gahan). Upload a photo to Instagram with a hashtag of #DepecheMode2013 to be included in their random collage.

Enjoy the Lullaby: Twinkle Twinkle Little Rock Star

When purchasing on Amazon.com, I always check their recommendations based on my recently viewed and purchased items because I make very insteresting discoveries from their selections. I have several Duran Duran items in my “Save for Later” section, so one of the recommendations was Twinkle Twinkle Little Rock Star, Lullaby Versions of Duran Duran. How cute, right? Of course, seeing that version prompted me to look for a Depeche Mode version, and I found one (see it here). I took a quick listen, definitely expecting to hear a slower version of all of their songs. I actually found them to be quite relaxing. Their official site says that these albums are “Perfect for babies, yoga, massage or relaxation”, which was exactly what I was thinking. I could definitely fall asleep or do yoga to this music, and I would love it if I went to get a massage and soothing versions of Hungry Like the Wolf or People Are People came on in the background. If I had know these existed, I would have filled Dominic’s crib with the plinky-plonky sounds of Radiohead or The Smiths in addition to Duran Duran and Depeche Mode. Needless to say, I will buy the Depeche Mode version and enjoy the lullaby.

Images courtesy of Amazon.com

(Edited to add: Thank you Paul from TTLRS for my very own downloaded copies of the Depeche Mode and Duran Duran lullaby albums, I love them!)

FTC Disclosure: This review was written prior to receiving the downloads, and I was not asked to write a review. The opinions in this review are strictly my own.

Keep Calm & Listen to Depeche Mode

Ah yes, I’m still on my European vacation high. I have a couple of “Keep Calm and Carry On” catch phrase items that I brought back with me in the form of a magnet and tumbler. I found the above image through Google on Red Bubble (click the picture to buy the shirt, I’m going to buy one). I know it’s how I definitely keep calm!

Here are a few pictures that show just a bit of my Depeche Mode collection, which includes Recoil and solo projects by Martin Gore and Dave Gahan. I sometimes use them as subjects for the “Photo a Day Challenge” themes on Instagram because the themes have words that appear in their lyrics or song titles, and that album or single will be the first image to pop into my head (if you want to join in on the “Photo a Day Challenge” meme, go to Fat Mum Slim for details). Some day, I’ll do some kind of photo essay of everything I own that is Depeche Mode related. Until then, I’ll continue to share photo collages of selections from my collection.

August 26: Dream (Dreaming of Me, 7″ UK imported single)

August 31: Hidden (Hidden Houses by Dave Gahan from the album Paper Monsters)

September 16: Strange (Strangelove 7″ and 12″ domestic singles; Strange & Strange Too on VHS; A Strange Hour in Budapest on Blu-ray DVD and USB by Recoil)

September 18: Price (Early Depeche Mode song called Price of Love on Live at Crocs vinyl album from Amoeba Music)

European Vacation Day 4: Be Kind & Rewind!

Sunday August 19th was the Rewind Festival at Henley-On-Thames, which was the catalyst that spurred this whirlwind trip to London and Paris into action. This was my first ever festival, and I thought my first festival would be Coachella or Lollapalooza, but I’m actually glad to say that my first festival was in a different country. Although we would have loved to have gone to both days of the festival (especially to see Rick Astley and Jimmy Somerville on Saturday August 18th), both Janice and I don’t really camp in America, so camping in another country 5,000 miles away from home was most likely out of the question.

I bought these for the train ride to Henley. Oh. My. SO. Good.

Premium Pear Cider, mmmm!

The line up for both days. The running order for the Sunday show remained true to the list above.

We discovered that Henley-on-Thames is not as close to London as we had perceived it to be. A few weeks prior to our vacation, I decided to finally check out how we would route our trip to Henley. I was glad that I did because I would have never perceived that it would be approximately 35 miles from London, in Oxfordshire. Being that we don’t have licenses to drive in Great Britain, I furiously looked for transportation from London, and I found that we would need to take the National Railway. This would mean that while we could get there with no issues and start our concert festivities early, we knew we would miss the last act because we would need to get back to the station in time to return back to our hotel. In hindsight, we maybe could have just gotten a hotel in Henley and then taken an early train to St. Pancras to just simply connect to our train to Paris. Don’t they say hindsight is always 20/20?

Concert goers on a mission! These were actually the folks who initially helped us navigate our way around Henley. After that, we met quite a few other nice people who helped answer questions as we needed.

The water taxi we took back to the train station after the concert.

Henley is a beautiful, picturesque town. Janice caught some great pictures of our walk along the river to the festival area. The venue itself was on Temple Island Meadows, which has been the home of the Rewind Festival for the past few years. The festival itself was larger than anything I had been to previously. It felt like the San Diego County Fair combined with a food truck event, but with way better music and bands (in my humble opinion, of course). I will say that the acts that I wanted see played everything I wanted to hear: Adam Ant, Midge Ure, Marc Almond and Tony Hadley. My only regret was not being able to catch OMD, but that’s only because of the aforementioned time constraints. In fact, we nearly missed Tony Hadley! But we got to stay through his set because our friendly neighborhood concert goers explained that our train tickets were good for the night because the trains departed every 30 minutes. My favorite concert moments:

Dancing around like a lunatic during Adam Ant’s set.
When Midge Ure played “Vienna” and “Dancing With Tears In My Eyes”, I practically cried.
Surprised that Roland Gift actually played “She Drives Me Crazy”, and loved that he played “Good Thing”.
Completely not expecting to hear “Tears Run Rings” by Marc Almond. I had read previous set lists from his shows, and I don’t recall seeing that song on there.
Every. Single. Song. By. Tony Hadley.

Rather than continue to describe all of the events, I just made selections from both sets of photos by Janice and myself to just illustrate the awesome time we had. Next post: A quick two-day jaunt to Paris!

Adam Ant fans, no?

Some of the booths at the festival, which included vintage clothing! Janice got some totally bitchin’ leg warmers there.

Ohmigod, Janice! That side ponytail and those leg warmers are in full effect. Totally.

Our pile o’stuff. I think we were the least prepared to be there. Next time, we need to at least bring a throw blanket, mat or towel!

Originally, I brought the umbrella in case it rained. It turned out to be useful to keep cool! And yes, that is yet another Joy Division shirt that I’ve added to my collection.

This lighthouse/windmill looking building was actually a giant slide! At first, it was mostly kids coming down the slide with their parents. Later into the night, alcohol fuelled everyone’s inner child to take a ride.

Adam Ant and The Good, The Mad and The Lovely Posse

There was karaoke for the crowd between sets. Duran Duran anyone?

Everybody Wang Chung tonight!

Carol Decker of T’Pau putting in some heart and soul into her hit song of the same name.

Midge Ure looking and sounding wonderful after the mini-fiasco of the first song (his mic was completely shut off for an entire song).

Marc Almond not only sang “Tears Run Rings” but also “Tainted Love” and “Say Hello, Wave Goodbye”.

We were excited to know we could stay for Tony Hadley!

Tony Hadley sounded so amazing live. Although I know the favorite was “Gold”, my highlight was “Only When You Leave”.

My iPhone lighter for when Tony sang “True”…

This group of concert-goers sat behind us. They were so awesome and answered many of our questions. They also ave us glow sticks to carry our celebration into the night.

Janice spotted some interesting characters in neon. I don’t think I have seen that much neon collectively in one place, except at a mall back in the actual 80’s.

Teen Wolf attacked me on the way out of the festival (or was it the werewolf from “Thriller”?). Either way, I survived!

Spirit of Talk Talk Launch Party Tonight!

I’ve known about this event for sometime, but my trip to London did not at all coincide with this launch party, otherwise I would have bought tickets straightaway!

There are a lucky few of you out there who were able to score tickets to the Spirit of Talk Talk launch party tonight at 229 on Great Portland Street in London (see posts from the Recoil blog and the Spirit of Talk Talk blog). Every time I see Great Portland Street, I just think of the Metropolitan Line because that’s a few stops away from the hotel we stayed at. I read that Alan Wilder may make an appearance (*sigh*). For those of you going, have fun, and I will be there in spirit and living vicariously somehow through you all tonight!

Flyer courtesy of the Spirit of Talk Talk Facebook page

Show Me Your Luscious Apparatus: My Recoil Contest Entry

Last week on Facebook, the Shunt staff of Alan Wilder’s group Recoil announced a contest called “Show Me Yours” (I added Luscious Apparatus, which is a Recoil song), to celebrate the arrival of the DVD “A Strange Hour in Budapest” (abbreviated as ASH here). Fans were encouraged to show off their DVDs and any other products they bought having to do with ASH (post here). I created two entries: the first entry was a collage that I submitted through Instagram (the second picture seen above). I then submitted another entry, which actually turned into an outfit post, featuring my rock t-shirt of the week.

The shirt peaking out from underneath the jacket is my Recoil shirt from the concert where I met Alan Wilder (post here). That shirt will always remind me of what a wonderful experience it was to meet Alan and see his live show presentation with Paul Kendall. I also played with the photo editing capabilities of my Acer Iconia tablet, which rendered some cool effects. By the way, there will be five winners, and each will receive a photo from the concert, signed by Alan. I have many items signed by him, but knowing that Alan Wilder himself will be picking the winner was the driving decision behind entering the conest. I’ll be sure to post if I win!

Outfit – Forever 21 faux leather studded biker jacket; Recoil t-shirt; H&M skirt; Sam Edelman “Lorissa” pumps; Wendy Brandes rings; Coach sunnies

Dave Gahan & Soulsavers: More Secret Concerts?

I have been trying to keep up on Depeche Mode news, but I have admittedly been more pre-occupied with Alan Wilder and Recoil lately. This is probably why I missed out on scoring free tickets to an incredibly intimate concert with Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan and Soulsavers. I only found out about it very late in the afternoon on Friday July 20th because of a post on Dave Gahan’s Facebook page, and missed the Twitter contests where tickets were given away by Amoeba Music and KCRW to the show that played to about 150 people at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles on Saturday July 21st.

Dave Gahan does lead vocal duties for Soulsavers’ most recent album called The Light The Dead See, which was released in May of this year. If you are unfamiliar with Soulsavers like I am, they are a production and remix team from England. The music I’ve heard from the latest album is much more organic and rock sounding than what I thought it would be, having read that they are more “downtempo electronica”. Their sound on this album is soulful and melancholy and Dave’s voice truly lends to this style.

I’ve read on Slicing Up Eyeballs that there may be more one-off shows like this, and that this recent show was recorded and will be put out in some capacity soon. In the meantime, click on the previous link for Slicing Up Eyeballs to see a clip from the concert and here’s to hoping for more intimate shows with Dave Gahan and Soulsavers!

(Top image courtesy of The OC Register; second image courtesy of Mute.)

Weekend in Pictures: I Rush For You

Last weekend, my sister took her very excited daughter to the Big Time Rush concert at the Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre in Chula Vista. I arrived home in time to get Mei-Lin all gussied up and ready for the concert, which meant doing her nails and playing dress up. She is quite the natural, and doesn’t need any guidance in the posing department. Rholnna said that the biggest thrill for Mei-Lin was when Kendall gave her a hug during the show (the first picture in the concert photo collage below). I must admit that I’m not so much a Big Time Rush connoisseur, so I used a line from a Depeche Mode song for the title of this post. I hope Mei-Lin doesn’t mind!

Concert photos by Rholnna Jiao

Spirit of Talk Talk: The Roll of Honour

I first heard Talk Talk back in the very early 80’s by seeing the video for Talk Talk and then hearing It’s My Life on the radio. I haven’t kept up with the group throughout the years, but I am starting to discover what an effect the band has had on many of my favorite musicians like Alan Wilder (Depeche Mode, Recoil), John Taylor (Duran Duran) and No Doubt, who did a remake of It’s My Life back in 2003.

In writing this post and researching more about the band, I discovered that their first two singles were produced by Colin Thurston (Duran Duran’s producer at the time), and they even opened up for Duran Duran on their 1982 tour, right in the throes of the new romantic movement. Back then, I would never have guessed that was the original path for the band. Most of the songs I have heard from the band after the single Talk Talk came from the album It’s My Life and their sound is such a departure from Duran Duran.

I started reading about a book called Spirit of Talk Talk because of Alan Wilder’s involvement on tribute CD of the same name (to be released by Fierce Panda in September 2012). Not only is he the musical and production supervisor for the tribute CD, he also contributed to the book, which will be published by Rocket 88 Books, also to be released in September 2012 (I also found a great interview with Alan regarding his involvement with Spirit of Talk Talk on The Electricity Club blog here).

Spirit of Talk Talk was complied by people influenced by the band, from friends to fans, and celebrates their legacy and impact. The book is currently available for pre-order (click on the link to place an order). If you do so, you can also be a part of their “Roll of Honour”, which will be printed in the book. There are two versions of the book, Classic and Deluxe (compare the editions here). I pre-ordered the Classic version to be a part of the “Roll of Honour” and the first 1,000 sold will be signed by art designer, James Marsh. If you are a fan of 80’s music and Talk Talk, this is a wonderful and exciting way to become a part of their printed musical history.

(Top image courtesy of Chartstats; middle image coutesy of The Rocket Books 88 Blog; last image courtesy of Wikinoticia.)