Subject: Re: Zach Bryan At The Wiltern

Bob,

The wiltern is a joke with sightlines.  The height of the stage is lower then most of the tiered levels downstair.  Think about that.  can you imagine if an act played an arena and the stage height was below floor level.  That is the wiltern for you – this all happened during the renovation in 2003.  They did this to get more shows and have it be general admission where the alcohol sales skyrocket in a GA setting.  People cant get out of their seats to get drinks in proper seated theatre shows without annoying the other fans in the row.  General admission – fans are free to roam and F&B numbers go through the roof.  Live Nation does not care about the fan’s experience here when 85% of the people on the floor cannot see.  Why do you think they charge a premium to be in the pit – proximity and the ability to actually see the show.  it is all about profit at the expense of the customer.  Agents and managers don’t care either – they just want the maximum money.  they are all complicit.

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Subject: Re: Zach Bryan At The Wiltern

I agree the Wiltern is a horrible place to see a show.  Live Nation destroyed the venue when they took out the seats 20 years ago.  Horrible sight lines and the sound is awful in the back of the floor.  You have to be in the pit which gets overcrowded or the loge now.

Steve Burnette

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Subject: Re: More iPhone 14 Pro Max

Bob,

I just spent two hours on the phone with Verizon.  Same issue, however, this is my 85 year old mother’s new phone and we were on a conference call with Verizon. She’s pretty tech savvy so it’s not as painful as you might imagine.  We were sent up one level. Multiple activation attempts. Repeated “eSim cannot be activated” error messages. Verizon is now admitting that this is a known issue. We are told our case is receiving priority status and we will be contacted tomorrow. Your account helped me to remain calm. I knew we were going down the same road. All this after I commented to my wife how fast new iPhone setups and transfers have become. I’ll bite my lip next time.

Jamie Propp

New York, NY

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From: Thom Hartmann

Subject: Re: Thom Hartmann-This Week’s Podcast

Sweet. Shoulda added my call screener and our business manager to my staff, and noted that our TV watching reflects my wife’s taste, rather than mine. I’d always rather read. During the 20 years our kids were growing up I got my way, and we had no television in the house whatsoever…

And that Jon Sinton played a huge role in making Air America happen. Sheldon Drobney included my original Common Dreams article in his book “The Road to Air America“ as their first business plan…

Thom

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Subject: Re: Dirty Business (Live)

Hey Bob,

Thanks for your words on the sound quality of the new NRPS Lyceum ’72 album.

I produced this for release, and aside from it being the perfect storm of a New Riders show (great setlist, performance and recording), it was crucial that we worked with the current Grateful Dead engineering team of Jeffrey Norman to mix it and David Glasser to master it. And of course, the original 16track reel it came off of was recorded by the legendary Dead crew of Betty Cantor and Bob Matthews along with a few others assisting on the Europe tour.

The Riders changed my life at 10 years old while growing  up back East. Buddy Cage’s pedal steel on Powerglide was the first time I ever heard that instrument and I knew I was going wherever that and those long haired psychedelic cowboys were gonna take me.

My entire career in the music world can be traced to the Riders impact on me. I’ve been overseeing their archives for close to 30 years, and Lyceum ’72 is the 9th release to come from the band’s vault, and certainly the best sounding and perhaps performance.

Thanks for altering your readers to John Dawson’s songwriting and folks might wanna check out www.nrps.net and the official youtube page https://www.youtube.com/c/NewRidersofthePurpleSageOFFICIAL_ARCHIVE

And if you really wanna get off on the sound quality of Lyceum ’72, crank up the 24/96 version…  https://open.qobuz.com/album/b4t7p24emznjb

Cheers,

Rob Bleetstein

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From: Stephen Cohen

Subject: My own homage of sorts to the Grateful Dead and the New Riders

Great post, Bob. I became a Deadhead of sorts in 1969, when I was a 14 yr. old in the Bronx. My 17 year old brother turned me on to them, simultaneously buying me my first electric bass for $25. My friends and I took the subway to the Fillmore East for the early show in June. I guess it’s hard for people today to imagine parents letting their 14 year olds do things like that. That was life in NYC back then. There were very few people in the audience at the Fillmore that night (maybe 500 or so), and the ushers told us to move up front so it wouldn’t look so bad. The opening acts were the Buddy Miles Express and Savory Brown. During the show, Jerry Garcia said something like “Hey man, we’re playing a free show in Central Park tomorrow at the Bandshell”. So I went there too. There might have been a thousand people there. Their new album at the time was Anthem of the Sun, or maybe Live Dead had just come out. This music was NOT folkie, country music. Bob Constanten playing prepared piano – John Cage would have appreciated it! Above all, the attraction was that great level of experimentation and interplay, and the unique and brilliant playing of Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh.

I kept seeing them over and over around NYC and the suburbs – 25 times in the next three or four years, sometimes three or four times a week, at the Fillmore, Academy of Music/Palladium, Capital in Portchester, Queens College… I saw them at the Fillmore in February of ’70 with the Allman Brothers opening as the third act on the bill. (Love was second.) I believe this was a month before the Allmans recorded Live at the Fillmore East. What we were experiencing musically all went hand in hand with the anti-war marches and the vast social changes that were happening – the changes that the “conservative” movement still can’t abide today.

I saw those first New Riders shows. If I remember right, Jerry wasn’t the only member of The Dead playing with them. That first album of theirs is a landmark, as is Workingman’s Dead. I was at the Watkins Glen concert in 1973, with the Dead, the Allman Brothers and The Band, featuring the famous sound check the evening before. I loved The Band, and eventually they became my favorite group of the era (excepting The Beatles, who were in a different class and category altogether).

By ’73 or so I’d lost interest in the Dead. Their live album from Europe sounded sludgy to me. The live shows had become a circus, and as I became a serious musician, I noticed that very few of my musician friends had any interest in the Dead at all. That was a fortunate development for me, as I started listening to and studying the other music that I needed to learn. The last time I saw them was in 1976. Pigpen, who really had a critical place in the mix, was gone. The scene had overwhelmed the band. I was on to other things.

In retrospect, my favorite Dead recording is the live “Skull and Roses” album – just a solid rock band clicking on all cylinders, with one solid drummer and two really special players in Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh.

Thanks for the great perspective on all of this.

– Steve

_________________________________

From: Angelo Cannella

Subject: Re: DragonFly Cobalt

Bob,

I can’t thank you enough for recommending the Dragonfly Cobalt. Saw it on Amazon for $249.99 a week ago and didn’t think twice when clicking buy now.   This thing is amazing and delivers such a dynamic sound. It’s like night and day. If I’m getting that experience with my Bose companion II computer speakers and Sony MDR760 studio headphones (looking to upgrade both of those next), I could only imagine how this must sound in a top notch rig. Listening to high-res tracks from Qobuz, they sound great but the app is a bit clunky. If only Spotify would offer lossless and/or high-res audio, I’d sign up for that in a heartbeat.

Thanks again,

Angelo

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From: Mark McLaughlin

Subject: Re: Re-The Doobie Brothers

I just want to thank you again for the tip about Dragonfly Cobalt. I even use it to connect my iPad to a relatively high end but still very basis portable speaker and the benefits are amazing. I will never buy a small speaker without an aux connection again. The benefits are even more obvious with my main stereo system but at this point, I travel with the dragonfly so that I am always using it for damn near every speaker situation.

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From: Gordon Rankin

Subject: DragonFly

Bob,

Been meaning to send you a thanks for the nice things you said about my Cobalt. Just been traveling a bunch and in cleaning out my in box it reminded me to send this.

If you ever have questions about the products, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Thanks again,

Gordon

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From: Gordon Rankin

Subject: Re: DragonFly

Bob,

Thanks for the kind words!

~~~ Why not 192?

Diminishing returns… so the Cobalt draws typically around 50ma. All phones will allow up to 100ma without negotiations for more power. Full Speed USB can only go to 96KHz and so you would have to have a controller that went to High Speed. The difference between Full Speed and High Speed is the interface. They are not really the same. Full Speed uses a voltage differential signal that requires about 3ma max of power to operate. High Speed USB is a differential current interface that runs at 25ma. You take that extra current and the additional current required to answer those requests from the host and you’re above 100ma. Ok so most negotiations with the host will allow that. But two problems occur by going to high speed:

1) You’re now drawing 2x or more current from the battery in the phone.

2) The more current the more noise, so the noise in the unit goes up, sound quality decreases.

~~~ Amazon, Apple, Qobuz, Tidal or streaming today.

The flaw of streaming was the original flaw of USB, Flow control. USB started with Adaptive mode which basically meant the master clock was changed in the dac to match the HOST’s speed. That caused massive amounts of audio related jitter errors. Asynchronous mode fixed this problem by instead having the dac drive the HOST number of samples it sent. Kind of like cruise control in a car and gas being the # of samples.

In streaming what happens is that the sample rate output is usually fixed for each song. The SERVER and the DEVICE negotiate link quality and use resampling algorithms to assure the music does not pop or click. Problem is resampling doesn’t sound that great.

This is one of the reasons that link quality is very important in streaming. Cellular is the worst no matter if you have 5G or 4G. Actually 4G sounds better because 5G was poorly engineered (another topic another day). WIFI is not good either as the amount of transmission required for WIFI is almost 2x that of Ethernet which is the best medium for streaming. Plus the airborne noise for WIFI is really high.

Quality wise Qobuz is the best, Tidal second if you have MQA capable setup, Apple then Amazon. I tried working with Amazon to fix their problems but none of their engineers are really into audio. They probably all use bluetooth headphones and listen to Spotify.

~~~

Ok have a full day today! Building some cool tube guitar amps for Barenaked Ladies. They had to cancel their show WED because of covid. Back Aug 29 which will be fun. I do all their touring equipment.

Thanks,

Gordon

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From: Dan Mackta =

Subject: Thanks for the love

Hi Bob, I am a long time reader, so I got very excited when I saw that Gordon Rankin mentioned Qobuz to you in connection with the AudioQuest Dragonfly DAC.

I mean here we are, plugging away with our small team (7 people in the USA) and making fans mainly via word of mouth and targeted marketing to audiophiles. Then boom…you give us a nice, unexpected boost. Not quite the spike we saw when Neil Young recommended Qobuz during the whole Rogan thing., but still, wow and thank you!

We are a humble, independent, music “pure play” that happens to be “competing” with some of the biggest companies in the history of the world. I have to put competing in quotes. We are a boutique music service in a digital superstore world.

Obviously the sound quality is where it all starts – lossless and hi-res only – but I want to point out a couple of other things about Qobuz that make it special: First of all, we are music only. We feature new albums across all genres, hand picked by our music team, localized to each country. Not that radical but we are album-centric and that makes Qobuz different. Second, we have a download store where we sell lossless and hi-res files. FLAC, WAV, whatever you want. This is a real business with very few players. The big guys only sell lossy, compressed downloads. The download store accounts for a third of our revenue! Lots of music fans who have gone the music server route in their homes and prefer to own their music. Not to mention it is a way to support the art more directly if you are not wanting a physical product. Finally, our human editorial team puts together in depth album reviews and long form articles (“Panoramas”) of interest to serious music people like us! Not to mention thousands of hand-curated playlists of all kinds.

Thanks again for taking the time to check us out and for the kind words.

Best,

Dan

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From: Hugo Burnham

Subject: Re: Roxy Music At The Forum

Yes and yes, and yes…and we’re all old. It was my 50th Roxy anniversary, as well – at MGM here in Boston a week or so ago – having seen them twice in 1972. The first time was when a few of us bunked off school and drove up to Medway, where we sat on the steps outside the cinema/theatre they were scheduled to play at. Smoking, arguing, laughing until a spaceship landed in the street right there. Right in front of us! Anyone else in the area might have described it as an old white Ford Transit van – but we saw these five aliens step out and glide over towards us. So it was a bloody spaceship. We just stared as these weirdly-dressed creatures came up the cinema steps, sweeping past us – with an “Alright, Lads?” We tried but we could not find a way to reply, stunned us into silence, Even the language was alien (OK…a Newcastle accent, but still…). The rest of the day/evening was brilliant and surreal. I was hooked. The next time was a bit later the same year at The Crystal Palace Garden party – even during the daytime and sharing a stage with Edgar Winter, Loggins and Messina, Osibisa and Stone The Crows (both amazing!) – they shone. A few times after that over the next few years, and three Ferry solo shows. So I just couldn’t have missed This (Will Be) The Last Time. And I got to meet Paul Thompson. And I know 2HB was written about me – to hell with Bogart. Life is Good.

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Subject: Roxy Music 50th Anniversary

Dear Bob,

I didn’t want the show to end.. Unlike the old days I purchased my ticket so there’s a lot more

accountability with the artist. I paid with my hard-earned cash. I want to be entertained.

Rarely had I been that absorbed in the music. I didn’t look to see what time it was. I didn’t look

on my phone for Tik Tok videos… I just wanted to be part of the experience.

I’ll confess, I almost wept with the amazing synchronicity between Manzanera and McKay..

I don’t know where Manzanera is ranked as the greatest guitarist of all time.. Whatever it tis’ it should be a lot higher! Man can he wail…

There aren’t that many shows I’d care about remembering but Roxy Music is top on my list.

Kindest Cheers,

Jeff Laufer

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Re: Zach Bryan At The Wiltern

Thanks for writing this.

That album, especially Heading South and Heavy Eyes have been on repeat since release.

His voice, his lyrics, beyond!!
I had the same feelings when I discovered “Born to Run and  Greetings..”

Jill A. Goldhand

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Re: Zach Bryan At The Wiltern

Never heard of him.

 

Like him.

 

Usually, I listen to a few songs on a link you send and go back to listening to Howard.

 

But, listened to the entire set-list from the show.

 

(and actually went back and listened to a few that I liked again!)

 

Samara Stein

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From: John Hever

Re: Zach Bryan At The Wiltern

Awesome read! I’ve been blown away with Zach and his music. Something about his writing just hits my soul similar to my other favorites like Ryan Adams, Jason Isbell and Ruston Kelly. Zach’s music just feels so emotional you have to sing along loudly and damn it feels good. You nailed it with how authentic his writing and songs are. I can’t stop listening and he can’t stop writing and releasing more music for his fans to enjoy.

Check out his tik tok solo performances. I bet you can’t stop until you watch them all! It’s joyful!!

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Re: Zach Bryan At The Wiltern

Hey Bob,

Longtime reader. Your Spring piece about Zach is when I first heard of him. I was intrigued at the comparison you drew between this Navy guy from Oklahoma and Dylan. I’m a big Dylan fan so, yes, my ears were perked. I started listening to American Heartbreak and got Zach right away. I live in a house in Banff Alberta with roommates and they knew of him already as well. I was late to the party.

Fast forward to July.

In July of every year there’s the Super Bowl of rodeos in Calgary called the Calgary Stampede. 10 days long. There’s a big tent structure which hosts live music every night of the Stampede called Cowboys. Other than the Saddledome (where the Calgary Flames NHL team plays) the Cowboys tent is where the biggest acts perform during the Stampede. But in truth, the Cowboys tent is the heart, the pulse of the Stampede’s entertainment offering. It’s the Sahara tent of the Stampede. It’s attached to the Cowboys Casino which is next to the Stampede’s grounds located a walk from the city’s central business district. This is an historic event. The Stampede has been going on for over 100 years. And at Cowboys you’ll get Burton Cummings one night, Snoop Dogg the next, Blue Rodeo after that. And this year, on the Tuesday night Zach Bryan played before Brothers Osborne. I lucked out by scoring a free ticket. See, the promoter was giving away tickets through a University of Calgary varsity sports promo thing. The secret (the link) got out fast and me and a few buddies scored tickets that otherwise would’ve cost us ~$100 each.

Let me cut to the chase and say that I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a frenetic energy like that Zach Bryan show. I kind of felt bad for Brothers Osborne because, as good of musicians as they are, the majority of the sold out crowd there that night was there for Zach. Most left after Zach was done. The real headliner was Zach. The crowd? The most beautiful women extant sang every lyric to every song. They had tattoos of his lyrics on their arms. I kept thinking, where do all these girls come from?! The tent is standing room only and I had to remove myself from the main area in front of the stage because it was just too tight. Elbows were being thrown. There was a lack of oxygen. And I’m a 30 year old dude who does Ironmans! COVID may as well have been a 19th century event.

Zach didn’t have an 8 piece like at the Wiltern. I think there were 5 of them up there that night. And in between each of his songs he would do a short intro and then say “hope you don’t hate it.” He said that every time. It was funny, but not because he was trying to be funny. He was being sincere. Shy almost. And then of course the whole crowd proceeded to scream every goddamn word thereafter. Like I said, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such a density of fandom. I’ve seen a lot of shows. Been to a lot of the big festivals in the States. NOLA’s jazz fest, ACL, and I even found myself at Beychella in ’18.

Earlier in the Spring I saw Shakey Graves at the University of Calgary concert hall and he was amazing but the crowd wasn’t nearly as insane. And then I saw Nathaniel Rateliff and his 8 piece later in August at a big casino hall in Calgary. Again, this was a sold out show, but the crowd just wasn’t nearly as ravenous. Though I must say if I were to rank these three shows musically, Nathaniel would be numero uno. Zach at two and Shakey at three.

I heard Zach’s latest new song Starved which he released last week. I’m not a fan of it, but I love that he keeps writing and releasing. I think I like his stripped down acoustic sound more. I’m aware that some songs will stick on the wall, others won’t. I am a musician myself and I’d be lying if I said Zach’s story isn’t inspirational. But I must say it’s also confounding, his rapid rise. Next summer I scored tickets to Dead & Co at the Gorge Amphitheatre. I can’t wait. I am also very curious to see what the fandom will be like for that band’s final tour.

James Rose

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Re: Zach Bryan At The Wiltern

I saw him at JAS Aspen last month. He opened for Chris Stapleton.

There was a sense of urgency in the crowd for Zach. The vibe was as you described it – magnified by the fact that we were outside in a field and felt “free.”

The vibe for Stapleton was engaged, but that sense of something happening, but you don’t know what it is, was not.

He’s playing up the road from me at RedRocks in Nov. Going to be a good one for sure.

Judd Marcello

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Subject: Re: Zach Bryan At The Wiltern

Here are the two truths of Zach Bryan

it’s country, because that seems to be the pony ring populist songs played with organic instruments go…

honest, true to life stuff with fiddles? on Rock, where you’ve pointed out he’s charted far more songs. it’s not allowed. 

whatever. a rose is still a rose even if you call it sausage pizza.

but he writes about working kids, who think, feel, fail and to quote Jackson Browne — “don’t confront me with my failures, I have not forgotten them” — the ability to face those things and continue.

working class kids don’t have the luxury of balling up and saying, “it’s not fair.”

Zach’s parents divorced, his mother died. there’s a profound wounding inside that beautiful sternum, and it forges those aching songs into something powerful for anyone struggling to face what happened, then face whatever the emotions are + release or work through them.

Read Jon Caramanica’s great NYTimes piece (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/22/arts/music/zach-bryan-american-heartbreak.html) and understand he wasn’t a looser kid, but someone with a great sense of honor (4th generation Navy) and a deep wounding, listen to NYT’s Popcast about New Artists + hear the crickets when Jon drops Zach’s name, then enjoy the follow-up Popcast that unpacks Bryan’s “why” (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/05/arts/music/popcast-zach-bryan.html)

seeing him at Bonnaroo, it was like seeing Springsteen during the Mike Appel suit years:

someone fighting for their truth and their breath, but also our truth and breath.

he’s not doing it to be famous. he isn’t looking to cash in.

he wants to sing this pain, this joy, this triumph, so the people like him know someone sees them, knows how it feels

too many record people are looking to have the algorithm tell them what’ll get the rats to hit the feeder bar. and reflexively, they do. but that never hits people in the soul or the heart or the lost hours when they need something to hang onto. that’s why these numbers and passions are so high.

i witnessed. oh, and the players? mostly his friends or people he’s met along the way, so they can be his age, because its peer-sourced, not hot players music to a place where they can shoot it out for the jobs!

fascinating moment. Nashville’s lucky he wass to called “country,” cause he takes us back to Kristofferson’s poetry, Haggard’s real life and Willie’s “how we are.”

be well + keep listening

holly gleason

nashville, tn

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From: Mitchell

Subject: Re: Zach Bryan At The Wiltern

Wow!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0nPV994av8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxebtlsA3SQ   Holy s…. Why don’t more people know about this phenomenon?

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From: Joe Greenwald

Subject: Re: Roxy Music At The Forum

Meant to send this last week and it’s a novel so apologize in advance but reading your missive I got nostalgic and excited and the charge of how this band changed my life. So wanted to type it out and still send..

Roxy either changed your life..or they didn’t..but if they did you know and feel something that a whole lot of other people have not.

So great little story from when I was at Virgin and we released 2 of the Bryan solo records. 

Martin Bandyke, who was a true music guy, from WDET (which was a powerhouse back then) called me and asked if Bryan would come in for an interview day of show (he was playing the Detroit Opera House that night). Now we were told that Bryan did NO promo and not to even ask as he was Bryan Ferry so why would he? Well I told Martin I would ask, made a half hearted attempt and got the requisite no. 

About 9 am morning of the show I get a phone call, pick up and hear a voice on the other end. Hey Joe, this is Bryan Ferry, how are you? My friends/family knew I was obsessed so I assumed they had planned this elaborate joke on me, so I was dismissive and like, sure what can I do for you, waiting for them to burst into laughter. Well the voice then said I understand there are still some tickets to sell for tonights show, wondering if there is anything I can do to help, interview or anything else? At that point I realized that Bryan Ferry was actually on the other end of the phone (still no idea how he got my number) and I gulped and said well, I know WDET really wanted you to come in if you wanted, and I promise no more than an interview. He said, great set it up! I asked him to call me back in 15 minutes. Dialed WDET faster than my fingers could work and got Martin and he said yes yes of course anytime no matter what, we will stop everything. Bryan called back and I said we can go. In whenever but I did not have a car to get him. (I had a Ford Taurus at the time) and he said you don’t own a car? And I said no no, I do but I don’t have a town car or limo fully expecting Bryan to travel in nothing less and he said oh god I don’t care just come grab me and we’ll go over. 

Well, I pulled up to his hotel, took a deep breath and got out to go get him (and see one of my all time heros). He looked as debonair as any man ever and got in my ford Taurus and away we went to WDET. When we got there Martin put him right on the air and they had about a 15 min conversation on air and then Bryan asked if he could go in the recording studio they had on site. There was a baby grand and Bryan said, ok if I do a few songs? And everyone was like, ummm sure?! Bryan then did 3 songs live on air just him at this baby grand. Talked some more on air (of course some in French because why not) and then gave everyone goodbyes and back to my Taurus. It wasn’t just magic, it was a front seat to true true greatness, not a few hits, not a great frontman but one in a billion type of greatness.  I thanked him profusely, started to drive back to his hotel and he said, do you have plans today? I responded just working and then the show and he said, oh I was hoping you might be able to give me a little tour of Detroit, I have such fond memories of it. I reminded him, I worked for him and if that was his request for my work day I could happily fulfill that. We drove all over the city, went to the Heidelberg project, snuck into the Fox Theater where he said he had such good memories of playing and went to the DIA. It seemed way too surreal but also awesome. Was getting close to end of day and I said do you have soundcheck and he said oh yes lets get to the venue. I pulled up and was dropping him off and said I’ll see you later tonight at the show. He said come watch soundcheck and then lets have dinner..I was getting moderately comfortable as we had spent hours together at this point but still having Bryan Ferry say lets have dinner was not something my record collecting brain ever though would actually happen in any world. I watched soundcheck and we went up to catering and sat for another hour and he talked a lot about a close partner and friend he had just lost and was very emotional. I’m not sure why he chose me to open up to that day but I will be forever grateful. 

The show that night was exactly as you described, out of this world with some moments of true greatness that few people have touched. I had run home after dinner to get my records for him to sign (as a rep I try to not cross that line but at this point I was comfortable enough asking him to sign them). I went to say say goodbye after the show, he signed my records, we talked for a bit more and I said today has been amazing, really special and just wanted to thank you but I have one question I have to ask..He smiled and said, you want to know if we are getting back together?! I didn’t even answer and he paused and said…yes, yes we will and we will do it with Brian…this was before anything about the reunion was announced so my jaw hit the floor, I fully expected him to simply dodge the question but he flat out said it and I was stunned. Now we all know Eno didn’t end up doing it but it was still perfection and as you saw remains perfection.

This job and biz is not always easy and can def take a serious toll on your life/relationships/mental health but damn, no mortgage broker ever got to spend a day like that with Bryan Ferry. 

I live by the theory that all people are people as I think you have to (especially in this job) but there is no question and such a different energy when you are in the presence of true greatness, the aura and energy is simply different.. I will never ever forget that day.  (We did see each other a few times after at shows and he was always gracious and cordial again but nothing like that day)

-Joe

The one and only.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bonnie-raitt/id1316200737?i=1000583282531

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/f1812fe0-88fe-4549-92fe-84f96d9b6cad/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-bonnie-raitt

https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/episode/bonnie-raitt-207787875

1

It was a phenomenon.

I haven’t seen anything like this EVER! Maybe the initial Taylor Swift tours, but that appealed to a different demo, the arena was full of young girls, whereas last night it was a positively adult crowd, albeit leaning female. And they SCREAMED!

I mean this was more akin to the Beatles than anything else I’ve encountered. Sure, the yelling quieted down quite a bit between songs, and I didn’t see anybody crying or fainting, but the mania was still there. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

Now the show started off with Charles Wesley Godwin. And at this point, the opening acts are substandard, no one’s doing their best to create an interesting bill, unless there are co-headliners, and I’ve been overwhelmed with commitments and I wasn’t planning on seeing him, but there was the issue of the parking.

The Wiltern does not have enough. There’s a structure, but it needs to be double the size to accommodate all the customers. As for the neighborhood… I don’t think I’d want to walk more than a block after eleven p.m., no, make that nine. Not that there are any spots anywhere near the venue. Furthermore, I know people who’ve had their automobiles broken into parking on the street, so…

On one hand I didn’t even want to go. But Zach Bryan is the hottest new act of the year, one of the hottest acts extant, and I’d made a commitment and…

I listened to Charles Wesley Godwin’s music AND IT WAS GOOD! I said to myself this guy would be worth seeing. And if I got there early enough I could get a spot in the structure.

I got there just after eight. They took my thirty bucks, but there were no more spaces, they parked me on the ramp itself. But at least I was inside.

Well, not right away, you see there was a LINE. Huh? I mean the headliner didn’t go on for almost an hour and a half, and traffic in L.A. is hell, and why were these people here so early?

As for the crowd itself…

You know a country crowd in L.A. They come from San Bernardino way. Not city denizens, but those who work with their hands, who are not loaded with bucks, who don’t quite look like they just came off the farm, but certainly do not look like they just came off of Melrose.

This was a Melrose crowd. People had on their LOOK!

Especially the women. They were dressed up in their finery, they weren’t just going to hear some music, they were going to a show and they were part of the show itself. And there were more than a few cowboy hats and the guys were just as clean-cut and I think I know who this audience is until…

The Wiltern is a ridiculous venue. They call it a club, but there’s not a person in the world who wouldn’t call it a theatre. And there’s still a balcony, with seats, but the floor is GA, i.e. general admission, i.e. standing room only, i.e. crowded, i.e. good luck seeing, never mind hearing.

I mean if you’re tall, maybe. But the slope of the floor is very gradual, and the stage is not that high, and if you’re in the back, with the best sightlines, you’re under the overhang and the sound just sucks. How could we treat people this way? Bring back the seats, that were there for DECADES!

As for the idea that people love to stand, I call b.s. And it’s not age, I lived through the sixties and seventies, when the Troubadour and the Roxy and the Fillmore East all had seats, never mind the arenas.

And the dirty little truth is no matter what the promoters tell you, they oversell when it’s GA. Believe me, if someone yelled FIRE! last night, a few people would have died, that’s how tightly packed the venue was.

But if it’s a hot act, people will put up with anything, they want to be there.

So eventually I was connected with one of the few seats on the floor. The script has totally flipped, now you’ve got to be connected with the venue, not the label. The label has to buy tickets, they only buy a few, and they’re far from the best. But I was steered to a private area on the side with seats, not under the balcony overhead, and I could see and hear and Charles Wesley Godwin went into his final number…

“Almost heaven, West Virginia

Blue Ridge mountains, Shenandoah River”

Yes, it was “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” A John Denver hit from 1971 that was pooh-poohed by all rockers, yet this young audience knew it by heart! Yes, they were young. Mostly twentysomethings. As far as the usual showbiz suspects, I only saw one, Mark Shimmel, the booker of the Dick Clark shows, like the AMAs and the ACMs…it’s a whole new generation.

So the crowd is singing along at the top of its lungs, and when the number is over, the guys in attendance start yelling USA!, USA!, USA!

Freaked me out, and Shimmel noticed it too.

What appeared to be a young Hollywood/Echo Park crowd was really…

I have no idea. They didn’t look like Trumpers. How many were Trumpers? And exactly who are we fighting these days, messed with my sensibilities.

2

Now half an hour later Zach Bryan hits the stage…

WITH EIGHT PLAYERS!

Well, seven plus himself.

Let’s see, there was a drummer. And a slide player who doubled on banjo. And a bass player who started on a standup double, before migrating to an electric. And a fiddle player. And a lead guitarist. And another guy who doubled on keyboards and guitar. And way in the background, another guy on a blond Les Paul.

Hard drives? NOWHERE IN SIGHT! This was positively real, positively organic. And the players were the contemporaries of Bryan, who is twenty six, we had none of the cognitive dissonance we see with the old acts, who are grizzled, yet supported by youngsters.

And anybody with any road knowledge knows that carrying so many players adds costs and eats into your profits. I can’t imagine Zach Bryan is making any real bucks here. But it’s about the sound. It’s totally different from the Spotify Top 50.

And Zach starts strumming, AND EVERYBODY IS SINGING ALONG!

Now that may be de rigueur these days, but you’ve got to know, Zach Bryan’s first major label album, “American Heartbreak,” was only released on May 20th of this year, AND IT HAS 34 SONGS!

I mean that’s quite a commitment. Especially in this multi-input era. You’ve got streaming television, social media and other music, and you played these thirty four tracks enough to know them by heart?

But wait! Zach Bryan put out another album, “Summertime Blues,” on July 15th, with nine more songs!

I’m positively stunned.

I remember seeing new acts in the old days. Seeing James Taylor right after the release of “Sweet Baby James”…people hadn’t memorized the material, if they even knew it. Back then people were drawn to shows by the hit, they didn’t know the rest of the material. Now it’s completely the opposite. Credit streaming, with everything available. But still, the commitment!

And all the b.s. of the regular music business… You know, CDs and vinyl to goose the “Billboard” chart numbers…it’s absent.

This is like the old days, the sixties and seventies, more the latter.

But wait, as much as these people knew the material, IT’S STILL AN INSIDE SCENE! As many people who are hip to Zach Bryan as there are, most Americans are still CLUELESS! I mean the mania is hiding in plain sight. And there’s been press, stories about Bryan’s quality and success, but press means little these days.

And it is all about the music, and the music is GREAT!

Sure, Bryan has a bit of a twangy voice, but the songwriting is up there with the greats. Proving that the audience recognizes, and rewards, greatness. In an era of schlock, of mediocrity, of paint-by-numbers good, the left field great can still triumph.

And Bryan built it himself. With indie records. Aren’t we supposed to sell our souls to the devil to make it, get in bed with the company men? It’s supposed to be too hard to do it alone, especially if you come from nowhere.

And this guy was in the military, which is not known as a creative haven, the innovative players from the Navy… You’re supposed to have your head up your rear end so far, be so into boozing and womanizing, being a bro, that you’ve got no sensitivities. Yet Bryan…

And, in the middle of a number, Bryan stopped the show. Dead quiet. And pointed to some people down in the pit. And the crowd started chanting USA!, USA!, again, but Bryan put his hand down to shush them. And security came down and escorted the offenders out of the venue and then Zach picked up again in the middle of the song. Why is it the big stars don’t do this? They never accept responsibility, they say they can’t see, that they’re unaware, they’re afraid of upsetting the audience, but not Bryan.

And it’s number after number and…

It’s more akin to the Grateful Dead than anything on country radio. Deadheads won’t like this, but the truth is the Dead’s material was in most cases far from stellar and live they were untogether, whereas Bryan has superior material and his band was tight and firing on all cylinders.

And it is a rock story. Those of you pooh-poohing Bryan, believing he’s a country nitwit, are unaware that he charted twenty songs at rock radio from “American Heartbreak” alone. Only three made it into the top twenty, and the highest one is only twelve and…

There are six charted rock songs from “Summertime Blues,” with one going to number ten, albeit the next highest only being twenty six and…

Only seven charted country singles. With the highest chart number being twenty four.

So if you think Zach Bryan’s success is a result of country radio airplay, you’re sorely mistaken.

And terrestrial airplay is nearly meaningless anyway. You mean the people too cheap to pay for SiriusXM and/or Spotify are going to pony up all that money for a ticket? I don’t think so. The people in attendance looked like they never listened to the radio. To listen to terrestrial radio is even worse than to have your text show up in a green bubble in iMessage. Come on, when was the last time ANYBODY told you they heard something on terrestrial radio? Maybe they listen to NPR, or news, but music? Other than the radio station people blowing back in my e-mail, I don’t know who in the hell is listening.

3

I’d be lying if I told you I knew the material as well as the audience, but…

“He was a boy who was a dreamer

And he flew so high and proud

In a world full of people out to cut his young ass down

No one ever understood a single word he said

And they cast him to the wolves when he wasn’t well and fed

Boys we’ve got a riser, a riser in our midst

And he will get the last laugh if it’s the last thing he did

And he used to roll around in that red dirt mud

But now he’s skipping town, and that riser’s out for blood

Don’t stop goin’, goin’ south

‘Cause they’ll let you play your music real damn loud

Don’t stop headin’, headin’ south

‘Cause they will understand the words

That are pouring from your mouth”

“Heading South”

These are better words than Springsteen has written THIS CENTURY!

All this veneration of Bruce, who seems mostly spent, now doing a covers record, whereas Bryan is spewing truth, writing like Bob Dylan, constantly.

This is the opposite of the Spotify Top 50, which is less about music than branding, where we have to constantly hear that the “singer” is better, richer, more connected than we are, whereas Zach Bryan is relatable, one of us. Hell, he hit the stage in a t-shirt, something that looked like he hangs out in, rides his motorcycle wearing, that is not a designer pick for the show, it reeked of authenticity without any posing, after all it was baggy and stretched.

“And that boy, he called his daddy to tell him what he did

As the masses screamed the lyrics of a messed up kid

And then he told that old man he was never coming back

To be cut down again in a town like that

Then he surely came to learn people come to watch you fall

But he’s out to make a name and a fool out of ’em all

They’ll never understand that boy and his kind

All they comprehend is a f…ing dollar sign”

“Heading South”

Steely Dan are never going back to their old school, and neither is the protagonist of this song. Captain of the football team? Class president? Popular? That’s not this guy, he’s singing about ALIENATION, which used to be the key element of music, that’s why people related to it, why it was so powerful, it wasn’t passive entertainment, pablum.

“We get dressed up just to go downtown

In some ego-filled late night crowd

It seems to be where I feel most alone”

Alone together. This is how I feel. I’m there, but invisible, if anything an object of derision.

That’s from “Burn, Burn, Burn.”

“To you I’m just a man, to me you’re all I am

Where the hell am I supposed to go”

These lines are from Zach’s “Something in the Orange,” his most popular song on Spotify, with 128+ million streams. The former line is akin to the words of Jackson Browne, but the latter shows vulnerability men almost never evidence. They bury their feelings, they buck up, but Zach Bryan is singing how they feel, which is what they’re looking for, no one else is verbalizing these feelings, especially someone who doesn’t look like an art kid.

And the final number, the encore, was an endless take of “Revival,” with Charles Wesley Godwin and his band and a few stragglers on stage to boot, it looked like nothing so much as Mad Dogs & Englishmen. Although it was definitely American.

And everybody got an extended solo, evidencing these nameless players could, play, that is. It’s like WHERE HAVE THESE GUYS BEEN? Kenny Chesney is out with great players, but they’re far older. In a hip-hop, electronic world, these guys took the other path, the one that’s become overgrown with weeds over the years. Sure, there’s the pandering Nasvilleites, but that’s not Zach Bryan.

“Your transgressions are mine as well

Anger grows in my bones if you could not tell

But I’ll find comfort in company

Lord forgive us, my boys and me”

That’s what we’re all looking for, bad company, and I can’t deny.

And that’s what it was like last night. All the people…the watching was incredible. Who are they, where do they live, what do they think, would they be fun to hang with?

The girls hanging over the railing behind me, were they drawn by Zach himself? He’s not a classic party boy, but that’s not what real people are looking for, they’re hungry for authenticity.

Now Zach Bryan won’t be new for that much longer. And when he’s around for a couple of years, that’s when the backlash usually begins. But oftentimes there’s a reason for that, not only is the material not as good, they’ve sold out, become part of the other, hanging with celebrities, loving everybody.

That ain’t Zach Bryan, just listen to his music. He’s angry, bubbling inside, in search of meaning and happiness, knowing it’s an all life endeavor, that you can never rest on your laurels, and compromising yourself to be a member of the group, to get ahead, is anathema.

I’m hipping you to all this.

But maybe you’re already hip.

Zach Bryan is an artist. And his music is not retro, but positively of the now. Check it out.

Zach’s set list at the Wiltern: https://spoti.fi/3F0CYV3

“Alpha: Eddie Gallagher and the War for the Soul of the Navy SEALs”: https://amzn.to/3D03pIY

Every American should read this book.

The best book about combat I’ve ever read is “Black Hawk Down,” the Mogadishu story. They made a movie of it, which ain’t bad, but isn’t in the league of the book. The movie solely depicts action, whereas the book also depicts thought, what was going through the minds of the soldiers engaged in battle. The chaos, the fear, you felt like you were right there.

The depiction of battle in “Alpha” is not quite as good, but that does not mean it’s not fascinating, and riveting.

“Black Hawk Down” was constant action. Whereas “Alpha” is about SEALs in Iraq in the battle for Mosul and there are many battles, much action. And ultimately, most Americans don’t care. Yes, Iraq has been written off. The entire Middle East. That was what we did back at the turn of the century. It didn’t work out so well, so we’ve forgotten it. People died, their families will never be the same, but at least it didn’t happen to me, or you.

And that was what Vietnam was all about, it could definitely happen to me or you, and therefore there was pushback. Was this a cause worth dying for? Many people didn’t think so. Draft cards were burned, men moved to Canada, there were national protests. I’m thinking we may not see this kind of movement, this kind of change, until it’s a life and death matter for half the public again. One could argue the issue of abortion rights affects all women, but it’s somewhat murky, not black and white, you can still get the procedure done in some states, there are different rules everywhere, and we’re not quite sure all the pro-choice people are excited and united.

That’s the modern world. No one has a handle on what is going on.

Have you been following the news? It’s all about the horse race, what is happening in election battles. Every day it’s a new story, a new spin. A month ago abortion was the key issue, today they say it’s the economy. A month ago the Democrats were on the rise, today outlets are saying the Republicans are on the cusp of victory, at least in the House. I don’t believe a single word of it. I know what the issues are, but I do not know what the temperature of the country truly is, for that I’m waiting for the election results. And, of course, there are the issues of the right to vote and the counting of votes…but we’re gonna have to wait until Election Day to see what goes on there.

What happened in America in the sixties and seventies is exactly what is happening in Russia right now. As long as someone else is fighting the war, you’re not too upset. But if they want YOU to go… You leave the country and… Do you really want to be a pawn in Putin’s game? The same way men felt they were pawns in Johnson and Nixon’s game? Will Putin pay a price, we’re just not sure. Changings of the guard happen overnight, like the failure of Lehman Brothers. Oh, there’s a long run-up, but most people are not paying attention, and then a tipping point is reached and…

The “Washington Post” just published a story:

“Leaders of democracies increasingly echo Putin in authoritarian tilt – From Italy to Brazil to the United States, political leaders increasingly are echoing Russian President Vladimir Putin and one another by embracing far-right authoritarianism”: https://wapo.st/3geDlkn

Want to be truly frightened? Read it, that’s a free link. If you can make it to the end I applaud you, it’s just too disillusioning, too disheartening.

And that’s the essence of “Alpha.”

WHAT?

Man, if you lived through the sixties it’s hard to fathom all this veneration of the military, never mind law enforcement. They were the enemy. But most Americans alive today were not conscious in that era, they know little about Vietnam. We have a level of nationalism previously unknown in my lifetime. And once you get a gang going…

Yes, talk to people in other countries, America is seen as a bully, a gang.

So what you’ve got here is the Navy SEALs, the most lionized members of the military. Used to be pilots, but that’s been superseded, especially since the SEALs killed Bin Laden.

You see it’s damn hard to become a SEAL. Almost no one can pass the test. Read about it, you wouldn’t even want to try. And the belief is those who make it through, who get their Trident pin, are the best and the brightest.

IS THIS TRUE? Just because someone is physically fit, does that make them intelligent, never mind a choir boy?

So the book starts off with training. A SEAL platoon before it ships overseas. And what every SEAL wants is action. That’s what they’re trained for, they don’t want to be sent to some peace time territory. It’s the opposite of the regular citizen. They don’t only want to shoot, but kill. And…

There is very little supervision. The SEALs are the rock stars of the military. They don’t have to wear uniforms. They make up their own game plans. They change course on the fly. Essentially, they’re beholden to no one.

As long as…

As long as what?

As long as nobody speaks. It’s a cult. Of loyalty. And loyalty is more important than truth.

That’s America today. Not only in politics, but business. Pay fealty to the king and keep your mouth shut. Laws are broken? What difference does it make if no one talks. And if you’re ultimately found out, you hire attorneys far superior to the ones employed by the government and you skate, or end up with a slap on the wrist.

So they get to Mosul and…

The head of the platoon, Eddie Gallagher, starts breaking the rules from day one.

This is the first half of the book. The combat. One thing is for sure, reading it you have no desire to be there.

So, are the SEALs self-motivated purveyors of excellence, or bad actor renegades?

I’ll let you decide.

But in this particular case, two courts decided. Military and public opinion. The rule of law and Fox News.

I followed the Eddie Gallagher story, but I couldn’t remember how it played out. There’s so much to keep in your brain these days.

But if you want to know how the game works today, read how Eddie’s wife raised money via the internet and President Trump was worried about his image and…

It all comes down to doing the right thing.

That’s what they tell you, from kindergarten if not before. Do the right thing. Tell the truth. Be a man. Or a woman.

And then you get out in the world and that does not apply, whatsoever.

Be a whistleblower at your peril. Stick your neck out and watch all your friends, even the supportive ones disappear.

And the bad actor, whether it be a person or a corporation, has relationships, and data on you, after all no one is perfect, and if you stand up for the truth you could lose your gig, be haunted for the rest of your life.

Not wanting to tell the truth goes up the military ranks. No one wants the trouble. Everybody just wants the problem to be pushed under the rug, to go away. The enemy is the whistleblower, not the bad actor.

“Alpha” is one of the rare books where the courtroom drama is even better than the action that precedes it.

As for the action that precedes it, I’m gonna let you know right now, you’re gonna be a bit confused. You see there are so many names. Of soldiers, of groups, of weapons. Reading on a Kindle I could search and remind myself what each was, but having said that, you could probably read the book without remembering and it wouldn’t make a difference, you get the feel and know who the relevant players are as you get to the courtroom drama.

So I’d say the first half of the book is very interesting.

But about halfway through, it becomes RIVETING! You can’t put it down. Yesterday I spent the afternoon finishing it. Sitting in a chair for four hours straight. I didn’t even get up for lunch. I didn’t want to break the spell. And sure, I wanted to know what happened, but “Alpha” is more than that. The moral issues, the practical issues, the political issues, the humanity and lack thereof, all these questions are swirling around your brain and even after you close the book they’re still with you.

Is it hopeless?

Well, if everybody in America read “Alpha” maybe it wouldn’t be.

Because “Alpha” is America. There’s a hierarchy of power and you report to your superior. Of course there are exceptions, the artists, the super-rich, then again Bob Dylan said we all have to serve somebody.

And if you stick your neck out, you’re gonna get blind-sided. And they don’t prepare you for this, they don’t want you to know they’d rather make an example of you, make you think doing the right thing is morally superior and truth wins in the end and then you get your head lopped off.

The book ends on a positive note.

And then you read the “Times” stories about Hell Week and you wonder if it’s cultural, and nothing can change. You can be positive, but is it really a negative world?

Read “Alpha” and come to your own conclusion. It will make you think, but it’s anything but boring.

It’ll shake you up.