{"id":224,"date":"2005-11-14T19:01:08","date_gmt":"2005-11-15T02:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/archives\/2005\/11\/14\/lifes-a-long-song\/"},"modified":"2005-11-14T19:01:08","modified_gmt":"2005-11-15T02:01:08","slug":"lifes-a-long-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2005\/11\/14\/lifes-a-long-song\/","title":{"rendered":"Life’s A Long Song"},"content":{"rendered":"

Really don’t mind if you sit this one out<\/em><\/p>\n

1<\/strong><\/p>\n

I returned from spring vacation early.\u00c2\u00a0 In order to go skiing at Sugarbush with my mother and little sister.<\/p>\n

It was a glorious day in the April sunshine.\u00c2\u00a0 But, after dropping me back at Middlebury around dinnertime, my mother and Wendy got back in the Country Squire and drove south to Connecticut.\u00c2\u00a0 And, I roamed the dorm.\u00c2\u00a0 Looking to see if anybody was back.<\/p>\n

Most people don’t return from vacation until the day before classes start.\u00c2\u00a0 The halls were almost empty.\u00c2\u00a0 But this guy from Boston, whom I knew every so slightly, as you know everybody at a small college slightly, and greet them as possible friends, before the years pass and you settle into your group, approached me just after the sun dropped and we fell into a discussion of music.\u00c2\u00a0 He had a tape of a new Jethro Tull album, called "My God", he’d gotten it from a friend at home, did I want to hear it?<\/p>\n

I went to his room and sat on the carpet in the dark.\u00c2\u00a0 And out of giant speakers I heard what was to soon become one of the biggest records of the year when it was released under its proper title, "Aqualung".<\/p>\n

I hadn’t been a Jethro Tull fan.\u00c2\u00a0 Until the first weekend of school the fall before.\u00c2\u00a0 When I almost got killed in Moron’s Trans Am as "To Cry You A Song" poured out of the speakers.\u00c2\u00a0 All the reviewers, whom I read religiously, pooh-poohed "Benefit", the album from which contained "To Cry You A Song", but as Moron continued to play the album across the hall, I became hooked.\u00c2\u00a0 I broke down, I bought it.<\/p>\n

Funny how you become a fan.\u00c2\u00a0 It starts with a casual movement.\u00c2\u00a0 And then it’s like love.\u00c2\u00a0 You want to see the person all the time, you want to know more, breaking up is hard to do.<\/p>\n

And in this era, you became a fan the same way you do today.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/p>\n

There were no singles.\u00c2\u00a0 You had a friend, were in somebody’s room, you heard something and became intoxicated.<\/p>\n

The whole business was predicated on this fandom.\u00c2\u00a0 This rabidity.<\/p>\n

It’s this rabidity which is returning.\u00c2\u00a0 As people reject the major label paradigm.\u00c2\u00a0 Glossy evanescent hits that slide right off of you.\u00c2\u00a0 People want more.\u00c2\u00a0 They want their souls touched, they want meaning.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong><\/p>\n

I got off of Tull with the "Bungle In The Jungle" stuff.<\/p>\n

But then, in ’88, just after CDs reached mainstream penetration, as labels started releasing boxed sets, Chrysalis issued a three CD twentieth anniversary set containing rarities, alternate takes…it was a cornucopia.\u00c2\u00a0 And I became religiously hooked.\u00c2\u00a0 As you only can when no one is paying attention.<\/p>\n

It’s hard to become a fan of what everybody else is down with.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s what you discover in the nooks and crannies that you love.\u00c2\u00a0 That which you have for yourself.\u00c2\u00a0 At least for a while.<\/p>\n

I’d spin songs like "Jack-A-Lynn" over and over on my newly-purchased CD player.\u00c2\u00a0 I was rewriting history.\u00c2\u00a0 In my mind at least.\u00c2\u00a0 Jethro Tull was something special, something great.<\/p>\n

And I don’t need you to agree with me.\u00c2\u00a0 I don’t need to convince you.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s just a special tribe.\u00c2\u00a0 But not that small of a one.\u00c2\u00a0 This fall’s twenty two date sold out tour proves it.<\/p>\n

The Kodak is not prepared for rock shows.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s the first time I’ve ever been to Hollywood & Highland and had to worry about getting a parking place.\u00c2\u00a0 There weren’t enough ushers.\u00c2\u00a0 In a building I rarely go to.\u00c2\u00a0 That ANYBODY rarely goes to.\u00c2\u00a0 Rock lives at Staples.\u00c2\u00a0 The Wiltern.\u00c2\u00a0 The El Rey.<\/p>\n

But that’s not the way it used to be.\u00c2\u00a0 Rock grew up in multipurpose THEATRES!\u00c2\u00a0 With SEATS!\u00c2\u00a0 There was a sense of religion.\u00c2\u00a0 Being in the hallowed halls.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s no religion when you’re in a hockey arena.\u00c2\u00a0 And why do you have to stand?\u00c2\u00a0 How can you contemplate the music when your space is being invaded by somebody else’s sweat?\u00c2\u00a0 There’s no longer any respect.\u00c2\u00a0 For the audience OR the music.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you’re falling awake and you take stock of the new day
And you hear your voice croak as you choke on what you need to say
Well, don’t you fret, don’t you fear
I will give you good cheer<\/em><\/p>\n

Life’s a long song
Life’s a long song
Life’s a long song<\/em><\/p>\n

Live shows have turned into spectacles.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s about the staging.\u00c2\u00a0 The pyrotechnics.\u00c2\u00a0 The Stones still make you wait for ninety minutes before they appear.\u00c2\u00a0 And then they bombard you.\u00c2\u00a0 They strive for the same effect as an atomic bomb.<\/p>\n

Ian Anderson just walked to the edge of the stage with a miniature guitar and started playing this song.<\/p>\n

"Life’s A Long Song" has a lyrical quality.\u00c2\u00a0 It takes you away, back into the day, of your past life.<\/p>\n

Make no mistake.\u00c2\u00a0 Last night’s Jethro Tull performance was a nostalgia show.\u00c2\u00a0 This is not U2 or the Stones.\u00c2\u00a0 Trying on the patina of newness.\u00c2\u00a0 Trying to convince those in attendance that they still matter.\u00c2\u00a0 When really, they’re just there to take you back to who you once were.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re touchstones.\u00c2\u00a0 No more.\u00c2\u00a0 "A Bigger Bang" might be the best Stones album in decades, but it does not generate the lift, the elation, the THRILL of "Let It Bleed".\u00c2\u00a0 The first time you heard the intro to "Gimmie Shelter" you said OH WOW!\u00c2\u00a0 There are no "oh wow" moments on their new album.<\/p>\n

And there’s nothing close to "I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For" on "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb".\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what’s creepy about it.\u00c2\u00a0 The Stones and U2 are now part of the problem, when they used to be part of the solution.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re big marketers now.\u00c2\u00a0 Tying in with other industries.\u00c2\u00a0 Telling you you MUST be there, when if you’ve been there before there’s nothing new, and it creeps you out.<\/p>\n

Last night was a camp reunion.\u00c2\u00a0 It was only for fans.\u00c2\u00a0 Ian Anderson was trying to reach no one new.\u00c2\u00a0 He wasn’t trying to IMPRESS the audience.\u00c2\u00a0 Rather, he wanted to entertain them.\u00c2\u00a0 To deliver something that would not only warm their hearts, but make them want to come again.<\/p>\n

After "Life’s A Long Song" came "Skating Away".\u00c2\u00a0 This was magical for me, since I’d just heard the tune and written about it THE WEEK BEFORE!\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what the experience used to be.\u00c2\u00a0 It was an ongoing one.\u00c2\u00a0 All the pieces fit together.\u00c2\u00a0 It wasn’t them and us, it was we.<\/p>\n

4<\/strong><\/p>\n

The highlight was "Mother Goose".<\/p>\n

Ain’t that the way it always is.\u00c2\u00a0 The song you don’t need to hear, that wasn’t even in your brain, blows your mind.<\/p>\n

This was not a Stones appearance.\u00c2\u00a0 Tull didn’t play what was expected of them.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, there was a ton of "Aqualung", maybe since they were giving away a free live CD of the album, but the rest was an eclectic mix.<\/p>\n

I thought I’d heard "Aqualung" enough to not need to hear it again.\u00c2\u00a0 But "Mother Goose" had the feel of a run through the English countryside.\u00c2\u00a0 As if you and your friends were flowing through the high grass, laughing at the top of your lungs, feeling that this is what life is about.<\/p>\n

And since I didn’t expect to be dazzled by "Mother Goose", it WAS what life was about.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m on the edge of my seat, going back and forth.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve merged with the music, we’re one.<\/p>\n

And it’s a crack band.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, there was a tiny tiny little bit on tape.\u00c2\u00a0 Like Ian saying "Mary" before "Cross-Eyed Mary" began.<\/p>\n

But really, 99.999% was live.\u00c2\u00a0 It was like the seventies all over again.\u00c2\u00a0 A five piece replicating every note on the record.\u00c2\u00a0 With no mistakes.<\/p>\n

Oh, for about a third there was another player, Lucia Micarelli.\u00c2\u00a0 A Julliard-trained violin player.<\/p>\n

I figured she was the daughter of someone in the band.\u00c2\u00a0 That there was a connection somewhere.\u00c2\u00a0 But Ian told me after he just wanted to mix it up.\u00c2\u00a0 And it turns out she was also represented by William Morris.<\/p>\n

And speaking with Brad Goodman, Ian’s agent, afterward, I learned of all kinds of endeavors Ian was involved in.\u00c2\u00a0 Playing with orchestras.\u00c2\u00a0 Chamber groups.\u00c2\u00a0 It appeared that Ian was what Bono and Mick Jagger are not.\u00c2\u00a0 A musician.\u00c2\u00a0 Someone who can’t do the same thing every night.\u00c2\u00a0 Who’s got to mix it up for himself.<\/p>\n

5<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sitting there during the show, my mind drifting, the way it used to back in the day, it occurred to me that the business had changed irrevocably.\u00c2\u00a0 That the major label model was obsolete.<\/p>\n

As Jake Gold says, the tour used to be the ad for the record, now the record is the ad for the tour.\u00c2\u00a0 And the tour implies belief.<\/p>\n

There’s no belief in those chart-topping acts playing to half-full houses, at best.\u00c2\u00a0 Belief is a very personal thing.\u00c2\u00a0 A one on one bond between act and fan.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what this business was built upon.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what’s gone.<\/p>\n

The major labels have abandoned this concept.\u00c2\u00a0 They think you can only be exposed to music the OLD-FASHIONED way.\u00c2\u00a0 Via authorized airplay.\u00c2\u00a0 But now there are a PLETHORA of venues.\u00c2\u00a0 You can be touched by an act on the Net, via MySpace, via an e-mailed MP3, you can learn about something from satellite radio, the emphasis has changed, it’s just about FINDING stuff, not buying a narrow band of hyped product.\u00c2\u00a0 And once you find something you love, you’re bonded to it.\u00c2\u00a0 The world is going to evolve into TRIBES!\u00c2\u00a0 Each following specific acts.\u00c2\u00a0 The money is going to be in the ACT, not the record, unlike today.\u00c2\u00a0 Think about it.\u00c2\u00a0 Today the acts come and go while the executives stay.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas somebody like Ian Anderson has outlasted everybody from Chris Wright and Terry Ellis to Mike Bone to John Sykes to Daniel Glass.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s in control, not the label.\u00c2\u00a0 And he really only cares about his fans.\u00c2\u00a0 He knows it’s THEM that he’s got to please.<\/p>\n

6<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ian didn’t play "Teacher".\u00c2\u00a0 Nothing off "Stand Up".<\/p>\n

But something from "This Was".<\/p>\n

The fact that he threw in a tune from his first album makes me want to go back.\u00c2\u00a0 Figuring he might play "To Cry You A Song" or "Teacher" next time around.<\/p>\n

And that’s the way it used to be.<\/p>\n

Hell, that’s why the PREVIOUS Stones tour was exciting.\u00c2\u00a0 When they played small halls like the Wiltern and pulled out the old chestnuts.<\/p>\n

Then again, the Stones still want to make you believe they’re relevant.<\/p>\n

Can I tell you two of the highlights last night were songs Ian Anderson had NOTHING TO DO WITH?<\/p>\n

During one of Lucia’s featured numbers, it was unmistakable, the band began playing BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY!\u00c2\u00a0 It reminded me of seeing Elton John throw in "Jesus Christ Superstar" in the coda of "Burn Down The Mission" at Carnegie Hall back in ’71.<\/p>\n

And then the whole band rallied to play KASHMIR!<\/p>\n

I’d like to tell you it was cheesy.<\/p>\n

But it wasn’t.<\/p>\n

You see this is our music.\u00c2\u00a0 This is who we are.\u00c2\u00a0 Ian told me these songs weren’t his choice, they were Lucia’s.\u00c2\u00a0 But he went along.\u00c2\u00a0 To please her.\u00c2\u00a0 To please the audience.<\/p>\n

And they were pleased.<\/p>\n

"Mother Goose" wasn’t the only number that got a standing O.\u00c2\u00a0 The response to "Kashmir" was THUNDEROUS!<\/p>\n

You see we still remember.\u00c2\u00a0 When our bands meant more to us than anything else.<\/p>\n

As long as the major labels are in control, this can’t happen again.<\/p>\n

Thank god they’re losing power.<\/p>\n

How much does it cost to press a CD?\u00c2\u00a0 For a $75 ticket why SHOULDN’T Ian Anderson give away a live recording of "Aqualung"?\u00c2\u00a0 Why shouldn’t EVERY band give away music with its performance?<\/p>\n

Then again, they don’t have to.\u00c2\u00a0 Their fans are downloading it P2P.\u00c2\u00a0 Live takes, alternate takes, as much as they can lay their hands on.<\/p>\n

While major labels are putting up barriers, speed bumps, everything from DRM’ed AACs to copy-protected CDs, the people are just taking what they want.\u00c2\u00a0 They know it’s about MORE, not less.\u00c2\u00a0 Contrary to what the major label infrastructure says, this is GOOD for artists.\u00c2\u00a0 It bonds people to them.\u00c2\u00a0 And, for all you songwriters complaining, if P2P were authorized and charged for, you’d get paid too.\u00c2\u00a0 MORE, since more people would want and possess more music.<\/p>\n

But really, the economics are secondary.<\/p>\n

Remove the businessman middleman and all you’ve got is the artist and his fan.\u00c2\u00a0 Jethro Tull exists outside the system.\u00c2\u00a0 And that’s why the band can deliver so fully for its believers.<\/p>\n

And I care not a whit whether you believe in Jethro Tull.\u00c2\u00a0 I don’t need to convince you.\u00c2\u00a0 I just hope you believe in SOMEBODY!\u00c2\u00a0 And that somebody throws off the trappings.\u00c2\u00a0 And plays in an intimate venue.\u00c2\u00a0 And is concerned with satisfying YOU, not the media, not some CASUAL fan.<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Really don’t mind if you sit this one out 1 I returned from spring vacation early.\u00c2\u00a0 In order to go skiing at Sugarbush with my mother and little sister. It was a glorious day in the April sunshine.\u00c2\u00a0 But, after dropping me back at Middlebury around dinnertime, my mother and Wendy got back in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-shows","category-the-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-3C","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}