That Band

File Under: Why, after all these years, they matter to me

This is a selfish post. I'm entitled to one ever so often. Read on if you wish.

I've been a fan of The Go-Go's for a really, really long time. The first time I saw them in concert was in 1982, on their Vacation tour. On Saturday April 25th, I saw them again, my 30th concert.

At first I would go to shows, stand there, dance, scream my little teen head off and pretend I was at the best party I'd ever been to. Then I got wise and started bringing a camera with me to shows. So I'd scream and dance and take blurry pictures. The best (blurriest!) were the ones snapped with my Disc camera. Remember those?? Digital photography came along and my pictures got a little better. Perhaps if I stood still when I took pictures they would get better.

The nice thing about my digital camera is that I can now capture video. I've become really good at standing still and keeping the camera stable. I've been able to compile some great song clips that capture the band doing just what it is that makes me a fan.

The show on April 25th was special in a lot of ways. The House of Blues was strangely lax on their "NO PHOTOGRAPHY" rule. So, I'm going to share the fruits of my labor with you, and share a little story with you about each.

My first video was for a song called "Forget That Day," a song that was long rumored to be the one that broke the band up in 1984. Jane wrote it, wanted to sing lead on it and it was decided that Belinda should. Jane's backup vocals are prominent in the original recording. They haven't performed the song live in 25 years. Jane explained that they don't get together often enough to record new songs so they like to treat their fans with some of their lesser-performed songs from their catalog and this song was chosen. Excellent choice because the performance was haunting and beautiful. The lyrics are so sad. Mind you, I had just decided that it was safe to take video so I only have the second half of the song, but you get enough of a feel for the song. My lens setting was a little close and once taping starts, it's fixed for the entire recording.

Charlotte is the blonde, off to the left, she plays keyboard and lead guitar. Gina's in back, on drums. Kathy works just to the right of Belinda, she plays bass. Jane is the little firecracker off to the right, on rhythm guitar. As you'll see later on, she's very active and moves around a lot on stage.



This next clip is a song that Jane brought to the band. She recorded the song "Cool Places" with new wave band Sparks. A couple years ago, The Go-Go's added it to their set. It's a true duet between Belinda and Jane, and they have fun performing it. Check out Charlotte's groovy synth in the song. Totally 80's! And in the total rockstar move, after Belinda finishes her strut at the start of the song, she gets behind her mic stand, turns and tosses her hair with a flip of her head. HOT!



They often bring to each new "tour" a remake, and this time they did their own version of the Rolling Stones song "Mother's Little Helper." This showcases the talents of the entire band. Dig Belinda's ittle walk during the instrumental bridge. LOL



This next song is one they've been performing in concert since they began as a band, it's one that they made their own. "Walking in the Sand" was originally done by a girl group called the Shangri-Las and when the Go-Go's introduce it, they always pay homage to them, giving credit where credit is due.


(note to Joy, if you watch this video, notice that she's swiveling her hips, she learned that on DWTS! Len would be proud.)

Finally...I promise this is the last one, is their song "Our Lips Are Sealed." This was a hit for them back in the winter of 1981. It's one they have to do in concert and one that they enjoy doing, as evidenced in this video. Forgive the opening couple of lines, Belinda was having problems with feedback in her monitor so she was distracted and off-key. She gets right back into it. BUT...the part of this video that totally sums them up for me is after they last line is sung and the band just jams for another minute or so. Belinda's banging her tamborine, Jane, Kathy and Charlotte are bouncing around on stage and they play with one another. It's the fun that I saw the first time I saw them in concert, 27 years ago. It's the fun that brings me back again and again. It's my happy place. :)


(note the extra lyric in the live version. This was written into the original song but not recorded on the album. They always perform this version in concert)

Well, if you made it this far, whether you watched the videos or not, I thank you. I don't expect that a light bulb will go off above your head and you'll suddenly be a life long fan. I just hope that perhaps you'll find it cool or it'll make you smile. And smiling is good.

xoxo

Perfect 10's!

In my recap of my trip and my discussion about the judges paddles, I fully intended upon sharing with you a picture of us holding the paddles, but forgot. So here you go...


This was taken after the show. Kim broke the handle off of her paddle. I think she was spanking somebody with it. Oopsie. I think they turned out pretty good, don't you?

(Photo credit - someone else, but it was from DeDe's camera, I think)

LA Adventure, Continued

File Under: La-La-Land-a-Go-Go

Saturday morning began with a workout and then breakfast. Mark and I relaxed a while and then hit the road back to Los Angeles to meet up with our friends DeDe and Kim. I've not seen DeDe since January 2007 when we met up in Vegas. I've not seen Kim since August 2001 when a large group of us met up in Vegas. Yes, both were for G0-Go's shows. :) For this trip, both were staying on Sunset, right down the street from The House of Blues.




Kim, Jim, DeDe

Here's a picture of the larger group of us. Mark is in the black t-shirt, he was my host on this trip. Kim's in grey, then our friend Damon is in the center, next is DeDe in pale blue and finally me.



Now for a little secret about my trip. I traveled with props. No, nothing naughty, just something to take to the show. As the regular readers of my blog know, Belinda Carlisle, lead singer of The Go-Go's, recently appeared on "Dancing With the Stars." She never got a score higher than a 6 from any of the judges. I decided that she deserved some 10's, so I made judges paddles and took them with me. I was going to see to it that Belinda got her 10's. More about that later.

At the venue we took our "standing room only" spots in front of the stage, we were all clustered near one another, approimately 4 "rows" back. The wait began at about 7:50 pm.

Around 9:30, the opening act appeared. They were called "The Upper Crust" and were hilarious! Four men, dressed in 18th century period clothing, powdered wigs and white makeup faces. They put on a great show. I spotted Belinda and Go-Go's drummer Gina Schock watching the show from the balcony, both seemed to enjoy it.

Finally at 10:30, The Go-Go's came out and the crowd went wild. They opened with their hit single "Vacation." Belinda began her trademark moves, at which point, DeDe, Kim and I raised our "10" paddles. Belinda looked over and was completely surprised and very happy to see the scores. She smiled wide, bowed a bit and moouthed out "THANK YOU!" However, our work was not complete.

I received kudos from Jane. She spoke and said that while surveying the crowd, she saw so many familiar faces - friends from the UK, from the East coast, and Chicago!! She waved at me when she said Chicago. I love Jane. :)

Back in the early days of the band, they adopted the song "Cool Jerk," the song by The Capitols from the 1960's. They've been performing it for about 30 years. Often, the band would bring somebody on stage to dance for them and be their "Cool Jerk." On Saturday, Belinda introduced the song by saying "I've spent so many years looking for my Cool Jerk and I finally found him, about 3 months ago. Tonight I would like all of you to meet him. Jonathan, come on out, please!" Out walked Jonathan Roberts, Belinda's dance partner from "DWTS." They hugged and he waved and the three "judges" in the audience waived our 10's high. Belinda pointed them out to him and he smiled, pointed at them, indicating his surprise, then waved at us. Then the dance began. He got to see how she does things. And so do you. I filmed it once the song began.



The song ended, Jonathan took a bow and waved to the crowd, and the band played on. The show ended at about midnight and after chatting with some friends in the crowd, the group of us wandered back to DeDe's hotel for drinks and catching up. Finally, Mark and I hit the road at about 1:15 and managed to get back to his house at about 2.

Next up, Sunday! Highlights include a lost phone, a beach, nearly-naked surfer boys, and scary dolls!

Thanks to DeDe for the use of some of her photographs in this post.

California Here I Come

File Under: Proper Getaway

Last week's DWTS disappointment was the push I needed to check ticket availability for the Go-Go's House of Blues show in Hollywood. Sure enough, there were a few tickets available. My friend Mark was the deciding factor, he so graciously offered me a place to stay. I bought the concert ticket, so the only thing that was left was the airfare.

Round trip, $196.

Done.

I'm going to California next month, to see the Go-Go's. I'm sure there will be assorted DWTS people in the crowd since it's televised from LA. Belinda may even bring Jonathan Roberts on stage with her to dance. It'll be nice to see "the girls" again, hopefully I'll have the opportunity to visit with Jane, and Belinda, and the others. It'll also be excellent to meet up with my friend DeDe who I know will be there, as well as some of my other LA based pals.

B-52's coming to Chicago

File Under: Party Band!

I found out that the B-52's will be playing a show in Chicago on Thursday May 1. It's the day before my birthday. I think that's a grand way to start a weekend so I'm going to buy myself a ticket for the show, and schedule the next day off from work and kick off a long weekend while enjoying one of my favorite bands.

The 25th Show

File Under: Music Obsessions

Another post about The Go-Go's. C'mon, you knew it was going to happen. My previous post was all about them, and about seeing them again. Last night was show # 25. I was not disappointed.

The evening began with my friends Anthony, John and of course Vahona meeting at the House of Blues. We sat down and had some dinner. We exposed John to full-on Go-Go lunacy. Thankfully he was not scared. We finished dinner and went to our places in the theatre. I had two reserved stools for the evening. We were on the main level, stage left, about 20 feet back from the stage. Vahona and Ant were down in the trenches, stage right, in front of Jane's spot.

Many of the regulars were in attendance, familiar faces from past shows. It was nice seeing them, and catching up with them on their lives, sharing a laugh, sharing our excitement for yet another show.

The opening act was a band from Madison, WI called "Whore du Jour." They're a band whose first album is being produced by Jane Wiedlin. Not 2 minutes after saying to John "I wonder if Jane will come out and introduce the band," Jane came out to introduce the band. As she looked over the crowd, she looked my way, did a double-take looked at me, smiled and waved. :) Whore du Jour was good, but they're not the reason we were there.

The Go-Go's came on at 10. They looked great. They sounded great. Their on-stage banter was funny and their interaction with one another was fun. They performed 19 songs, their setlist was an even retrospective of their career.

The real fun happened after the show. I secured after-show passes for us and apparently very few passes were handed out. Now, my last after-show experience at this venue was a 2 minute chat with Kathy and Jane in an upper balcony. I wasn't expecting anything more last night. Well, I was wrong. We were ushered to a freight elevator, taken upstairs and told to go through a doorway and turn right. In we walked and seated was Belinda. Looking stunning and relaxed after an energetic show. Charlotte was in the room, she and Bradford (the band's manager) were chatting. There was a moment of stunned silence, only broken when she said "Hi." There is a bit of blur surrounding all that took place but Bradford introduced himself to me, then learning just who I was (I had contacted him to obtain the passes), he asked me if I'd met the band and began introducing me to Belinda, telling her of my efforts with the Star Fund (I'm part of a committee working to secure a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for The Go-Go's). We chatted about that for a couple minutes and Belinda quipped "well, now that Johnny Grant is dead, maybe we'll have a chance." We all laughed. She thanked me for all we've done. Jane and Kathy came in and both of them came over to give me hugs.

We chatted with Jane the longest, about her move to Madison, about Whore do Jour, about her boyfriend who is in the band, and about how much fun can be had in Chicago. I suggested that she contact us to arrange a visit to Chicago an let us show her around. As quickly as I said that, she whipped out her iPhone and said "okay, give me your phone numbers!" So we did. We'll see if she calls. I'm guessing she'll drunk dial one of us. At 2 am, Vahona's phone will ring, and there will be this slurred pixie-like voice saying "hey baby, what are you wearing?" I'll probably get a call saying "Is your refrigerator running? Well you'd better go catch it! HA HA HA HA HA" *click*

We took one group picture, here it is:

(complements of Anthony)

Kathy Valentine, me, John, Jane, Vahona, Anthony.

As I've been known to do, I brought my Gnome. John brought his too. We giggled as we took them out of our pockets and set them on the table in the room. Belinda looked down and noticed them. She was definitely intrigued. She kept looking. I saw curiosity and amusement in her eyes and a slight smile on her face. Or it was "oh Jesus, get me away from these fucking losers." I think it was more the former than the latter.

Jane saw the Gnomes and decided they looked tasty. So here's the 2008 version of the "let's do something wacky and eat the Gnome picture."

And with that, our evening ended. We gathered our things and went home. I was awake until almost 2 am, giddy from the excitement of the evening.

I awoke at 5:45 this morning, got out of bed, got ready for work and was at my desk at 7:30 am. My ears are still ringing, my throat still hurts and the entire city is under a winter storm warning but I'm in a really good mood right now.